Outline for Film Brick (100 Points)

Outline for the Presentation (100 Points)

I.             Introduce your film and provide the premise of the film in three sentences or fewer.

Brick is based on a High School teenager which goes by the name of Brendan who is played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt in which whom starts to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend Emily. Brick was directed by a man who goes by the name of Rian Johnson which was released on the 7^th of April in 2005. Brick is a film in which it tells the genre of Neo-Noir. The film is very intelligent and quick paced. It uses dialogues from the 1930’s and 1940’s. Lastly, it shows a very hard boiled detective figure in which Brendan acts out.

II.            Characteristics and Conventions of the Film that Link it to Classic Film Noir

1.       The film uses dialogues from the 1940’s and 1950’s.

The way that this characteristic links to Classic Film Noir is by comparing it to today’s time. During the 1940’s and 50’s people would have a way of speaking and using their dialogues in films so that when people would watch these films they could try and figure out what the film was about. Now in today’s time period we don’t use those kinds of dialogues. The kind of dialogues that directors use now is direct English in which we can all understand to comprehend the point of the film. One example would be when the “The Brain” and Brendan are in the library, Brendan starts thinking of a plan to figure out who killed Emily and when he starts to plan it he start’s using this very quick paced dialogue from the 1940’s and 1950’s in which no viewer would be able to understand.

2.       Brendan plays the Detective Figure in Brick.

What makes this film Classic Noir is the standard plot of film Noir-the search for a missing women. In which Brendan the Detective and Ambiguous Protagonist is on the search for. In this film Brendan uses the right tools for going under cover from one person to another in his High School. Another fact would be that in this film Brendan would also use cues from a friend called the “Brain” and gather all the clues from him. Another connection that I would like to point out is the Femme Fatale which is Laura which is acted by Nora Zehetner. So basically what her role shows in the film is to manipulate Brendan. Some examples of her being the Femme Fatale would be when she tries to get his trust so they could become close friends and also so she can try and make him not discover the person who killed Emily.

III.          Elements of the Film that Deviate from Classic Film Noir and Link it to Neo Noir

1.       Brick was made in color on the 7^th of April in 2005

With this element it makes it a Neo-Noir because most films during the 1940’s and 50’s would be mostly shot in black and white and since this film was directed in 2005 it was the time where color was used and even before the year 2005 hit.

2.       Director Rian Johnson used High School teenagers in the film Brick.

The way that this element links to Neo-Noir is by showing the audience who watch this film that not all movies need to have adults in them to make the film entertaining Films now could have teenagers in them and even younger if allowed. Director Rian Johnson wanted to show all viewers that not only adults are bad influences but also that teenagers are learning bad things as days and years pass by, as you can see in the film Brick from the way they act their parts in the film they go through a wrong path by using drugs and having drug dealers. Another example would be on how all the High School students have a very hard core attitude towards each other in Brick. Last example would be the styles that demonstrate who each character is. For example Brain dresses really nice and appropriate to show that he knows what he’s doing when it comes to helping Brendan. Brendan dresses as if he’s himself meaning the Detective and the Ambiguous Protagonist. The “Pin” dresses all in black to show that he’s the man who is in charge of his group. Laura dresses very decent to show that she’s the Femme Fatale in which she tries to manipulate Brendan. Lastly is “Tug” who dresses as a gangster and is also referred to as a drug dealing thug whose intentions are to break up his own crew and the “Pins.”

Quotes from Outside Sources (These may be inserted anywhere in the outline)

Source One:

Context:  Provide a signal phrase that includes the title of the source and the author:	Quote from the Source: Be sure to include the page number	Significance: How does this quote relate to the topic of your essay?
According to James Crawford the author of Indie Wire states that…	“Laura the Femme Fatale of Brick is a mess of willfully assembled contradictions though coolly inscrutable.”	The way that this quote relates to the topic of my essay would be by demonstrating to the audience that Laura shows that she’s very confused when it comes to manipulating Brendan because she has many thoughts running through her mind but mainly she thinks about her manipulation towards Brendan in whether her plan is either going to work or fail.

Source Two:

Context: Provide a signal phrase that includes the title of the source and the author:	Quote from the Source: Be sure to include the page number	Significance: How does this quote relate to the topic of your essay?
Author Greg Thomson from the Wikinut article acknowledges that…	“Director Rian Johnson wanted to make a film Noir but with a different set of visual cues to the usual men in trench coats chewing on cigarettes.”	My second quote relates to the topic of my essay by telling the readers that Director Rian Johnson wanted to keep the same visuals and aspects that Classic Noir film had during the 1930s and 1940s rather than using teenagers from today’s time. If you compare it now from the year 2005 to 2011 you will see how many things have changed including the wardrobe language and attitudes towards each other when making new friends.

