Double Indemnity And Touch Of Evil Film Studies Essay

Double Indemnity And Touch Of Evil Film Studies Essay Film in popular culture was under scrutiny from cultural theorists during the 1930s and 1940s. It was suggested that film lacked originality and authenticity because of the way in which organisations, such as Hollywood, were producing art by using generic formulas (Grant, 2007:5). This repetition of conventions, characters and settings was typical of the Hollywood genre system (Palmer, 1994:1). This system enabled Hollywood to make films cheaply and competitively, which was criticised further by cultural theorists because the organisation was mainly motivated by profit (Grant, 2007:7). Genre films were at the forefront of the American ideal as films were an important feature of American culture. They represented an expression of the spirit of the time and worked as an inexpensive form of entertainment (Grant, 2007:5). The generic formulas were liked and accepted which was beneficial for both consumer and institution as the Hollywood studio could cater to a large audience (Palmer, 1994:2). However, the poor economic conditions of America in the 1930s meant that cinemas had to entice their audience with a more modern form of storytelling and representation (Palmer, 1994:3). Whilst the typical Hollywood film had to follow certain principles of narrative, the film noir was able to push the boundary of conventional storytelling. The visual stylisation, storyline and dark themes describe the essence of the noir film. These conventions will be discussed with examples from Billy Wilders Double Indemnity (1944) at the beginning of the noir period and Orson Welles Touch of Evil (1958) towards the end. The distinct elements that form the noir were largely due to the contributions of those in film production. During the early 1930s directors, actors and cinematographers who were involved in German expressionist cinema moved to Hollywood (Grant, 2007:25). The stylistic qualities of noirs were heavily influenced by expressionism; German silent films were admired by the Hollywood film industry (Silver, 2004:11). The artistic roots in German expressionism are portrayed in the use of common stylistic conventions such as chiaroscuro lighting, distorted camera angles and the use of symbolic designs (Silver, 2004:11). The most visible feature of the noir style is low-key lighting; cinematographers manipulated contrasts of light and shade between day exteriors and realistic night scenes through the use of curtains or venetian blinds (Silver, 2004:16). Dramatic use of lighting was used to create tension and confirm beliefs that the noir world was uncomfortable and corrupt. In Double Indemnity the establishing scene already implies this as Walter Neff begins to confess his crimes, while his face is in shade suggesting that he is ashamed. A less apparent feature, though crucial in terms of its expressionist value, was the use of distorted camera angles. Each camera angle was used specifically to create a dramatic and symbolic meaning. Low angles were pivotal in creating the feeling of claustrophobia and paranoia, for example when ceilings of interior settings were visible in the frame (Silver, 2004:16). Double Indemnity continues to provoke uneasy feelings with low angled shots in the initial scene suggesting that Neff is trapped with no other option but to confess. The use of high angles creates disequilibrium, for example when a city street is visible far below out of a window (Silver, 2004:16). This type of feeling is also expressed by dimly lit alleyways and shadowy pedestrians in the urban landscape (Silver, 2004:16). The noir style frequently makes use of shadow and unbalanced compositions (Telotte, 1989:17). Off-angle compositions of characters in the frame were used to create the suggestion of an unstable world (Spicer, 2002:47). In Touch of Evil, Spicer (2002:62) suggests that Orson Welles is able to draw the audience into a state of confusion by not including any stabilising balance of scenes. Touch of Evil was produced after the film noir description was established which suggests that the noir features in this film were used more deliberately. The expressionist style had been developed by using scenes of limitless darkness to create a sense of claustrophobia and agoraphobia (Spicer, 2002:61). Welles primarily uses night scenes, which allows characters and shadows to merge together creating a sinister atmosphere. Vargas is unsuccessfully attacked with acid by a shadowy figure. Hank Quinlans own corruption is symbolised in Touch of Evil as he falls to his death into floating waste (Silver, 2004:169). Similarly, visual symbolism is used in Double Indemnity as Wilder carefully constructs a mise-en-scà ¨ne to provoke meaning that may not always be obvious. The character of Phyllis Dietrichson is given primary importance both in style when she makes spectacular entrances and in the narrative when she manipulates those close to her. Both Double Indemnity and Touch of Evil share similarities in their visual styles which are heavily influenced by German expressionism. The expressionist style also influences