Introduction

“From January through December deep shadows, clutching hands, exploding revolvers, sadistic villains and heroines tormented with deeply rooted diseases of the mind flashed across the screen in a panting display of psychoneuroses, unsublimated sex and murder most foul”, the exciting detective film classified and stereotyped into the Film Noir genre seemed almost dead with newer genre’s taking over. However, Frank Miller’s comic book’s set in a noir style was brought to life with the help of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. Although the question remains as to whether the new genre has been able to capture the essence of the 1940’s loved genre, Film Noir. Does the 21^st century re-make ‘Neo-Noir’ remain the same as ‘Film Noir’ or is it a misconception and has it been wrongly stereotyped into this new genre?

Essay Plan Revised

Essay Plan

"Does the neo-noir genre continue to follow the representations of the classic film noir genre, with particular reference to ‘Sin City’ (2005)"

Introduction

1) Douglas Pye (1975) - “Generic consistency allows for the shorthand of conventions and stereotypes but also for the interplay between confirmed expectations and novelty

2) Andrew Taylor (1986) - "Genre is what we collectively believe it to be"

3) "Whoever went to the movies with any regularity during 1946 was caught in the midst of Hollywood's profound post war affection fro morbid drama. From January through December deep shadows, clutching hands, exploding revolvers, sadistic villains and heroines tormented with deeply rooted diseases of the mind flashed across the screen in a panting display of psychoneuroses, unsublimated sex and murder most foul" – This article is from a 1947 'Life' magazine within The Cinema Book.

Paragraph 1 – History and Style of Film Noir

1) When did it all begin? Where did it come from?

2) How do these characteristics define Film Noir and how do they represent characters in the film?

Talk about Chiaroscuro lighting (M), Dutch Angle (M), Auteur Theory (G), Patriarchy (I, R)

3) “Back in the post-WWII Hollywood era that spawned most films noir, these movies were called either Crime Thrillers or Murder Dramas” (G) http://www.greencine.com/static/primers/noir.jsp

4) Femme Fetale – “As women during the war period were given newfound independence and better job-earning power in the homeland during the war, they would suffer on the screen in these films of the 40s”

Paragraph 2 – History and Style of Neo Noir

1) Why did Neo Noir emerge?

2) How do these characteristics define Neo Noir and how do they represent characters in the film?

Talk about Chiaroscuro lighting (M), Dutch Angle (M), Auteur Theory (G), Patriarchy (I, R)

3) Although ‘Sin City’ does not have one protagonist the character of Hartigan can be identified as the most idealized version of the classic noir detective, as he is rugged, very manly and saves women time and time again.

Paragraph 3 – The changes in genre

1) Why did the changes occur? (SHEP?)

2) Robert Stam identifies four key problems with generic labels in film:

Extension (the narrowness of labels)

Normativism (having preconceived ideas of criteria for genre) [A]

Monolithic definitions (as if an item belonged to only one genre) [G] – the item in this instance is the monochrome/chiaroscuro lighting used for Film Noir and Neo Noir.

Biologism (a kind of essentialism in which genres are seen as evolving through a standardized life cycle) – Zeitgeist; links to how film noir is of it’s time and neo noir is of it’s time [Wider Context – S, E] (Stam 2000, 128-129).

3) “The figure of the femme fetale, a further trend in recent writing on noir has been an attention to issues of masculinity”… “Frank Krutnik, 1991, and for Deborah Thomas, 1992, issues of masculinity and central to Film Noir, which they see as dramatising and exploring ‘a particular crisis in male masculinity’ (R) [1]

Paragraph Four – What hasn’t changed

1) How has Neo Noir adopted the characteristics of Film Noir?

2) The females in film noir were either of two types – dutiful (devoted), reliable, trustworthy and loving women; or femme fatales - mysterious, duplicitous (two faced), double-crossing, gorgeous, unloving, predatory, unreliable, irresponsible, manipulative and desperate women.

http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html

3) Female characters in noir films reinforced Laura Mulvey’s theory on the male gaze and the characters that played the femme fatale held the quality of “to-be-looked-at-ness” [R][I][A] http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html

4) “Heroes (or anti-heroes), corrupt characters and…these protagonists were often morally-ambiguous low-lives from the dark and gloomy underworld of violent crime and corruption.

5) Representation of women. Roland Barthes = Myth. When an ideology is repeated enough, people start to believe it. Sin City has generalized stereotypes such as men being the hero for pretty much every woman in the film.