Blog #12: Annotated Bibliograpgy - Brick

Van Coller, Phillip."Film Book."Unique Blog Designs. 31 Jan 2008.Web. 22 Apr. 2011
    For this source it talks about how the film Brick presents en extremely intriguing premise. This source also says that the film Brick shows all of the Noir Elements from the beginning to the end. I believe that this is very true because when I had seen it for the first time it had caught my attention very well from the way it started to the way it had ended. In a specific point of this article it states that all the characters spoke in a detective/gangster dialogue which I had found very interesting. It also says that their were other films that spoke in that same dialogue throughout the 1930's and the 1950's. The film Brick is a really good Noir fim to watch.

Carvalho, Claudio."Brick."IMDd. Amazon. n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2011
    In this source it actually gives a lot of details and information about Brick. In this source there are two things that stand out in this article which are the words 'Present Day" and "Flashback." These two words caught my attention very well because you don't see that often in articles. The point that I'm trying to make is that for this article it clearly states when the flashbacks are occurring  and when. I find that this article is very informational. I also noticed that it tells the story from the beginning to end. The article also tells that they use voiceover turns into a flashback which I find that incredible. This article has also gave me good ideas for the film Brick.

Gonzalez, Ed. "Movie Review." Slant Magazine. 15 Jan. 2006. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.
     For this article it's a very different article from the others that I have read. In this article Ed Gonzalez compares the movie Brick affects to a function of a Rube Goldberg machine or a game of Milton Bradley's Mouse Trap. Now you may be asking why would Ed be comparing this film to a machine and game? Well the answer is because it's John's history puzzle in which he picks out chunks of noir from a 500 piece puzzle that clearly shows all of the nameless Southern California high school as it's background. In this article what it's trying to point out is that since the film took place in a high school you could see that the students talk about and act like familiar noir archetypes such as a doomed dame, moll, or even like a femme fatale. I find this section very educational because ever since I seen the movie Double Indemnity I have always thought about how high school students talk and act like the actors in the film Brick.

Ricuarte, Kristen. "Brick Movie Review." MudSugar. 13 Apr. 2006. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.
        What the article MudSugar claims to be about is first how the movie starts and so on. Then it comes to a point where the writer/director wanted to make the film Brick. In this article Rian Johnson it states that he was a really hard working man that ended up getting his wish with the film Brick. In one part of the article Rian Johnson states that the character the Pin and his mom knew how to get around the high school system. Overall in this article it also talks about how Brick is a very good film that Rian Johnson created. As for me I couldn't have agreed anymore with Riaan. I found the film Brick to be a very interesting and educational film.

Willey, Matt. "Brick; Movie Review." Brick Threw Glass. MG Willey. n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.
      When I found this article it has caught my attention a lot. I mostly like it because it has pictures involved and compared to the others they don't have images. I find that articles that have images help me understand things more clearly. Overall this article is short but points out the important point of the movie. One is when he is going to meet with a football player to find out about this one place where he could locate his ex-girlfriend. Two when he needs to meet with the main guy of drug dealing at the beach. And lastly, it shows that Brendan goes to a Halloween party to investigate more about Emily in where she could find her by talking to one of Emily's old friend from high school. Brendan ends up following the girl and finds out a little bit of information just by spying on her in who she talks to. Overall I find this article informational because it has these three images.

Blog #11: Brick Film

    Throughout the days that I have been learning about Neo-Noir I have learned a lot of facts about it. I have learned that overall Neo-Noir is based on Black and White films from a certain times of years. Neo-Noir is also based on many element such as having a Femme Fatale, Flashbacks, and Ambiguous Protagonist, and even deals with crime.

As for blog number 11 my assignment was to choose a film that was a good example of Neo-Noir. The film that I decided to watch and blog about is the film called Brick. When I first started to watch the film Brick I thought to myself how is the film a Neo-Noir if it’s not black and white, then I realized that not all Neo-Noir has to be in black and white. As I started to continue to watch the film I noticed that it fit in all the categories that lead up to Neo-Noir. In the movie Brick it had a Femme Fatale, different roles that characters play, it had an ambiguous protagonist, and lastly it has crime. When it came to the Femme Fatale I had first thought of Laura playing that role. I was paying more and more attention to the movie and realized that the Femme Fatale of the film Brick ended up being Brendan. Brendan in the film played the good and bad guy. I also noticed that he and “The Brain” were also playing a role in being detectives. As for flashbacks there was a time where Brendan had a flashback back when Emily was present standing in front of a big dark tunnel. For the ambiguous protagonist I think that for that role it was well played by a character that goes by the name of Laura because she played the good and bad girl. Overall the movie deals with crime. Why you may be asking, well because in the film Brick it doesn’t involve just one crime it involves multiple which I find really sad to have seen in the film. Overall I found this film a really good, educational, and interesting film to watch because of all the elements that it had in it and how it was based on teenagers and not mostly adults like most films have in them. I believe this film is very good and educational.

