Pentium - History of Audiovisualization: Film Noir 1

Subject guarantor:

Name of lecturer(s):

Petra DOMINKOVÁ

Learning outcomes of the course unit:

By the end of the course the student will be able to define film noir and understand the specificity of it.

Mode of study:

Weekly schedule:

Week 1 [Wed, Feb-20]

Theme: Introduction ? What is film noir? Style/genre/mood/tendency/movement?

Screening: WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS (Otto Preminger, 1950, 95?).

Week 2 [Wed, Feb-27]

Theme: Antecedents I ? German Expressionism + French Poetic Realism

Screening: NOSFERATU (Nospheratu, eine Symphonie des Grauens, F.W. Murnau, 1922, 94?)

Reading: Franklin

Week 3 [Wed, Mar-05]

Theme: Antecedents II ? Gangster movie

Screening: LITTLE CAESAR (Mervyn LeRoy, 1931, 79?)

Reading: Naremore

Topics for midterm essay (deadline ???)

Week 4 [Wed, Mar-12]

Theme: Visual style of film noir

Screening: NIGHT AND THE CITY (Jules Dassin, 1950, 101?).

Reading: Erickson

Week 5 [Wed, Mar-19]

Theme: B movie

Screening: GUN CRAZY (Joseph H. Lewis, 1950, 88?)

Reading: Place ? Peterson

Week 6 [Wed, Mar-26]

Theme: Femme Fatale and suppressed homosexuality

Screening: GILDA (Charles Vidor, 1946, 110?)

Reading: McLean

Week 7 [Wed, Apr-02]

Theme: Communism and film noir (threat from the east + McCarthyism)

Screening: PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET (Samuel Fuller, 1953, 80?)

Reading: Schrader

Week 8 [Wed, Apr -09]

Theme: Censorship

Screening: THE BIG HEAT (Fritz Lang, 1953, 89?)

Reading: Metz

Week 9 [Wed, Apr -16]

Theme: Nature in film noir

Screening: THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (Charles Laughton, 1955, 93?)

Reading: http://www.geraldpeary.com/reviews/the/night-of-the-hunter.html / http://www.imdb.com/Reviews/333/33307

http://www.notcoming.com/reviews/nightofthehunter/

Week 10 [Wed, Apr -23]

Theme: On the border with other genre (western and melodrama)

Screening: MILDRED PIERCE (Michael Curtiz, 1945, 111?)

Reading: Robertson

Topics for final essay (deadline ???)

Week 11 [Wed, Apr -30]

Theme: Descendant I ? neo noir ? the 1960s and 70s

Screening: THE LONG GOODBYE (Robert Altman, 1973, 112?)

Reading: Stewart

Week 12 [Wed, May-07]

Theme: Descendant II ? neo noir ? contemporary cinema

Screening: SIN CITY (Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez, 2005, 124?)

Reading: Horsley

Week 13 [Wed, May -14]

Theme: Conclusion ? discussion about class

Screening: Will be chosen by students.

Prerequisites and co-requisites:

A willingness to read, think, discuss, write and learn about cinematography and cultural criticism are the only prerequisites.

Recommended optional programme components:

Recommended readings:

* Czech/Slovak:

-additional texts on topics in Kinoikon č.1, 2007

-blog on filmu noir in Czech: http://filmnoirblog.blogspot.cz/ (also relevant web links in English)

-particular editions of the internet magazine 25 fps on filmu noir, zde: http://25fps.cz/tag/11-cislo/

* * *

-Dominková, Petra. Dům na samotě ve filmu noir - Slovenská literatúra 56, 2009, s. 474?481.

-Kučera, Jakub. Film noir záblesky černé. Cinepur č. 19, 2002, k dispozici: http://cinepur.cz/article.php?article=29

* English:

Literature for filmu noir in English is immeasurably extensive. For an overview of key publication to the middle of the 1990s see note #2 in the article by V. Sobchackové, Lounge time. Chronotop filmu noir a období poválečných krizí in Kinoikonu č. 1, 2007, s. 73-74.

a few additional publications:

DIMENDBERG, Edward. Film Noir and the Spaces of Modernity. Cambridge (Massachusetts), London : Harvard University Press, 2004.

KAPLAN, E. Ann (ed.). Women in Film Noir. London : BFI Publishing, 1980.

KRUTNIK, Frank. Something More Than Night: tales of the noir city. In CLARK, David B. (ed.). The Cinematic City. London, New York : Routledge, 1997.

SILVER, Alain; URSINI, James (eds.). Film Noir Reader 1. New York : Limelight Editions, 1996. // Film Noir Reader 2, 1999 // Film Noir Reader 3, 2001 // Film Noir Reader 4, 2004.

(if not sufficient: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/Noirbib.html je další soupis literatury o filmu noir. (87 pps.)

Course contents:

The aim of the course is to introduce one of the most interesting American style/genre film noir as well as its antecedents and descendants. What is so unique about this style/genre that it has been capturing the attention of film theorists since the 1970s? Which are the typical traits of film noir? Why did it originate in the US in this particular epoch? And ? what is it, anyhow? A style? A genre? A mood? A movement? A tendency? Each lecture is focused on a particular aspect of film noir and students will have a chance to watch the variety of clips and selected feature films in their entirety.

