French New Wave filmmakers were inspired by Italian Neo-realism. The hallmark of French New Wave was its independent and limited filming budget. The constricted resources available to directors were a direct result of the economic climate of post-war France. In response to a lack of funding, directors turned to alternative means of production. French New Wave film intends to show the darker and less-flattering sides of society and humanity. Normally, heroes and villains could hardly be seen in those films as the characters are depicted as neither good nor bad.
There are 2 common themes of French New Wave films, which is anti-authoritarian and feminine orientated. Anti-authoritarian refers to the young people who rebel against the tradition. They also tend to engage with immoral acts such as going against their parents, break the rules, stealing, robbing, and killing and so on. On the other hand, most of the female characters in French New Wave films are feminine. The female characters not only have the significantly stronger and more powerful compared to the women who are in conventional Hollywood films, but they also having the capability to control and perform decision making process.
The filmmaker of French New Wave film tends to alter the audiences’ ability to perceive and react to the film. Therefore, French New Wave films reject traditional film rules and went against the conventional Hollywood filmmaking style by not following the fixed narrative structure. The plots in these films tended to be loose-structured and open-ended storyline. The actors were encouraged to improvise their lines, or talk over each other’s lines as would happens in our real life. Monologues were also used as voice-overs to express a character’s inner feelings. As there is no prior planning, the actors are allowed to speak spontaneously. This leads to lengthy scenes of inconsequential dialogue like the one in the Breathless by Jean-Luc Godard in opposition to the staged speeches of much traditional film acting. For example, Michel driving on the street at the beginning of film; Michel seducing his girlfriend to have sex with him in Patricia’s hotel room.
Unlike most of the classical Hollywood films, French New Wave films tend to break away from the rules of continuity editing and using free editing style. The editing often drew attention to itself by being discontinuous. Self-reflectivity constantly reminds the audience that they were watching a film, unlike the escapist nature of Hollywood films. Therefore, the filmmakers always use jump cut or abrupt cut in editing. Godard, in particular, favored the heavy use of jump cut, where two shots of the same subject are cut together with a noticeable jump on the screen. In Godard's first featured film, Breathless, jump cuts are used during a lengthy conversation in a room and in a scene of a car driving around Paris. For example, Michel kills the cops in the beginning of film while he on the way to Paris; Lengthy conversation between Michel and Patricia in a room; Patricia and Michel have different background and culture, therefore they isolated each other; Michel is a criminal, while Patricia is an American.
Long takes were commonly used in French New Wave film. In the film, filmmaker tends to use typical long tracking shots. It can be referred to as a shot which do not have a cut editing in between a long period. For example, in the film Breathless, Patricia tells Michel about her feeling in the photography studio. She was also having monologue while walking around the pillar repeatedly.
These filmmakers used to work on real location shooting rather than in the studio. It would be more casual and natural looking compared to films shot in the studio. The available light was always preferred compared to studio-style lighting. For example, in the film Breathless, Patricia sits against a window in her apartment & lights a cigarette. Unlike studio film making which remixes the sound, the direct and available sound such as improvised musical scene was preferred over extensive studio dubbing. For example, in the film Breathless, a passing siren outside Patricia’s apartment nearly covered her conversation with Michel during the long central scene; The scene of Michel and Patricia meeting on champs-Elysee (street of Paris); Michel driving the car and being chased by police on the highway.
While watching French New Wave films, we can discover some of the scenes that look shaky and unstable. It is because the filmmakers tend to use lightweight handheld cameras that quicken the way a film could be shot; it also allowed them to shoot on location easily and create many long tracking shots to promote spontaneity and fluidity of the actors on set. Furthermore, handheld camera is able to provide more freedom and realistic feeling. For example in the film Breathless, the director used the camera to follow the characters while walking along the streets, into cafes and bars, or looking over their shoulders to catch their point of view; When Michel walking along a complex path in travel agency’s office, the cinematographer is actually sitting on the wheelchair and holding camera to capture the scene.
The protagonist in French New Wave films were always marginalized, young anti-heroes, and alienated loners, they live with no family ties, behave spontaneously, and often act immorally. They were frequently seen as anti-authoritarian because of their disobeying of rules, and not goal-oriented thus acting in a very immoral way. For example, the protagonist in Breathless, Michel was a car thief who steals car in Marseille and killed a cop on the way to Paris, who also steal money from his girlfriend. It had shown Michel’s attitude toward life as aimless.