Works Cited

Carvalho, Claudio. "Brick." IMDd. Amazon. n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2011.

Gonzalez, Ed. "Movie Review." Slant Magazines. 15 Jan. 2006. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.

Ricaurte, Kristen. "Brick Movie Review." Mud Sugar. 13 Apr. 2006. Web. 23 Apr. 2011.

Van Coller, Phillip."Film Book." Unique Blog Designs. 31 Jan 2008. Web. 22 Apr. 2011.

Willey, Matt."Brick; movie review." Brick Threw Glass. MG Willey. n.d.Web. 23 Apr. 2011.

Blog Entry #10: Classification of Noir

    Two out the four stories that I have read I found very interesting. I believe that from all the Los Angeles stories that I’ve read they all seem to fall under the noir category. The main story that I found that is an example of noir would be Kinship by Brian Ascalon Roley. Mainly I choose this story as a classification as noir just because of what happens at the end of the novel when Veronicas cousin decided to stick in an ice pick into the man that did damage to Emerson. As a proof that I feel that it’s somewhat related to noir would be when in the novel it states ‘I am a father too, I said loudly enough for Manny to hear, and then I reached down and stuck him’ (pg. 317). As for this statement it relates to noir because back then all the violence involved a lot of weapons than today’s time. Even in today’s time there are still weapons involved but not as many as before. The novel that I found difficult to classify as noir was the novel What You See by Diana Wagman. The reason that I had found this novel difficult to classify as noir is because how the narrator wrote it. In the novel What You See it seemed easier to classify it as if it were to be a horror type of novel and being able to visualize it as a horror film by the way the story ended. This novel actually wouldn’t fit with noir. The narrator describes the things and places very well but I wouldn’t classify it as noir.

Blog #9: "The Kidnapper Bell" and "City of Commerce

I really liked both of the stories but the one that I liked the most was ‘The Kidnapper Bell’ just for the fact that I got a creepy feeling when I was reading it but I really like this story. The way that I think that both of the writers used the landscaping of Los Angeles was very distinctive. The way that they were really distinctive was by one having to do with a bell and the other one had to do with gambling and money. Both of the novels were very unique. I believe though that The Kidnapper Bell was very interesting because as I was reading it I felt a big creepy feeling, you know the ones that you get sometimes when you watch a horror film and you feel that something bad might be coming up. These two stories do create a very distinctive sense of place because one takes occurs in a river in the city of San Fernando and the other one takes place in the Crowne Plaza Hotel where there’s a lot of casinos that are similar to Las Vegas Nevada. For the story of The Kidnapper Bell the sense was very spooky as if someone was going to come up behind you and kidnap you. As for the other story the Russian does kidnap the guy in the hotel for winning over the Russians money that wants it back. In my point of view both stories were very interesting but at the same time very unique and distinguished in every way. Overall both narrators did a very good job.

Blog #8: Option #3 "The Method" by Janet Fitch

   Both of the stories “The Method” (pg.97) and “Morocco Junction 90210” (pg.122) were very interesting to me but if I were to choose one between these two stories for a recommendation I would have to go with “The Method.” To be very sincere I believe that it’s really hard to choose between any novels because it also depends on the other reader who is going to read it after and find out what it’s about because maybe they have a different prospective than we do but in this case we the readers would have to go with the one that we enjoyed. The one that I would recommend would be “The Method.” I choose this story because to me it was very simplistic and easy to understand. This story told everything about it. It stated where it took place, the characters names, the year it took place, etc. I would also recommend it because of the way that the narrator wrote it for us. Not only because it was plain and simplistic but also because throughout the story it was very straight forward to each of the characters. It was also very abrupt when it came to reading it. I have never read a story like that before. With all those intense and abrupt vocabulary word that the narrator has used made me want to read more of it. I really think that the narrator did a magnificent job in writing this story. I give a whole lot of credit to Janet Fitch. I think that she is an incredible narrator. So this is mainly why I choose the story “The Method.”