6) Storylines were often elliptical, non-linear and twisting. Narratives were frequently complex, maze-like and convoluted, and typically told with foreboding background music, flashbacks (or a series of flashbacks), witty, razor-sharp and acerbic dialogue, and/or reflective and confessional, first-person voice-over narration.

http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html

Conclusion – Does Neo Noir follow the same representations as Film Noir?

1) Does Neo-noir follow the representations of Film Noir? If so, why? If not, why?

2) “…Low budgets and B-film status of many film noirs were seen as a priori proof that the films were 'trash” (Cinema Book) [E] http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html

Is this true? Do low budgets account for an entire genre as being labelled ‘trash’?

Reference

[1] Cook, Pam; Bernink, Mieke (2003) Pg 188

Bibliography

Stam, Robert (2000): Film Theory an Introduction. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers
Ltd.F.

Cook, Pam; Bernink, Mieke (2003): The Cinema Book. Stephen Street, London: British Film Institute.

Cosmo Girl x Elle Girl

Cosmo Girl http://www.chineselaundrybags.com/images/InitialSet/2006CosmoSeptC1.jpg
Elle Girl http://www.meganmarysmith.com/images/gallery_ellegirl.jpg

The cover of Cosmo Girl shows a medium close up of Ashlee Simpson, she is looking directly towards the audience in an innocent way. On the other hand, Elle Girl shows OC star Rachel Bilson in a medium long shot with the camera at a low angle. With the wind blowing in her hair and her facial expression there is a sense of a provocative pose.

The background for Elle Girl is more natural and shows greenery whereas the background of Cosmo Girl is just a plain white studio backdrop. The colour scheme for Elle Girl uses mainly pinks, whites and blacks some use of yellow to highlight the special price. The pink can be seen as a typical colour to represent girls. Cosmo Girl has a colour scheme of pink, black and green, ‘Girl’ is written in a pink lipstick style conveying this magazine is for girls.

The genres for both magazines are teenage, girl’s magazines, which often have topics regarding clothes, beauty and lifestyle, similar to the kind of subjects found in the older women’s version to Elle Girl and Cosmo Girl.

Ashlee Simpson on the cover of Cosmo Girl is show to look innocent and is a celebrity who Cosmo Girl feels is a good role model for their readers. She is shown to be pretty and with light make-up Cosmo is attempting to convey it as natural beauty, so that younger readers can aspire to look that particular way with little effort. Elle Girl does the same; however, Rachel Bilson is conveyed to be naturally beautiful, as she is not wearing noticeable make-up. Rather than conveying her as her OC character Summer, Elle Girl conveys Bilson as the person she is.

Cosmo Girl is the teen alternative to Cosmopolitan; the target readership for this magazine can be identified as young teenage girls aged between 14 to 19 year olds. Elle Girl is for a similar demographic for young girls and teenagers. The ‘Girl’ in both titles of the magazines creates a separation from Cosmopolitan and Elle from which the younger magazine alternative are produced. This also shows some element of continuity, as the audience grows up they can continue read Elle or Cosmopolitan.

The tag lines of Elle Girl convey the ideology that as a girl one has to look beautiful with “perfect back-to-school makeover” and “Hollywood Style Special”. The ‘Hollywood style’ reinforces celebrity culture and suggests to the audience that they can look like their favourite stars such as “…Hilary Duff, Lindsay Lohan…” Cosmo Girl focuses more of the aspiration of looking beautiful with “beauty Qs” and “Amazing Abs”. With Ashlee Simpson the only celebrity on the cover it can be seen that Cosmo are down playing the celebrity culture.

In conclusion, although Cosmo Girl and Elle Girl are two different types of teenage magazines they both have some similarity. The masthead and the use of pink coloured text within the masthead allow the audience to identify these as girl’s magazines. Furthermore, the celebrities used on the cover reinforces the girl magazine status and somewhat encourages celebrity culture. Finally, the taglines of the magazines show the audience what to expect when they buy it and both Cosmo Girl and Elle Girl have articles about beauty, lifestyle and clothes often similar to articles in Cosmopolitan and Elle.

Dr No. x Casino Royale

Casino Royale (2007) http://www.lovefilm.com/lovefilm/images/products/7/55887-large.jpg

Dr No. (1962) http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000FIKU7K.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

The Casino Royale cover shows a long shot of the recent James Bond in the foreground holding a gun; the background has a bigger female figure. However, this background is a silhouette and within the silhouette there is a dark image of a casino lit up with yellow lighting and below the casino is silver car, which is parallel with James Bond suit and the grey background of the DVD cover. The target audiences for many of the James Bond films are men aged between 15-25 years old. Daniel Craig is not looking towards the audience this is similar in the 1962 Dr No DVD cover.

