Each student will analyze a scene from a film that is considered noir. The student will consider the scene’s narrative, cinematography, sound, mise-en-scene, and editing. How do each of these elements fit into noir? What do we know about noir from this scene? This could be done in a powerpoint form where the class watches the scene then the student explains all the elements.
Film noir. Possible Project
Say we watch Maltese Falcon. Then we watch another one of Humphrey Bogart’s films, because why not. We could even watch multiple Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall films since they’re in so many together; making it more interesting looking at the same actors’ performances. Then compare and contrast the films, but not just based off of the actors’ performance. There is many things to look at, including directing style, subtext, genre and the role the genre takes in the film itself. I would especially like to look at what was going on in the world during the time the film was made and released.
Q: Could this film be a different media text? (a book, a play, etc.)
Q: Which came first? The film Citizen Kane or the comic The Spirit. Both basically defining the fundamentals of noir.
For our next class meeting – Thursday, 11 February – you will be moving closer to a fully fleshed-out assignment for the Student-designed assignments portion of the course.
In order to deepen your understanding of film noir in ways that are particular to your interests and background, you will design an assignment that you and your classmates can submit for partial credit in the course.
First, tonight (9 February), you will post to your blog an Assignment Draft, in which you lay out the following elements:
Then, tomorrow (10 Februrary), you will comment on each of your classmates Drafts. In these comments, you will focus on how you see the Draft supporting one or more of the Course Objectives in the syllabus.
In class on Thursday, we will determine which assignment(s) we will use in the first half of the course.
February 9, 2016
In past Media Classes that consisted of Introduction to Media Studies, New Media & Culture Change, and Digital Video Production, the things that I really enjoyed most are the textual analysis and discussion of each of their respective topics. For Film Noir, I absolutely love the idea of watching multiple films together and analyzing them to decipher whether or not they depict noir and why. Another thought that intrigued me was the idea behind maybe filming some short clips in an attempt to illustrate noir. Discussing the different character traits in different films of noir and the time periods when the films were created would definitely be interesting for me–especially in regards to how these films were being influenced during those said time periods. Last but not least, definitely would open to a large group project of some sort.
For this assignment, we would develop a scene or two in the noir-style and shoot the scenes (either downstairs in the theater or elsewhere), trying to get an understanding of what the directors of these movies are thinking. In these scenes, we would make sure to include traditional noir elements, such as the hard-boiled protagonist or specific lighting techniques and camera angles.
The students would have to take on different responsibilities in order for this to work. Unless we pull in other students, a couple could be actors, someone would have to write the scene, someone would need to work the camera and adjust the setup of the scene/work with the lighting. Depending on peoples’ interest, we could assign duties based on who wanted to do what. This project would be maybe 5% of the final grade?
For an early assignment, I think I would be beneficial to work as a class in creating scenes that could be seen in a noir film. I think this would give the class a better understanding of this genre while allowing us to work together and experience this just not from a viewing standpoint. Since it would be as a class, I do not feel like it would need to be a large portion of our grade but instead more on the line of completing it with a better understanding.
I like the idea of taking a few examples of movies that are labeled ‘noir’ and studying their characteristics and comparing. I think I would understand noir best by reading about the tropes of film noir and then seeing those used in context. I would also like to look at the texts of film noir as reflections of the time period.
Learning about Film Noir.
I guess I’m here because I just want to learn more about the film industry. I’ve recently been watching older movies from the 30’s and 50’s more.
A particular assignment that could support my increasing understanding of Noir.
Watch Noir and not Noir films, talk about what makes them noir or not during class, and understand the backstory of the film as well/ what was going on in the world during that time.
A project we could do for understanding the techniques of noir is use cameras to capture our own shots typical of noir, so we get a first-hand understanding of what these techniques look like and what they are supposed to convey to the audience.