the narrative and themes of noirs. Some of the themes that are expressed in the films are developed through the narrative. Noir stories challenge the conventional linear narrative of other Hollywood films and explicitly state points of view (Telotte, 1989:3). Strategies used are the voice-over, the third person flashback style, and the subjective camera technique (Telotte, 1989:12). The voice-over narrative technique enables the audience to experience situations through the protagonist. The first person narration allows the audience to identify with the character or narrator even if they are morally wrong (Silver, 2004:20). Telotte (1989:16) suggests that the I whose most basic purpose is to provide us with a privileged and personal eye on the world. Flashbacks are used to introduce the past which is presented from the narrators point of view (Silver, 2004:16). This is clear during Double Indemnity as Neff takes the role of narrator in flashbacks through to the present day. The first person voice-over is used as he retells the crime story on the Dictaphone but third person is used in the flashback scenes. Telotte (1989:45) suggests that Dictaphone narration is used to avoid speaking directly, which conforms to the noir ideology of tricks, lies and communication difficulties. There is frequent use of the subjective camera in noirs which emphasises points of view (Telotte, 1989:17). Welles uses this technique in Touch of Evil in confrontation during interrogations between Quinlan and Vargas where the audience is constantly deciding who is the dominant figure. Noir films were generally marketed as detective, thrillers or crime melodramas. Audiences were unaware that they were watching anything that was different from the Hollywood genre system. It was only the French critics who coined this term as the films dark qualities went unnoticed by audience and industry (Palmer, 1994:6). However, these films followed the crime detective formula as most, including Double Indemnity and Touch of Evil, were based on crime fiction novels. Double Indemnity was an innovative film and perhaps therefore a more authentic film noir. By comparison, Touch of Evil was rewritten into a much darker version that deliberately played on the noir styles. Silver (2004:15) states that noir relies on the element of style not just the content and that narratives are complex and not just icons. Literature of the time contained existentialism and psychological matters that promoted the importance of the past reflecting on present actions. This was particularly meaningful given the circumstances of America during the World War and the Depression (Silver, 2004:15). Grant (2007:26) suggests that noirs depict a sense of post-war disillusionment and was a delayed reaction to the enforced optimism of popular culture during the Depression and war years. The intended purpose of Hollywood narratives was to confirm the beliefs and values of the audience. Hollywood took a conservative stance within society both socially and politically. Films had to follow censorship regulations where certain principles had to be followed such as poetic justice, unsuccessful villains and restricted sexual liaisons (Palmer, 1994:4). Film noirs, for the most part, complied with these regulations given that they were unnoticeably different. However, they did touch on certain non-traditional themes such as sexual and criminal violations (Palmer, 1994:9). The French critic Nino Frank (cited in Palmer, 1994:8) described noir having rendered obsolete the traditional detective film because noirs focussed on the psychology of the characters rather than the actual crime and criminal. According to Silver (2004:15), important themes in film noir were classified as the haunted past and the fatalistic nightmare. The haunted past suggests the protagonists escape from a traumatic incident as in Touch of Evil or, crimes committed out of passion as in Double Indemnity. Past and present circumstances are mixed within the narrative; the past is real and inescapable and the protagonist has to confront it to seek redemption. This is featured in both Double Indemnity and Touch of Evil. The second theme is the fatalistic nightmare which is based on causality where present events lead to an inevitable conclusion. Good intentions of characters can be overridden when certain factors are taken into consideration. Double Indemnity uses chance and opportunity to commit crime, whereas the structure of society affects situations in Touch of Evil. Confusion was another theme in noir. It gives a sense of ambiguity to the narrative and a sense of nightmare to the atmosphere. This is conveyed in Touch of Evil when Susan Vargas is resting in the motel and a group of Mexican youths take over which leaves the audience questioning what happened exactly. Noirs present a bleak vision of contemporary life that was populated by criminals and immoral people; all of which opposed the American ideal (Palmer, 1994:6). The protagonists are mostly male and reflect the disruption to the traditional male role that was caused by the war and post-war readjustments thereafter. Females were characterised as