March 4, 1999

Announcements:  There will be two review sessions after spring break.  The first is Tuesday, March 16 from 7 - 8:30.  The
                           second is Friday, March 19 from 1 - 2:30.  They are both in 113 Carnegie.  The second exam is March 23.

Lecture Notes:

I.  Film Noir

• Literally means "the black film"
• Group of films made during post WWII
• These movies were "darker" than the movies that preceded WWII

II.  Noir as Genre:  A Set of Conventions

• Questioned the belief that all is well
• It did this a few different ways, mainly through low-key lighting

• Little fill light, resulting in a dark or shadow-filled image
• It deglamourizes the main actors/actresses
• The Wrong Man is a good example of this

• Used to make shadows to create a negative/pessimistic effect
• Claustrophobic framing/extreme camera angles

• Film uses extreme camera angles to make the actors appear powerless
• Also uses a tracking shot to create suspense, which is a trademark of Orson Welles(the director)

III.  Evolution of Noir/Production Code

• The Production Code limited film noir
• Limited level of dialogue
• Prohibited certain subject matters from the screen (no interracial relationships or homosexual relationships, etc.)
• Film noir worked around restraints and camouflaged the concepts
• Late 1950's, the Code ended
• Late 1960's, the Ratings System (PG, G, etc.) that we know of today came into existence
• By this time films were containing subject matter such as adultery, extreme violence, prostitution, etc.

• Showed incest (between father and daughter) and discussed it very openly
• Extreme violence towards women

IV.  Women in Film Noir

• Film noir was written/produced by males
• They characterized women (especially independent women) as being responsible for the breakdown of family life and as giving rise of child delinquency
• Showed women as violent.
• Women were portrayed as male sexual fantasies