French New Wave Essay Draft

Introduction

The French New Wave was an artistic movement in the film making industry, that lasted between the years 1959-1964 The French New Wave was a self-aware movements based around a rejection against the trends of traditionally Hollywood-styled film. In its own sense, the French New Wave movement was an innovative project, who's influence on worldwide film over the past decades has been profound. The French New Wave has been credited for birthing 'auteur' and saw the rise of 'camera style', an explosion of young and vibrant film makers, and has been admired as a 'cinematic revoltution'.

Origin

The French New Wave movement's origin seem to stem from Alexandre Astruc's 1948 publication from L'Écran Français; titled 'The Birth of a New Avant-Garde: La Caméra-Stylo'. Alexandre Astruc; a French film director and critic, was fundamental to the movement's progress, it was his ideologies and beliefs that would be later be expanded by fellow film maker/critic 'François Truffaut' and the Cahiers du Cinéma magazine.

“the cinema is becoming a means of expression like the other arts before it, especially painting and the novel. It is no longer a spectacle, a diversion equivalent to the old boulevard theater...it is becoming, little by little, a visual language, i.e. a medium in which and by which an artist can express his thoughts, be they abstract or whatever, or in which he can communicate his obsessions as accurately as he can today in essay or novel”.
- Alexandre Astruc

By declaring this, Astruc was implying that, cinema had now developed into an expression of the 'artist's' imagination. The same way painting is personal to its artist, film; as an industry, had now become just as much of an artistic life-form as other forms of emotional imagination.

"Our New Wave would never have come into being if it hadn't been for the young American Morris Engel, who showed us the way to independent production with this fine movie."
- François Truffaut

In 2008, Truffaut claimed that he took inspiration for his film 'The 400 Blows' from young American film maker; Morris Engel's 'Little Fugitive', showing his appreciation expecially in the film's spontaneous production style. By this quotation, Truffaut connotes that much of the French New Wave movement built its foundation on the Little Fugitive. Also signifying that the film provided the 'guidelines' on independent production.

Andre Bazin, was also a prominent figure of influence in the rise of the French New Wave. Bazin; just like like Astruc, believed that cinema was equal to the novel, and thus he invested much his time and efforts on the cause. In 1951, Andre Bazin co-founded a French language film magazine along with several other film makers and critics titled 'Cahiers du Cinéma'.

Cahiers du Cinéma

Cahiers du Cinéma is a French language film magazine; founded by Andre Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca in 1951. During its earlier years, Cahiers du Cinéma could be considered as to playing a pivotal role in the success of the French New Wave movement. 

French New Wave Essay

Introduction

The French New Wave was an artistic movement in the film making industry, that lasted between the years 1959-1964 The French New Wave was a self-aware movements based around a rejection against the trends of traditionally Hollywood-styled film. In its own sense, the French New Wave movement was an innovative project, who's influence on worldwide film over the past decades has been profound. The French New Wave has been credited for birthing 'auteur' and saw the rise of 'camera style', an explosion of young and vibrant film makers, and has been admired as a 'cinematic revoltution'.

Origin

The French New Wave movement's origin seem to stem from Alexandre Astruc's 1948 publication from L'Écran Français; titled 'The Birth of a New Avant-Garde: La Caméra-Stylo'. Alexandre Astruc; a French film director and critic, was fundamental to the movement's progress, it was his ideologies and beliefs that would be later be expanded by fellow film maker/critic 'François Truffaut' and the Cahiers du Cinéma magazine.

“the cinema is becoming a means of expression like the other arts before it, especially painting and the novel. It is no longer a spectacle, a diversion equivalent to the old boulevard theater...it is becoming, little by little, a visual language, i.e. a medium in which and by which an artist can express his thoughts, be they abstract or whatever, or in which he can communicate his obsessions as accurately as he can today in essay or novel”.
- Alexandre Astruc

By declaring this, Astruc was implying that, cinema had now developed into an expression of the 'artist's' imagination. The same way painting is personal to its artist, film; as an industry, had now become just as much of an artistic life-form as other forms of emotional imagination.

"Our New Wave would never have come into being if it hadn't been for the young American Morris Engel, who showed us the way to independent production with this fine movie."
- François Truffaut
In 2008, Truffaut claimed that he took inspiration for his film 'The 400 Blows' from young American film maker; Morris Engel's 'Little Fugitive', showing his appreciation expecially in the film's spontaneous production style. By this quotation, Truffaut connotes that much of the French New Wave movement built its foundation on the Little Fugitive. Also signifying that the film provided the 'guidelines' on independent production.

4 Key Factors of Aperture

F-Stop
The aperture is responsible for controlling exactly how much light is allowed to enter the camera lens. Aperture has a direct affect on the depth of view of a image. Altering the F-Stop will impact on the depth of field of the final image/film. A lower F-Stop will allow more light to enter the camera lens, which results in a more shallow depth of field; whereas, a higher F-Stop will allow less light to enter the camera lens, which results in a wider depth of field.

Focal Length
The focal length refers to the size of the camera lens. A longer the focal length (Telephoto) results in less scenery being captured. This camera lens is especially useful in instances when the photographer wants to capture an image that draws the audience's attention to a certain aspect; for example, if a director is trying to point the audience's focus to two characters engaging in a conversation, a telephoto lens would be the first choice pick.
Alternatively film makers may also choose to use a wide angle lens when trying to acquire panorama-styled footage. This enables more of the scenery to be presented to the audience. This is especially useful in scenes shot with establishing shots, where more landscape footage is preferred.

Focal Distance
In its simplest definition, the focal distance is the space between a photographer/film maker's camera and his subject (The person/object he is acquiring footage of).

Physical Depth
Physical depth is the space between to subjects that be captured as the depth of field in an image/recording. In order to see the effects of Depth of Field, there will need to be some physical depth behind the subject.

French New Wave Editing Brief Amendments

For my French New Wave filming project, I have intentions on limiting my editing to minimal; simply using jump-cuts as an alternative to 'smoother transitions' to adhere to the standards set about by the French New Wave movement. Godard was widely recognised for his extensive use of jump-cuts; particularly in the movie 'Breathless'. A compilation of jump-cuts in use within the film 'Breathless', are displayed throughout the embedded video above...

Repeated footage is also on the cards as a mechanism to emphasise an aspect of my film's significance.

Fluid panning and tracking shots were a signature trait of the legendary French New Wave cinematographer: Henri Decaë.  I could incorporate Henri Decaë's filming techniques in my own French New Wave project; adopting and adapting them to explore my own filming style.

French New Wave Filming Brief

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.

Additional French New Wave Information

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Henri Decaë's Signature Filming Style

Fluid panning and tracking shots were a signature trait of the legendary French New Wave cinematographer: Henri Decaë.  I could incorporate Henri Decaë's filming techniques in my own French New Wave project; adopting and adapting them to explore my own filming style.

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