Film Noir, meaning “black film’ in French, was the trending style and genre in American culture between the 1940s and the 1950s. It is a combination of European cynicism and the American landscape. Film Noir has its origins from German Expressionism and French Poetic Realism. Nino Frank, who was a French film critic, was the first to introduce this black and white genre to Hollywood in 1946. Many of the directors who introduced Film Noir where refugees from Nazi, Germany. From that moment in time, it became a popular genre for all films being produced in Hollywood. It became a popular genre because it managed to create a plot with excessive visual and urban style, and a sense of ambiguity. Plots of Noir films are composed of some kind of murder…
Film Noir is a cinematic term which was exceptionally popular in the 1940-50’s. It was primarily used to describe stylish Hollywood crime…
A-Question-Yet-To-Be-Set but for now: Film noir is both a screen style and a perspective on human existence and society.…
"No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its avatar and its seal- the redness and the horror of blood" (1). Edgar Allan Poe was a master of the macabre; his very stories injecting fear into the hearts of his readers. Poe's life was filled with tragedy, as several of the important women in his life, including his wife and daughter died at a young age. He utilized poems and books to express that tragedy. The short stories, "The Black Cat," and, "The Masque of the Red Death," both written by Poe, enhance the theme of fear. "The Black Cat," was about a narrator who had gone crazy and was so overcome by guilt that he went to extreme measures including…
Film noir is generally associated with a ‘dark’ type of film in the era following WWII. Film’s that are categorized in this genre are marked by a style that generally contains certain distinguishing elements – dark rooms with Venetian blinds, dark alleys, rain-slicked streets, dark offices and low key lighting. The plot usually deals with the dark aspects of humanity-greed, murder, deceit and paranoia. There are also distinguishing characters, the main character a detective or an investigator usually portrayed as a loner; a beautiful sensual femme-fatale who will use and eventually destroy the main character seducing him into crime.…
Expressionism was an artistic movement that originated in Germany at the start of 20th century. The expressionist was originally used in the medium of painting, poetry and architecture as well as by the ideas from German romanticism of the 19th century; gothic literature, myth and folklore; which spread to other medium such as film. German expressionist became popular in the 1920's during the Weimar years. Expressionist films were heavily influenced by modern art (paintings), Expressionist movie used exaggeration and distortion to create images that expressed a emotional and psychological despair and chaos through mise-en-scene.…
The narrator is increasing the terror and madness by making the screams scarier. The child cries starts as a soft whimpering sound. It happens so much, escalating “howl” loud and fully mature noise; puts in an “inhuman” howl like it was a beast down in the hole with half terror and half triumph. The madness and terror increases so much that the author questions if the howls are from hell by demons.…
Cinema became largely influenced by the prominence of fine arts (e.g. painting) movements, referred to collectively as Avant-garde. Avant-grade contained styles that rejected the realistic depiction of a concrete world, movements such as German Expressionism and Soviet Montage.…
One of the most influential film movements in the 1940's was a genre that is known today as film noir. Film noir was a recognizable style of filmmaking, which was created in response to the rising cost of typical Hollywood movies (Buss 67). Film noir movies were often low budget films; they used on location shoots, small casts, and black and white film. The use of black and white film stock not only lowered production costs, but also displayed a out of place disposition that the conventions of film noir played upon. It is these conventions: themes, characters, lighting, sound, and composition, which are seen in the movie LA Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997). This paper discusses the techniques used in LA Confidential that link the movie with the typical cinematic conventions of the film noir style.…
“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything,” quoted by Plato. Music is a way in where you can escape all things in life. It’s like your exit out of all matters. You play it when you’re mad, sad, happy, or just simply need a little uplifting. There are different genres of music. You have pop, rock, classical, R&B, hip hop, contemporary gospel, jazz, blues, and much more. However, gospel has been transformed throughout time. Stated by Dr. William Reynolds, “Christian song is never static, never quite the same from one generation to another” (Doucette 6). It’s common for each generation following the next to change the sound of how a song was…
The History of African-American Music through the Centuries African-American music has influenced modern artists and songs quite heavily, but the music itself has developed immensely over the years. Every century has seen innovative genres come to life, and you’ll see that African American musicians have contributed tremendously in this. 19th century With the prevalence of slavery and the Second Great Awakening of the 1830s, African Americans created spirituals and work songs to ease their pains and sufferings they felt working under the control of white masters. Following the U.S. Civil War, the music changed tremendously with a lot of foreign and popular influence.…
The presentation on Edgar Allen Poe’s story The Black Cat begins with an opening discussion of five discussion questions that evaluate and explore the meaning of the story, such as the story’s theme, symbols, and characters. Around the group, members will discuss their different opinions and interpretations of the story by supporting their claim with textual evidence. After the brief discussion for about ten minutes, the illustrator would showcase their art to the group and explain his or her interpretation and reasoning behind the scene illustration. Then, the biographical researcher will share with the group about the connections between Poe’s life and the story. Then, the historical researcher will expand upon the background information…
While America’s greatest challenges in cultural history have always been about race, American blues music exemplifies the complex relationship Americans have with race and art. American Blues music has been appreciated, examined, appropriated, and immortalized through the transformation of music over the past one hundred years. Originating from African American slave songs, the blues has over time lost its relevance for black people, yet continues to be an important cultural entity and has been revered in contemporary white culture.…
"Film Noir" is a term that was applied to a style of American cinema that was popular in the 1930's and 40's. The term translates to "Black Film," which refers to both the characteristic lighting and the dark subject matter. Noir films often depict different aspects of the criminal underworld, and are most commonly set in the 'mean streets' of the city.…
Chagall later delved into the styles of Cubism and Expressionism. Cubism is the style in art in which perspective with a single viewpoint was abandoned and use was made of simple geometric shapes, interlocking planes, and later a collage. Another style he helped to create is Expressionism and Expressionism is the style of painting in which the artist seeks to express emotional experience rather than impressions of the external world. Stained glass windows, murals, tapestries, and Ceramics and Sculpture were all other forms of artwork in which…