both domestic and bland or as femme fatales. Male powerlessness is demonstrated next to the femme fatale which was a common feeling in post-war society (Grant, 2007:26). However, post-feminist critics suggest that Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity was a strong woman in a male-dominated world where she had to use any kind of weapon, including sexuality, to become an equal (Silver, 2004:16). But ultimately, the femme fatale corrupts the protagonist. The themes in Touch of Evil also promote the sense of corruption: drug dealing, sex trade and gambling. Touch of evil represents the conflict between true justice and the prevailing norms of justice. It has a theme of good versus evil where the moral Vargas can progress through the noir world of corrupt police officers such as Quinlan (Conard, 2006:43). Unlike Neff in Double Indemnity, Quinlan is deeply flawed already. Noirs involve moral decision making, the ethics of knowing what is morally right but finding alternatives more attractive. For example, in Double Indemnity a manipulated insurance salesman plots with a married woman to murder her husband to gain financial rewards (Conard, 2006:42). Double Indemnity contains adultery, cold-blooded killing, insurance fraud and criminal activity that are blamed on a female, which went against the contemporary censorship rules of the time. However, Neff and Dietrichsons inescapable fatality that draws them into crime seems to agree with those rules (Palmer, 1994:9). This is proven as Neff begins his narrations suggesting that crime does not pay (Double Indemnity, 2005): Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money and for a woman. I didnt get the money and I didnt get the woman. Pretty isnt it? The noir categorisation occurred because of the interaction between style, narrative and theme attributions. Noirs were able to branch away from the standard Hollywood product in such a way that it still catered to a large audience but unknowingly contained influences from European cinema. The impact that German expressionism had on Hollywood was remarkable and it is clear that the expressionistic style influenced many subsequent films. Double Indemnity, the earlier film, was a good example of innovative style both in appearance and narrative and was extremely influential. Touch of Evil was made towards the end of the noir period and deliberately used noir features but to an excessive degree. Noirs were considered to be a new type of detective crime thriller that subtly changed from the standard Hollywood genre film. They were still able to maintain the industrys principles by allowing a moral outcome but incorporating a more complex body to the story. These themes reflected the feelings of the American people towards their own society which made the films acceptable. The audiences need for a new way of expressing the story was met by a different, experimental narrative technique which heightened the impact of the dark qualities in the themes. These influences together with the dramatic, expressionist style established the film noir and give it a unique element in Hollywood.

Digital Smell Technology Essay

We all are aware about todays technology evidence, how far it resembles with our day to day life. Everything around us is changing so rampantly. Basics needs in this era of technology are not just limited to three i.e. food, shelter and clothes, people are expecting a lot than this three basic one. If you observe carefully technology mainly focused on our sense of sight and sound, you will find it more interesting and incredible. Now it’s time to add one more sense into the list and that is nose and tough. We all are very quantize with the online shopping through internet, while buying some product on the internet we can see the image of the product. This online shopping is just limited for some products like clothes, mobiles etc. But now you can buy those products which have smell like perfumes, cakes etc. Anything which you will decide to buy from its smell. Means you will be able to smell the object just sitting in front of your computer by using this digital smell technology. Now you might be thinking that how it will be possible ?. California based Dig scents Inc. has developed this technology. A small device connects through your computer or laptop via serial port and has its own driver which produces the smell related to your product in your room. The idea of this technology came from one perfume making company for the advertisement of his perfumes products. This digital smell technology can be used for the security purpose in public places like theaters or some auditorium etc for detecting the odd flavor of some explosive materials. There is USB device which need to connect to your computer via. USB device is called ismell. Which contain some chemicals to produce the all types fragrance using different combinations. For each smell there is some code for respective smell. When user click on that product link client request  the ismell device and the device recognized the coding according to that the respective smell will be escaped from the device and spread into the room.

