Film Noir/LA Confidential

There was a time that the label ‘noir’ could legitimately be applied only to a specific cycle of post-World War II Hollywood films. In recent years, however, there has been increasing acceptance of a much more flexible use of the term –both to draw in pre-World War II examples and, more importantly, to expand the category sufficiently to include the phenomenon of “Neo-Noir.”

This widening of the term, of course, complicates one of the questions that critics continue to debate. That is, what kind of classification is 'noir'? Is it a visual style, a tone, a genre, a generic field, a movement, a cycle, a series - or just a helpful category? Rather, it is a ‘network of ideas’ that can be borrowed from and played with. Therefore, a “Neo-Noir” is a film that harkens back to the original genre, but also re-invents itself for more modern sensibilities.

The transformations of the genre in Neo-Noir have helped to clarify some of the constant, recognizable elements of 'the noir vision', most importantly the moral ambivalence of the protagonist and his (or her) ill-fated relationship with a wider society that itself is guilty of corruption and criminality.

L.A. Confidential is one such film. While we watch, let's keep track of some of those key noir elements that help define the genre.

Film Noir

With a week left of class, we are going to do a genre study of film noir. Noir was born out of the post-war disillusionment of World War II, and involves hard-boiled detectives, femme fatales, and gritty, urban settings.

Due to our time constraints, we will only watch some clips of the classic noir Double Indemnity (here's an exhaustive summary of the film). From there, we will look at how the genre has evolved with the 1997 film L.A. Confidential.

In the meantime, check out this article on defining the genre, as well as a montage of film noir images to get you into the mindset of the genre.

The Hurt Locker

As we wrap-up our initial viewing of The Hurt Locker, think about what makes this film special. Why did it when "Best Picture?"

Read the Roger Ebert essay article and answer the questions at the end. Next week, we will go through your notes on the film elements I asked you to take notes on.

The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker is an Academy Award winning film (winning six—Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Film Editing, Sound Editing & Sound Mixing). For this film, we are going to break down a few of those key awards (film elements) and what makes this film the “best.”

The class will be split. Different people will look for different things…The following categories are on your viewing guide.

BEST SCREENPLAY

What are the elements of a great screenplay? A rousing plot is nice, but at the heart of a good script are round, complex characters that are developed thoroughly—that we can relate to, identify with, and look up to. Through a character’s own actions and dialogue, as well as what other characters do or say about a particular character, is character development.

There are only three main characters. Track their character development—their personality traits, their attitudes, why they act the way they act; write down examples of what they (or others) say or do that displays these traits/attitudes. How do they change? What is their “character arc?”

BEST SOUND EDITING and MIXING

The Sound Editor assembles all sounds you hear in a film—from audio effects to background noise—with the exception of its score and on-set dialogue. The Sound Mixer blends it all together, emphasizing certain aspects.

Throughout the film, track the effective use of sounds. When does it add to the situation, emotion, realism, and/or tension of the scene?

BEST FILM EDITING

As we have explored before, the Film Editor (working closely with the director) is responsible for putting all the raw footage of the film into a coherent story; s/he is responsible for pacing, as well as fluidity of transitions between shots and scenes.

Throughout the film, track the effective use of editing. When does it aid in the pacing, tension, and/or suspense of the scene?

Create-Your-Own-Viewing-Guide

Today, you watch and take notes on your chosen film, with the end goal of creating a viewing guide for you film. At this point, we've gone over what to take notes on and how to craft questions. The last step will be the formatting of the actual viewing guide...

FORMATTING
The viewing guide should be easy to read/follow, typed, and have appropriate grammar. The questions should be chronological, and you should include the following at the start:
Name: ____________
Name of Film (year released)
Directed by
List major characters

The construction of this viewing guide should attempt to show your knowledge in analyzing this film. If you simply ask plot questions or make simple charts, this will not get accomplished. The guide should demonstrate a healthy knowledge of film and this film in particular.

