DI - Structure (Assessment) Flashcards
We do not have to wait until the final scene to discover the identity of the _______ in Double Indemnity as Neff confesses within five minutes of his entry in the first scene.
Murderer
If we know the identity of the murderer from the very beginning of the film the key element of surprise is removed from the mystery. Then, where does our engagement with the narrative reside? Clearly, it lies within the exposition of _____,_________ and character change and development - this is what drives our interest and involvement in the film.
Motive, relationship
_____ has described the movements or spheres of action in films as acts. The acts of Double Indemnity may crudely be divided in the following way, never forgetting that Neff’s voice-over continually acts as a chronological interface.
Wilder
The acts of Double Indemnity:
Act 1: Normality disrupted by the meeting of Neff and _____. Building to eventual sharing of joint motivation of murder.
Phyllis
The acts of Double Indemnity:
Act 2: Planning and execution of ______.
Murder
The acts of Double Indemnity:
Act 3: Aftermath and consequences of murder. Imminent threat of _______.
Capture
The acts of Double Indemnity:
Act 4: Increased ______ between murderers as threat of discovery increases and final resolution.
Discord
Wilder’s use of some of the classic codes can be illustated in the following sequence, stretching from the end of Neff’s _____ visit to the Dietrichson household to him first meeting Phyllis at his own apartment. Towards the end of Neff’s _____ visit, he becomes aware of the true motives behind Phyllis’s request to take out accident insurance on her husband in secret.
Second
Phyllis’s coy fidgeting and evasive eye contact when making her request contrasts with Neff’s unflinching gaze when he realises her ______.
Motive
Neff quickly exits from Phyllis Dietrichson’s house after she reveals her true motive, which is marked by a _____ from house to car indicating passing of time
Dissolve
A further dissolve, takes us to the drive-in, where he attempts to calm down over a beer before another dissolve takes us to the bowling alley where he again tries vainly to take his mind off _____.
Phyllis
A final dissolve, after Neff’s car has dissapeared into the car park below his apartment, takes us at dusk from the exterior window of Neff’s apartment to his restless pacing inside. All the time, this temporal and spatial summation has has been complemented by Neff’s voice-over, showing how incessant activity cannot provide the barrier to the inevitability of his ____.
Fate
From sexual obsession we are introduced to his economic and personal reasons for wanting to subvert the system which he currently serves. The camera emphasises his personal agenda by dramatically panning in and moving to _____ - __. The final and significant spatial shift occurs when the camera pans back from Neff and dissolves to Phyllis and Neff brooding on the sofa in his apartment.
Close-up
Through dissolve, summary and scene, Wilder has dramatically progressed the narrative and included subtle but significant change of _________.
Perspective
Phyllis’s problem of the need for a _____ (corresponding to Propp’s idea on tale roles) has been resolved and complicated by Wilder through Neff’s additional motivation, and this in turn prepares us for act 2, the arrangements for the murder itself.
Helper