Nevertheless, the directors whose films show a consistency in style and theme are called auteurs. Basically, these filmmakers were favoring the use of mise-en-scene to produce film that appeals to them. Jean-Luc Godard’s films always express his political view as well as a heavy use of self-reflective elements. These are his signature style and his personal preference.
There are 2 common themes of French New Wave films, which is anti-authoritarian and feminine orientated. Anti-authoritarian refers to the young people who rebel against the tradition. They also tend to engage with immoral acts such as going against their parents, break the rules, stealing, robbing, and killing and so on. On the other hand, most of the female characters in French New Wave films are feminine. The female characters not only have the significantly stronger and more powerful compared to the women who are in conventional Hollywood films, but they also having the capability to control and perform decision making process.
The filmmaker of French New Wave film tends to alter the audiences’ ability to perceive and react to the film. Therefore, French New Wave films reject traditional film rules and went against the conventional Hollywood filmmaking style by not following the fixed narrative structure. The plots in these films tended to be loose-structured and open-ended storyline. The actors were encouraged to improvise their lines, or talk over each other’s lines as would happens in our real life. Monologues were also used as voice-overs to express a character’s inner feelings. As there is no prior planning, the actors are allowed to speak spontaneously. This leads to lengthy scenes of inconsequential dialogue like the one in the Breathless by Jean-Luc Godard in opposition to the staged speeches of much traditional film acting. For example, Michel driving on the street at the beginning of film; Michel seducing his girlfriend to have sex with him in Patricia’s hotel room.
Unlike most of the classical Hollywood films, French New Wave films tend to break away from the rules of continuity editing and using free editing style. The editing often drew attention to itself by being discontinuous. Self-reflectivity constantly reminds the audience that they were watching a film, unlike the escapist nature of Hollywood films. Therefore, the filmmakers always use jump cut or abrupt cut in editing. Godard, in particular, favored the heavy use of jump cut, where two shots of the same subject are cut together with a noticeable jump on the screen. In Godard's first featured film, Breathless, jump cuts are used during a lengthy conversation in a room and in a scene of a car driving around Paris. For example, Michel kills the cops in the beginning of film while he on the way to Paris; Lengthy conversation between Michel and Patricia in a room; Patricia and Michel have different background and culture, therefore they isolated each other; Michel is a criminal, while Patricia is an American.
Long takes were commonly used in French New Wave film. In the film, filmmaker tends to use typical long tracking shots. It can be referred to as a shot which do not have a cut editing in between a long period. For example, in the film Breathless, Patricia tells Michel about her feeling in the photography studio. She was also having monologue while walking around the pillar repeatedly.
These filmmakers used to work on real location shooting rather than in the studio. It would be more casual and natural looking compared to films shot in the studio. The available light was always preferred compared to studio-style lighting. For example, in the film Breathless, Patricia sits against a window in her apartment & lights a cigarette. Unlike studio film making which remixes the sound, the direct and available sound such as improvised musical scene was preferred over extensive studio dubbing. For example, in the film Breathless, a passing siren outside Patricia’s apartment nearly covered her conversation with Michel during the long central scene; The scene of Michel and Patricia meeting on champs-Elysee (street of Paris); Michel driving the car and being chased by police on the highway.
While watching French New Wave films, we can discover some of the scenes that look shaky and unstable. It is because the filmmakers tend to use lightweight handheld cameras that quicken the way a film could be shot; it also allowed them to shoot on location easily and create many long tracking shots to promote spontaneity and fluidity of the actors on set. Furthermore, handheld camera is able to provide more freedom and realistic feeling. For example in the film Breathless, the director used the camera to follow the characters while walking along the streets, into cafes and bars, or looking over their shoulders to catch their point of view; When Michel walking along a complex path in travel agency’s office, the cinematographer is actually sitting on the wheelchair and holding camera to capture the scene.
The protagonist in French New Wave films were always marginalized, young anti-heroes, and alienated loners, they live with no family ties, behave spontaneously, and often act immorally. They were frequently seen as anti-authoritarian because of their disobeying of rules, and not goal-oriented thus acting in a very immoral way. For example, the protagonist in Breathless, Michel was a car thief who steals car in Marseille and killed a cop on the way to Paris, who also steal money from his girlfriend. It had shown Michel’s attitude toward life as aimless.
Nevertheless, the directors whose films show a consistency in style and theme are called auteurs. Basically, these filmmakers were favoring the use of mise-en-scene to produce film that appeals to them. Jean-Luc Godard’s films always express his political view as well as a heavy use of self-reflective elements. These are his signature style and his personal preference.
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