Unit Overview

Film Noir

Objective:

This unit is designed to help the film student begin working with film terms in order to define a genre.

Films:

  • The Big Sleep (1946) dir. Howard Hawks
  • Charade (1963) dir. Stanley Donen
  • Chinatown (1974) dir. Roman Polanski
  • Memento (2000) dir. Christopher Nolan

Activities:

  • Record film terminology for mise en scene, camera movement and lighting
  • Observe and record examples of film noir style in The Big Sleep and Chinatown
  • Develop a definition for the traits that define film noir
  • Watch a film outside of class widely considered to be film noir
    • A large selection of free classic film noir can be found HERE
  • Write a paper and apply the extended definition to the film watched outside of class

Evaluation:

Students will be evaluated based on the ability to develop and apply a definition of film noir to a film the student watches outside of class. Students should employ film terminology where appropriate in this definition.