HERE and HERE are two exemplars of a student-created viewing guide for Jaws.

Jaws

Creating your own viewing guide: CRAFTING QUESTIONS

After you complete your note taking, you are ready to create a viewing guide. viewing guide questions point to and ask about specific scenes, characters, camerawork, music, editing, lighting, etc. These are not plot questions! Appropriate questions to ask are questions like "why did the director make this choice?" and "what effect does this choice have on the viewer?"

For Jaws, let's do this together.

Assessment: Choose your own film to bring in, watch it, take notes, and then create your own viewing guide. Look and study the viewing guides I have created and given you the past quarter—they are a great model.

• Use charts, fill-ins, questions, scene breakdowns, etc.
• Ask questions that guide someone to break down scenes or the film
• Ask questions that refer to why a director made a certain choice or how it affects the audience
• Address a variety of film concepts-Focus on lighting, editing, camera angles, sound, camera movement, etc. USE YOUR FILM TERMS.

Fun/other stuff:

• Great analysis of Jaws from Empire Magazine
• What if Jaws was a romance?
• Jaws re-enacted by bunnies...in 30 seconds

Jaws

For this film, we will be doing things a bit differently. At this point in the quarter, you should be more acquainted with looking at a film critically, and noticing certain things that a director does to affect the viewer. 

The aim of a viewing guide is to force the viewer to look critically and thoughtfully at what is on the screen, so your task for this film is to go through the process of creating your own viewing guide, using Jaws as a model. So how do you go about doing that?

First step: TAKE NOTES
What do you take notes on? Take notes on things you notice: mise en scene (composition), music, camera movement, editing, colors used, etc. I find it best to take notes by first noting what the scene is, then what it is I notice, and then finally (after viewing the film and re-watching the scenes) why I noticed it/what I think it means (what the director’s point is).

Rom-Com Assessment

The goal today is to start work on our assessment for "Romantic Comedy." You will storyboard your own romantic comedy, and may work with a partner.

Ultimately, you will play around with and use Pixton, but before you get there you need to create a plot line and sketch-out by hand your storyboard.

500 Days of Summer

How does this film fit into the Romantic Comedy Genre?

Here is a fun "supercut" called "Rec-sposition," which really dissects how men discuss their feelings...over sports!

If there is time, we will go over our assessment for this unit, where you storyboard your own romantic comedy. You may work in pairs if you want--here are directions to make that happen.

When Harry Met Sally/500 Days of Summer

As we go through the viewing guide for When Harry Met Sally, let's also talk about what exactly makes this film the quintessential romantic comedy? Last year the film celebrated its 25th anniversary, and Time Magazine had a short piece on how it is "Still the Perfect Rom-Com." In addition, ABC News had a humorous piece on "7 Ways the Plot Would be Different in 2014." Both are interesting discussions on the relevance of the film.

500 Days of Summer is an interesting look at how the conventions of romantic comedies have evolved over time...How does that film break the "rules"? Of course, there is a viewing guide to direct us...

Romantic Comedy

Some discussion questions to consider:

• What is a man’s role in a relationship?
• What is a woman’s role in a relationship?
• Who makes the “moves”?
• Who plans dates?
• Who asks who to prom? Why?
• What does a guy care about in a relationship? a girl?
• What does a break-up look like? How does it happen?

As we analyze the genre of "Romantic Comedy," we will of course look at film techniques and elements, but we will also analyze the conventions of the genre, and look at how Hollywood romanticizes the above ideas about love.

BRAINSTORM:

• What films do you know that can be considered "Romantic Comedy?"
• What quality do many of these films possess that make them “Romantic Comedies?”
• What things show up again and again?
• What kinds of characters do we see? How do they interact with each other?
• What happens in the plots?
• What are the settings?

Here are some notes on tropes and cliches of the genre...

...And now we can start watching Rob Reiner's When Harry Met Sally, which is considered the blueprint for the modern romantic comedy. Check out the Viewing Guide...