Lacan Theory

Jacques Marie Émile Lacan was a french psychoanalyst and psychologist who expanded upon the works created by his predecessor Sigmund Freud. Lacan's work influenced many of the top intellectuals of his time and continue to do so. His works covered a wide variety of topics, but its his hypothesis about our intrinsic lack that i will focus on. 

The theory revolves around the idea that we, as humans, are never complete. We are born with a void within us that will never be truly filled. Every action we take in our lives is an unconscious attempt to fill this void. As Lacan puts it 
"Desire is a relation to being to lack. The lack is the lack of being properly speaking. It is not the lack of this or that, but lack of being whereby the being exists.“

We can clearly see Freuds influence in this theory, the ego drives the actions of the self, usually from a position of want, a need for something rather than random actions. the lack within lacans theory is 
essentially the ego with Freuds theory.

Lacan recognises three different kinds of lack within us all, According to the nature of the object which is lacking. The first is Symbolic Castration, the second is Imaginary Frustration and the third kind of lack is Real Privation. The three corresponding agents are the Real Father, the Symbolic Mother, and the Imaginary Father. Of these three forms of lack, castration is the most important from the perspective of the cure.  Lacan viewed castration as a fantasy of the mutilation of the penis, linking it with a series of fantasies of bodily mutilations which begin with the image of the fragmented body, possibly an unconscious fantasy to punish oneself for never being truly whole. 


The mirror stage is also key in discussing how we are intrinsically born with a lack, an infant less than 15 months old cannot physically recognise there own reflections, they see however an almost objective perfection in there reflection. Subconsciously we always try to become this perfect reflection, by never can do due to our intrinsic self punishment. this is essentially why we all suffer from lack, we spend our lives trying to fill the void that we think will complete us, however no matter what we do we can never live up to the image we saw as children.

As show in Lacans “lack” and “Mirror Phrase” theories, Freud has excessive amount of effect on Lacan.
In most of Lacan’s theories, we can effortlessly see Freud's influence in them. Lacan's "return to Freud" emphasised a renewed attention to the original texts of Freud, including radical critiques of Freuds work. 

Lacan- 4 our film challenge

A freudian theme within a film

If i were to create a film that incorporated it within itself it would be as followed.

the film would essentially be an avert guard piece. the film would cut between a subject involved in various situations that conflict him morally and  subjectively. the idea is very lose but her are some examples of scenes that i would incorporate the theory.

an individual comes across a corpse of a girl at a house party that he himself hosts, the camera would cut to his hands against the camera, covered and dripping with blood, the expression upon his face is one of obvious guilt, almost for the corpses perspective, he himself would not say anything, rather the shot cuts to the ID and the SuperEgo shouting to each other within a tight two shot within a location that has no connection to the action stated previous, possibly against a black background.

The ID would argue that the subject should run, never associate himself with the crime that he has so obviously committed, whereas the SuperEgo would argue back, saying that he should surrender, surrender himself to the higher authority.
All the while this scene would cut rapidly between the shots of the Super Ego and ID arguing, to the id crying into his hands, blood dripping from his hands, and his face

Another scene that i think would be interesting within this film would be if a subject happened across a car crash. the audience would never see the car crash, but would rather hear the screams, the tears and pain of the car crash, all for off screen. The camera would again be focussed on the subjects face, never moving or panning or racing according to his movements. The audience would simply be an observer of the subject, nothing more.

The camera would again cut rapidly to a static shot of the Id and the SuperEgo against a background, the two arguing against a black background. dissimilarly to the previous scene, the Id and the SuperEgo would portray themselves more violently this time. there words becoming more violent than the previous time. the difference between the two would become almost indifferent.

the camera will fade to black upon the subject witnessing the car crash. his face staring, with horror, upon the hour he is watching.

the final shot of the film would consist of an extremely slow zoom of our subject stirring on a sofa, with him whipping his head back in agony, his hands gripping against his hair. just as we did for our previous scenes, the scene would cut, this time almost rapidly against the subjects playing the Id and the SuperEgo, screaming at each other, unaligably. almost suddenly the subject would pull handgun out of know where, point it to his temple. the camera wold cut the ID,The SuperEgo, standing there motionless, speechless. the subject would slowly pull a gun to his temple, all the while cut a staticframe shots of the two aspects of the conscious arguing.. the scene would cut end to sound of gunshot, we would cut to the two aspects of the brain falling ti the ground. we would end at a static shot of wide shot of the individual, blood seeping from his nose.

ID,SuperEgo, and the Ego within film.

ID,SuperEgo, and the Ego within film.



This is a shot from david finchers 1999 film Fight Clubl, in which an individual wrestles with his alter ego for control over his physical identity.

This short synopsis does nothing to elaborate how crucial the Id, Super Ego and Ego theory is to this film. for the sake of connivance i will explain who the characters are and how they relate to the theory.

Marla singer (The Woman) is representative if the Super Ego,
Tyler Durden (The Man in the basement) Is representative of the ID
and, The narrator (The Man in the suit) Is representative of the Ego

Marla Singer is easily a representative of the super ego, the aspect of the mind that controls and shuns individual thought, in this scene she is essentially begging the narrator for an explanation for the mark on his hand, she isn't compassionate, she isn't emotional, she simply wants the empirical, objective answer to the question. She is not concerned with the subjective, emotional answer (essentially provided by the ID), she wants the facts, the truth.

Tyler Durden is quite obviously the ID, not only is he physically situated within the basement of the setting, (not dissimilarly to the deep, repressed recesses of the mind and the ID) but he is also not apart of the conversation between the Ego and the SuperEgo. As i mentioned in my previous post (Freud Theroy) the id does not concern itself with the social restraints of the Ego and the Super ego, he is quite literally and physically on a completley separate plain of existence to the other aspects of the conscious. Deep from within the shadows, he expresses his primal and physical desires, rather than discuss and contemplate his feelings on a physical and intellectual level, just as the SuperEgo and the Ego do.

