Film noir

In this film, Laura (1944) we are introduced to a group of corrupt and fittingly shady upper-class social order types. The focus is on particular conventions of content, like themes or settings and/or form, including structure and style (Goodykoontz & Jacobs 2014). This film will be critiqued by the author through the lens of the genre theory (AMC, n.d.). The genre theory allows critics to take a short cut to categorize films. The director woks with the time-period and has a vision and that…

after war. This post-war disillusionment contributed to the development of a branch of film noir concerned with “sordidness of...urban crime” (Schrader 10). The Third Man is an example of such a film. While the genre of film noir cannot be succinctly defined, it does possess certain distinctive elements. One such element is anti-traditional mise-en-scene, defined by Place and Peterson in “Some Visual Motifs of Film Noir.” The use of anti-traditional…

of glam and allure of fashion industry. The Devil Wears Prada was released in 2006 by Fox 2000 Pictures, directed by David Frankel who is best known for directing the pilot episode of the comedy series “Entourage” and the movie “Marley and Me”. This film is based on its book adaptation written by Lauren Weisberger, who is an ex-employee of Vogue. The Devil Wears Prada focuses on a young, smart woman, Andrea Sachs (Anne Hathaway) who is an aspiring journalist fresh out of Northwestern…

be able to get the message across to the audience. After 1903 and 1906 the film industry flourished, describes Maloney, and new techniques and equipment such as the mobile camera, the close-up and the editing of the films was introduced. Still exaggerated facial expressions, emotions and actions were required in order to create a melodramatic effect. He states that western and slapstick comedy dominated the arena of film, since the complicated logical deductions of the detectives were…

Wilder Part 2 of Notebook (due July 1st) Professor: Dr. Drew Casper TA: Isaac Rooks Jinghan Mao Tel: 608-770-1992 5) The Lost Weekend (1945) shows six “noir” style thematic and formal components that are discussed by Professor Casper in his book Postwar Hollywood 1946—1962. First of all, there are two visual narrative flashbacks in the film. According to Casper, the narrative flashback is “an indication not only of the use of the past to explain the present, but also an indication of…

Fiction Influences on film making in today’s industry occur often, with new skills and techniques being implemented by daring producers and directors and are typically recycled by the next movie premiere. However, being boldly different is how particular film makers succeed, inspire future artists, and even make their mark on the industry, such as Orson Welles and Quentin Tarantino. Both film makers have been notarized for their accomplishments with not only the use of typical film elements…

“The Killers” is a story about two hitmen entering a small diner in order to murder a man who visits the diner frequently. During their visit, they harangue the people working at the diner. The short story was adapted into a film titled The Killers, which initially follows the short story almost exactly, but extends well beyond the original plot. The short story opens with two men named Max and Al entering a diner and sitting down at the counter. The story is set in the early evening, just…

Please analyse the role of the femme fatale in film noir, using examples of your own choice. Immediately after the Second World War, when the French people once again had the possibility to watch American cinema, they noticed a remarkable change in these films. Not only had they become much darker in mood, but also the themes had become much more serious. It was in 1946, when the term “film noir” was coined for the first time by the French film critics Nino Frank and Jean-Pierre to describe…

Billy Wilder’s classic film from 1944, entitled Double Indemnity displays many of the traditional traits of Film Noir. During the opening scene an extremely dramatic silhouette of a mysterious man on crutches limps towards the viewer. You can’t help but wonder who this character could be. Ultimately Walter Neff betrays his superior, Barton Keys. Keys thinks very highly of Neff and believes he has what it takes to become a great investigator for the insurance company. Neff is an insurance…

Even though film experts still debate what genre it best falls into, the 1950 Billy Wilder-directed film Sunset Boulevard is, in many respects, the archetypal film noir, and is also widely regarded as one of the most brutally honest depictions of Hollywood, by Hollywood. One of the biggest reasons Wilder’s film is viewed as such an exemplar of the film noir movement is its innovative use of lighting effects. Use of lighting can make or break a black-and-white film much more than it can one in…