French New Wave Film Evaluation

I have produced a short film, inspired by the French New Wave genre I have been researching into over the course of the last couple of months. I have implemented some conventions commonly found within French New Wave film, and adapted to suit my own cinematic style. My short film details a few hours of a drug user's high, delivered in a New Wave-styled format.
The most important feature in which I have attempted to adopt from this genre's culture, lies in the theme. French New Wave films were infamous for their rebellious nature; being a genre that rose to prominence during the 1960s or the 'golden age' for drugs, I felt it was important to project a sense of anarchistic rebellion to connote this the drug user is engages in an illegal activity, whilst paying homage to the culture behind the French New Wave movement.

The next convention to draw similarities with French New Wave genre is the freedom my footage was able to utilise; stemming from the camera's liberation from the tripod. This allowed me more creative freedom to move around the camera in a manner I saw fit. I also feel it conveys a sense of liberation as just like the camera, the film's protagonist is not limited in what he does. The same sense in which the camera does not conform to Hollywood filming styles, the protagonist does not conform the expectations society forces upon him.


To add to these conventions, I have attempted to keep editing minimal as French New Wave films were usually independently-created (Produced without a producer backing up the project). Jump cuts are encoded into my video instead of smooth transitions to remove any unwanted comparisons to Hollywood movies. However, I have included instances in which I break this genre stereotype. For example 36 seconds into the short film, I have applied a gaussian blur effect to add emphasis to the lyrics 'And I can't see at all'. This is also done to remind the audience that this is the drug user's experience, the gaussian blur effect helps the audience to empathise with the drug user's high, and the 'wavy' experience he is encountering.

Another convention of the French New Wave genre embedded in my short film is the occasional reminder to the audience is that the film is a film. Although this is usually achieved by other films by breaking down the fourth wall. However, in my video it is executed through first-person shots that encourage the audience to empathise with the drug user. I also feel that by applying forms of editing in small doses, I am able to remind the audience that what they are watching is a film.

In this scene from Jean-Luc Godard's 1960 film piece; Breathless, the actor looks directly into the camera. In this film, this technique is utilised as a concession that causes a dislodge in the audience's comfort zone, thus provoking a reaction. It's a technique that can be used to epitomise the importance of a moment or the tension in the atmosphere. The 'breaking the fourth wall' technique has also been incorporated in various Hollywood TV series and film, for example directors of the 90s hit TV series 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air', often had characters breaking the fourth wall by looking directly at camera, and in various instances, running through the live audience. An example of this occurs in Season 5 Episode 6 titled 'Will's Misery'.

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In this scene Carlton breaks the fourth wall by running past the live audience and through the set, all of which is captured by the camera. This is implemented into the episode to empathise Carlton's shock and disbelief by Will's false account of what had happened that night, whilst delivering the scene with a humorous twist.

Another French New Wave convention that I have incorporated into my work is keeping the film crew low in numbers. I achieved this by only requiring one person to work as the actor, editor, film team, etc. I was able to do all of this jobs by myself, as just like more prominent film makers in the French New Wave movement, my production budget was limited, thus forcing me to set the objective of keeping production costs as low as possible, whilst maintaining the highest quality of film possible. To keep up with the French New Wave theme, my film was produced in such a way that no additional lighting was required. This was achieved by filming outdoors in a natural location, with me making the suitable adjustments to shutter speed, aperture and ISO to match the lighting. This French New Wave short film was recorded on a particularly sunny winter day, so it took a few minutes of playing around with the settings to ensure the image was not either overexposed or underexposed.

Lastly, one convention I felt was crucial my film embedded was ensuring my French New Wave short film did not follow a strict pre-established shooting script. However, being the same person that came up with the film's theme and the actor in the film; I was faced with the dilemma of how to conduct the film. In the end, I had decided the actor would not be given any dialogue, to maintain a sense of French New Wave authenticity. Everything the actor is thinking is projected through the song (Chorus of Eminem's 'Stan', 2000).

To conclude, I feel that my French New Wave short film project went well, however, if given the opportunity to work on it again, there are a few aspects I would have liked to improve upon. One of these aspects is the soundtrack used. The song in question is Eminem's Stan; initially released in 2000. Although I felt that this soundtrack was fitting to the story my short film attempts to tell, one convention in the French New Wave movement is contemporary and modern soundtrack be used. This means my film has chosen style over substance and thus this error dislodges the French New Wave theme my short film attempts to imitate. If I am able to rectify this error, I feel that the authenticity of my French New Wave short film will be improved.