The Man in the suit (by purpose of elimination, the man in the suit) is the Ego, the portion of the mind that moderates between the Id and the SuperEgo. In this particular scene the Ego essentially follows the Id, the primal urge of avoiding confrontation by essentially shutting the Super ego out. the fact that he resides in the basement of the house could possibly be a representation of how the Id dwells within the deep recesses of us all, lurking deep within us, covertly watching, listening, and influencing the Ego. we can conform this by the fact that Marla (The Super Ego) never listens to Tyler Durden, she is fixated on the Ego (the narrator) .

Freud Theroy

The Id, Superego, ego is a psychoanalytical theory created by Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist (1856-1939). This theory is the idea that both consciously and subconsciously we are controlled by three aspects of our minds, the id, the super ego and the ego. 
The id is the disorganized part of the personality structure that contains a human's basic, instinctual drives, it is also the only aspect of the mind that is present from birth. It is also the source of our bodily needs, wants, desires, and impulses, particularly our sexual and aggressive drives. The id has no concept of self restriction, socially acceptable actions and rules and regulations of the world around it, It only wants. A representation of this would be a new born baby. A babies only instinct is to fulfil its spontaneous needs and wants, it has no awareness of the world around him, it only craves its own intrinsic needs 
the super ego is the polar opposite to the ego, it is the part of our consciousness that incorporates the values and morals of society which are learned from our parents and those around us. The superego's purpose is to control and essentially repress the ID, especially the primal human urges such as sex, aggression and want. it also houses the purpose of attempting to persuade the ego to turn to a more moralistic, society acceptable goal rather than the ID's primal urges and to strive for perfection. 
the ego on the other hand is the aspect of the mind that sits perfectly in-between both the superego and the ID, it the aspect of the brain that essentially makes physical decisions within the physical world. this isn't to say that the ego cannot be persuaded or challenged by the ID or the super ego. One would naturally find themselves naturally siding with the ego in terms of wants and needs of the physical form, but unlike the Id, the ego also considers social and cultural factors into is decision making, upon which it relies on the superego to communicate how to act upon the social and cultural factors around it. 
this theory can be perfectly represented with the chariot analogy, imagine two horses and a chariot racing down a road, it is the chariots duty ti guide and control the two horses pulling the chariot, the chariot cannot allow itself to favour either horse, unless it veers of the road, it has to keep both horses in reign, in order to allow itself to keep itself straight.

New Wave film- Draft

Video Essay evaluation

Evaluation

This is my French New Wave video essay, i made this video for the contextual studies module after studying Jean Luc Godard and the social/political climate of the French New Wave. i attempted to talk about how the cultural mindset of Godard and his peers moulded his films, i showed this by explaining the technical aspects of his films and the re occurring themes throughout three of his feature films, namely breathless, my life to live and the little soldier. i started by writing the scripts in sections, starting with the introduction of Godard and the New Wave, then moving on to the political and social climate of the paris and how this changed the filmmaking itself, then moving on to the analysis of each individual film. From here i recorded each section of the script and created the video portion itself by adding multiple clips from my three chosen film, le petit soldat. i had trouble synching the video to the audio of the script, it was important that this was accurate however as the video portion of the essay needed to be directly linked to what was being said in order for it to remain logical and precise. The recording of the script itself was fairly easy, the only problem i came across was fitting my schedule around my friend who read the script out. we would have to work on several separate days rather in one session, this resulted in audio levels that were often slightly carried from one another, volume levels changed between most of the clips due to moving the recording equipment around several times, volume and enthusiasm for the script wavered as we had to result to recording at different times of the day and background noise can be picked out in some clips. if i were to re-do the audio for the video essay i would set a set day in order to record everything, so that the quality remain consistent throughout the entire video. 

in terms of the actual content of the video essay, i feel like i accurately explained the re occurring motifs of existentialism with Godards films and linked this to the context and social political landscape of the New Wave well. if i were to re do this video essay i would included more context for the New Wave, an explanation into why Godard and his peers felt the way they did, as it stands i feel that i only vaguely referenced this, giving an explanation but only very briefly.  Another issue i feel that i should dress upon reflection of the video is its length. the original brief for the video was for it to be 5-10 minutes long, however my video ended up at around 18 minutes, this was due to it essentially being an auteur study of Godard, and to provide an accurate representation of his work i had to discuss several of his films, this is what took up the bulk of my video. if i were to re-do the video i would focus more on providing evidence to solidify Godards re occurring motifs, more in depth analysis of key scenes rather than discussing the film as a whole. 

In conclusion, i am extremely happy with my final cut of the video essay, i feel that it provides a detailed and intellectual analysis of Godards films, whilst remaining visually interesting and competent, apart from some problems with the audio quality, and some of the transitions between clips, i feel that this video essay accurately explains the New Wave, and Godards work as an auteur.  

Existentialism within the French New wave- New wave video essay

New Wave Video Essay Script- Final Cut

New wave video essay script 

The French New wave was a pivotal turning point in cinema, it rebelled against a medium that became stale and bland, injecting a vibrancy and charisma that had previously never been seen before in the art.

the french new wave was essentially a rebellion against the classical formula of film,originating in the post war france of the 50’s, pioneered by the young turks, a group of four film reviewers for the magazine Cahiers du cinema, the young turks most notably jean luc godard had a habit of attacking the most artistically respected French filmmaker of the day. 

Writing criticism didn’t satisfy these young men, no matter how much they attacked the stale medium of film, they sensed no change in the medium, by the end of the decade the turks began making there on movies with borrowed money, un restricted by the rules and regulations of studio environments and the rules and regulations of the publishers, thus began the french new wave. 

