Crime Fiction (1 Viewer)

[korry]

is anyone else here doing crime fiction for next yrs HSC?

i'm doing The Big Sleep, Skull Beneath The Skin and Anil's Ghost....we just started The Big Sleep...and its so boring and corny!! everyone srsly fell asleep in it...and there are so many characters and so much to follow...what do u guys think of it?

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Originally posted by korry
is anyone else here doing crime fiction for next yrs HSC?

i'm doing The Big Sleep, Skull Beneath The Skin and Anil's Ghost....we just started The Big Sleep...and its so boring and corny!! everyone srsly fell asleep in it...and there are so many characters and so much to follow...what do u guys think of it?

Understandable, but that there is 'so much to follow' is actually important. It's indicative of 'Modern' crime-fiction, with complex, non-linear plots designed to ensnare the responder into viewing the text and ultimately having the answers revealed..

A good quote to support this point is Marlowe's; It started out as a blackmail case, and all at once, things began to happen...

Knowing what happens isn't so important as understanding it's use of codes & conventions, as well as the film's relation to the genre and it's context. (Does it use conventions or manipulate/subvert them? How does it compare to earlier and 'contemporary' Crime Fiction texts? How does it demonstrate a 1945/6 context? And so-on..). Of course, it is good to have a grasp..

The Big Sleep

And out of curiosity, is it still valid to use SFOC as related material, or is that looked down upon? (I ask because it's being used as such with the 'new' class at my school..)

 

[Desperado]

we just started The Big Sleep...and its so boring and corny!! everyone srsly fell asleep in it...and there are so many characters and so much to follow...what do u guys think of it?

We're about halfway throu watching TBS in class....
pretty much everyone is sitting there going huh? what? whos he?
what do u mean thats not carmen? it looks just like carmen?????
we're all fairly lost.... i think im gonna have to get it out at home....

 

[korry]

haha yeah all the girls look the same

we're watching it a 2nd time now...but the teacher has to stop like every 5 mins to explain to us what is going on...i guess its starting to be clearer now

 

[iambored]

it is hard to tell the story line, i don't think i fully understand it at the moment, and yes there are so many characters that it's confusing

 

[Desperado]

Has anyone had assements on crime fiction yet?
Ours is due on friday it was so horrible,
we had to design a webpage on "The Maltese Falcon" and "LA Confidential" examining vaules, conventions and subversions and characters etc,
It wasnt so much the content that was hard
It was the making a web page bit that fully sucked
god i hate Frontpage

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Originally posted by Desperado
Has anyone had assements on crime fiction yet?
Ours is due on friday it was so horrible,
we had to design a webpage on "The Maltese Falcon" and "LA Confidential" examining vaules, conventions and subversions and characters etc,
It wasnt so much the content that was hard
It was the making a web page bit that fully sucked
god i hate Frontpage

Ouch.

I realise this is 'Out Of The Past', but my class didn't get our first assessment until the Half-Yearly.. However, there will other factors involved in that, such as being taught a minimal amount of work at this time last year by my old 'eeevil' teacher.

At least you should be well-prepared. Supplementary material and everything.

 

[swangal]

i did cf in '03 and would just to add that if anyone is lookin for some supplementary texts there ARE heaps out there for this topic... and most of em are good too!
Any books by Peter Robinson, Michael Connelly, Denis Lehane, Ian Rankin and ESPECIALLY George Pelecanos fit easily into the genre and are actually kinda enjoyable to read ( compared to most of the other rubbish you are made to read in English).

 

[Jennibeans]

I wish you hadn't all told me how boring sbts was. I have to read it and I've started it and read the first five pages or so several times it just isn't holding my attention longer than that.
We have to do an assessment on a crime fiction film...any suggestions?

 

[fender173]

do you know anywhere where i can get notes & summaries (eg sparknotes.com or 2nd hand notes) on skull beneath the skin to give me a bit of a hand with back-up?

