The French cinema became highly creative, as they could now borrow money to make movie only if it were profitable. Additionally, the equipment was developing rapidly, they were lighter and could be carried around. This enabled them to go to locations instead of filming everything on set, which made it all very realistic looking, furthermore they were better quality. However, they were still filming on celluloid, but they did not need the huge banks of lights to get the image on film, which also made it possible to make movies on streets, houses, apartments.
They came up with the “camera stylo” which means camera pen in French, therefore the director could be freer, more independent and show their creativity. Lastly, they also experimented with different lighting, angles.
Here is a list of some of the best new French wave films
Hiroshima mon amour (1959)
Les Bonnes Femmes (1960)
Shoot the Piano Player (1960)
Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)
The New French Wave began at the end of 1950. Directors strove to present films by breaking conventions. Which meant that the audience never forgot that they are watching a movie. For example, in Godard’s Band a Part, the characters have a minute silence which the film used to remind the audience that the film maker has the control over the whole film. Then during a dance in the same scene, the audio is removed to address the audience directly.
I personally see this as a way of showing dominance and control over the audience as well as the film.
How did location affect the look of the films?
They started using natural lighting, which was cheaper. Ambient sounds were preferred as studio edited sounds were awfully expensive and time consuming.
Additionally, they did not use sets they went to different locations to film, which made everything look very realistic. This is quite different to how German expressionism worked as they focused more on making everything look unrealistic. Whereas the New French Wave almost looked very elegant and professional.
Furthermore, the cameras were very mobile, which means the planning was fluid and could be experimented with as they better time management.
Existentialism influence of the New Wave
Jean Paul Sartre, who studied films said that an individual can have a free choice, this links to how you are meant to act according to their gender, sexuality, race, class.
Anyone can go and film however they wanted.
They acted morally were antihero’s and loners would not. Therefore, these actors had to act a certain way however Jena Paul said otherwise. Again, this was experimenting as well as breaking conventions.
HOW WERE ACTORS USED DIFFERENTLY?
Women were often given strong roles in the New French Wave which was something different. But the actors were not big starts prior to the new wave. They picked random people to give it a fresh feel so the audience can relate to them, so many people got a chance to show their creativity and talent.
Voice overs on certain characters were used to express a character’s feelings, this was seen in most films. Audio was used very creatively in the New French Wave. Sometimes there would be scenes where no one is speaking but there is audio telling us how they feel. Which I think gave it a very sophisticated feel.
French New Wave Cinema was personal
Filmmakers were writers who were very skilful at examining relationships between people and their feelings. However new directors used personal expressions to go against the conventions of the genre.
New French Wave was very influential, it made other directors from other countries want to do more experiments and try similar aesthetic and shooting styles.
Overall, the New French Wave was based around experimenting and breaking laws of films and conventions which made it unique. I think that we all learned a lot of new ways of experimenting due to the New French Wave.
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