The new wave sought to re define film, the young turks believed that film no longer represented the angst and existentialism that the post war generation was defined by, for them, film represented a false idealism, an art form un damaged by the horrors of the war.

 The pioneers of the new wave chose to completely re invigorate the technical and narrative aspects of there films, rejecting the tried and true methods of films previous, using techniques that were previously un used and shunned by there predecessors, some would say that these abstract techniques are representative of the young turks and the generation they spoke for, imperfect and damaged, disillusioned by the idealism of the medium. 

the environment and social climate of 50’s paris also played a major role in the new wave, budget restraints and technical restrictions were reflected upon in the film of the turks, films were shot on location, in the grime and dirt of the streets rather than extravagant studios, cameras were cheap and hand held due to budget restrictions, actors and subjects within the films were close friends of the directors, as hiring actors was to expensive, all these little characteristics and technical choices culminate in a style utterly unique to the French New wave. 

this essay will not only be a study into the characteristics of the french new wave films, but also an in depth study of the films of jean luck Godard, his existentialist views and unique visual aesthetic, and whether or not he can be considered an auteur

perhaps the most notable figure from the new wave is Jean Luc Godard, A visionary in the medium both nationally and internationally. Admired for his inventive and unique approach to cinema, his works resonated with a generation of bitter and jaded individuals.

 in this video essay i will be comparing and contrasting three of his works, namely; 1960’s breathless, 1963’s le petit soldat and 1962’s my life to live, to identify any reoccurring motif’s and thematic styles that solidify Godard as an auteur 

but first, what is an auteur, according to francois truffaut; "a true film auteur is someone who brings something genuinely personal to his subject instead of producing a tasteful, accurate but lifeless rendering  of the original material’. this essentially means a filmmaker who has full creative control over his or her work, controlling all aspects of the film that makes it so.

 this ranges across everything, the cinematography, the editing, the direction, the mise en scene, every aspect should be tightly controlled by the director in order for them to be considered an auteur 

Breathless 

breathless is considered Godards magnus opus, not only his first feature film, but his first response or attack against the medium. the film deals with existentialism and love and betrayal in a refreshing light compared to similar films, drenched with a film noir esque style, and characters who are representitive of the bridge between the hollywood film scene and the traditional french film scene. To identify re occurring themes throughout godards work, we first need to identify them, and what better place to start than his first feature film, breathless 

lets start by explaining the synopsis of the film, the narrative revolves around Michel, a criminal and murderer who is obsessed with film persona of humphrey bogart, michal murders a policeman on a country road and is subsequently hunted by the police, michal penniless and wanted turns to an american paper seller for security, The ambivalent Patricia unwittingly hides him in her apartment as he simultaneously tries to seduce her and call in a loan to fund their escape to Italy. 

Patricia says she is pregnant, probably with Michel's child. She learns that Michel is on the run when questioned by the police. Eventually she betrays him, but before the police arrive she tells Michel what she has done. He accepts his fate and awaits the police, he steps out into the street to greet them, but is shot, he runs down the street, stumbling, but falls, he dies breathless and alone. 

the entire film is drenched in cynicism and existential metaphors and symbolism, almost every scene has an element of this theme, but for the sake of convenience ill pick out a few key scenes that truly embody this motiff. 

bedroom scene 

The impossibility of love, another central Godardian theme, is played out in the relationship between Michel and Patricia. In the long hotel room scene, which takes up nearly a third of the screen time, the two lovers talk, joke, argue and fool about, but frequently fail to completely understand each other.

 during this scene we can clearly see that patricia is romantically interested in michal, he is a perfect opposite to her personality, patricia is adventurous and competent, respectable but ultimately, frightened by the world around her, whilst michal is an ameteur anarchist, jaded and disillusioned by the society and culture around him.

 this easily represents the context of the new wave, especially Godards personal ideology’s and beliefs regarding the state of cultural decay him and his generation found himself in. 

however, patricia isn’t truly in love with michal, she is in love with the aura of mysteriousness around him, his power as a character. , but she knew that this power doesn’t correspond to the society in which she planned to live and succeed in. She learned to love Michel’s dedication to an unknown alternative to the reality they both known, but ultimately, couldn’t make herself fall for this alternative. 

death scene 

the final scene of the film involves michals final stand against all odds, his desperate attempt at an escape and his fall. though wounded Michel is not trying to run away from the police or resist.

 Betrayed by desperate Patricia (whose love for him was forcing her to make too radical change in her life and priorities), whom he gave the chance to abandon him, Michel is running somewhere in the direction of his uncertain existentialist dream. 

whilst this scene is rather distressing, at its essence it can be considered a love letter to Godards generation, though wounded and broken, they continue to follow there uncertain dreams, with no set destination or plan the people still rebel against the conformity and denial of the post war years. and this, to godard is beautiful 

the final shot of the film is also worth mentioning, the camera pans down to michals face on the floor, wishing in agony and pain, he looks up at the camera and mimics patricas facial expressions from earlier in the bedroom scene. this is godard essentially laughing in the face of death, a final existential mockery before slipping into death. a commentary on how the people of post war france succumbed to greed to consume pleasures provided by society in exchange for obedience, a polite and happy smile though fake, in order to retain the normality of there lives.

opening scene. 

the film opens with a static close of michal staring out to the street, signalling his accomplice out of shot, his expression is completely uncaring, he appears to be almost bored by the crime he knows he is about to commit, in this scene michael is the embodiment of the cultural mindset of godard and his peers, he is almost an alien in the pseudo-happiness, quietly observing the oblivious and content around him.

