Chapter 1 review
Film Noir Literally means “ black film” and was coined by
French film critics (Nino Frank, 1946) who noticed that a
trend of dark, downbeat and black the looks and themes
of many American crime and detective films released in
France following WWII ( Maltese Falcon, Woman in the
Window, Laura).
These films reflect the tensions and insecurities
of the time, counterbalancing the musicals and
comedy.
• Fear, loss of evidence, despair, paranoia are all
evident in Noir. All reflect the “chilly” Cold
War period when nuclear annihilation was
ever-present.
• Noir evolved during WWII and was developed
around a disillusioned male character who
encountered a beautiful but promiscuous,
amoral, double-dealing and seductive femme
fatale who would use her sexuality to
manipulate him into becoming the fall guyoften following a murder. After a betrayal or
double cross she was frequently destroyed as
well.
• Noir evolved into a mood, point of view, or tone
of a film and the term frequently refers to a
distinct historical period in film history- the
decade of film making after WWII.
• The criminal, violent, misogynistic, hard-boiled
or greedy perspective of anti-heroes were a
metaphor for society’s evils, with strong
undercurrent of moral conflict and a sense of
social injustice. There were rarely happy or
optimistic endings in noir.
Looking at Movies Chapter 1
• In just over 100 years, movies have evolved into a
complex form of artistic representation and
communication.
- they are hugely influential
- it is wildly profitable industry
- movies are the most popular art form today
• We buy them online, rent, watch them on TV cable,
record, download and watch on portable
devices(iPhones, cell phones, tablets and
computers). Totally Accessible ANYWHERE!
• They provide escape, entertainment and pleasure.
• Movies (short version) comes from the motion
pictures a term coined by early filmmakers Auguste
& Louis Lumiere and invented the
Cimematographe, a portable, hand-cranked device
that is a camera, processing plant, and projector all
in one. This form provides the viewer with
uninterrupted onscreen action using multiple types
of angles.
• Cinema comes from the Greek word Kinesis
meaning movement
• Cinematic language includes the techniques and
concepts filmmakers use to connect viewers to a
film that otherwise may hide the means of
storytelling.
• “ Composed not of words but a myriad of
interconnected techniques and concepts. It
connects us to the story while deliberately
concealing the means by which it does so.”
• “ It pervades our world on multiple levels: by
narrative, artistic expression and reflection of the
cultures that both produce and consume them.”
• Almost all movies share another basic
characteristic – They are narrative in nature.
Every movie that selects and arranges subject
matter in a cause and effect sequence of
events employs narrative structure.
EX: March of the Penguins (2005) [resents
the Antarctic emperor penguins’ annual cycle of
courtship, breeding and migration as a
compelling and suspenseful narrative.
• Documentaries – Strive for objective, observed
veracity (truthfulness), but do tell stories.
EX: Spike Lee’s 2006 documentary, “When the
Levees Broke,” that looks at the devastation in New
Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Virtually every movie employs narrative in some form.
Narratives made in Africa and Latin America reflect the
story telling tradition structure of their own cultures,
which is very different from Western European and
North America.
• Editing is the joining together of shots to create a
sequence to present and control what the viewer sees
in a movie and how that viewer sees it.
• Shot is an unbroken span of action that allows the
viewer’s perspective to shift within a given
composition. A scene that can long or short depending
on the director’s view of the image.
• Film is the term applied to a motion picture that is
considered by critics and scholars to be more serious or
challenging to produce.
• Movies are to entertain the masses. In commercial
films, certain viewer expectations are generally met:
– Relatively standardized cinematic language
– Seemless continuity
– An organized narrative.
• Fade in/ fade out is a filmmaking technique that
indicates the passage of time.
• Low angle shot may present a character strong, noble
or threatening.
• Implicit meaning is the what lies below the surface is a
movie’s story and presentation.
– EX: Juno – motherhood, relationships, abortion, etc..
• Some factors that contribute to a movie having an
“invisible meaning” are fade in/fade out, low angle
shots, and cutting on action.
• Cultural invisibility is often motivated by commercial
intent, sometimes leads viewers to being unaware of
the film’s implied message, and is not always a
calculated decision on the part of the filmmaker.
• Cutting on action is a common editing
technique that hides the shift from one shot
to the next by ending the first shot in the
middle of a continuing action and starting the
next shot at the same point further along in
the same action.
• Close-up is a shot that often shows a object or
part of the body filling the frame traditionally
a face possibly a hand, eye or mouth.
• Cut is a direct change from one shot to
another, the precise point at which shoot A
ends and shot B begins.
• Close analysis of any particular movie can tell us a
great deal about the artist, society or the industry
that created it.
Juno break down of a scene sequence.
• In the waiting room sequence, Juno turns her
head to find the source of a particular sound. At
this moment the camera adjust to reveal a
mother drumming her nails on a clipboard. This
shot is an example of POINT OF VIEW.
• The 10 second duration of the opening shot in
the waiting room sequence is relatively long and
establishes a relaxed mood.
• The protagonist in Juno displays the traits we
often associate with rogue hero, who by the
end of the film upholds the institution she
scorns.
• A shot is an unbroken span of action that
allows the viewer’s perspective to shift within
a given composition.
• Formal analysis is an analytical approach
concerned with the means by which a subject
is expressed.