Visual Motifs of Film Noir (Place and Peterson)

I found it very interesting that manipulating the lighting in scenes can help shape the film's dramatic effect. Film Noir usually utilizes high contrast in lighting, dark shadows, and directional lighting (e.g back lighting, key lighting, or fill lighting) all in order to add the the 'feel' of the film. Furthermore, the space in these scenes is manipulated in order to shape the emotional ambiance of the film. This was something that I somewhat unconsciously noticed a lot of in Double Indemnity.
I knew the the film makers were placing the characters irregularly in the frame, but I did not recognize the purpose of this until I read Place and Peterson's work. It is so interesting that the reason for doing this is in order to establish a certain 'feeling' in the scene. Solely from the visual effects of utilizing the lighting and space in the frame, actors can appear to be helpless, inferior, superior... adding an extra dimension to the film and evoke a feeling for the audience.