Your Students’ English Language Skills

Your Students' English Language Skills BY gallantly How can improve English As the president of the English Language Society of the school, you wish to improve the students' standard of English. You want to give a talk to the students on how they can improve their English at one of the weekly school assemblies. Good morning to the principal, teachers and fellow students. As the president of the English Language Society of the school, indeed I felt honor to give a talk entitled â€Å"How to improve the students standard of English†. English is an international language.Many up-to-date information on internet are written in English. In order to grab the first hand information, we have no choice but to improve our English standard. There are many ways ones can improve your English if you have the will to do so. The most practical and cheap ways is to read more English story books, magazines and newspapers. You can read at any hour and anywhere. You can read at the bus-stop while waiting for a bus. All you need to do is always put an English material in your pocket or bag. There are some who felt that they need proper guidance to improve their grammar,English structures and even pronunciation. They choose to go for English tuition class. Well, its not a bad idea after all! You can get one to one attention from a tuition teacher, all you need to do is register yourself and pay up every month at any tuition center nearby. Always listening to English program on television and radio is both entertaining and learning. Beside getting your knowledge widen through National Geographic Channel and also get your pronunciation improve. What an excellence idea of killing two birds with one stone! Remember a proverb, â€Å"Practice made ones perfect†.Reading and listening a lot is not enough to improve your English. Put your English into practice will bring you surprising reward. Practical thing like speaking English with family members, classmates, teachers help a lot. Taking part in English Debate, Elocution contest, Drama Competition and poem recitation will bring marvelous improvement. Apart from oral aspect, ones can improve your written skill through Essay writing competition and even corresponding with pen-pals in English. To conclude, there are thousand and one ways to improve your English, so, lets get started. Thank you for listening.

Poverty Inequality And Poverty And Inequality - 875 Words

First of all, it is not an easy question due to the fact that numerous economists have been arguing for decade in order to define both extremely important concepts which are poverty and inequality. Both inequality and poverty have mainly negatives impacts in the society therefore, it is almost a prerequisite to have an understanding of both for the sake of reduce them accurately. The first purpose of the essay is to give a thorough understanding of what poverty and inequality are. The second purpose is to display some similarity between poverty and inequality. Poverty Primarily, a simple definition of poverty is highly questionable. Therefore it is argued that different kinds of poverty can be found. The first kind is Absolute poverty, someone is deem to be poor if his money income is too low to keep him alive or healthy or by nutritional requirement. The challenges faced by this simplistic definition are each individual are unique and then have different nutritional requirement. Secondly the second argument is how can we if someone is poor only using money income because to measure poverty accurately the Full income is needed. Full income (money income+ non pecuniary income) therefore, poverty cannot be partially measure only using money income. The second kind or approach of poverty is called Relative Poverty it indicates that someone is poor if that person feels poor. The relative approach can be deceitful because it varies by time and place according toShow MoreRelatedInequality : Inequality And Poverty1729 Words   |  7 Pages Inequality and poverty exist in our society because wealth and opportunity are inherited. If we all entered the world with an equal amount of resources, some would still rise above others but everyone would get the same chance to succeed in life. Since greed is one of the norms of our society, and wealth is passed from generation to generation, there will always be inequality and poverty. The system of wealth and inequality is actually pretty simple. It all boils down to a few things what youRead MorePoverty Inequality : Poverty And Income Inequality1526 Words   |  7 PagesPoverty Income Inequality How do we balance the assistance we give the poor but do not discourage work? The labor markets which determine how much workers are paid do not take into consideration how much a family really requires to pay for all