Week One Summery
Well the first week is behind us, and many dark days lie ahead. But like, in a good way. ‘Cause as we’ve learned this week, this semester’s theme is noir. We got a comprehensive introduction to noir by way of Paul Schrader’s notes, and we looked over some examples. I actually went ahead and watched Double Indemnity since Schrader mentioned it so much, to get a better idea of what we’re talking about.
An interesting film, very dark (of course) and also a great example of the way that noir, as it developed, moved away from romantic characters and story lines. The main protagonist(s) in the movie commits fraud and murder, out of greed and lust, and there’s no excuse given, no redemption to be had. No one is asking us to forgive him, either, but we do understand. We understand because we see a reflection of our own dark impulses, which is, I think, the point.
Besides laying the topical groundwork for this course, we also set about establishing ourselves all over various social media outlets, a rather onerous undertaking to be sure, but necessary. Now that all the menial setup is out of the way, I look forward to sharing my work, and seeing everyone else’s. I’m sure I’ll be referring to Schrader’s article often in the weeks to come.
Week One Summery
Well the first week is behind us, and many dark days lie ahead. But like, in a good way. ‘Cause as we’ve learned this week, this semester’s theme is noir. We got a comprehensive introduction to noir by way of Paul Schrader’s notes, and we looked over some examples. I actually went ahead and watched Double Indemnity since Schrader mentioned it so much, to get a better idea of what we’re talking about.
An interesting film, very dark (of course) and also a great example of the way that noir, as it developed, moved away from romantic characters and story lines. The main protagonist(s) in the movie commits fraud and murder, out of greed and lust, and there’s no excuse given, no redemption to be had. No one is asking us to forgive him, either, but we do understand. We understand because we see a reflection of our own dark impulses, which is, I think, the point.
Besides laying the topical groundwork for this course, we also set about establishing ourselves all over various social media outlets, a rather onerous undertaking to be sure, but necessary. Now that all the menial setup is out of the way, I look forward to sharing my work, and seeing everyone else’s. I’m sure I’ll be referring to Schrader’s article often in the weeks to come.