1. + French New Wave Novelle Vogue Auteur Theory It’s all about the director..

2. + The French New Wave End of the 1950s and the 1960s. No Film School https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R7R 0JHvvgo

3. + Read the review of Breathless. Be ready to present to the group about it… Breathless 1960

4. + Stand in order of positivity… NEGATIVE REVIEW……………………………..POSITIVE REVIEW

5. + Jean Luc Godard & ‘A Bout de Souffle’ Created most of these aesthetic features using the following techniques (innovative at the time): 1) Location shooting 2) Hand held camera 3) Natural lighting 4) Subversion of rules of classical editing.

6. + Jean Luc Godard & ‘A Bout de Souffle’ All these techniques turn the films into spontaneous and improvised performances rather than a mere recreation of the script.

7. + Opening Sequence Michel steals a car to drive to Paris. However, two policemen on motorcycles chase him. Michel runs into engine trouble. He turns off the road and attempts to fix his car, but is followed by one of the policemen. Michel shoots the policeman and runs off. Begin the ‘facebook’ profile for Michel.

8. + Jean Luc Godard & ‘A Bout de Souffle’ All production techniques mentioned above are used in this sequence: Shot on location (highway) Camera is mobile and shaky (Pans in shots 3 & 4 are quick, blurred) Lighting is natural (Shot 7 sun shines directly onto lens) Casual, improvised acting style Subverts continuity editing (jump cut from shots 3-4; shot 5 car left to right, shot 6 right to left)

9. + Paris Michel arrives in Paris and finds Patricia selling the New York Herald on the Champs Elysee. The police have identified him as the cop-killer and are on his trail. He mugs someone in a restaurant to get money to take Patricia out on a date - but she has other plans. Begin the ‘facebook’ profile for Patricia

10. + Jean Luc Godard & ‘A Bout de Souffle’ Stylistic choices also determined by economics Identified low production costs with artistic freedom. Hollywood auteurs transcended high production values.

11. + Apartemente Sequence This sequence is a ‘boring’ 30 minutes. Containing much improvised and undirected dialogue it adds to the realism of the film. Though it has had a negative response from audiences and critics, this scene still has value in the style of the director – taking away some of the high drama of the traditional film in favour of realism. We still see ‘real’ conversations between characters today thanks to Jean Luc Godard. Begin the ‘facebook’ profile for Patricia

12. + Jean Luc Godard & ‘A Bout de Souffle’ Social Seriousness “Uniqueness of personality, brash individuality, persistence of obsession and originality were given an evaluative power over stylistic smoothness or social seriousness.” – John Caughie, Theories of Authorship Auteurs criticized for lack of social commitment. Argued in favour of a more personalized experience of cinema.

13. + http://youtu.be/XEoYgXG8r-8 Storyboard Create a storyboard shot by shot analysis of the final scene in Breathless

14. + Jean Luc Godard & ‘A Bout de Souffle’ Sequence does not aim to show sequence clearly but the VISION of the auteur.

15. + Create a podcast, reviewing Breathless Make sure you analyse it as a French New Wave Film. Breathless 1960

16. + Jean Luc Godard & ‘A Bout de Souffle’ Social Seriousness From 1960s Godard’s filmmaking became politicized, both in terms of style and content. Style: Jolted spectators and made them notice the film making process. Content: Political subject matter e.g. ‘La Chinoise’, ‘Tout va bien’ Made films politically about politics. Began to downplay romantic idea of the film director as an auteur, used Dziga Vertov Group.

17. + French New Wave Films http://www.criterion.com/explore/4-french- new-wave Create a profile for 4 films

18. + Francois Truffaut & Cahiers du Cinema Auteur theory emerged from a group of critics in 1950s France, who went on to become filmmakers of the French New Wave of the 1960s. Truffaut criticizes the dominant tendency in French cinema: Tradition of Quality. Projects bourgeois image of good taste and high culture.

19. + ‘Tradition of Quality’ Films Image of ‘Frenchness’ tied to good taste and high culture achieved through: 1) High production values; 2) Reliance on stars; 3) Nicely tied loose ends 4) ‘Sheen and polish’

20. + ‘Tradition of Quality’ Films ‘La Symphonie Pastorale’ (Jean Delannoy, 1946) ‘Douce’ (Claude Autant-Lara, 1943) ‘Jeux Interdits’ (Rene Clement, 1952) ‘La Ronde’ (Max Ophuls, 1950)La Ronde’ (Max Ophuls ‘Minne, L’Ingenue’ (Jacques Audry, 1950) ‘French Cancan’ (Jean Renoir, 1955)French Cancan’ ‘Les Grandes Manoeuvres’ (Rene Clair, 1955)

21. + ‘Tradition of Quality’ Films Mechanically transferring scripts to screen. Success or failure depends entirely on quality of script. Jean Aurenche & Pierre Bost “Aurenche and Bost are essentially literary men and I reproach them here for being contemptuous of the cinema by underestimating it” – A Certain Tendency of the French Cinema, p. 229

22. + ‘Tradition of Quality’ Films Privileging of script deflected attention away from filmmaking process and director. Cahiers critics and the French New Wave filmmakers defined themselves AGAINST the literary script and PROMOTED filmmaking. Tradition of Quality: Best technique is one that is not seen; French New Wave: Style draws deliberate attention to itself.

23. + The French New Wave The script merely served as the pretext to the activity of filmmaking. A filmmaking practice that rejects classical Hollywood cinema’s dominance by producers in favour of a mode of production that favours the director. Supported the idea of filming unimportant stories.

24. + The French New Wave One of the major movements of European Art Cinema. Features: 1) A slower editing and narrative pace 2) A strong ‘authorial voice’ 3) An investment in realism and ambiguity 4) The desire to provoke thought and sometimes shock 5) A taste for unhappy endings.

25. + Creating a Scene Think of an event that’s occurred in your life in the past month. Be prepared to describe what happened? OBJECTIVES 1. Understand what makes a scene a scene 2. Apply to the French New Wave

26. + Why was your event an event? Event Brought something new into your life or effected our lives Changed you You learned something new Special – important – big deal

27. + What is a scene? “Pathways, bridges between one moment and the next” Same Place Same Time ‘Continuous action’ “A moment when an emotion is articulated in some way, usually via action” Something must change (from starting point to ending point) Have a purpose to the actions Development of the characters Advances the plot “A step along the way to telling the story” Potentially learn something new What are the conventional features of a Scene?

28. + TASK: Write a simple scene Choose from 4 treatment ideas. Write a simple scene following the rules of a scene: Changes/Does something new Advances the plot Characters develop Same place and same time – continuous ‘action’.

29. + TASK: A ‘scene’ in the style of French New Wave Realism Natural Lighting Shot on location (no stage or studio) Mobile Shaking Camera Casual Improvised Acting/Dialogue Use of jump cuts Longer shots/shower cuts Slower narrative pace (story progresses slowly) Strong sense of style/directors vision Ambiguity Low production costs What are the features of a French New Wave Scene?