-Watch one Classic Film Noir, I am choosing: Nightmare Alley (1947, Edmund Goulding).
-Watch one Neo-Noir movie, I am choosing: Zodiac (2007, David Fincher).
-Compare the two films, focusing on the elements that define Film Noir.
-Answer the following questions:
-What thematic and visual tropes are used in the classic film noir you watched?
-What are the thematic and visual tropes used in the neo-noir and does it use those in a different way?
-If the neo-noir is in color, does it find new ways to create the same visual feel of the classic black and white films?
-If it is in black and white, does it merely pay homage to the classic films, or does the filmmaker attempt to create a different visual style?
-Do the cultural changes in society’s attitudes toward race and gender change how the noir characters are presented and how does that effect the themes of the modern neo-noir?
-Does our modern ratings system affect the way the neo-noir films deal with morality, violence and sex?