expenses like health care, clothes, food, housing, and transportation. The labor markets actually create inequalities of income and as a result create issues leading to poverty. Poverty is measured by the U.S. Census Bureau as a direct result of the OfficeRead MorePoverty Inequality And The Poverty2877 Words   |  12 Pagescause poverty because of the inequality and unfairness they bring. The country is put to blame for the governments and nations decisions. The people themselves can also be put at fault for poverty because of population but, some can not help it. This affects the poverty threshold, the people, and the number of people in poverty. Poverty can be solved with the help of organizations, the government or the president, and happy volunteers who would be w illing to do a lot for these people. Poverty is aRead MoreThe Inequality Of Poverty And Poverty1558 Words   |  7 PagesWhy is it that the people in poverty have such a tough time getting out of it? â€Å"Income inequality in the United States is higher than in any other advanced industrial democracy† (Lieberman). In America the poverty gap is continuously increasing throughout the years and no sense of progression is being shown. People in poverty are finding it harder every year to escape their low economic stage . When it comes to poverty it does not mean just having a low income it is a â€Å"condition of having littleRead MorePoverty and Inequality2265 Words   |  10 Pagesown family and take care of it. Because of the inequality, making more inequality and poverty arises. When women are not educated, although they are given the chance to seek for jobs, they only can do simple jobs that make them have only a low bargaining power over their wages. Although women are earning income, but their purchasing power is still low and have less ability to buy their basic goods. However, in the modern society now, the gender inequality has become lesser and the equality is even improvingRead MoreInequality Between Poverty And Poverty1139 Words   |  5 Pageslast two decades in ending the terms of inequalities and poverty. Many countries are determined to improve their economy, and become fully developed just like the United States. In my home country, Kuwait, poverty do not exist, however, inequalities do. Some of the countries that have done well in the recent past include China, India, Brazil, and South Korea. However, poverty and inequalities are still being realized in the wealthy nation. Poverty and inequalities in the society are the two main factorsRead MorePoverty Inequality : Economic Inequality1509 Words   |  7 PagesCombating Economic Inequality Economic Inequality When you turn on the news nowadays, some of America’s biggest problems are right there flashing across your screen. However, the increasing issue of inequality that our country is facing doesn’t seem to get quite the attention it deserves. The disproportion of lower and middle class families to wealthier families, due to economic inequality, is in dire need of a solution! So how do you fix a struggling economy between the classes? ProfessorsRead MoreIncome Inequality And Poverty989 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"Income inequality has no necessary connection with poverty, the lack of material resources for a decent life, such as adequate food, shelter, and clothing. A society with great income inequality may have no poor people, and a society with no income inequality may have nothing but poor people† - Robert Higgs. When people think of income inequality they picture poverty and people not having basic necessities. However income inequality is not just a connection to the poor. Income inequality is stronglyRead MorePoverty in America and Inequality798 Words   |  3 Pagesâ€Å"Poverty is the worst form of violence.† Mahatma Gandhi’s words still ring true in today’s society. Poverty is nothing to sweep under the rug or put on the back burner. While many statistics state that poverty is decreasing, other sources state the opposite. Poverty is a hot topic in the U.S., foreign countries, and speaks true about many genders, ethnic groups, and children. Poverty is present in today’s U.S. social system. For example, as Lesser states in the Clearinghouse Review, â€Å"Forty-sixRead More Poverty and Inequality Essay1855 Words   |  8 PagesPoverty and inequality exist in every developed culture and often are only patched in order for society to continue upwardly. Poverty and inequality in the United States exists for many reasons; reasons that very from the prospective lens. Interpretive theories in particular ask us to question our reality and its constructs. Interpretive theories require us to looks at the world as a social realm, one that we created and constantly change. Interpretive theories study the relationship between power