FILM STUDIES:SUNSET BOULEVARD

We need two volunteers to come up and read parts of a scary story.

The first person will start and will read the story with the lights off.

The next person will the next story with the lights on.

REMINDERS Turn in homework/class work from

yesterday (Rosebud Journal). Bring toys for Toy Drive. Any final questions about Citizen

Kane? Remember: If you are planning on

coming in after school to re-watch a part of the movie, let me know after school so I can stay!

Absent work: due tomorrow.

SUNSET BOULEVARD NOTES Take notes titled Sunset Boulevard

Notes. Remember, keep them in your binder. I will

collect them at the end of the semester so make sure to keep your binder organized!

SUNSET BOULEVARD NOTES(DON’ T TAKE NOTES ON THIS SLIDE)

Characters: Norma Desmond = an aging, former

silent movie star. She is wealthy, living away from society and refuses to believe that she is not a star anymore.

Joe Gillis = a young screenplay writer for films (with sound) who has come upon financial hardships.

Max = Norma’s butler Betty Schaefer = a young woman in the

film industry who wants to work with Joe on a screenplay.

SUNSET BOULEVARD NOTES

Lighting: (notes, please…) Film Noir = a genre that uses dark, moody

atmosphere to reveal the often violent or mysterious events taking place.

Sunset Boulevard is a film noir that effectively uses lighting to help tell it’s tale.

SUNSET BOULEVARD NOTES

Lighting: Low-key lighting = emphasizes shadows and

pools of light; there is a strong contrast between light and dark areas of the shot--used often in atmospheric thrillers, horror or noir. Creates a sense of mystery, gloominess or fear.

SUNSET BOULEVARD NOTES

Lighting: High-key lighting = bright, even lighting and few

shadows; little contrast between the light and dark areas of the shot--used most often in comedies or musicals. Suggests happiness/safety.

SUNSET BOULEVARD NOTES

Lighting: Side lighting = When a subject is only half-lit, the

other half still in darkness . This may be suggesting uncertainty, untruth, or self-division.

SUNSET BOULEVARD NOTES

Lighting: Back lighting = Lighting a subject from behind.

This tends to create silhouettes. An obstruction in front of a light source, leaving the figure in shadowy darkness, disrupts the viewer’s sense of safety, inciting fear and apprehension.

SUNSET BOULEVARD NOTES

Lighting: Spotlighting in this movie is also symbolic.

Pay attention to the scenes in which Norma is put in the spotlight and what the spotlight is suggesting about Norma, about the world she lives in, etc.

SUNSET BOULEVARD NOTES

Shot type: close-up Close-up shots usually directs the audience to

understand important emotions of certain characters (emotions that we wouldn’t see/focus on if the camera were further away). Try to find out what the close-up shots are trying

to tell us about the characters.

SUNSET BOULEVARD NOTES

Shot type: Long shot figures are more prominent, but the background still

dominates. We learn about the setting the Long Shots help the audience understand

location and surroundings, showing the spatial relations among the important figures

 

SUNSET BOULEVARD NOTES

Composition Emptiness = an empty mise-en-scene may

suggest emptiness (spiritually, emotionally, socially, etc.).

SUNSET BOULEVARD NOTES

Composition = the amount of people and props in a particular scene.

a cluttered mise-en-scene may suggest the chaotic nature of the film’s action; in this film, it sometimes suggests fullness of life/happiness (opposite of emptiness).

SUNSET BOULEVARD NOTES

FRAMING internal framing: the suggestion of being

trapped by using an object (such as a doorway or window frame) to symbolically “confine” a figure.

SUNSET BOULEVARD NOTES

SYMBOLISM: When an object or action represents something else (an idea, an emotion, etc.)

In this movie, the lighting is symbolic, the framing is symbolic, the colors are symbolic, the details are symbolic, etc. everything isn’t randomly chosen, but each detail

shows something important about the characters.