Blog #7: Los Angeles the Main City of all Cities

  Yes, it’s very true that in both of the novels they both take place in the city of Los Angeles the most popular city of all California. It’s also true that both of these authors used a greater backdrop for their deception and intrigue for this story. The way that both of these settings are different is that with Dangerous Days by Emory Holmes II (pg.54) she describes the novel in a very positive and happy way that’s going to capture the attention of the readers. I also find this story different because it starts off on a holiday. With this story there is a lot of positive moments to share by amongst the characters, not only did I read the quotes carefully and also felt the enthusiasm between one another. As I kept reading throughout the story it felt to me that as if the characters were together as a family and having a good time like any other family would be with each other. So overall these settings have shaped in a completely different way. As for the story called Midnight in Silicon Alley by Denise Hamilton (pg.85) the story starts off with a tone of discretion, discomfort, and full of tragedy. To me I see many differences overall I noticed the tone in which the narrators used. In this story I feel that it’s somewhat like Double Indemnity which has darkness, bleakness, and even very close lust to one another. So the way that these settings have shaped would be by making the novels positive and in a very happy tone. Overall the narrators have different stories but both have an interesting story to tell to the readers which will make us understand what we read and will make our lives more interesting than what we have been discovering.

Blog #6: The Contrast between Neo-Noir and Film Noir

Obviously some of us students didn’t know what the words Neo or Noir meant when we entered our English 101 class. We as students at the beginning had to research about both Neo Noir and Film Noir. Overall have you ever noticed that there hasn’t been much of a difference between them two? I have. With both of them they’ve stretched their movies through the early 1940s and through the late 1950s. Ever have thought about how the word Neo-Noir connect but not quite make sense to one other, in other words how they connect? Well if you really think about it or translate Neo Noir in English it doesn’t make sense. It actually says in English new black which of course doesn’t make any sense at all. So why did people come up with this name? The better question is who came up with this name? The answer to this would be the French people. Now with Film Noir when it came to making the movies they had stylish Hollywood crime dramas that make cynical attitudes and sexual motivation which make the films look Noir than what they already are. Many of their styles have roots from German Expressionist Cinematography. I believe that what this means was that the films came from Germany and starte4d extending out all over the countries. Most of the great Film Noirs were filmed during the Great Depression.

Blog #5- Double Indemnity:Overview Article

Wow!!! Double Indemnity is two big words that you don't hear often. Would you know the meaning to Double Indemnity? I do, the meaning of these two words are really fascinating to me. Overall what Double Indemnity means is two types of either damages or losses that someone would provoke. Well I found an article that Rob Nixon wrote about Double Indemnity. Rob couldn’t be more right about the novel when he said that to him it was a cold-blooded, brutal, highly stylized, and informed with a black sense of humor. I agree with Rob Nixon. I mostly believed that overall it was highly stylized because of the form that the actors talked with each other in the film. In the article that I have chosen it had also said that Barbara Stanwyck was afraid of the role for who she was going to play which was Phyllis Nirdlinger. Barbara was scared because for the other movies that she’s had been in she would play an innocent role in which she liked to be and for Double Indemnity a murderer. In my article that I have chosen I read that Edward G. Robinson also known as Barton Keyes in the film was best known for a gangster that he acted out for in the film Little Caesars in the year 1930. When I read that section about Edward G. Robinson I had thought about him and connected his acting with Double Indemnity and thought to myself how Edward G. Keyes would act in the movie Little Gangsters because in the film Double Indemnity I could see him playing a gangster for Little Caesars. In Double Indemnity Edward G. Robinson played a lethal lover nemesis which was a shrewd investigator who was able to sense a phony insurance from a mile away. For the role that Edward G. Robinson got was an excellent part that he played in Double Indemnity because he acted out his role very well. I would have to say that Double Indemnity was an incredible film from the nineteen fortys.

Article Title: Double Indemnity: Overview Article

Author: Rob Nixon

Blog Entry #4: The Revealence

 Why would anybody want to meet in an empty parking lot at 11:24 at night? Well it’s obviously suspicious that something’s going to happen because in the novel on page 93 of Double Indemnity Mr. Huff states that when Mr. Huff parked his car in the parking lot it was 11:24 when he first looked at his watch. The second time he looked at his watch it was 11:35 and had thought to himself that it was getting very suspicious. Now why did it get suspicious? We all know why because we all read the novel, I hope. Well my point here is that the conclusion of the story didn’t really quite end the way I expected it to end because you would think that the person that tried to kill him would be behind bars which of course didn’t happen in this case. In my very own opinion I think that it wasn’t fair to what had happen to Mr. Huff. To be honest I wasn’t satisfied at all with the ending because there were a lot of negative facts that lead to one another which made the novel a bit confusing but mostly interesting because we as students don’t hear either about these novels nor shall I say cases in where these types of things happen. Not only do I see this novel as murder, obsessiveness, and romance but I also see that it would be a novel that has to do with a little bit of karma. I don’t really believe in karma but that’s how I would or do see it. I truly believe that Walter and Phyllis should’ve received completely different treatment. Why u ask? Well because for the fact of what she had put him through and over all for making him Lola’s father. So over all my answer is yes both Phyllis and Walter should have different treatments.

