Hydrangea - a screenplay that explores the new sub-genre of posthuman noir at the intersection of posthuman science fiction and traditional film noir
- Submitting institution
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Bournemouth University
- Unit of assessment
- 34 - Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management
- Output identifier
- 311532
- Type
- Q - Digital or visual media
- Publisher
- Austin Film Festival
- Month
- October
- Year
- 2016
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
-
-
- Research group(s)
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1 - Journalism, Conflict and Social Change
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- Yes
- Additional information
- The screenplay Hydrangea explores the new sub-genre of posthuman noir which I have identified at the intersection of posthuman science fiction and traditional film noir.
Firstly, the screenplay examines the impact of emotional-awakening, a defining trait of humanity in posthuman noir, on a robot through interrogating audience empathy for non-humanoid posthuman characters. Whilst posthuman noir screen texts such as Blade Runner (1982), Ex Machina (2015), Ghost in the Shell (1995) or Ergo Proxy (2006) follow humanoid cyborgs/robots/androids, Hydrangea brings something new to the subgenre, using the voice over trope of traditional film noir, and Japanese anime screenwriting techniques, to place the audience in the mind of the robot protagonist, T.S.
Secondly, this research output developed from interviews I conducted with Japanese screenwriters during a Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science Summer Fellowship (2015). Hydrangea incorporates techniques used by anime screenwriters, blurring Anglo-American and Japanese storytelling methods to challenge traditional film noir tropes to privilege the combination of rational and emotional processing attributed to the human mind (Damasio, 2006) like other posthuman noir screen texts.
Finally, the screenplay contributes new knowledge through format, it is a posthuman text on the cusp of becoming film (Deleuze & Guattari 1987); it is written to encompass multiple potential visions for the films it might become. As a cyborg-screenwriter (Hayles,2004) I engage in a network of human—cast and crew—and non-human—Final Draft computer software, cameras, post-production software—players. Screenwriting creative practice is an apt method for this research, as this posthuman text enables form and content to co-exist in a feedback loop; emotion drives the creation of this screenplay, aiming to generate an emotional awakening in the reader mirroring arc of posthuman character in posthuman noir.
Hydrangea has been disseminated through open access at The Script Department, a podcast with an international audience.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -
