Oral Presentation Part 2 & 3: Historical/Institutional/Socio-Cultural - Context & Factors

II. Historical and Institutional Factors-
Consider the film as a text that is part of the industry of critics, and awards.  What do we learn about the film in relation to the body of critical reviews that surround the film as well as the awards and special recognition the film has received. What evidence do you find in the film's financial/economic to the film's success?

1. What are the institutional factors that may be important?

I think the production of the film was very advanced for it's time. The innovations of Billy Wilder and the time of the film has a lot to do with how the film came out in the end.

a. as a production of a specific producer (i.e. Walt Disney), institution (Disney Studios), specific economic factors (Studio Film), or a political background? (U.S. politics 1959)
Billy Wilder had changed film with his newly created genre of Noir that became a standard base convention of modern day films. It was produce under Paramount Studios which gave a high budget for the production of the film. The budget for the film was approximately $1.75 million. The time period was post WWII, which means that U.S. politics were still on edge from the war and were in an era of Communism. The McCarthy hearings targeted a lot of directors, writers and producers to be considered Communists and would exile them.

2. What is the film’s historical significance?
This film became one of the first of it's kind. It was one of the first films to be categorized under the Noir Genre.

a. as a document of its time?
The film was extremely advanced in all aspects. It had an experimental storyline with new kinds of characters, the editing was close to modern day styles and

b. as a part of history of film?

This film helped create the conventions of the Noir genre.

III. Socio-cultural context-

Explore what the film says about it's country of origin and the artists who made it.

1. What do the film's themes say about the culture it's part of?

It creates almost a stereotype to it's country of origin. It can even be broken down into stereotype of the ethnicity of the characters in the film. A lot of films could portray it's country of origin's political system in a more radical depiction and things like that. It also shows the thinking or thought process of the director and writers as they collaborate to create whole film.

2. What is the film's geographical and historical context?

The film was made in 1950. This was post WWII and during the McCarthy hearings. Communism was spreading throughout much of the world and the U.S. wanted to do what they can to avoid the spread into the U.S.. Talkies had been out for awhile now and the use of dialogue had advanced through this movie because of the newly designed characters.

3. What big questions does the film address?

- How does social structure apply to us?
- What role does the Femme Fatale character play

4. How does the film add to the ongoing discourse?

It brought back the idea of big films coming back out and doing well. The invention of the television at the time of all of this overran the movie industry because people were able to stay at home and watch whatever they pleased.

5. Where does it fall in the evolution of the genre? Primitive/Classic/Revisionist/Parody

The film falls in the "Primitive" state of evolution of the genre.

6. What is the film’s socio-cultural context?

The film goes back to social structure.
a. as a work from a specific country?

  I think it represents class structure of the time and how it relates back to the people.

b. As a work from a specific culture?

 It has a lot to say about the American culture. Louie B. Meyer claimed that the film had ruined the image of Hollywood.

c. As a work representing a specific part of its society?

It represents the upper class of society. It depicts them in a way to make it seem as if money and fame drives people into madness.

d. As a work made for a specific audience?

This makes the mature young adults or adults see a social hierarchy in the region and depicts the upper classes in a violent and aggressive manner.

e. As a work made for a specific reason?

 It was made in order to push the boundaries on the restrictions of film and further evolve the culture.

Oral Presenation Part 1: Genre and Audience

Question
1. What tradition or genre is it in?
The film "Sunset Boulevard (1950)," falls under the "Noir" genre.

2. What are the features determining genre or elements that tell us what type of film this is?
The dialogue and the mysteriousness within the plot makes it a Noir film. The lighting is big in Noir films which consists of a lot of hard lighting or textured lighting. It is a post-World War II film which makes it come from the time period of the birth of the Noir film genre.

3. What other work might it be connected to?
This film could be connected to any film that falls under the "Noir" genre. It was the one of the first of it's kind. An earlier film of Wilder's called "Double Indemnity (1944)," was closely related to this one because it also was a Noir film.

4. Who made this? Why?
Billy Wilder made this film. Around when the movie was made, the year was 1950 and there was a lot of tension between other countries because of this being post-World War II, which sparked a new genre of drama called "Noir." The conventions of this type of genre were dark and cynical, often exploring a fatalistic life. The "femme fatale," character was used in this film to create a new type of antagonist. This character also could be the antagonist but in more modern, "Neo-Noir" films.

5. What can we tell about its’ creators?
We can tell that its' creators had a comedic side to contradict the serious storyline, therefore creating a satirical element to the film. Its' creators wanted to implement an advancement in film in order to push the boundaries of Drama films, therefore creating a new sub genre of Drama.

6. How does it fit within the director’s other work?
Wilder was known for his work being "cynical yet humorous." The use of satire was common throughout his films and became almost a conventions within his films. The film Double Indemnity (1944), also by Wilder, was often compared to Sunset Boulevard (150.)

a. Does it share significant narrative or thematic concerns?

Yes, it explores the character of the "femme fatale" along with the the hopeless life leading to desperate times storyline for the main character. This was a common use in Noir films.

b. Does it share particular visual or technical elements?
He often used low lights. This was exemplified often in many scenes of Sunset Boulevard (1950). The are a lot of close ups and sequence shots. The camera movements are slow. The introduction seems more advanced than of the time. Wilder also uses first person narration to make the audience follow the storyline from the desperate and lonely mindset of John Gillis. 

7. What is the film’s theme?

The films theme is Femme Fatale or Desperate times call for desperate measures.

8. What is the target audience? How does it address its audience?
The target audience is a mature teen to adult audience. It addresses it's audience with a gripping hook that leads into a mysterious storyline. The audience answers the rhetorical questions from the narrator by continuing to watch. It was a fairly modern storyline for it's time through a different approach of drama.