New Blog – moving out April 14, 2008
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http://www.icesi.edu.co/blogs/generoscine/
Please check the address above from now on.
Rick Altman and the notion of Film Genre April 9, 2008
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What is generally understood by the notion of film genre?
Most theory on film genre is borrowed form literary genre criticism.
Nevertheless in the last two decades it has established itself as a separate field of studies, since more and more scholars are dealing with the topic.
The term “genre” has been identified by many critics as one which can perform many tasks at the same time. Such tasks being:
1. Provides the formulas that derive production.
2. Constitute the structures that define individual texts
3. Programming decisions are based on primarily generic criteria
4. The interpretation of generic films depends directly on the audience’s generic expectations.
Hence: “Genre” serves a precise function in the overall economy of cinema. However, the term “genre” is not your average descriptive term but one that encompasses multiple meanings.
1. Genre as a blueprint, as a formula that precedes, programmes and patterns industry production.
2. Genre as a structure, as the formal framework on which individual films are founded.
3. Genre as a label, as the name of a category central to the decisions and communications of distributors and exhibitors
4. Genre as a contract, as the viewing position required by each genre film of its audience.
Assignments for April 16th April 9, 2008
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La frontera del espacio: los detectives y los cowboys intergalácticos
Segmento sobre Ciencia Ficción en el libro de Steve Neale, Hollywood and Genre.
- Science Fiction (pg. 100-104) (Helena Stouvenel & co.)
Introducción y ensayos del libro de Annette Kuhn, Alien Zone II.(pg 1-15)
-Janet Staiger, Future Noir: Contemporary Representations of Visionary Cities (pg.97-122) (Helena Stouvenel & co.)
-Vivian Sobchak, Cities on the Edge of Time: The Urban Science Fiction Film (pg 123-146)
Write a structured synopsis on Sobchak´s article.
If you are want to make up for other synopsis that you did not hand in on time, please write one for Steve Neale´s chapter on Film Noir.
What tools help us define genre? April 3, 2008
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What elements can we refer to when we need to differentiate between genres?
1. Subjects and themes
2. Presentation (in the musical for example – musical = signing + dancing)
3. Emotional effect (horror = fear, comedy = laughter)
4. Genre conventions of narrative and style
5. Plot elements
6. Thematic meanings (example: road movies = on the road, searching for something)
7. Film techniques (dark, light somber, mysterious, or happy, colorful)
8. Genres can also be defined through conventional iconography (recurring symbolic images that carry meaning from film to film, ie the cars in the old gangster movies, the space ships in Sci-Fi, the suits in Film Noir. Actors can also work as icons like Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger = action movies)
9. Elements of its form like costumes, music, etc.
Assignments for April 9th April 3, 2008
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Neo Noir: revisiones y apropiaciones
Textos:
Ensayos del libro de Silver y Ursini, Film Noir
Reader.
-Highman & Greenberg, Noir Cinema. (pg.65-76) (Santiago Bayona & Vanessa B)
-Todd Erickson, Kill Me Again: Movement Becomes Genre (pg. 307-329) (Santiago Bayona & Vanessa B)
Please write a structured synopsis for both texts.
Texts available here.
Ficha 7 & 8
Sci Fi and Neo Noir April 3, 2008
Posted by cineycrispetas in film noir.1 comment so far
Todd Erickson in his essay Kill me Again: Movement becomes a Genre (in Silver & Ursini), discusses the emergence of noir motifs in films subsequent to the canonical period and suggests studying them as a new genre. “Contemporary film noir is a new genre of film. As such, it must carry the distinction of another name; a name that is cognizant of its rich noir heritage, yet one that distinguishes its influences and motivations from those of the bygone era” (pg. 321). Erickson proposes the term neo-noir because he identifies the films as new forms of noir. Thus neo-noir is “quite simply, a contemporary rendering of the film noir sensibility” (pg. 321). The neo-noir films, according to Richard Martin in his book Mean Streets and Raging Bulls, “not only [..] suggest noir’s continuing exploration of the collective anxieties of American society, but [..] also reflect a sustained tradition of artistic creativity and technical virtuosity nurtured within the confines of American genre cinema” (pg. 6) However, all attempts to validate the term neo-noir and its relation to film noir, deal with, what are by necessity, delicate boundaries considering that the subject of analysis is one of Hollywood’s most unstable genres.