The Dr No DVD cover is part of a ultimate edition. The DVD cover is split into 3 sections and the top and bottom sections are in a grey monochrome color scheme. The middle shows a colored picture, which shows a Bond girl in a bikini and has just come out of the water; she fulfils the Mulvey’s ‘to-be-looked-at-ness’ quality. The foreground shows a medium shot of Sean Connery holding a gun and is looking in a different direction away from the audience.

Both DVD covers show the main protagonist holding a phallic object in the shape of their gun and also has some representation of a female. The iconography of guns and women become conventional of the Bond films.

‘United Artists’ distributed Dr No where as the most recent Bond film; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Columbia Pictures distributed Casino Royale. Both institutions produce Hollywood films, which can be seen with the use of expensive cars, gadgets and sets.

The genre for the Bond films can been identified by the iconography within the DVD covers. One icon can be identified as the gun; the gun symbolizes violence and action, the female who is an object of the male gaze, or the Bond girl, is another icon, which conveys to the audience that the Bond film can be considered an action film. Casino Royale also employs and fast car, which is often, a visual medium used in action films.

The Bond girl in the Dr No DVD cover conforms to the Mulvey theory of being an object of the male gaze and furthermore hold to quality of ‘to-be-looked-at-ness’. Furthermore, Bond being the protagonist reinforces patriarchy this also shown by the way that Bond is always holding a gun on the DVD cover.

The audience for the Bond films can vary, the target audience can been seen as males aged between 15 to 25 years old. A secondary audience can be identified as an older generation who enjoy watching the James Bond films since they began in 1962. Through the DVD cover women are not targeted however, the storylines try to engage women as they often show Bond having relationships with women.

The Bond films are well known to reinforce patriarchy values and undermine women. Casino Royale subverts the undermining of women the silhouette of the women figure is bigger than Bond, however, with his gun in his hand as a phallic symbol and the expression on his face he is conveyed to be more power and thus reinforces patriarchy. The Dr No DVD cover shows the female as a object and is present for the male gaze, this by itself reinforces patriarchy. Again Bond is shown to be holding a gun as a phallic object, giving him more power than the female.

Both covers show Bond in the foreground and a female in the background, this can convey a narrative of Bond having to overcome his promiscuous nature to save the world one more time. It also shows that the character of Bond does not see women as important thus also reinforcing patriarchy.

In conclusion, the Bond DVD covers convey patriarchy ideologies and values. Bond is shown to be the most important person on the cover, often in the foreground and holding a gun as a phallic object to reinforce his patriarchal status. The females are objectified and in the Dr No cover the female is wearing a bikini however, the most recent DVD cover only shows a silhouette of a female. Finally, these representations and ideologies conveyed through the DVD covers appeal to the male audience who are so fond of the action films with girls and fast cars.

Essay Plan

Essay Plan

"Does the neo-noir genre continue to follow the representations of the classic film noir genre, with particular reference to ‘Sin City’ (2005)"

Key	What it means
Purple	Links to Migrain and Shep
Red	Quote
Bold	Key word
Italic	Website Link

Media Language (M)

Chiaroscuro lighting – Sharply contrasting lighting where strong highlights and dark shadows are cast for a dramatic and atmospheric effect. From the Italian words ‘Chiaro’, meaning ‘Bright’ and ‘Scuro’ meaning ‘Dark’.

Dutch Angle (Canted shot) – a type of camera shot, which involves tilting the camera to create a sense of disorientation.

Auteur Theory – A term to describe the decisive, creative input of a film director in determining the stylistic and ideological treatment of a film – What you see on the screen is a reflection of the directors style rather than what genre theory represents [G]

Ideology (I)

Patriarchy – male (and also world) domination in society is reflected on the silver screen [I][R]

Genre (G)

The noir genre has “various recurrent themes” (Cinema Book), crime and murder; these are continually used in both neo-noir and classic noir films. [G]

“Back in the post-WWII Hollywood era that spawned most films noir, these movies were called either Crime Thrillers or Murder Dramas” [G] http://www.greencine.com/static/primers/noir.jsp

"Schrader goes on to suggest that the fundamental reason for the neglect of noir was the importance of visual style to the form: 'American critics have been traditionally more interested in theme than style" (Cinema Book) [Wider Context – H]

Robert Stam identifies four key problems with generic labels in film:

Extension (the narrowness of labels)

Normativism (having preconceived ideas of criteria for genre) [A]

Monolithic definitions (as if an item belonged to only one genre) [G] – the item in this instance is the monochrome/chiaroscuro lighting used for Film Noir and Neo Noir.