Michel’s particular gesture of, as if, zipping up his mouth is a sign of refusing to talk in the way that be fits the time, unimportant personal achievements desperately exaggerated by the people, refusing to notice and address the crippling existential dread the war forced upon the people of france, blindly living there life as though nothing had happened. michals gesture of zipping his mouth shut, is a subtle, yet rebellious action. 

my life to live 

simmiraly to breathless, my life to live explores the concept of existentialism but this time coupled with the theory of hard determinism, the theory that even before we are born our path and actions throughout life are pre determined meaning that we have no free will, we are born and we die in a pre determined way. 

As is the New Wave way, there are many unconventional techniques used in the creation of Vivre sa vie. Filmed on the streets of Paris, it is sometimes possible to see non-actors looking at the camera, as if they are being drawn to the star, Anna Karina. Long takes are prevalent, and, according to an interview with Godard, were often accomplished in the first take. "If retakes were necessary, it was no good," he was quoted as saying. 

The storytelling method played with the film form. It is not a simple A to B narrative; pieces are missing, and it is impossible to fill them in given the information given in the film. The camera moves to follow the action; if it is possible not to have an edit, that is usually the decision made. 

There are many existential and philosophical questions raised -- some answered, some not -- but the film, too, as the youthful New Wave director began to question life itself. The fourth wall is broken, to a haunting effect. It is a rebellious piece that often plays with story structure and film technique, like many of the New Wave films. Likely done for both practical or artistic reasons, Vivre sa vie could be described as avant-garde quite easily and correctly.

We're introduced to Nana a girl who craves fame and wealth so badly that she is willing to prostitute herself and we track her through her descent into despair. The film; broken up into 13 chapters designed to take you out of and limit your engagement with the film, highlights the absurdity of Nana's existence. Nana is a mother, yet we never see a child or maternal moment. Nana is poor yet lives carefree. She is a prostitute yet even then she is turned down by a client. 

The mental toll this takes on her causes her to defiantly state in a cafe that she is herself and in total control, demonstrating by moving her body parts. Yet not long after this Nana is sold like she were a plaything and killed in the resulting struggle. She lived, she tried, she died

everything within this film relates directly to existentialism and the context of the new wave,  just as we did for breathless, we will analyses key scenes that show us the re occurring motifs of existentialism. 

philosopher 

the scene starts with a static shot of nana, with nana located in the bottom left section of the frame. the camera angle and nana positioning creates the impression  that nana is no longer vital to the story, and by extension, her world,  if not  even the frame and the film focusses on her, what chance does she have to be anything more than another body in the crowd, what is my purpose? she seems to ask herself, a classic existential question.

nana begins a dialogue with a philosopher out of shot,the two start to converse and discuss the novel the three musketeers, the philosopher tells nana a story about a character within the book, porthus. 

the philosopher tells nana that the second porthus started to think he was dead, this can easily be applied to nana herself, before her attempt to change her life she was content, she lived a life without fear and the possibility of failure. godard is essentially saying that ,with change comes a fall. even though she was brave enough to rebel against her conformity, she was destined to die.

another interpretation of this scene again analysies the dialogue between the two, we reach this point in the movie right after nana watches Carl Theodor Dryer’s 1928 The Passion of Joan of Arc. the raw emotion and existential metaphors within leave a visible impact upon nana, she challenges herself to create her own philosophy of life, however upon meeting the phiosipher, her beliefs have been reduced to nothing. her attempt at forging a new way of life for herself, a new beginning. has been lost, she has no identity, no meaning, its at this point you can say that she has truly fallen. 

Godards intention with this could be a metaphor for how his generation were often punished for attempting to forge themselves any meaning out of there society. anything that wasn’t the norm or the controllable was shunned by there society. nana’s loss for words in this scene is exactly what godard experiencced himself 

another scene that clearly expresses nana’s existential mind set, and therefore godards is the passion of joan of ark scene. narratively very little happens, all the scene features is a shot from the movie, followed by the words 'the death, however, The emotional power of this profoundly silent scene deaply effects nana, the camera cute to a close up of nana. 

tears streaming down her face, the light from the cinema screen reflect off her tears, darting back and forth across the screen. this and unbroken close up of nan’s face tells us everything we need to know about her. just like joan of arc, nana whites to fight and die a martyr, to have purple in her life just as joan had however, unlike joan, nana has nothing to fight for. 

her tears aren’t in response to the movie she is watching, but a deep and existential sadness, a sadness that could only be created from the sudden realisation that you have nothing worth fighting for. 

its my belief that godard intended this to be a self reflection of himself rather than his generation. these tears are too specific, to raw and emotional to simply be a broad commentary on his times 

le petit soldat 

le petit soldat was godards second feature film, shot and released within the same year as breathless (1960), just as radical and controversial as the first, the film was met with a storm of controversy not only due to the film now infamous torture scene, but also due to its politically charged narrative.

this film has its existentialism rooted so deeply within it, that picking only two or three scenes and analysing them won’t show how crucial this motiff is to the story. instead i will be analysing characters and there actions through the film, rather than specific scenes 

Bruno is the films main protagonist, he is an agent of a tight wing terroist group who are locked in a battle with a counter far left terroist group. he eventually meets veronica, an agent of the far left terroist group. 

Bruno is a young man with a developed internal world and personal opinions and ideology, on his own he is able to act according to his personal ideals, not according to orders and expectations of his political bosses. 

Bruno often looks at the viewers without asking for advice or help nor pity. 

His gaze is already acknowledging that he is trapped within the confines of his political masters grasp, without dialogue we can still clearly see that he is desperate for a way out of this life style .

Godard wants to get at the bottom of Bruno’s failure as a human being. Is this failure that of the very revolutionary aspirations of the Western youth?

