FRENCH NEW WAVEA GUIDE for HOLLYWOOD BLOCK BUSTER

NGUYEN HONG NGOC MAI14071 - Diploma Level 2, ANN3A

TABLE OF CONTENT

1. Abstract2. Introduction3. Content: • Historical Background• Characteristics: Setting, Editing, Narrative, Auteur Theory• Influence to Modern Cinema: Technical, Ideolology4. Block Buster Hollywood movie: Its problem and Suggestion to improve.5. Summary

1940 - 1944: Nazi occupied Paris Shortage on petrol Censorship, propaganda Limited choice of movies, American film were banned

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Jean-Luc Godard Eric Rohmer

Claude Chabrol

Jacques Rivette

Francois Truffaut

French New Wave (1958 - 1968): • Influence by Italian Neo-realism realist of post-war economic and moral conditions, their filming location and use non-professional actor.• Reject the Classical Narrative Hollywood mainstream studio, which diminish the individual style of director.

CHARACTERISTICS

Director: Jean-Luc Godard

À BOUT DE SOUFFLÉ (1960) • One of the earliest and most influential of French New Wave.• A young man Michel (Jean Paul Belmondo) steal a car in Marseille and shoot a police who follow him on the country road. He hides at his girlfriend' apartment Patricia (Jean Seberg) and call in a loan to try escapes to Italy. Patricia betrays him by telling the police. He then been shot by the police and after a prolonged death run,he dies "à bout de soufflé".

LOW BUDGET• Shoot on Location - Abandon studio• Natural Light• Natural Sound• Handheld Camera• No star-system

CHARACTERISTICS - Settings

Casual - Natural Look

FREE EDITING STYLE• Jump cut, Long Take shot, Long Tracking Shot• Monologue - Character talk directly to camera• Long take shot

CHARACTERISTICS - Editing

CHARACTERISTICS - Narrative

• Linear Structure• Chronological Time• Hero Protagonist• Female character portrayed as eye-

candy or victim, passive, mostly support for male hero character.

• Strong relate to script and screen-writing

• Non Linear Structure• No necessary sense of chronological• Protagonist act immoraly, anti hero• Female character were given strong

parts in movie, independent and active - reshape the stereotype of femme fatale.

• Script often be written on spot, Actors were encouraged to write their own lines, talk like in real life.

FRENCH NEW WAVECLASSICAL NARRATIVE HOLLYWOOD

CHARACTERISTICS - Auteur theory

• 1st mentioned by Francois Truffaut in an essay entitled "A Certain Tendency in French Cinema". • Film should not be just for entertain, but it should be traited as a medium to reflect the director's personal vision. --> A good director is one who can stamp his individual personality into his film. --> Director should not limit himself in a strict artistic conduct, they should experiment and tell the story in a unique way, reflect their vision, no matter the film is well-received or not.

INFLUENCE - Technique

Reservoir Dogs (1992) - Quentin Tarantino

Long Tracking shot - Opening dinner scene

Long Take shot - Torture scene

• On location shooting• Low Budget Filming

INFLUENCE - Ideology

• Encourage Film makers to not limit themselves and free up cinema to come to its own as an art form, to sign their film with their own personality and style.• It is not necessary to have enormous budgets, established actors to make a good movie. It is about the love of making movie and all the effort, creativity and imagination.

INFLUENCE - Ideology

"I want to feel that the people who made that film think it's the best movie in the world, that they poured everything into it and they really love it. Whether or not I agree with what they've done, I want that effort there – I want that sincerity. " - Christopher Nolan, With Inception, Can Christopher Nolan Save the Summer?, The Village Voice. Retrieved 1 September 2013.

Block buster movies - mix of Classical and French New Wave?

• Adaptation, Sequel• Strong CGI, lack content• Weak director's mark, define style base on film studio.

Block buster movies - Influence from French New Wave

Man of Steel (2013)Director: Zack SnyderProducer: Christopher Nolan

A poor combination between form and content, but it is a good sign from Holywood that they're trying to change the traditional block-buster movies.

Summary

French New Wave has broaden the boundaries of traditional film making and free up cinema to it's own form as an art genre that we love most today. Its influence including both technical (setting, editing, narratives technique) and ideology (auteur theory) still remains today and continue to encourage many film-makers to experiment and express themself in their film.Nowadays modern cinema has been witnessing the strong development of CGI and 3D technique, with strong visual effect but lack of content and style. We are slowly move back to the Classic day where enormous budget and studio style rules the cinema industry. It is time to slow down and balance the form and content of the movie.

Bibliography

• Phil Powrie and Keuth Reader (2002), French Cinema Student's Guide, British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data• Mary P. Wood (2007), Contemporary European Cinema, Bloomsburry Academic, London• Thomas Elsaesser (2005), European Cinema Face to face with Hollywood, Amsterdam niversity Press, Amsterdam• Robert Sklar (1993), Film: An International History of the Medium, Harry N. Abrams