Cinematic Technique & Its Use in Les Amants Du Pont Neuf (Lovers on the Bridge) - Research Paper Example

? Cinematic Technique & Its Use in Les Amants Du Pont Neuf (Lovers on the Bridge) of This paper is an analysis of cinematic techniques as they appear and occur in the movies Les Amants Du Pont-Neuf which is recast in English as The Lovers on the Bridge. It examines various components of the movie and identifies ways through which cinematic techniques were employed to assist in the narration of the story. The first part of the paper draws on expert views from the movie industry. It reviews critics' opinions and identifications of the various cinematic techniques and tries to look at how these critics defined the cinematic techniques. This portion therefore takes an overall view of the events of the movie and how they connect with cinematic techniques. The second part takes a more specific look at cinematic techniques and attempts to trace how they were used in the movie and the effect it caused on the viewer. It looks at some important and major components of camera shot, editing and zooming and how they were utilized to support the narration of the story of the two lovebirds who are at the center of the story. Keywords: Cinematic, Carax, Zoom, Camera Effects, Shot Introduction The movie, Les Amants Du Pont-Neuf or Lovers on the Bridge is a movie written and directed by Leos Carax. At the time it was produced in 1991, it had the biggest budget in French history (Daly & Dawd, 2003 p51). It was hailed as a classic due to the ability of the movie to embrace the culture and stories of France and weave it into the lives of two ordinary people living amongst the poorest in Paris. The story involves Michele (Juliette Binoche) and Alex (Denis Lavant). Alex is a homeless street performer addicted to alcohol whilst Michele is a middle class artist who escapes from home after a failed relationship with his boyfriend and find refuge on Pont-Neuf where Alex had been living. The movie is strongly defined by the documentary-like scenes where an unidentified motorist speeds over Alex's leg. The next scenes shows him being transported to his homeless shelter where realism comes alive. There are graphic scenes of the lives of real homeless people in Paris which resembles scenes of a humanitarian crises. The documentary element of the movie manages to capture the real sights and sounds of life of the homeless in Paris and brings the viewer in touch with how life really appears to be like for such people. In setting the scene for the plot involving Alex and Michele, the movie shows Alex returning 'home' and finding his sleeping place occupied by a strange lady. Hans, an older 'resident' of the bridge attempts to get Michele to leave but Alex prevents her eviction. Michele had run away from home after the breakup with his boyfriend and was suffering from an eye disease. Eventually, Michele gains acceptance by Hans and a series of events leads her friendship with Alex growing stronger. They eventually end up in a brawl of romance and Michele becomes part of Alex's life. Michele's family begin to look for her and her eyesight gets worse. Alex, sensing that Michele's departure from him will mean emptiness does everything she could to prevent Michele's family from finding her. The storyline of this movie is strongly enhanced by the cinematic techniques that utilizes very professional techniques and skills to tell the story. The narration is strongly complemented by these tools and techniques which bring the story to bear. This paper examines the technical details and tools that are used by the film crew to present an otherwise simple mundane story in a way that merits the international attention this movie acquired. The ingenuity of Carax is first examined from the overall perspective and then an effort is made to examine specific techniques that the writer identified in the movie and the intended effect it makes on a viewer. Professional Reviews of Les Amants Du Pont-Neuf There are numerous reviews of this movie which give an overall analysis and assessment of the major cinematic techniques and misc-en-scene of the whole movie. Most of the analysis provide very positive views and opinions about Carax's movie. Critic, Pragasam (2009) states that the film uses elements of cinematography to capture the humanitarian crises that exist amongst France's homeless populations (para 3). He emphasizes on the overall ability of the movie to capture scenes of the life of people who live on the streets of France through various techniques which makes it educative. He also mentions the ability of the movie to incorporate elements of the French Bicentennial celebrations and how it was expertly blended into the movie through the camera works and efforts of the crew. He emphasizes on the juxtaposition of the explosion of the love between Alex and Michelle with the fireworks which are carefully captured in the background behind the two as they dance through the 'rain' of excitement and incite the emotions of viewers. Clearly, this pioneering work has found its way into numerous videos and it is now very symbolic of directors to show a scene of love with a distant view of fireworks