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GENRE. = type or category that most films fit most comfortably in. These formulas were crystallized in the Classical Hollywood period and still define how most movies are made and marketed today. Samples of Genres. western. Gangster/crime. Science fiction. musicals.
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GENRE = type or category that most films fit most comfortably in. These formulas were crystallized in the Classical Hollywood period and still define how most movies are made and marketed today.
Samples of Genres western Gangster/crime Science fiction musicals
Film Noir Characteristics • “dark” or “black” film • a style, not a genre (scholastically, although this is debated) • Influenced visually and thematically by German Expressionism (sense of impending and utter fatalism) and French films of 1930s • Popular pulp novelists: Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler • Influenced by Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane (1941) • Atmosphere and morality of film noir is obscure and ambiguous
Film Noir Characteristics Cont’d: • Greed, corruption, lust, violence, and horror • Plots often convoluted • Hero is outlaw, misfit, or jaded gumshoe (private eye) – “lone wolf” • “Femme fatale” (do NOT trust this woman!) • Corrupt politician, crooked cop, bad girl, insane killer • Settings are often urban (night, dirty streets, run-down buildings)
Visual Style • - Tend to use dramatic shadows, stark contrast, low-key lighting, and black-and-white rather than color • - Typical film shot in a 10:1 ratio of dark to light (typical movie is 3:1 ratio) • - shot on location in cities, night time shooting was common to get that really dark look • - Shadows of Venetian blinds, dramatically cast upon an actor's face as he or she looks out a window, are a commonly used visual in film noir. • - known for its use of low angle shots and wide angle lenses. • - include shots of people in mirrors, shots through a glass, and multiple exposures.
- shot on location in cities, night time shooting was common to get that really dark look
- Tend to use dramatic shadows, stark contrast, low-key lighting, and black-and-white rather than color
Classical Film Noir • The Maltese Falcon (1941) • Key Largo (1948) • The Asphalt Jungle (1950) • Shadow of a Doubt (1943) • Notorious (1946) • Strangers on a Train (1951) • The Wrong Man (1956) • Touch of Evil (1958)
Neo-Noir Examples/Recommendations: • Chinatown (Polanski, 1974) • Taxi Driver (Scorsese, 1976) • Body Heat (Kasdan, 1981) • Blade Runner (R. Scott, 1981) • The Grifters (Frears, 1990) • Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino, 1992) • The Last Seduction (Dahl, 1994) • Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1994) • Fargo (Coen, 1996) • L.A. Confidential (Hanson, 1997) • Collateral (Mann, 2004)
Other Neo-Noir Examples: • Scarface (DePalma, 1983) • The Untouchables (DePalma, 1987) • Cape Fear (Scorsese, 1991) • Basic Instinct (Verhoeven, 1992) • Muholland Falls (Tamahori, 1996) • Sin City (Rodriguez, 2005) • Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Black, 2005) • Brick (Johnson, 2005)
“The most American film genre, because no society could have created a world so filled with doom, fate, fear and betrayal, unless it were essentially naive and optimistic.” - Roger Ebert
Assignment While viewing Double Indemnity (1944), create a list of film noir characteristics and visual elements evident in the film. Be specific and create a minimum of 5 examples today.
Film Journal • 25 pts • Watch a film noir (classical or neo-noir) and discuss what characteristics of film noir are evident in the film. • ½ pg – 1 pg in length