Film Quiz Review
Breathless
(1960) Jean-Luc Godard movie with long shots; not a lot of editing; mostly filmed on site in Paris; jump cuts all over; film shot entirely with hand held cameras; Cahiers du Cinema
The Influence of the French New Wave
1. Neorealist 2. Avant-Garde 3. American Pulp, gangster films
The Auteur Theory
A theory of film popularized by the critics of the French journal Cahiers du cinéma in the 1950s. The theory emphasizes the director as the major creator of film art, stamping the material with his or her own personal vision, style, and thematic obsessions.
. Cinerama
A widescreen process that uses three cameras, three projectors, and a wide, curved screen a. (camera with 3 film magazines and 3 projectors)
Bob le Flambeur
Bob le Flambuer (1956) precursor of New French Wave
The French New Wave
The New Wave (French: La Nouvelle Vague) was a blanket term coined by critics for a group of French filmmakers of the late 1950s and 1960s, influenced by Italian Neorealism and classical Hollywood cinema. Although never a formally organized movement, the New Wave filmmakers were linked by their self-conscious rejection of classical cinematic form and their spirit of youthful iconoclasm and is an example of European art cinema. Many also engaged in their work with the social and political upheavals of the era, making their radical experiments with editing, visual style, and narrative part of a general break with the conservative paradigm.
Wide Screen
Widescreen Cinerama (camera with 3 film magazines and 3 projectors) Cinemascope (anamorphic widescreen process patented by 20th C. Fox) Aspect Ratio (width to height) had been standardized at 4:3, or 1.33:1 and changed to 2.55:1 By the end 0f 1953, every major studio in Hollywood except Paramount had veen licensed to make Cinemascope films Panavision (1960) invented by Robert E. Gottschalk- distortion free definition image; replaces Cinemascope
Cinemascope
a widescreen process that relies on an anamorphic camera lense to squeeze a panoramic view onto standard film. a. (anamorphic widescreen process patented by 20th C. Fox) b. Aspect Ratio (width to height) had been standardized at 4:3, or 1.33:1 and changed to 2.55:1 c. By the end 0f 1953, every major studio in Hollywood except Paramount had veen licensed to make Cinemascope films
Jean-Luc Godard
a. (1930- ) -more radical b. - Themes and techniques inconsistent from film to film, eclectic c. Films more fragmented and questioning, in search of "new forms and new content" d. Human experience is irrational and explicable e. Uses allegorical (symbolic), metaphorical parables, but also cites concrete facts f. Supports contradictory ideas and filmic methods at the same time g. Able to catch flashing moments of passion, joy pain with unconventional techniques h. Thinks of cinema as a language, and explores different ways to communicate (where Eisenstein left off) i. More political filmmaker j. Breathless (1960) i. Got idea from Truffaut ii. Character like a Truffaut character iii. Michel Poiccard -gangster-lover-hero- a synthesis of Truffaut's characters
Francois Truffaut
a. (1932-1984) (cahiers critic) b. Early films are focused on the central artistic idea of freedom: in human relationships and in film technique c. Possessed by new possibilities in the cinema d. Films are intense, spontaneous, fresh e. Mixes styles (formal and realistic techniques in the same film): undercranks camera, freeze frame, cinema verité interview, subjective traveling shots, newsreel footage of WWI f. Protagonists are rebels, loners, misfits who feel stifled by the conventional social definitions The 400 Blows (1959)
Andre Bazin
a. 1918-1958) editor of the journal (renowned international film critic and theorist- not a filmmaker) b. Prefers mise-en-scene over montage c. Bazin's theories of realism- promotes the use of long-take, deep-focus camera, and moving camera
The Cahiers du Cinema
a. Cahiers du Cinema (Notebooks on Cinema) 1951 - French Journal, corresponds with the French New Wave. b. Invent the basic tenets of film criticism and theory c. Critics that write in the Journal turn filmmakers. Promote the Auteur Theory i. Politique des auteurs- revolutionizes film theory, the director is the author of the film
Andre Bazin theory of realism Mise en Scene Shotd
promotes the use of long-take, deep-focus camera, and moving camera
The Miracle Case and the end of the Production Code
· The Miracle Case (1952) - brought filmmaking under the protective umbrella of · the First Amendment · The End of the Production Code · The Rating System · G, PG, PG13, R, NC17 (X) · Sex and Violence reflected the time