‘Create a blog post highlighting the key narrative and technical conventions of the French New Wave approach to film making. Talk about the difference between the left and right bank approach.’
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There are many key narrative and technical conventions of the French New Wave approach to film making.
The narrative in French New Wave tends to be improvised or written as if it were unscripted which can make it sound almost absurd due to the randomness of it. Along with that, it doesn’t tend to be necessary to the plot as it usually leans away from the films story.
French New Wave tends to use a variety of experimental techniques when filming such as focusing on the character’s emotion through the use of a long shot rather than using a shot reverse shot when filming dialogue, focusing more on aesthetic instead of advancing the plot. It also tends to lack establishing & master shots, allowing the viewer to focus on the characters more than the scene itself as the French New Wave typically uses the left bank approach [they were more focused on expressing film as an art rather than creating films for the sake of creating films.]
‘Explain how the political, social and economic upheaval created by the aftermath of both the Russian Revolution and WW1 affected the production and content of classic Soviet Constructivist Cinema.’
Before WW1, 90% of film productions shown in Russia were from abroad which caused film production in Russia to increase throughout the war [129 short + mid length films in 1913 rose to 500 in 1916]. However, due to this producers began to run out of film stock and cinemas had to follow a stricter censorship than they had to before the war – military authorities also having to monitor film sets and authorize imported films and distribution of films as there would be public uproars if they watched German films.
However, there was a massive decrease in film production from 1917 onwards which was made even worse when the economy collapsed in 1921 as Vladimir Lenin realized film could be used for quickly spreading propaganda, causing the Russian government to prioritize film production. Unfortunately, a lot of pre-revolutionary producers had already fled Russia, taking their film stock and smashing their studios, preventing the production of films. Russia couldn’t import new equipment or stock which eventually led them to create VGIK, a professional film school, in order to train people for cinema.
The Gerasimov Institute of cinematography [aka VGIK] is a film school in Moscow that was founded in 1919 and is currently the oldest film school in the world. During the period of the Soviet Union, it was required to attend VGIK in order to direct films.
Auteurs are described as the ‘author’ of films as they tend to oversee everything in the films process from sound elements to visual elements of the film.
‘Describe some of the stylistic conventions associated with the expressionist art movement. Post some additional examples of Constructivist art.’
Constructivist art tends to use sharp, geometric shapes that have been arranged/layered in a specific manner in order to express the experience of modern life and individuality, creating a dramatic piece of work. It often discards bright colours and uses a small colour pallet, usually sticking to red, black and white.
‘Identify at least one other film which appears to have been influenced by the visual style of classic German Expressionist Cinema + illustrate and explain reasons briefly’
A film that has been influenced by the visual style of classic German expressionism is Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice. Throughout the film, Burton uses a set with jagged edges, slanted architecture and a variety of vivid colours which make the set reminiscent of classic German expressionist films. Along with that, the makeup and costume design is also reminiscent of German expressionism due to the dramatic makeup and gothic looks.
UFA managed to stay in business as it was used in order to promote German culture along with Germany’s international image after WW1. Throughout the silent era, it was well known for creating incredible films due to its studios being the most modern in the word.
Voice-Over: Audio that is recorded [usually post-production] and plays over the scene, often used to tell a story/explain to the viewer what’s happening on screen without the character being shown on screen. It’s typically used in documentaries to ensure that the audience understands what’s happening on screen.
Planet Earth Documentary, 2006
However, in films it can be a biased source of information where the character is telling the story from their perspective, purposely leaving out information from the story in order to get the viewer on their side. For example in Megamind, he tries to convince the viewers that he was wronged in order to justify his actions against Metro Man.