Bruno years for freedom to resist tge society he finds himself entrapped in, but he is controlled by very developed manipulative strategies his societiy are equipped with. 

 under a political establishment with a mighty arsenal of seducing, corrupting and intimidating tools. And now it is much more difficult, than in older times, to resist, i

bruno is obviously aware of this, yet still seeks an escape

from this, we can clearly see a link between bruno and his political ideology, his anger at the established government and his hatred for conformity and Godard and his generation. just as godard craved so much to rebel against the conformity and blind obedience of his society, so does bruno. we can also see the world itself as an exaggeration of 50’s paris. 

those with more defined and personal ideology’s and opinions were shunned or forced to inform to the established way of thinking. the far right and far left terror groups are jut an extension of the 50’s french government, no matter what point on the political spectrum you fall under, right or left, they are all the same 

vernoiqua is bruno equal in everyday, just as disillusioned and jaded as him.

they feel that they are equally trapped by their  political affiliations, but they see it as a problem of their individual intellect, they loath the fact that they are disillusioned by there realisation of the world around, how corrupt and imperfect it is, and they somehow feel ashamed to share it with one another. 

They are like a brother and sister separated by a political divide. And they unconsciously try to mask this fact of being existential equals by romanticising there attraction to a point of obscenity. 

the torture scene also houses deep existential and philosophical meaning in it. whilst the actions on screen are violent and distressing the message behind it just as distressing. Bruno up until this point has been devising away to escape from the political word he has created for himself, before he can fully commit to this plan he is captured and tortured brutally. what this stands for however, is more than abuse of a prisoner. 

it is a reflection on the social political climate of the 60’s. godard exaggerates how those with a difference of opinion, those who wished to challenge the  structure of the government, those who wished to question the ideologies of those in control were crushed. the existential search for a new identity, one different to the norm in his society was oppressed and shunned. although not literally tortured. godard felt that he and his generation was. 

what made godard this bitter and existential, why does his films rely so heavily on visual and metaphorical uses of existentialism. you could say that it was simply due to the cultural and social environment he was Moulded by. but it goes with saying that existentialism is a key re occurring theme throughout all his films, from the doomed existence of michael in breathless, the lack of free will within my life to live and the destruction of individual identity in le petit soldat. without a doubt jean luc godard is an auteur, a master of his class and a true spokesperson for his generation and beliefs. 

New Wave Video Essay- Rough Script

New Wave Video Essay Rough Script

The French New wave was a pivotal turning point in cinema, it rebelled against a medium that became stale and bland, injecting a vibrancy and charisma that had previously never been seen before in the art.

the french new wave was essentially a rebellion against the classical formula of film,originating in the post war france of the 50’s, pioneered by the young turks, a group of four film reviewers for the magazine Cahiers du cinema, the young turks most notably jean luc godard had a habit of attacking the most artistically respected French filmmaker of the day. 

Writing criticism didn’t satisfy these young men, no matter how much they attacked the stale medium of film, they sensed no change in the medium, by the end of the decade the turks began making there on movies with borrowed money, un restricted by the rules and regulations of studio environments and the rules and regulations of the publishers, thus began the french new wave. 

The new wave sought to re define film, the young turks believed that film no longer represented the angst and existentialism that the post war generation was defined by, for them, film represented a false idealism, an art form un damaged by the horrors of the war.

 The pioneers of the new wave chose to completely re invigorate the technical and narrative aspects of there films, rejecting the tried and true methods of films previous, using techniques that were previously un used and shunned by there predecessors, some would say that these abstract techniques are representative of the young turks and the generation they spoke for, imperfect and damaged, disillusioned by the idealism of the medium. 

the environment and social climate of 50’s paris also played a major role in the new wave, budget restraints and technical restrictions were reflected upon in the film of the turks, films were shot on location, in the grime and dirt of the streets rather than extravagant studios, cameras were cheap and hand held due to budget restrictions, actors and subjects within the films were close friends of the directors, as hiring actors was to expensive, all these little characteristics and technical choices culminate in a style utterly unique to the French New wave. 

this essay will not only be a study into the characteristics of the french new wave films, but also an in depth study of the films of jean luck Godard, his existentialist views and unique visual aesthetic, and whether or not he can be considered an auteur

perhaps the most notable figure from the new wave is Jean Luc Godard, A visionary in the medium both nationally and internationally. Admired for his inventive and unique approach to cinema, his works resonated with a generation of bitter and jaded individuals.

 in this video essay i will be comparing and contrasting three of his works, namely; 1960’s breathless, 1963’s le petit soldat and 1962’s my life to live, to identify any reoccurring motif’s and thematic styles that solidify Godard as an auteur 

but first, what is an auteur, according to francois truffaut; "a true film auteur is someone who brings something genuinely personal to his subject instead of producing a tasteful, accurate but lifeless rendering  of the original material’. this essentially means a filmmaker who has full creative control over his or her work, controlling all aspects of the film that makes it so.

 this ranges across everything, the cinematography, the editing, the direction, the mise en scene, every aspect should be tightly controlled by the director in order for them to be considered an auteur 

Breathless 

breathless is considered Godards magnus opus, not only his first feature film, but his first response or attack against the medium. the film deals with existentialism and love and betrayal in a refreshing light compared to similar films, drenched with a film noir esque style, and characters who are representitive of the bridge between the hollywood film scene and the traditional french film scene. To identify re occurring themes throughout godards work, we first need to identify them, and what better place to start than his first feature film, breathless 

lets start by explaining the synopsis of the film, the narrative revolves around Michel, a criminal and murderer who is obsessed with film persona of humphrey bogart, michal murders a policeman on a country road and is subsequently hunted by the police, michal penniless and wanted turns to an american paper seller for security, The ambivalent Patricia unwittingly hides him in her apartment as he simultaneously tries to seduce her and call in a loan to fund their escape to Italy. 