Jess

 

[SUNIL]

DO you know any where i can get some notes for the 'skull beneath the skin"?

 

[Katjif]

Originally posted by iambored
can u give me some ideas 4 related texts? i know we can read a sherlock holmes and an agatha christie, but what other books/short stories are there and where can i find them?
also, can u recommend any movies/tv shows etc. that may b useful.

Thought you might appreciate this very short list of movies to watch. When I'm done with my 4unit stuff I'll publish a few pages of mine on BOS.

D.O.A (1949) film noir, remake was made with Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid. This is better!

Raising Arizona (1987) Coen brothers, a classic and must to see.

Reservoir Dogs (1992) Tarantino, what more can I say?

Se7en (1995) Possibly scariest movie ever with Brad PItt and Morgan Freedman, about the seven deadly sins. Not for the faint at heart!

Shadow of a doubt(1943) Hitchcock, film noir, thriller.

Silence of the Lambs (1991) Good related text

Fargo(1996) Coen bros again. Really cool, using female pregnant protagonist.

L.A.Confidential (1997) I'm sure you've all seen it..if not..DO!

The Boys (1998) One of the scariest Aussie thrillers anywhere. Toni Collette and David Wenham.

Insomnia (2002) fairly recent with Robin Williams and Al Pacino.

Also, here's some texts. Seriously ppl its worthwhile just going to the library and spending an hour picking out 5 texts to read over a month or two.

Jeffrey Deaver "The bone collector"
Sue Grafton "A is for alibi"(whole series)
James PAtterson "The beach house"
kathy Reichs "deja dead"
Dashiell Hammett "The thin man"
Umberto Eco "The name of the rose" (the detective is a monk!)
Mario Puzo "The Godfather"
Minette Walters 'The glass house"
Gabriel Lord (can't think of a title but they're aussie and really cool)

I've got loads more..I'm kind of obsessed, but you'll have to bear with me, stressing about 4unit at the moment!!

Good Luck everyone with half-yearlys and whatever.

-Kat

 

[bliss]

wow thanks kat.. i'll be checking out some of those books tomorrow.
i am really lost for 3u eng.. my teacher doesnt guide us very well, everything we do seems quite random. I just wanna ask, for the creative writing component, how can i maximise my marks there? like how can i practise creative writing for crime fiction? im really bad at creative writing.. it takes me hours and hours and hours to write something half-decent.. arghh im getting so stressed about 3ueng..~

 

[Candypants]

Doing Snow Falling on Cedars (Amazing), The Skull beneath the Skin (Cannot get into it), The big Sleep, Real Inspector Hound and Anil's Ghost (total crap...)

Big Sleep is confusing at first but goto www.filmsite.org and it's got a really in-depth analysis that walks you through the film, complete with dialogue and hints at where the story is so far, who killed who, etc. Watch it again and it'll make sense.

 

[Trigger189]

Candypants...Skull Beneath the Skin is worth getting through..I really enjoyed it by the end. give it a go! i find it werid u like snow falling on cedars so much...its so incredibly boring. lucky i dont have to do it!

 

[iambored]

i think you could do something with erin brockovich for this topic

 

[moogle180]

Can u please tell me where to get information on The Skull Beneath The Skin?

 

[iambored]

Originally posted by Katjif
Thought you might appreciate this very short list of movies to watch. When I'm done with my 4unit stuff I'll publish a few pages of mine on BOS.

short?!

well thanks for that but i have finished the hsc, but i am sure that will help many other people. just as i got much help with what to watch from here as well.

 

[LoLa]

someone help .. pleaasseeee

has anyone read

"cards on the table" by agatha Christie?
OR
know of where i can find notes for both that and "skill beneath the skin?"

and can explain how they conform to the generic models of crime fiction..

i know i ask for too much, but help would be much appreciated.
thanks.

 

[LiKe A FiSh]

hey does anyone want to start sharing practise essays from class? thought it might be useful before exams to get a few different ideas from other teachers? maybe?