Westfall, Brian
Lucero, Ryan
Weinberg, Callen
GNED Seminar 1300
Sin City Discussion Notes
Day 1:
 Use of Prezi
 Sin City won 8 Eisner Awards through the entire series, including lunchbox
Film Noir
 Severe lighting, bad acting?, dramatic scenes, shadows, “Femme Fatale”, cryptic
 Group passed around film noir book
 Question: Is the Film Noir style an artistic decision or black & white
photography?
-Class agreed it was a blending of both, due to restrictions of black &
white film
 Maltese Falcon & The Big Sleep trailers = examples of Film Noir
 Film Noir Genre came about after WWII
 Plot elements of Film Noir = Dark depressing, betrayal, violence, sex
 Tie to the novel = What kind of Film Noir elements are present in Sin City?
-use of shadow, contrast
-elements of plot
-characters
 Question: Does it work in a novel or should it be used solely for film?
-style works for novel, plot translates well
-some confusion in images due to art style
 Meet Me In St. Louis trailer = black & white but NOT film noir
 Should have used more recent examples of film noir
Plot Summary
 Class agrees book works as a stand alone graphic novel, no need to read entire
series to grasp plot
 Question: Do you like the story?
-Many liked the book
-A need for more character development
-A lot of action = GOOD
 Question: What was the most powerful driving force in the novel? Was it novel,
characters, dialogue, or action? NO FENCE SITTING!
-action seems to be class consensus
-characters add to mystery of plot; make you want to keep reading
-dialogue adds to drama, suspense, and atmosphere
-not knowing character’s back story did not detract from plot
-author replaced corny parts of film noir with more interesting and edgy
components
 300 Reference = Is it a shameless plug or vital to the plot?
-author says he was “staking out territory”
-he had 300 on his mind when he wrote Sin City
Westfall, Brian
Lucero, Ryan
Weinberg, Callen
GNED Seminar 1300
Characters
 Dwight – considered good or bad?, mysterious
-anti-hero
-killed an innocent
-enjoys killing
 Gail – prostitute, over the top, lead opposite Dwight
-protective leader of Old Town
-hardcore girls, more hardcore than Dwight
-ruthless
-girls have helped Dwight before
-intimidating
 Miho – quiet, protector
-drives action
-loyal
-not associated with Old Town hookers
-Swastika shuriken?
 Shellie – damsel in distress
-opposite of Old Town girls, can’t protect herself
-love triangle? (Dwight, Gail, & Shellie)
 Becky – traitor
-not educated
-not evil, just stupid
-childlike
-Justification for backstabbing? Pity?
 Jack Rafferty – “hero cop” = irony
-no trust for cops
-probably violent and badass
-cop/abusive a-hole
-“Iron Jack” = probably from solving high crime
-drives plot
-Usually in Film noir cop is good guy, here he is bad guy
 Question: Who is favorite character and why?
-many like Dwight
-Group’s favorite character = Arrow Guy!
Research Questions
 Question: Who coined the term “holocaust”
-used before mass killing of Jews
-burning sacrifice
-came from Hebrew word, “show’ah” = meaning mass killing of Jews
-used by museums, spreads through culture
 Question: Why was Art Spiegelman in the looney bin?
-nervous breakdown in college
-mother commited suicide soon afterwards
Westfall, Brian
Lucero, Ryan
Weinberg, Callen
GNED Seminar 1300
Day 2:
Research Questions
 Question: What are some bad reviews of Big Fat Kill saying?
-too expensive
-too much violence
-plot & characters were more shallow
-one instance of “whited-out nipples”
 Question: What are other examples of Film Noir graphic novels?
-Frank Miller’s Batman
-Cowboy Bebop
- LA Confidential & Chinatown = movies
-Neo Noir different than Film Noir
Character Analysis
 Question: How does Dwight in Sin City compare to Rorschach in Watchmen?
-both killed people
-dark past
-Rorschach = Film Noir
 Question: Is Watchmen Film Noir?
-different cinematography, not right style
-some parts feel like Film Noir
Art Style
 Question: Did art style contribute to atmosphere?
-Yes
-contributes to chaotic & dark atmosphere
-no shades of grey = strictly black & white
-disorientating at times = chaos
-ironic? Color scheme competes with grey areas in plot
-amazing detail
 Question: What was your impression of the imagery?
Swastika
 Buddhist & Hindu symbol
 Hindu symbol for Vishnu – preserver god
 Buddhist symbol for long life
 Nazi Swastika goes counter-clockwise, Buddhist goes clockwise
 Irony of killing people with good symbol for long life
Earrings
 Different symbols (crucifix, swastika, femininity)
 Do Gail’s earrings change?
 Usually in detail
Westfall, Brian
Lucero, Ryan
Weinberg, Callen
GNED Seminar 1300
Sin City: The Movie
 Car scene & tar pit scene plus Extra feature with Frank Miller
 Very close to novel
 Question: How does color affect scene?
-not very, little saturation
-random color
-new aspect to scene
-color emotions (blue=calming, green=envy, yellow=energy,
red=anger)
 Question: How does the tar pit scene transfer from novel to movie?
-transfers well, looks cool
-high contrast
-white blood is cool
-similar angles to comic book
 Question: Getting Frank Miller to do the movie. Did it work?
-Sin City features all things he likes to draw
-selfish
-hard sell to partake in movie
-adapting cinema to book rather than book to cinema
-staying true to book
-Frank Miller = co-director
-was not allowed to help with 300, first angry then happy with result
 Question: How does this process compare with Watchmen?
-Frank Miller’s blessing & input compared to Alan Moore’s distaste for
the whole thing
Themes
 Loyalty
 Law is not justice
Message
 Purely entertainment
Frank Miller
 Brought back anti-hero
 The Dark Knight Returns – 1986 – “I gave Batman his balls back.”
 Considered comic god