somewhere in the background. Daley & Dowd (2003) critiqued this film into great detail. They identified that Carax managed to evoke the life of the street dweller through many artistic methods like capturing very mundane but crucial elements of street life (Daley and Dowd, 2003 p149). The mention the elaborate use of cinematic techniques to capture the streets, skies and waterways of Paris. They speak a lot about the skills used by the crew to capture the effects of the changes of the weather on the streets of Paris. Clearly, most people who do not think of these things as important things to street life are suddenly drawn into the story through the attention to details and the careful and professional selection of scenes that blend the weather, changes in times and seasons as well as dawn and dusk to create a nostalgic and emotional influence on the viewer. Perhaps the first way that this draws the viewer into the movie is the ability of this to enter the subconscious mind of the individual and make some seemingly mundane things which are normally taken for granted important and valuable. Thus, for the first time, a viewer of the movie might have some appreciation of the elements of the weather and this can get a viewer attentive to the plot of the movie. Secondly, the artistic nature of the filming of dawn and dusk and other things like snow which is taken for granted in our day-to-day existence takes the viewer's attention. This is because Carax and his crew manage to take the pictures well, zoom, direct and blend the misc-en-scene in a very professional manner that the most anti-artistic individual gets a breath taking experience viewing these pictures from a distance. Also, the Daley & Dowd (2003 p149) identify that the choice of location was very much influential because it provides a very elaborate means to capture the waterways of Paris and show another side of the beauty of Paris. This, they believed provided some aesthetic joy to the viewer which made such a person concentrate and pay more attention to the plot and flow of the movie. The convenient focus on the Pont-Neuf bridge which is the oldest bridge in Paris allows Carax to portray the cultural heritage of France and blend in the aesthetic elements of Paris to the viewer. The central location of the bridge allows it to be linked with some of the most beautiful tourist centers in Paris and the viewer thus gets a candid and professionally filmed tour through the romantic city of Paris. Alex is hit by a car in Boulevard Sebastopol which is a major street in Paris which runs from North to South practically dissecting the city (Movie Location, 2011 para 2). Moving Alex through the city shows very graphic images of the homeless in different parts of Paris. This shows the contrasts in the city which is seen as a luxurious place where most Americans would want to go shopping, or for holidays or for celebrations like honeymoons and its poor inhabitants. This contrast gets the viewer to wonder in shock how such a thing could possibly be associated with Paris of all cities. This clearly helps to tell the story and weaves the bigger picture of the not so positive aspects of France into the story of two main characters. The Pont-Neuf metro station is also captured where Alex does acrobatics to impress Michele (Movie Location, 2011 para 3). The way the camera captures the whole area gives it a sense of classical heritage and allows the director to translate the antiquity and current diversity that defines Europe and France which has a long colonial heritage which has caused its population to be one of the most diverse in the world. The way they drugged the patron and entered the Louvre to view paintings show very monumental buildings and the rich art heritage that France and Europe enjoys. The close-up shot by the camera to capture the close peek taken by Michele to view the pictures with a lighter indicates to the viewer that the eyesight of Michele was deteriorating at a very fast pace. This gives a very uncomfortable twist to the romance of the two lovebirds. This is because although the romance was wonderful and the viewer had enjoyed it up until that moment, the up-close shot provides a very empathizing shot of how bad Michele's eyesight has gotten. It provides the viewer with a sense of urgency about the need for Alex to allow Michele to seek medical assistance to avoid losing her sight fully. Another intriguing element of cinematic techniques that was employed by Carax is the use of metalinguistic reflections which helps in character development (Banuz, 2006 para15). Metalinguistics is defined by Hanks (1986 p2) as the elements of language that reflects specific cultural and social trends in a given society. Such reflections are utilized at different points in the movie to define the character and attitudes of the main casts of the movie. This again, provides a summarized effort to define what could have taken a long time to depict. It is just a 125 minute movie and without elements like such metalinguistic reflections, it could have lasted for over 180 minutes like old classic movies that were produced after the Second World War. Also, the use of metalinguistic reflections allow