Biologism (a kind of essentialism in which genres are seen as evolving through a standardized life cycle) – Zeitgeist; links to how film noir is of it’s time and neo noir is of it’s time [Wider Context – S, E] (Stam 2000, 128-129).

Douglas Pye (1975) - “Generic consistency allows for the shorthand of conventions and stereotypes but also for the interplay between confirmed expectations and novelty

Andrew Taylor (1986) - "Genre is what we collectively believe it to be"

Paul Schrader suggests: "Schrader goes on to suggest that the fundamental reason for the neglect of noir was the importance of visual style to the form: 'American critics have been traditionally more interested in theme than style" – The Cinema Book

"Whoever went to the movies with any regularity during 1946 was caught in the midst of Hollywood's profound post war affection fro morbid drama. From January through December deep shadows, clutching hands, exploding revolvers, sadistic villains and heroines tormented with deeply rooted diseases of the mind flashed across the screen in a panting display of psychoneuroses, unsublimated sex and murder most foul" – This article is from a 1947 'Life' magazine within The Cinema Book.


Representation (R)

Femme fatale - “A cynical, hard-hearted, disillusioned male character, who encountered a…femme fatale. She would use her feminine wiles and come-hither sexuality to manipulate him into becoming the fall guy - often following a murder. After a betrayal or double-cross, she was frequently destroyed as well, often at the cost of the hero's life. As women during the war period were given new-found independence and better job-earning power in the homeland during the war, they would suffer -- on the screen -- in these films of the 40s.” [Wider Context, historical] [R] http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html

The females in film noir were either of two types – dutiful (devoted), reliable, trustworthy and loving women; or femme fatales - mysterious, duplicitous (two faced), double-crossing, gorgeous, unloving, predatory, unreliable, irresponsible, manipulative and desperate women.

http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html

Female characters in noir films reinforced Laura Mulvey’s theory on the male gaze and the characters that played the femme fatale held the quality of “to-be-looked-at-ness” [R][I][A] http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html

“The femme fatale, who had also transgressed societal norms with her independent and smart, menacing actions, would bring both of them to a downfall.” [N] http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html

“Heroes (or anti-heroes), corrupt characters and…these protagonists were often morally-ambiguous low-lives from the dark and gloomy underworld of violent crime and corruption. Distinctively, they were cynical, tarnished, obsessive (sexual or otherwise), brooding, menacing, sinister, sardonic, disillusioned, frightened and insecure loners (usually men), struggling to survive – and in the end, ultimately losing.” [R] http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html

Although ‘Sin City’ does not have one protagonist the character of Hartigan can be identified as the most idealized version of the classic noir detective, as he is rugged, very manly and saves women time and time again.

“The figure of the femme fetale, a further trend in recent writing on noir has been an attention to issues of masculinity”… “Frank Krutnik, 1991, and for Deborah Thomas, 1992, issues of masculinity and central to Film Noir, which they see as dramatising and exploring ‘a particular crisis in male masculinity’ [R] [1]

Narrative Structure (N)

“…Low budgets and B-film status of many film noirs were seen as a priori proof that the films were 'trash” (Cinema Book) [E] http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html

Sin City has 3 stories within the film, which intertwine with one another, subverting Todorov’s narrative structure theory and also subverts the typical narrative structure on a classic noir film. [N] http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html

Storylines were often elliptical, non-linear and twisting. Narratives were frequently complex, maze-like and convoluted, and typically told with foreboding background music, flashbacks (or a series of flashbacks), witty, razor-sharp and acerbic dialogue, and/or reflective and confessional, first-person voice-over narration.

http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html

Roland Barthes = Myth. When an ideology is repeated enough, people start to believe it. Sin City has generalized stereotypes such as men being the hero for pretty much every woman in the film.

[1] Cook, Pam; Bernink, Mieke (2003) Pg 188

Bibliography

Stam, Robert (2000): Film Theory an Introduction. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers
Ltd.F.

Cook, Pam; Bernink, Mieke (2003): The Cinema Book. Stephen Street, London: British Film Insistitute.