Based on research into neo-noir, I would suggest that there are four basic types (if not more) of production. The first, perhaps the easiest to identify, are those films that constitute a remake of canonical films such as D.O.A, Farewell My Lovely and The Postman Always Rings Twice. The second is that which carries an inflection of nostalgia and make explicit reference to the style and the mood of noir, amongst which are titles such as, Chinatown and L.A. Confidential. The third kind could be identified as those films that pay homage to noir by making references to motifs, dialogue and scenes, such is the case of Pulp Fiction and generally of the work of Quentin Tarantino. The fourth category of neo-noir is perhaps the most difficult to define as all the films I have previously mentioned are examples in which film noir is deliberately referenced. This ‘group’ holds films that do not fit in to any of the aforementioned ‘categories’ and yet audiences can easily perceive certain tropes of noir within these films. Among these we find examples of films as diverse as Matrix, Blade Runner, Lost Highway, Basic Instinct and Black Rain.
Assignments for April 2nd March 31, 2008
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• Semana 11
Bourbon, noche y mujeres fatales: algunos temas noir
Textos:
Ensayos del libro de Silver y Ursini, Film Noir Reader.
- Karen Hollinger, Film Noir, Voice Over and the Femme Fatale (pg. 243-259) (Alejandra Soler and Jennifer Ramirez)
- Raymond Borde & Etienne Chaumont, Towards a Definition of Film Noir. (pg. 17-27) (Alejandra Soler and Jennifer Ramirez)
Please write a strcutured synopsis for Borde & Chaumont´s text. (Alejandra & Jennifer are exempt from writing the synopsis)
Texts available here!
Ficha 6
Towards a definition of Film Noir March 31, 2008
Posted by cineycrispetas in film noir.2 comments
French film critics concussed the term “Film Noir” in 1946. Due to the war and the German occupation not much cinema could be imported or screened in France during those years and the sudden release of all the movies left critics and audiences in awe and amazement. I dare say that it was the sudden release of these films that allowed French film viewers and critics to recognize certain common traits and moods between the movies. As Billy Wilder recognizes in an interview, filmmakers were not aware of the term “Film Noir” while they made the movies.
The French noticed a certain similarity between the gangster film, the police genre and the detective fiction. Authors like Raymond Chandler, James Cain, and Dashiell Hammett among others were already well know writers and film viewers were already familiar with some of the novels that served as inspiration to the movies, such as The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, Farewell, My Lovely and The Maltese Falcon.
It is no coincidence that when you look up the definition of detective fiction you find that it resembles the definition(s) that critics tend to give of film noir. However, a closer reading of the attempts to define noir as a genre reveals that scholars have found it impossible to capture and define its essence in any absolute sense. In her article on Film Noir and Women, Elizabeth Cowie (in Copjec’s Shades of Noir) discusses the public’s fascination with film noir and how this plays a crucial role in the construction of the category as such. (more…)
What can we say about genres and genre theory? March 31, 2008
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1. Lacks a scientific precision in its definition
2. They developed in an informal way
3. Everyone (critics, producers, audiences, actors) have contributed to the formation of genres and to the shared sense that some films may relate to others
4. Genres change over time (directors and actors may add a twist to their work (in form or style) that adds to a different viewing of the genre). This constant change makes it difficult to define the boundaries (more…)
Oral presentations February 29, 2008
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• Semana 10
Film Noir – Cine negro
Textos:
Cuarto capitulo del libro de Steve Neale, Hollywood and Genre.
- Film Noir (pg. 151-179)
Introducción y los siguientes ensayos del libro de Silver y Ursini, Film Noir
Reader.
- Introduction (pg. 3-16)
- Raymond Borde & Etienne Chaumont, Towards a Definition of Film Noir. (pg. 17-27)
- Charles Highman and Joel Greenberg, Noir Cinema (pg. 27-36)
Película: Double Indemnity, Billy Wilder, 1944