Carax to define the different worlds that the two emerged from. It gets the audience using their brains to understand and hence follow the plot of the movie. This involvement of audience enables the narration to flow and makes the movie interesting. Specific Elements of Cinematic Technique & How they Are Used in the Movie There are several techniques of camera usage and editing which created numerous visual effects which aided the narration of the story. Some of these cinematic techniques provided specific insights into individual characters whilst others provided a broad contribution to the main movie and location. Backlighting This refers to the variation of the lighting and its effects on a scene in a movie. In Lovers on the Bridge, the remarkable scene where Michele slides her hand under Alex's hand on some hay is shown with a strong technique in backlighting which adds to the effects of the romance. The silhouette of the light causes the light to move over the two hands. This happens just after the moon is shown with a cloud passing just in front of it. The silhouette allows the viewer to feel the effect of the movement of the shade that came with the cloud. And with the movement of the two hands, the viewer gets a comforting feel deep within the heart that the tender movement of the two hands after a long spree of romance has sealed the love between the two. This keeps the viewer interested and impatient for the next scene. Bridging Shots This refers to changes in timeline. In most situations, when the time needs to be shown in a different era over a short period of time, the scene is professionally changed to psychologically move the viewer from one point to the other. This technique is used several times in this movie. In many times, the skyline of Paris is shown at either dawn or dusk. This shows that a given period or time in the movie has ended and there is the movement to another era or time in the movie. Camera Angle The camera angle is one of the ways through which the camera can be pointed out to the subject being captured. In this movie, the camera angle is manipulated impressively when it is set on the Pont-Neuf bridge and captures the fireworks from the biennial century of the French independence. The fireworks are beautifully captured whilst Alex and Michele dances, it shows an intensive love bond that exists between the two. The love literally explodes between Alex and Michele because the two of them seem to be at the highpoint of their romance. Thus, the harmless explosions of the fireworks provides a very strong impression to the viewers and make them have a good feel of excitement. Especially, considering the fact that the two of them had lived in very dire conditions, the camera angle which captures the fireworks as well as the dance of the two shows the joy and escapism that the romance has caused for both of them. Aerial Shot This refers to the capture of an image from an airplane or a higher ground. Whilst Alex and Michele sit on the horse of the big statue of the French General in Paris, the camera moves across them and capture Michele firing shots whilst Alex corks his years with his hands. This again, shows another aspect of French history and the city of Paris. Although that statue of Napoleon is not as elaborate as the Statue of Liberty (which also has some French connections!), an American viewer will take notice of the statue because of the aerial shot which captures the different dimensions of the statute. The viewer is likely to connect this treasure in Paris to other monuments and study the statue and link it to French history as well. This aerial shot allows a viewer to see and appreciate the cultural heritage of a France and the anachronism of how some of its present generations are living in tough conditions. All these makes a strong impression on the mind of the viewer. Cross-Cutting This is used when two different and relevant actions are occurring at the same time in a movie. This technique allows the movie to show how the two different events are coming up. In two cases, this occurs in a very pronounced fashion. When the injured Alex in bandages is running into the station and when Alex is running to the car explosion scene, you get the cross-cut being used to show you the event unfolding at the destination and Alex trying to get to the destination as quickly as possible. Thus, with the various impediments and disruption, the viewer's heart races and he begins to wonder what is going to happen next. The use of cross-cutting allows Carax to describe to events at the same time. This technique in movies seem to be the one of the few cinematic techniques that other forms of visual entertainment lack. Dolly This is a form of cinematic technique that enables the camera to move whilst the people in the movie are also moving. In the movie, dolly is used on several occasions. It is used whilst Alex and Michele are running on numerous occasions in the file. Also, whilst they cruise on the waterways under the bridge, the dolly technique is used to enable the viewer to catch a glimpse of all the excitement and in some cases the tension that was involved in the whole process. This allows for the audience to