Title

"Does the neo-noir genre continue to follow the representations of the classic film noir genre, with particular reference to ‘Sin City’ (2005)"

Elle x GQ

Magazine Comparison – Elle x GQ

Elle – http://www.magazines.com/magcom/covers/0/06/040/0060400.jpg
GQ – http://www.futureofthebook.org/sivavaidhyanathan/archives/gq.jpg


The front cover of Elle has Keira Knightly in a blue dress; she is posed in a somewhat innocent yet provocative manner. This has been done, as Keira Knightly is known to be quite innocent yet beautiful, perhaps what the target audience aspire to be like. Elle is read by female’s aged 25-35 therefore many are wives whom want to be the stereotypical slender, innocent looking wife but to also have a sex appeal, similarly to Keira Knightly.
The cover of GQ has Jessica Simpson on the front, which is used to sell the magazine, which is clear emphasis, on whom the magazine is sold to. Additionally, the colours connote a rugged army and nationalistic ideology due to the American colour theme used, and Jessica Simpson wearing army clothing.
Both magazines colour schemes match the month in which they are published, for instance the cover of GQ was published in July and the colour scheme uses reds, blues and green to emphasise the summer. Where as Elle was published in December and a red and white colour scheme is used to emphasise cold, snow and Christmas.

Elle is known to focuses on women's fashion, beauty, health, and entertainment where by it is the one of the largest fashion magazines. Elle has been around for many years, being known to appeal to the more sophisticated female audiences when compared to rival fashion magazines. Additionally, GQ is also known for the more mature and sophisticated male as other rival magazines such as FHM and Maxim.
GQ is a men’s lifestyle magazine, meaning it talks about all aspects of life. It covers men’s interests and hobbies. For example, the cover how to ‘be the best dressed man in America’ which covers men’s clothing and how to dress which for some men may be a daunting task as men are known to be uninterested in fashion and may need guidance. In comparison to GQ, Elle is the same magazine but for women. Elle covers women’s hobbies and interests such as, ‘hair… the secret to super-brightness’.


GQ objectifies women as they use Jessica Alba to sell the magazine, as the tagline states, “God this is a great country… Jessica Simpson” which has the implications of her being an object. Laura Mulvey’s theory of ‘to-be-looked-at-ness’ is clearly illustrated on the cover of GQ as Jessica Alba serves no other purpose except to sell the magazine on a sexual content basis where by she is wearing an American flag covered bikini with rolled down camouflage combat trousers. Her costume represents GQ and it’s audience to be nationalistic as their object of desire is bathed in American print clothing whilst most of the text is in red or blue.
However, Elle uses Keira Knightly as women of beauty, a person who can be seen as a role model where she is seen as a person rather than an object. However, as she appears to be so perfect does this really mean she isn’t an object of perfection, where she is an unrealistic idolized version of what women want to be, where by she has been manipulated in order to look like that therefore, has she been treated as an object must be considered.

The audience for both magazines’ are rather similar, where Elle caters to the middle class housewife and GQ caters for the middle class male. However, either magazine differs due to the gender of their audience. On the cover of GQ, articles such as, ‘In search of the greatest hamburger in the nation’ which shows the boyish male side to the magazine. Where as Elle’s articles are more mature and feminine, ‘How to be the best dressed girl at the party’, which shows that women care about looking good when going to parties, however the word girl gives off the ideology that it may be a mature cocktail party rather than a teenage house party.

To conclude, both magazines appeal to very similar markets and audiences the only separation in audiences is gender as both are sophisticated lifestyle magazines for a mature audience when compared with their key rivals. However, it is clear to see that a patriarchal ideology runs throughout GQ as they continuously use women as objects.

The Big Combo (1955)

The Big Combo (1955) is an American film noir directed by Joseph H. Lewis and stylistically photographed by cinematographer and noir icon John Alton with music by David Raksin.

This film noir is considered by many film critics as one of the best work of legendary cinematographer John Alton. [1]

Film Noir has been known to mostly employ orchestral (strings) scores. However, The Big Combo is one of few film noir's to have a brass score.

[1] Kemp, Philip. International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. Vol 4: Writers and Production Artists, New York-London, 2000

-----------------------------------------
John Alton

Alton was known for unconventional camera angles—especially low camera shots. His style is most notable in the film noirs: He Walked by Night, The Big Combo, The Amazing Mr. X, T-Men, and Raw Deal.

More info: http://www.celtoslavica.de/chiaroscuro/dop/alton.html