Imagine you are an established film scholar at a large university, who has been contacted by the Encyclopaedia Britannica editors to write about the Film Noir genre for a scheduled update of their online edition. Your specific assignment is to develop a 4-5 pp., double-spaced encyclopedia entry on Film Noir (Thoughtful titles, font size no larger than #12, uniform 1” margins around all four sides of the page please), detailing the genre’s origins, variation, scope, and evolution. This is an intentionally 7 difficult assignment, and you lack the space of a typical 8-10pp thesis-based research paper to waffle aimlessly for seven pages before you finally determine what you want to say. You need to make every word count while at the same time being as comprehensive as you can. The best entries will be concise and specific while also providing a clear explanation of the overall features of Film Noir. What overarching observations, points, and critique(s) do you want to make about the genre, school, style, or filmic cycle known as Film Noir? How might these be exemplified by particular movies we have seen? What else do you want to include in your encyclopedia entry?
