I have decided on taking guidance from three of Jean-Luc Godard's films; Alphaville, Breathless and Vivre Sa Vie, taking into account filming techniques used and etiquettes that are purposely rejected with the aim to produce a visually exciting short film.
Post-studying the French New Wave movement and analysing Jean-Luc Godard directed films; Alphaville, Breathless and Vivre Sa Vie, I have come to the conclusion that for my own personal French New Wave project, that I am going to capture ordinary, everyday life. This is a common narrative theme in the French New Wave movement, particularly in my research subject's films; Godard. My plan is to capture a day in the life of a subject that I am fond of to mimic the manner in which Godard often incorporated actors and actresses that he was familiar or found interest in. For example; Anna Karina, an actress that featured in the vast majority of Godard's early work, was actually his wife for several years. I intend on keeping my project short, a film roughly 4-5 minutes long. My project is set to follow a non-linear narrative about adolescent youths entertaining themselves throughout the day. My film will be recorded in natural locations around the Leicestershire and Warwickshire areas; the regions in which I live and attend college, however, I intend to acquire footage in public, familiar locations to both me and my subjects. I believe that shooting in a location that myself and my subjects are accustom to will add a sense of familiarity that enables the actors/actresses in my film to feel more relaxed and thus project a more realistic representation of the French New Wave movement. Another common convention of the French New Wave movement is to shoot in public, natural locations, with improvised dialogue. For that reason, I have also decided to take inspiration from other films in this genre, and incorporate these courtesies into my own project.
I have the intention of using predominately diegetic sound (Sound in which the source is visible to the audience on-screen), to comply with the rejection of non-diegetic sound within the French New Wave genre, however I may opt to add non-diegetic sounds in the form of music; just as Godard utilised a score for his 1961 film; One Femme Est Une Femme (A Woman Is a Woman). However, instead of using a score like Godard, I have chosen to to make use of a soundtrack. I am still undecided as to whether the music will sync with the visuals of my film, as this is not very common within French New Wave, due to the movements rejection of commonplace Hollywood-styled editing, however I believe if done in moderation (Some segments synced, some segments un-synced), this may deposition the audience; reminding them they are watching a film, thus discouraging them from developing real life emotions; Another common convention in French New Wave.
In terms of filming techniques, I aspire to experiment with providing liberation from the tripod for the camera, instead using hand-held camera movements, possibly favouring elongated long takes, sometimes lasting minutes. Ambient, natural lighting will be light source, which is likely to differ the shooting from high-key to low-key between shots, depending on the time of day the scenes are recorded. Natural lighting is especially appealing to me due to the manner in which it echoes the idealism of realism that was the foundation for the French New Wave movement, something I aim to recreate in my own project.
I intend on keeping my editing minimal; simply using jump-cuts as an alternative to 'smoother transitions' to conform to the standards set about by the French New Wave movement. Godard was well acknowledge for his extensive use of jump-cuts; particularly in the movie 'Breathless'. Repeated footage is also on the cards as a mechanism to emphasise an aspect of my film's significance.
In response to the state of my technical settings, my aim is to ensure that my footage is correctly exposed; adapting
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