Julio Ibanez Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 Hey all, I'm putting together a curriculum for an independent study starting next semeseter and I've decided to focus on lighting and editing in film noir. Can anyone recommend any books on the subject? While you're at it, go ahead and throw in the title of your favorite noir film. I've got a good idea of which ones to cover, but hey, the more the merrier. Thanks! Julio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Stigler Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 My favorite film noir would be Double Indemnity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Mullen ASC Posted December 15, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted December 15, 2005 I'd look at John Alton's book "Painting with Light". "Out of the Past" is one of the best-looking film noirs. "Mildred Pierce" is more of a melodrama book-ended by a murder investigation, but the lighting is very good. Personal favorites are "The Killing", "Double Indemnity" and "Sunset Boulevard." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Williamson Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 Looking at lighting, the films shot by John Alton stand out, "The Big Combo" being my favorite as the script and acting are also great. Also "T-Men", "Raw Deal", and "He Walked By Night". Orson Welles' films are fantastic, "Lady From Shanghai" and "Touch of Evil" coming to mind first. You should take a look at the different lighting styles within film noir, something like "Postman Always Rings Twice" is very different from "The Naked City". Good luck with the class! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Knowles Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 "The Third Man", of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Collier Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 I would put Minority Report in there, just because its sort of a progressive noir. It has elements of the style but puts its own twist on the style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Greenfield Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 Gee, is Sunset Boulevard noir? I guess it is... in which case thats my fave. In terms of contemporary noir, there's LA confidential, The Usual Suspects, and even, dare I say, Closer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Luke Prendergast Posted December 15, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted December 15, 2005 If we're going that wide - Narc, Chinatown, Bladerunner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Wells Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 If I had to pick a favorite DP in this genre (which is cruel & unfair choice !) it would be Nicholas Musuraca. He seems to light the dual nature of the characters ! A friend just got the Val Lewton set - and I watched "The Seventh Victim" which was new to me.. the movie's kinda so so mostly - altho a couple of bravura moments - but Musuraca seems to be warming up for "Out Of The Past" -Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julio Ibanez Posted December 16, 2005 Author Share Posted December 16, 2005 Wow! I wasn't expecting so many posts so soon. I really appreciate the recommendations. Some films I had planned on, others I'd never even heard of (to my shame of course) but will be including in the viewing list. I have to say the contemporary recommendations really intrigue me. I was hoping to study the classics in this course to fully realize how they've influenced modern films, and not just in terms of the direct throwbacks, like say Sin City, so you guys beat me to the punch. I never saw Minority Report in those terms, but I'll have to go back and look at it again. Other contemporary ones I was going to study for connection were Dark City, Blade Runner (as recommended above), and The Crow. Again, thank you all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Wells Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 Contemporary reccomendation: "Cyclo" Tranh Anh Hung, DP Benoit Delhomme. (Touch of Evil influence a bit obvious.... in one part... albeit in color... but good stuff !) French prod shot in Vietnam. -Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Adam Frisch FSF Posted December 17, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted December 17, 2005 The Night of the Hunter directed by Charles Laughton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member steve hyde Posted December 18, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted December 18, 2005 ....neo-noir? Perdo Almodovar's "Bad Education" Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julio Ibanez Posted December 21, 2005 Author Share Posted December 21, 2005 (edited) Thanks again, everyone! I'll definitely check out some of the contemporary recommendations as well. I'm really looking forward to this class. Julio Edited December 21, 2005 by Julio Ibanez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Barnett Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 So how is film noir defined? Hard shadows? Low key? A downbeat story with an anti-hero? Is it the look, the style, the story or all of these? Some of the titles suggested above throw out some factors such as 'black and white', 'crime thriller' etc. Chinatown and LA Confidential sure, but not so sure about Blade Runner? And what about Fargo or Insomnia - do they qualify? Or is it too hard to pin down? Suggestions...? Regards Andy Barnett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grainy Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Don't forget Road to Perdition! It's great stuff both visually and in the story. For my money, the best new noir film in the last ten years. Among others mentioned, the basic canon includes: Kiss Me Deadly (Aldritch) M (Lang, as well as a handful of others by him) jeez... it goes on and on, check out imdb. --Grainy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julio Ibanez Posted January 16, 2006 Author Share Posted January 16, 2006 So how is film noir defined? Hard shadows? Low key? A downbeat story with an anti-hero? Is it the look, the style, the story or all of these? Some of the titles suggested above throw out some factors such as 'black and white', 'crime thriller' etc. Chinatown and LA Confidential sure, but not so sure about Blade Runner? And what about Fargo or Insomnia - do they qualify? Or is it too hard to pin down? Suggestions...? Regards Andy Barnett Good questions. I'll let you know what I found out at the other end of this study. Right now, I'm just reviewing the well-known classics to study the components of the genre. While I'd like to see what those movies have done for modern film-making, part of the process will be forming my own definition of what makes a film fit into that category. Obviously, this being art, not every film will fit comfortably within one or any category. In any case, I'm looking forward to the study. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dd3stp233 Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 I would check out "Bullet Ballet", a Japanese film by Shinya Tsukamoto (most famous for "Tetsuo: the Ironman". It is very film noir influenced. Not his greatest movie but visually very interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Duggan Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 The best lighting I've seen would be in some of the Welles films like Touch of Evil and The Trial (even though the latter was a few years after film-noir ended). You might want to show a German expressionism film like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari as well for the origins of the style, and Fritz Lang's M is a must since it was in my opinion, film-noirs most important ancestor. had M been made ten years later in the US the exact same way it is, no one would hesitate to call it film-noir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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