Film responses 13 - Movie Review Example

French New Wave Film and Reading Response pp. 245-254 Part TRUE OR FALSE Many young French filmmakers during the early 60’s were hardcore movieaddicts with an impressive command of film history. True2.These young, French intellectual filmmakers thought that American movies, especially genre movies, were simplistic and artless. False3.Francois Truffaut’s “auteur theory” maintained that a good director could reinterpret and surpass the clichés a genre often imposes with their own imaginative personal vision, style and thematic obsessions. True4.New Wave directors, although radical with their narratives, did not use any filmmaking techniques that reminded the audience they were watching a film. False5. Jean Luc Godard used "distancing" film techniques to prevent the audience from identifying emotionally with his characters.

TruePart 2:1. Watch 2 clips on both films--background information will help you choose your film and analyze 3 scenes.2. Write down the title of the film you have selected.The 400 Blows 3. Connect as many specific references from the assigned reading and Notes on French New Wave Elements on this weeks class page to the visuals and narrative of 3 scenes from your chosen film. Thematic elementsuse of mise-en-scene as complex, highly expressive messagedirector’s personality as the main criterion of value.

director’s personality- recurring themes, obsessions, and stylistic traits- are dialectical with established conventionsmixing genres (i.e. comedy in drama, drama in comedy)use of loose, discursive plots with personal digressionsGodard’s Maoist themes, anti-capitalismwarm humanismdelicate romanticismurbanity and witsudden shifts in toneinfectious charm and lightness of touch of charactersunderstatementleisure narrative developmentTechnical elementsuse of lightweight handheld cameras to avoid heavy dolly camerasuse of self-conscious techniques, such as iris shots, freeze frames, wipes, and fast and slow motionuse of authorial reminders to remind people that they are watching a movieediting- abrupt flashbacks and leaps in time and space that are disorientingjump cutsimages clash violentlystraight cut for passage of time instead of fade and dissolvesequences start with a close-up instead of establishing shotdistancing techniquesuninterrupted lengthy takeThe first scene is when the Doinels wake up late because they did not hear the alarm.

The fade-out is a technical element of French New Wave that reminds the audience that they are watching a film. Warm humanism is seen in the mise-en-scene that shows Antoine’s poverty with his tattered sleeping shirt, old clothes flung around the room, walls with broken parts, and a shabby chair. The jump cut shows Antoine in the bathroom. He wipes the mirror and there is a voice-over of the teacher saying: “I deface the classroom walls.” The voice-over is a distancing technique. It helps people to think about the kind of boy that Antoine is and the kind of life that he has than feel for him as a delinquent.

When his father appears in the mirror to show his socks with many holes, it shows the theme of mixing genres, of including comedy in a dramatic moment. This is part of the auteur theory where Truffaut includes small things that matter to a leisure narrative development, especially the wit and charm of the characters.Try to make a point of not choosing opening scenes or scenes that are featured on You Tube.When you find a scene that clearly shows French New Wave technical & thematic elements--note those elements as you describe each scene in vivid detail--using film terms whenever appropriate.

 Remember--its always easiest to work your way chronologically through the scene--describing what you see as the narrative unfolds. Important--Make sure you also extend your description into a discussion of the purpose and/or effect of various technical or elements of mise-en-scene choices. The assignment this week will help prepare you for next weeks Final. (Clip on Breaking the Rules helps you understand what a jump cut looks like and what effect it might have on an audience).