Conversation group with d.a.i. teacher Scott Stelle. Join us for a monthly, multimedia exploration of popular literature and film. California is the home of the “hard-boiled” crime story – a genre that’s been masterfully translated to the screen as “film noir.” The key differences between classic noir and neo-noir are timing and color. The classic noir of the 1940s and 1950s was constituted by moody black-and-white cinematography: shadows, silhouettes and sharp angles that black and white photography provided. Free from the original Hollywood production code, neo-noir films after 1968 introduced more violent scenes, turning what was once implicit into action. With its neondrenched and orange and pink color palette of Los Angeles, 1980s neonoir feels very different. Los Angeles became a notable setting for many 1980s neo-noir action thrillers for the city’s genre appropriate backdrop and partly to save budgetary costs.

14.3.: Gerald Petievich, To Live and Die in L.A. (1984: film, 1985)

In English

Location: d.a.i. library
Admission: free