understand the movie and creates effects of suspense which causes the viewer to be empathized and drawn into the movie. Eyeline Matching When the camera is focused on a person, and the person looks elsewhere, the immediate scene after that is the area the person is viewing. This is attained through editing, where the next scene after the view turns out to be the exact area or thing that the person is looking at. In the movie, when Michele first looked at the dawn skyline of Paris from the bridge for the first time, the camera was focusing on the back of Michele. Then the camera switches to present a panoramic view of the Paris skyline which shows how the sun sets on the beautiful city. A viewer looking at the first scene involving the back of Michele might be wondering what is going on. Then all of a sudden, the image changes to the skyline of Paris. Although unconscious, the curiosity of the viewer will be aroused and this helps tell the story of the kind of life Michele and Alex were living and what they could see on the first day of their lives. Extreme Long Shot This is where a shot is taken from a long distance and covers a panoramic view of events. The capturing of the fireworks from the Pont-Neuf bridge shows a distant but yet clear and significant addition of the fireworks to the whole story. Fade In This is a technique where a new scene is faded into play and the characters get to appear. On the other hand, it seems this allows the cameras to sometimes fade out. In the romantic scene, when the camera focuses on the moon, it fades out and the reality of a completed night ends. It enables the viewer to make judgments about how the romantic light ended for both of them without given specific details of what they did. Framing/Gaze/Look Framing is where the portrait of a person is captured on the set. From Freud's psychoanalysis, every time a person gazes into a mirror, s/he sees her or his self worth and this makes a person feel important however, in cinema, this technique is used to empathize the viewer into being in the same situation as the person being shot (Phillips, 2008 p32). In the movie, the performances of Alex are framed so that the viewer gets to see an image of a complete man. Also, when the pictures in the Pont-Neuf station are burning, the camera cuts a portrait size of a picture so similar to that of Michele. It shows that the dreadful times and fears that lies ahead if the two of them decide to part. This makes the viewer feel the pain immensely. Montage This refers to the situation where about three cameras are used at the same time to capture a given event. During editing, these different events are put together to show the situation from different angles. In the performances of Alex where he blows out fire and do other artistic moves, he is captured by at least three cameras from different angles. This enables Alex to be presented as a hero, a master of his craft and this casts him in a favorite light with the viewer. On the contrary, a man who tries the fire blowing and fails and gets burnt is shown from just one angle. This is to show the contrast between a novice and Alex, who is a master in the craft. Point of View Most of the movie is shown from the view of Alex. The events unfold as and how it affects him and this makes the viewer drawn into the situation and the conflict of the two of them separating becomes a worry not only for Alex but also for the viewer. Conclusion Plato said that people want to allow themselves to be deceived and this is the purpose of art and entertainment (Myslobodsky, 1996 p22). Thus, the use of cinematic techniques allow the art of story telling to be put in a real form. The movie, The Lovers' Bridge provides a very strong use of cinematic technique to make a simple story of two simple people living on the streets of Paris to describe the extreme sides of Paris and weave in a lot of history of France. The use of professional camera skills, zooming and editing techniques allow the characters to be presented in the most significant ways conceivable and this makes the viewer empathize and get strongly involved in the movie. References Banuz, C. C. (2006) Leos Carax: Reviews of Great Directors Retrieved from: http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2006/great-directors/carax/ Carax L. (Director) (1991) Les Amants du Pont Neuf (Lovers on the Bridge) [Motion Picture] Paris: Gaumont Productions. Daly F. & Dowd G. (2003) Leos Carax Manchester: Manchester University Press Hanks, W. F. (1986) Intertexts: Thinking on Language, Culture & Context Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Movie Locations (2011) Film Locations for Les Amants Du Pont-Neuf Retreived: http://www.movie locations.com/movies/a/amantspontneuf.html Myslobodsky, M. S. (1996) The Mythomanias: The Nature of Deception and Self -deception. Hillsdale NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Phillips, J. (2008) Cinematic Thinking: Philosophical Approaches to the New Cinema. Pato Alto, CA: Stanford University Press Pragasam, A. (2009) Amants Du Pont-Neuf, Les Review Retrieved from: http://www.thespinningimage.co.uk/cultfilms/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=3674 Read More