Summary: Module 13

Module 13



RECAP

We have considered a few key films in the development of Sci-Fi Noir culminating in a screening of A Scanner Darkly. Like the classical era of noir, sci-fi noir is also frequently adapted from books - in this case the work of prominent Bay Area sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick. A Scanner Darkly was made using technical and frame by frame rotoscope manipulation of the visual image, resulting in complex storytelling that is always working on multiple levels, much like its predecessor engaging in concerns with a surveillance state, a drug war and paranoia.

MODULE SUMMARY

In this module To demonstrate your learning, you completed the following activities and assessments:  

Read module content, "Head Trip" American Cinematographer, July 2006, Vol.87 (7), p.44-53 Download 
Watch A Scanner Darkly and clips

RESOURCES

"Neo-Noir vs. Cyberpunk: The Differences Between Sci-Fi Genres Explained" (Links to an external site.)
"The Beginner's Guide to the Sub-genres of Noir," Film School Rejects (Links to an external site.)
"Hard Boiled Science Fiction" about books, not movies - Link does not work

YOUTUBE ESSAYS

1)The Surveillance State, Identity and Empathy in "A Scanner Darkly"

  Link Here 
My interpretation of A Scanner Darkly from the perspective of someone that was personally involved in the life style. (X-Treme YouTube Directors Cut, after much ado)

2)Form and Function: The Use of Rotoscoping in A Scanner Darkly
Link Here
Form and Function: The Importance of Rotoscoping in A Scanner Darkly
by Siobhan Cavanagh

Abstract

In this video essay, I will explore how a filmmaking technique can be used to accentuate major thematic elements of a film as well as to situate it within the Science Fiction genre.  I will explore how the use of rotoscoping in the film illustrates themes of identity and surveillance that are central to the film. It does this by presenting one reality (the rotoscoped image) while still referencing another(the live action base). To discuss the film’s relationship to genre, I will explore the theories of Darko Suvin and Rick Altman Suvin qualifies the major distinguishing factor of Science Fiction as cognitive estrangement. This quality is often thought of in terms of content, however Richard Linklater’s film adaptation of A Scanner Darkly, creates cognitive estrangement both in its content and its form. A Scanner Darkly is as an example of a film that uses rotoscoping to create an estrangement for the viewer by physically removing them from the empirical image. Simultaneously this technique retains a cognitive quality because it is an extrapolation of latent possibilities in the empirical environment. I will also explore form and genre convention, by illustrating how rotoscoping adds semantic and syntactic elements of science fiction as outlined by Altman. The main goal for this video essay is to show how not only content, but also form can situate a film within the science fiction genre.

3)Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956/1978) Side-by-Side Comparison
Link Here

Supplemental article: https://mattskuta.com/sbs/
A side-by-side, shot-for-shot comparison between the 1956 and 1978 adaptations of Jack Finny's novel The Body Snatchers.

This side-by-side, shot-for-shot comparisons is intended to illustrated the the unique vision of filmmakers and the variety of choices possible when creating motion pictures adapted from the same written work.
Music in this video
Song 1
Night
Artist - John Carpenter
Album - Lost Themes
Licensed to YouTube by
[Merlin] Secretly Distribution (on behalf of Sacred Bones Records); MINT_BMG, LatinAutorPerf, Abramus Digital, BMG Rights Management (US), LLC, ARESA, CMRRA, LatinAutor - PeerMusic, and 10 Music Rights Societies


Song 2
Persia Rising
Artist John Carpenter
Album Lost Themes II
Licensed to YouTube by
[Merlin] Secretly Distribution (on behalf of Sacred Bones Records); LatinAutor - PeerMusic, Abramus Digital, BMG Rights Management (US), LLC, ARESA, LatinAutorPerf, MINT_BMG, CMRRA, and 3 Music Rights Societies


Looking Ahead

Now you are ready to move onto Module 14.

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