Film Lesson 5

16th February, 2009

We were introduced to the film style of Film Noir.

We saw a slidshow about the different characters of Film Noir, how the good and bad was blurred, and the protagonist may be a bad person, and the antagonist may not entirely be the "bad guy" either. The deeds that they have done may be bad, or may be for the greater good, but not neccessarily with good ways and methods.

We watched a Film Noir moment of Infernal Affairs about the blurriness of the characters true siding. We are then given our tasks, to create a conversation based on the style of Infernal Affairs, with blurry and layered plotlines, blurred sense of right and wrong and with a tense atmosphere.

Our group has Joyce, Jing, Justin and me. Joyce has taken the role of the camera man, who monitors the shots, angles etc. Jing is the editor, who is responsible for the editing style, pace for the film. Justin wanted to be the script writer because he wanted to be the director as well. I have taken the role of sound editor, who is responsible for the clarity of the conversation and also maintaining and normal background sound.

IB Learner Profile: Open-minded
We learnt that apart from Film Noir in western films, Hong Kong has also started to develop Film Noir. I have noticed some difference in western films and local films. Local films are less "cliche" and I thought that the plot is much more twisted that just having the antagonist, protagonist, "femme fatale" and the good woman. Local films often have more that those characters as a more modern and contemporary approach to this style of film.