Be My Valentine, or my Accomplice

The Assignment: Noir Valentine (Three Stars)

The Story: What happens when you forget Valentine’s Day? You get this card. And a slap.

The How-To: I have never heard of Noir Films so I started this assignment by researching what they are to get a better feel for what was being asked of me. After I did some research, I began looking for an image. I came across one from the 1947 movie “Out of the Past”. I chose this image because it features both a man and a woman, and the emotion on both of their faces is perfect for the assignment. It’s a wonderful mixture of lust and disdain. I also thought the cigarette was a nice touch- it was era appropriate and added to the whole Noir Film feel.

After I was satisfied with my image, I did a google search for famous lines from Noir movies. That is when I landed on “She reminds me of the first woman who slapped me” from the 1948 movie “Roadhouse“. I thought this was so fitting.

Then I opened Gimp on my computer, opened the photo from “Out of the Past” and added a text box for my quote and for the to/from part. I used a plain font so that it was easy to read. I used a pink color for Valentine’s Day and to add some contrast to the black and white photo.