Recommended or required reading:

REQUIRED READING (all readings will be available in the electronic version)

Erickson, Glenn: ?Expressionist Doom in Night and the City.? In: Film Noir Reader, ed. by Silver, Alain, and James Ursini. Limelight Editions, New York 2001, pp. 203 ? 208.

Franklin, James C.: ?Metamorphosis of a Metaphor: The Shadow in Early German Cinema?. The German Quarterly vol. 53, no. 2 (march 1980), pp. 176 ? 188.

Horsley, Lee: ?An Introduction to Neo-Noir: Coining a Term.? http://www.crimeculture.com/Contents/NeoNoir.html

McLean, Adrienne L.: ??It?s Only That I Do What I Love and Love What I Do?: ?Film Noir? and the Musical Woman?.Cinema Journal vol. 33, no. 1 (autumn 1993), pp. 3 ? 16.

Metz, Walter: ??Keep the Coffee Hot, Hugo?: Nuclear Trauma in Lang?s The Big Heat?. Film Criticism vol. 21, spring 1997, pp. 43 ? 65.

Naremore, James: ?American Film Noir: The History of an Idea?. Film Quarterly vol. 49, no. 2 (winter 1995 ? 96), pp. 12 ? 28.

Place, Janey, and Lowell Peterson: ?Some Visual Motifs of Film Noir.? In: Movies and Methods (vol. 1), ed. by Bill Nichols. University of California Press, Los Angeles 1976, pp. 325 ? 338.

Robertson, Pamela: ?Structural Irony in ?Mildred Pierce,? or How Mildred Lost Her Tongue?. Cinema Journal vol. 30, no. 1 (autumn 1990), pp. 42 ? 54.

Schrader, Paul: ?Notes on Film Noir.? In: Film Noir Reader, ed. by Silver, Alain, and James Ursini. Limelight Editions, New York 2001, pp. 53 ? 64.

Stewart, Garrett: ??The Long Goodbye? from ?Chinatown??. Film Quarterly vol. 28, no. 2 (winter 1974 ? 75), pp. 25 ? 32.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods:

Lectures, screenings

Assessment methods and criteria:

Class Attendance/Participation: I expect students to attend all classes (including screenings). Participation to class discussion will be taken into account in the final grade.

Presentation: A presentation based on a film seen within the class. Bring written outline!

Midterm essay (4 pages minimum, i.e. 1.400 words): An essay about chosen film noir. Due: ???

Final essay (6 pages minimum, i.e. 2.100 words): On a chosen topic that corresponds to the material covered in the course. Due: ???

Assessment and final grade:

The final grade will be calculated as follows: Class Attendance and Participation (20%); presentation (20%); midterm essay (25%); final essay (35%)

Course web page:

http://www2.iim.cz/wiki/index.php/Mediahistory_I_and_II

Note:

The final grade will be calculated as follows: Class Attendance and Participation (20%); presentation (20%); midterm essay (25%); final essay (35%)

Further information:

This course is an elective for all students of this school

Schedule for winter semester 2012/2013:

	06:00–08:0008:00–10:0010:00–12:0012:00–14:0014:00–16:0016:00–18:0018:00–20:0020:00–22:0022:00–24:00
Mon
Tue
Fri	místnost 207 Učebna 2 (Lažanský palác) DOMINKOVÁ P. 14:50–18:05 (přednášková par. 1)
Thu
Fri

Date	Day	Time	Tutor	Location	Notes	No. of paralel
	Fri	14:50–18:05	DOMINKOVÁ P.	Učebna 2 Lažanský palác		přednášková par. 1

Schedule for summer semester 2012/2013:

The schedule has not yet been prepared

The subject is a part of the following study plans:

• Animovaná tvorba - bakalář (faculty subject, optional subject)
• Dokumentární tvorba - magistr (faculty subject, optional subject)
• Dokumentární tvorba - bakalář (faculty subject, optional subject)
• Animovaná tvorba - magistr (faculty subject, optional subject)
• Scenáristika a dramaturgie - bakalář (faculty subject, optional subject)
• Scenáristika a dramaturgie - magistr (faculty subject, optional subject)
• Režie - bakalář (faculty subject, optional subject)
• Režie - magistr (faculty subject, optional subject)
• Kamera - bakalář (faculty subject, optional subject)
• Kamera - magistr (faculty subject, optional subject)
• Produkce - bakalář (faculty subject, optional subject)
• Produkce - magistr (faculty subject, optional subject)
• Audiovizuální studia - bakalář (qualification subject, faculty subject, optional subject)
• Střihová skladba - bakalář (faculty subject, optional subject)
• Střihová skladba - magistr (faculty subject, optional subject)
• Zvuková tvorba - bakalář (faculty subject, optional subject)
• Zvuková tvorba - magistr (faculty subject, optional subject)
• Fotografie CZ - bakalář (faculty subject, optional subject)
• Fotografie CZ - magistr (faculty subject, optional subject)
• Audiovizuální studia - magistr (qualification subject, faculty subject, optional subject)
• Fotografie CZ: Restaurování fotografie (faculty subject, optional subject)