Blog Entry #3: The Detective

In most of the novels there is a detective, gangster, criminal, murder, or even a spy just to name a few but in Double Indemnity I noticed a detective. The character who I believe that is playing a detective would be Mr. Keyes. Not only did I read where it seems that he’s doing all the detective work but also when I was read through the novel I was able to see the tone that the author used to make him be the detective in Double Indemnity. I believe that when I was reading chapter 8 where the tone showed that Mr. Keyes would be the detective I also saw the qualities that he possess for that particular role. Some qualities would be how in the story Mr. Keyes starts throwing big thick books to say that it wasn’t a suicide because Mr. Keyes told Mr. Huff that he grew up studying arching while Mr. Keyes he was raised in the insurance business. Not only have that but Mr. Keyes toned of insistence. Mr. Keyes also has plenty of facts that show that it’s not a suicide. Mr. Keyes is on the case where he says that it’s murder instead of something else because Mr. Keyes is Giving Mr. Norton and Keyes clues as to what he thinks it would be which in this case would be a murder. Mr. Keyes not only suspects that it’s a murder but also detects that Mr. Nirdlinger wife has done it to him. So overall I believe that in this case the detective would be Mr. Keyes just for the fact that he says that he was raised around insurance businesses.

Bog Entry #2

Towards a Definition of Film Noir

The quote that I have chosen from Notes on Film Noir is by Paul Shrader that states “nightmarish, weird, erotic, ambivalent, and cruel”. I decided to choose this quote because all of these five words to me seem to be real characteristics that I can actually see from the novel Double Indemnity. From page 3 to the end of page 33 I was mostly paying attention to how James M. Cain would be telling the story as if I were to be him and act his part. To me I can see why Paul Shrader would state that it’s nightmarish, weird, erotic, ambivalent, and cruel just for the fact that James M. Cain acts all of those parts all in one and also towards himself.  The way that I find the novel Double Indemnity so far is weird and cruel at the same time. The reason why I state this would be because in the first two to three pages he’s looking for a man that he’s interested to negotiate with over an insurance policy but yet has no luck in finding this man that goes by the name of Mr. Nirdlinger so gives up and starts speaking with the wife Mrs. Nirdlinger over it. I can see how nightmarish comes in the picture because just to think about it, it could actually happen or already has happened in real life to people without even knowing about the whole situation. Now the erotic part starts on page 13 where Mr. Huff starts to get to know Mrs. Nirdlinger and cross the line with her. Also this novel it’s ambivalent because both Mr. Huff and Mrs. Nirdlinger start to lead one another based on their relationships. Lastly, Paul states that it’s cruel because Mr. Huff and Mrs. Nirdlinger want something bad to occur to Mr. Nirdlinger and they both are trying to figure out a way to make it happen and get money for it.

Blog Entry #1: Contrats Between Films

 I choose topic number three which is asking to compare some of the contrasts between the types of films that were made during the classic time. As for the article that I’ve read “The Neo Noir 90s” I found out that this article is based on different times. One that has to do after World War II and another time would be today’s time. From what I read in this article would be that back then during the World War II crimes were very dangerous and mysterious. Back then the way that the characters would dress would be with hats that would be in a round shaped way which would almost cover their faces so that they wouldn’t be identified for going under cover for whatever it was they were investigating. Not only on how they would dress but also on how they would talk to each other. What I mean by that would be on their aggression style, talking with codes, signaling each other, etc. Also in the 1990s people would listen to different type of music that everyone would sing and dance along to. Up until this day rarely 90s music comes out on certain radio stations and still like it. Not only in the year was 1990 about different styles but also on how things looked such as television, clothes, and even technology. All of these topics that I mentioned were completely different as to how all of them are now. With television during the 1990s it was black and white. With clothes the dresses were made plain and simple and many people would wear them with bows on their head to give it more style. Lastly with technology Internet, cell phones, or even wireless headphones didn’t exist. Actors today wear their clothes that best fits their personality or choose a color that goes with their skin tone to make them stand out. So during the 1990s it was different from the time back then to the time now. So these are a few contrast after the World War II and a little bit of the time after.