Patricia says she is pregnant, probably with Michel's child. She learns that Michel is on the run when questioned by the police. Eventually she betrays him, but before the police arrive she tells Michel what she has done. He accepts his fate and awaits the police, he steps out into the street to greet them, but is shot, he runs down the street, stumbling, but falls, he dies breathless and alone. 

the entire film is drenched in cynicism and existential metaphors and symbolism, almost every scene has an element of this theme, but for the sake of convenience ill pick out a few key scenes that truly embody this motiff. 

bedroom scene 

The impossibility of love, another central Godardian theme, is played out in the relationship between Michel and Patricia. In the long hotel room scene, which takes up nearly a third of the screen time, the two lovers talk, joke, argue and fool about, but frequently fail to completely understand each other. during this scene we can clearly see that patricia is romantically interested in michal, he is a perfect opposite to her personality, patricia is adventurous and competent, respectable but ultimately, frightened by the world around her, whilst michal is an ameteur anarchist, jaded and disillusioned by the society and culture around him. this easily represents the context of the new wave, especially Godards personal ideology’s and beliefs regarding the state of cultural decay him and his generation found himself in. 

however, patricia isn’t truly in love with michal, she is in love with the aura of mysteriousness around him, his power as a character. , but she knew that this power doesn’t correspond to the society in which she planned to live and succeed in. She learned to love Michel’s dedication to an unknown alternative to the reality they both known, but ultimately, couldn’t make herself fall for this alternative. 

death scene 

the final scene of the film involves michals final stand against all odds, his desperate attempt at an escape and his fall. though wounded Michel is not trying to run away from the police or resist. Betrayed by desperate Patricia (whose love for him was forcing her to make too radical change in her life and priorities), whom he gave the chance to abandon him, Michel is running somewhere in the direction of his uncertain existentialist dream. whilst this scene is rather distressing, at its essence it can be considered a love letter to Godards generation, though wounded and broken, they continue to follow there uncertain dreams, with no set destination or plan the people still rebel against the conformity and denial of the post war years. and this, to godard is beautiful 

the final shot of the film is also worth mentioning, the camera pans down to michals face on the floor, wishing in agony and pain, he looks up at the camera and mimics patricas facial expressions from earlier in the bedroom scene. this is godard essentially laughing in the face of death, a final existential mockery before slipping into death. a commentary on how the people of post war france succumbed to greed to consume pleasures provided by society in exchange for obedience, a polite and happy smile though fake, in order to retain the normality of there lives.

opening scene. 

the film opens with a static close of michal staring out to the street, signalling his accomplice out of shot, his expression is completely uncaring, he appears to be almost bored by the crime he knows he is about to commit, in this scene michael is the embodiment of the cultural mindset of godard and his peers, he is almost an alien in the pseudo-happiness, quietly observing the oblivious and content around him.

Michel’s particular gesture of, as if, zipping up his mouth is a sign of refusing to talk in the way that be fits the time, unimportant personal achievements desperately exaggerated by the people, refusing to notice and address the crippling existential dread the war forced upon the people of france, blindly living there life as though nothing had happened. michals gesture of zipping his mouth shut, is a subtle, yet rebellious action. 

my life to live 

simmiraly to breathless, my life to live explores the concept of existentialism but this time coupled with the theory of hard determinism, the theory that even before we are born our path and actions throughout life are pre determined meaning that we have no free will, we are born and we die in a pre determined way. 

As is the New Wave way, there are many unconventional techniques used in the creation of Vivre sa vie. Filmed on the streets of Paris, it is sometimes possible to see non-actors looking at the camera, as if they are being drawn to the star, Anna Karina. Long takes are prevalent, and, according to an interview with Godard, were often accomplished in the first take. "If retakes were necessary, it was no good," he was quoted as saying. The storytelling method played with the film form. It is not a simple A to B narrative; pieces are missing, and it is impossible to fill them in given the information given in the film. The camera moves to follow the action; if it is possible not to have an edit, that is usually the decision made. There are many existential and philosophical questions raised -- some answered, some not -- but the film, too, as the youthful New Wave director began to question life itself. The fourth wall is broken, to a haunting effect. It is a rebellious piece that often plays with story structure and film technique, like many of the New Wave films. Likely done for both practical or artistic reasons, Vivre sa vie could be described as avant-garde quite easily and correctly.

We're introduced to Nana a girl who craves fame and wealth so badly that she is willing to prostitute herself and we track her through her descent into despair. The film; broken up into 13 chapters designed to take you out of and limit your engagement with the film, highlights the absurdity of Nana's existence. Nana is a mother, yet we never see a child or maternal moment. Nana is poor yet lives carefree. She is a prostitute yet even then she is turned down by a client. The mental toll this takes on her causes her to defiantly state in a cafe that she is herself and in total control, demonstrating by moving her body parts. Yet not long after this Nana is sold like she were a plaything and killed in the resulting struggle. She lived, she tried, she died

everything within this film relates directly to existentialism and the context of the new wave,  just as we did for breathless, we will analyses key scenes that show us the re occurring motifs of existentialism. 

le petit soldat 

le petit soldat was godards second feature film, shot and released within the same year as breathless (1960), just as radical and controversial as the first, the film was met with a storm of controversy not only due to the film now infamous torture scene, but also due to its politically charged narrative.

