Film noir is a style or genre of cinematographic film marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism and menace. It is used primarily to describe stylised Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasise cynical attitudes and motivations.
A classical Noir movie example would be :
Touch of Evil
A Neo Noir movie example would be :
Absence of Malice
Hollywood 1930 – 1990
Rating – 8/10
I gave Casablanca a rating of 8 as I though the narrative of the story was very well shown through the acting of the characters. I think the editing of the classic Hollywood style really showed the type of the movie it would be. Although the film was in black and white, it didn’t make the movie feel different from a colour film
My favourite scene was when Ilsa and Rick was talking to each other before her and Victor left Casablanca to go to America. I think the acting from Ilsa and Rick helped to emphasise the scene as it showed that they really cared about each other and still love each other.
1.Why did film makers and producers move to Hollywood?
The mountains, plains and low land prices made Hollywood a good place to establish film studios. They moved to Hollywood for a more consistent climate for year round film shooting and to escape fees imposed by Tomas Edison
2.Name some of the big stars, directors and pictures from the Silent Era of Hollywood? (at least TWO of each)
Big stars – Greta Garbo(Swedish-American actress), Charlie Chaplin (English)
Directors- Charlie Chaplin (English) , D.W Griffith (American)
Picture – The birth of a Nation, The Big Parade
3.In what ways were the early Hollywood studio system like a factory or production line or even the Premier League (football)?
The Studio system operated like a factory, with stars, directors, writers and crew all working under long-term contracts. Everything is happening in one area instead of all over the place. The stars are the properties of the studios.
4.When and what was the first “talking picture”?
The Jazz Singer, which premiered on October 6, 1927
5.Why did the end of the silent era cause problems for some performers working in the film industry?
Silent actors/ actresses who were reduced to smaller character/supporting or uncredited parts following the advert of sound, or who left the industry together, due to the unsuitability of their voice and/ or acting abilities with the new medium
6.What was happening in America(and around the world) at this time?
– Word war 1 started from July 28, 1914 – November 11, 1918 : meaning things get expensive and many people lost there jobs – The Great Depression
– The wall Street Crash (1929)
The Hays code is a set of guidelines, self-imposed by Hollywood studios, regulating the moral content of films produced from 1934 to 1968.
The Hays code forbade the use of profanity, obscenity and racial slurs and included detailed instruction outlining how certain topics should be shown on screen, especially proscribing graphic violence, criminality, substance use, promiscuity, miscegenation, and homosexuality.
1930-1947 – The Golden Age of Hollywood
•1) What were the Big 5 studios & what type of movies was each studio famous for?
Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), RKO, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, Paramount Pictures.
•2) Explain what vertical integration and block-booking was ?
Vertical Integration is a business strategy where a company expands its operation by acquiring or merging with other companies at different stages of production within the same industry
•3) Why and when did the original studio system collapse?
Challenges in the form of pay TV, antitrust legislation, low admissions and censorship had worn down the studios in the previous decade. The studio system was also challenged under the antitrust laws in a 1948 supreme court ruling which sought to separate production from distribution and exhibition and ended such practices.
•4) What was happening in America(and around the world) at this time?
Word war 1 started from July 28, 1914 – November 11, 1918 : meaning things get expensive and many people lost there jobs – The Great Depression
– The wall Street Crash (1929)
•5) What genres were popular and why did people go to the movies in this period?
Genre films were big hits, especially westerns, gangster and crime movies and musicals.
While the country was consumed in a sullen attempt to rebuild society, Films offered an accessible escape for restless minds in tough times and the theatre offered a place of escapism through entertainment.
What is it meant by the invisible style of storytelling?
Invisible style of a storytelling is when the editing and the different cuts of the film is ” invisible ” or unnoticeable to the audience. The style of editing is normally associated with classical Hollywood.
What is continuity editing?
A system of cutting used to dominate continuous and clear narrative action by following a set of rules. Continuity editing is an editing system used to maintain consistency of both time and space in the film. The benefit’s of the editing technique is the shot sequence flow seamlessly into each other and its easy to watch the film.
Aesthetics – An overall style. A film will create a certain aesthetic from the mise en scene and cinematography.
Verisimilitude – the appearance of being true or real.
Social realism – films aims to show the effects of environment factors on the development of character.
magic realism – portrays fantastical events in otherwise realistic tone
Hyperreality – an inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality
Iconography – the patterns of signs we associate with a particular genre.
Intertextual Referencing – two works of art overlaps. The movie overlaps with another work of art.
Visual/sound motifs – sound motif is a recurring element that is associated with a particular character, theme, or idea.
Colour Grading – the process of manipulating and enhancing colour to achieve a desire look and mood.
Auteur Trademarks – a reference ( e.g. to an object, a character, or a happening) that is recurrent in the authors work.