Bristol Promotional 1 minute version

Bristol Draft Promotional Video

New Wave Film Plan

New Wave Plan


For my new wave short i wanted to re capture the essence of Jean Luc Godards rebellious and direct style of film making, whilst still maintaining a personal, accurate film that captures the mindset and attitude of teenagers in our time. simmmiraly to New Wave films, we wanted to create a film that was embolic of our time, using shots and editing techies that represented us, the youth of today. to plan this film we sat down and sincerely thought about what was personal to us, what social, cultural and personal issues that we, as film makers challenged us. for my film i intend to create a film that explore s the personal issues surrounding an individual who wants nothing more than to speak up and essentially disagree with the norm. this is easily comparable to Godards style of film making, his films challenge the social normality, and how his views were suppressed and essentially doomed. with our film we wanted to do exactly this, challenge the norm, not only with thematic issues but also technically, in our story board we planned how shots would linger long after the action of the scene has ended, how shots would focus more on the background. shots would remain distant and in personal, exactly how an individual would think of themselves in this world of anger and hate.






the narrative of the film will be about how an individual feels that he/she is trapped within a society of like minded individuals who feel powerless to speak out against this mind set presented to them. we plan to represent this using a strictly black and white monotone aesthetic, symbolic for how in this world, everything is either black or white, there is no gray area to issues, only right or wrong. in terms of camera techniques we wanted to crete the impression that the short was filmed in one shot, literally following an individual through his day, this type of footage would give the impression that we are literally filming someones day, that we are personally following this individuals life. shots will essentially remain at a personal 'Eye level" state, the audience should essentially feel like they are personally in the film, that there viewership is effecting the quintessential movement of the film.
in terms of editing i intended to keep the film appearing like a single take, a one shot, or apparent one shot would feel like we are literally following this individuals experience of the world. the impression of one apparent take of a scene is embolic of Godards films, and how he resorted to using one location for multiple takes due to budget restraints.




essentially, i want to create a bleak exaggeration of how individuals feel about there cculitre, about how tiny and unimportant they feel, and how even a tiny act of defiance can make a difference


the inspiration for this film came from "george orwell, 1984" in his book he explains how a couple defies and is broken by the system, i feel like this is a perfectly representaio of the youth of today, how there views and beliefs are bonded as liberal or radical. but with this film i hope to break that image. rather the being a love letter to left wingers and radicals, i want to create a film that accurately represents there fight for relevance, and how submerged they feel within the current social climate. The film we also have nihilistic themes, how nothing this individual does will impact the culture around him, the subject will be a soul voice against a tidal wave of oppression.



the aesthetic of the film will rely on the use of a black and white hue across the entire film, this will be used as an exaggeration of how for many people, life is a binary choice, how there is only good and evil, how there is only good and evil. this will also be represented in the clothing of the subjects within the film, black clothes would be symbolise a given conformity, and public mindset of a culture, and white would be symbolic of free thought and individuality

Unit 30- Camera % Lighting- Pull focus

Pull Focus




A pull focus is a camera technique used in which you change the focus of the camera mid shot, this usually involves changing the focus of the shot from one subject to another, for example this could be from the fore ground to the back ground or vice versa.
the effectiveness of a pull focus relies on the focal length of the lens you are using to film, camera zoom is measured in mm,

Unit 30- Camera & Lighting- Shutter speed

                                                                    Shutter Speed

Shutter speed is also referred to as a cameras exposure time, it is the duration of time the cameras light sensor is exposed to light. if the camera's shutter speed is relatively high, it can help to freeze action completely, if the shutter speed is low that it creates motion blur, in which a moving object has blurred edges along side the direction it is moving in. This is different to shutter speed in photography however,For a start, with photography, you’re relying on a mechanical shutter. But when you’re recording video the noise of the shutter would be picked up during video recording. So instead, the shutter opens at the start and then an electronic shutter simulates the function of the mechanical shutter whilst you’re filming.
The frame rate the cinematographer choses to use during a shoot also effects the use of shutter speed, typically most scenes shot within a film have a frame rate of 24 frames per second as this gives the shot a constant smooth run without any drops in frames per second, whilst running on 24 frames per second the shutter speed should average around 1/50, as a general rule of thumb, the frame rate should be around half the frame rate, if the camera runs at 60 frame per second the shutter speed should be around 1/30. 

1/300, whilst motion blur can still be seen, the frame is relatively smooth, with little motion blur being visible around the subject 

1/30, with a slower shutter speed, the motion blur can clearly be seen around the subjects hand and phone, up closer inspection motion blur can also be seen around the subjects face

Unit 30-Camera & Lighting- ISO

                                                                 ISO

ISO is the level of sensitivity of your camera to available light. The lower the ISO number, the less sensitive it is to the light, while a higher ISO number increases the sensitivity of your camera. The component within your camera that can change sensitivity is called “image sensor” or simply “sensor”. It is the most important part of a camera and it is responsible for gathering light and transforming it into an image. With increased sensitivity, your camera sensor can capture images in low-light environments without having to use a flash. But higher sensitivity in the iso creates extra noise or grain in the image, 

Editing technology history

Editing technology history 

editing technology, just like film itself has grown more advanced, precise and complex throughout its life, editing technology can be traced back to the start of film making itself, around 1890 along side the creation of the very first camera, the cinematograph, film around this time was essentialy one long take of a unremarkable subject, the context of the film itself was irrelevant for the audience, as the marvel of an animated photograph was enough to satisfy, it was only by accident that the very first primitive form of editing was discovered, a theatre owner by the name of  Georges melies was filming a bus leaving a tunnel, however his camera jammed half way through the recording, when the camera began to roll again the bus had disappeared and was replaced by another automobile, upon developing the footage, he was shocked to see that the bus he was originally filming had instantly changed to the automobile instantly, this can be considered the first use of the jump cut, a cut in the film which there is an abrupt transition in the scene. after this revelation, that film could be more than a static uncut shot of raw footage, he began to develop more complex techniques in his editing, including fade in and fade outs, overlapping dissolves and stop motion photography. with these new techniques he began to push the medium of film from mundane single shots, into a narrative story telling vehicle. this can be considered the birth of film editing. 