Pathos – referred to as an emotional appeal
Bathos – the effect of turning a serious moment in a movie, into something completely trivial and unimportant.
Suspense – the audience’s excited anticipation about the plot or conflict.
Comedy – light-hearted dramas, crafted to amuse and to entertain the audience.
Dramatic Irony – The significance of a characters words or action is clear to other audience but unknown to the character.
Distancing Effect – artists never act as if there were a fourth wall besides the three surrounding them
Postmodern Humour – subvert highly regarded expectation
Young people in This Is England is most represented from the gang of Skinheads, they are represented as being ready to fight and make a difference. Apart from the skinheads there is a scene that takes place at a school which shows a bit of bullying from an older boy who is making fun of Shaun’s jeans.
In the film, there is a showing of Shaun’s father who appears not to be alive anymore but it shows how he died in the war fighting for his country showing the typical masculine traits of being strong and powerful. This father figure is soon filled in by Woody who act very paternal to Shaun ( buying him shirts ).
From many scenes in the film, you can see the low income housing being represented and the poverty being are going through. Most of the house being used have low amount of furniture of furniture that looks old, tacky and uncomfortable showing the audience that the people in the film couldn’t afford much.
The location used from the film, like low income housing can create a verisimilitude feeling for the audience as many people have similar experience when living in poverty. There is many derelict, abandoned location showing isolation throughout the town.
Women in the film are being portrayed as being the girlfriends to the main characters such as Kelly. There is the plotline of Shaun asking smell (16) to be his girlfriend, showing that age should be a reason not to date.
Black People are represented as being the villain and taking English peoples jobs, in many scenes you feel upset and bad for them as they are being accused of many thing when they are also just trying to have life in the UK.
Older people are being represented as being in a higher class with having more expensive items such as having a nicer car and nicer clothing showing they have had a different upbringing compared to the skinheads.
In the film there is image of Margaret Thatcher, showing the nation and she is represented as being a nasty and unwelcoming conservative, There is image of the English fighting showing them standing of for themselves and fighting for the countries.
I think sound throughout the film was used really well. For me the music used help to enhance scene and create more of a meaning for example – 25 minute in, there is happy upbeat music while everyone is playing football implying the happy and fun atmosphere of the game and friendship for Shaun and Woody, this help the audience reflect similar type of emotion like Shaun.
In This Is England, I really liked the editing such as the montages throughout the film especially the first opening scene of the film, where there is a montage of the prime minister, King Charles and Princess Diana and a war. This helps the audience know when the film was set in and to know some knowledge about the film before it has properly begun.
I really like the mise en scene for this film such as the location which created a verisimilitude feeling for the audience, I really liked the costumes as well for example in order to fit in with the skinhead you needed a shirt, doc martins, brace and your head to be shaved.
For me the cinematography was used really well, for example at shake camera work. This creates a sense that you are in the scene with the other characters, as the audience it creates an instability of nervousness. The shaky handheld camera throughout contributes to the authentic tone of this social realistic film.
All aspects of film form including narrative contribute to the representations of cultures and societies (gender, ethnicity and age) including the ideological nature of those representations.
Stereotype -a general belief about a certain category or person
countertype – goes against a stereotype of certain beliefs example a black president of America rather than a white president of America.
Sarah Connor looks stereotypically of an American waitress. In Terminator one and in this scene she is late to her job and she seems careless about it, she is being called from every direction e.g. people missing drinks, somebody putting ice-cream in her uniform dress pocket. However she shows many feminine traits she looks kind and maternal and caring.
In this scene and in the second movies, Sarah Connor is more of a countertype of a stereotypically self in the first movie. Sarah also show more masculine traits as she is holding a gun while is not conventional of a female. She looks like she is the hero and she is trying to protect something. She is wearing a tight shirt and we can see her muscles showing the audience that she is a countertype of a kind, maternal looking waitress self in the first movie.
Scottish, young white men being represented in the film as drug addicts who are quite scary, mean and unkind people.
Older people being represented in the film as being kind, fun caring people compared to the younger people in the film. For example Renton’s parents are a loving couple who are deeply concerned for their son and want to make him a better person.
Women are being represented as the girlfriends to the main characters in the film. They are more represented as an object through the men’s eyes
Director- Shane Meadows
I rate This Is England a 7/10. I rated it a 7 as I though the acting from the actors and actresses was very good. I thought the location of the film showed a true and verisimilitude feeling for many of the audience. I though the soundtrack and the music used really enhanced many of the scene as well
For me my favourite scene was when Shaun was trying to fit in with Woody and his gang by getting the correct shoes, haircut and trouser. I really liked it when Woody surprised Shaun by getting him the shirt so Shaun could fit in. This showed that Woody had a fatherly aspect to him and it showed the kindness he had towards Shaun and how he wanted to be there for Shaun in a father way.