another historical event that could be considered the birth of cutting in editing would be the technique of photographer Eadward muybridge, who would take hundreds of photos of subjects in motion, whether it be a horse galloping, or a running man and layer the pictures next to each other to visualise various subjects in motion, he would then showcase these pictures in a device he created called the zoopratiscope, a machine that would spin and show each photo rapidly, giving the impression that it was a genuine moving image. 

the process of editing would stay relatively primitive for the years to follow, until 

a device called the moviola in 1924, a device that allowed film editors to view a film whilst editing it, created by iwan serruier. the moviola allowed individuals to study individual frames of a film reel in a cutting room, allowing an editor to precisely determine where the best cut-point might be. many high profile studios quickly picked up on the use of the moviola, and studios such as universal studios, warns brothers and charlie chaplin studios quickly adopted the moviola for its practicality and precision. the need for moviola products only increased as the application of sound, and larger film stock became more readily available, the need for portable editing equipment during world war two also expanded the use of moviola products. 

moviola products were used for decades until the creation of flat bed suites around the 1970’s, 

flatbed suites are a piece of editing equipment used to join film negatives and audio together on a single film reel. since the audio and film during this time was recorded separately, the editor must combine the two together to synchronise them, the editor will load the film reel onto a metal spinning plate, and the audio reel onto the plates magnetic counterpart. the editor must then find the exact point in both reel where the ‘clapperboard’ (the tool used to mark the beginning and end of a scene session) and conjoin them together. this then creates a single film reel in which the audio and film is perfectly synchronised, any further editing after this has now been dramatically simplified as the editor only has to locate one point to cut rather than two. from this point in history, the flatbed editing suites were used religiously by editors and film studios for its accuracy and precision, but during the 80’s and 90’s editing turned to the digital era, film reel was growing obsolete as digital editing allowed for more freedom and experimentation when editing. the very first digital editing tools was the Avid 1 media composer create in 1981, the avid 1 was a software tool designed on apples macintosh 2, the software played video as a motion jpeg codec, which was the primary video codec used during the 90’s, whilst the video quality wasn’t very high, the avid 1 made up for this with a focus on accessibility and ease of access, meaning that for the first time, editing and in turn film making could be brought to individuals interested in amateur film making and editing. 

modern editing software has almost completely replaced the tradition flat bed suite or moviola, since a digital format allows for pin point precision cutting and accuracy, modern editing tools such as premier pro and final cut now allow for a wide range of digital effect to be added, along side colour and lighting correction, which result in a more professional and slick aesthetic, comparing this to the traditional film reel  filming, the ability to alter the visuals themselves makes it obvious why there was such a drastic shift to digital editing. 

film editing has come along way since its primitive origins in the 1980’s, with its static, mute visuals all the way to 2017. 

Bristol Promotional video planning

THE BRIEF

As a group you will create a 3- minute promotional video to entice students, young professionals (16-35) to visit Bristol instead of the attractions of other big cities such as Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool. The film will be fresh, vibrant and highlight all Bristol has to offer be it culture, retail or social. the video must not contain and copyright material and must be shot in full HD (1080p) 

To begin planning our promotional video, we first had to review and critique other promotional videos, discussing and noting what we believe worked and didn't work in them, so that we could create a video that not only captured the raw atmosphere of Bristol, but also enticed our target audience to visiting.

We looked at promotional videos abroad and at home to guarantee our plan would be accurate and effective in portraying the city, the first promotional video i looked at was created by a student who attended Bristol University. A student who lives in Bristol would seemingly portray the city in a genuine and sincere way, as they would be more knowledgable in the atmosphere and culture of the city, as they are currently living in that city.




An interesting aspect of this film is that it relies heavily on time lapse shots of the city streets themselves, focusing more on the day to day routine and atmosphere of the cities people, rather than generic establishing shots of the cities attractions and monuments. The film seems to have been colour coded resulting in every shot having an almost yellow or orange tint to it. Whilst this is indeed visual striking, the fact that it is repeated for every shot eventually leaves it feeling generic and repetitive. the same can be said about the technical camera work for this video, the video opens with vast establishing shots of the city streets, almost with overwhelming depth and detail, but again this same shot is repeated constantly throughout the video.

What i took away from this film was that when it comes time to filming of my promotional video is that various camera shots must be used in order for the film to remain visually interesting, and that i should also experiment with colour coding to create an interesting visual flair that not only looks compelling, but is also symbolic of Bristols culture and atmosphere.



The next promotional video i researched was a video made by a professional advertisement company that creates promotional videos for cities and locations across europe. I chose this video to analyse and discuss as i wanted no only to take notes on a professional piece of work with more advanced equipment and budget, but also to explore possible thematic and technical choices throughout all of my research.





whilst this film is excellently made, all the camera shots and editing techniques used are pristine, light levels are balanced and every shot is focussed well, it feels devoid of atmosphere, rather than capture the raw atmosphere of london, its culture and its essence, the film makers have created an obviously artificial view of london. The video focusses on the attractions and monuments of the city rather than capture the streets, the culture and people that make london such a vibrant city. for lack of a better word the video feels to corporate, devoid of emotion, traded in for an obvious picturesque view of london which is unrealistic. if the film were to feature more abstract camera techniques, shots of the city streets outside of the tourist district than it would feel much more vibrant and real that it currently is. as it stands i believe this film would not attract the target audience we intend to market to.

from this video i have concluded that my promotional video shall incorporate shots of all the attractions explained in the brief, but also intertwined with shots of the streets, the people and the culture of Bristol in order for the video to feel more heart felt and sincere.


The next promotional video a researched was created by a freelance film making current working out of Bristol, i believe this film creates a more personal, heartfelt video whilst still looking professional and slick, i chose to discuss this video as as mentioned above, i wanted to view a promotional video that was both an accurate portrayal of the city by an individual who experiences the city everyday





i personally believe this film is an almost perfect template of a promotional video, it blends abstract camera and editing technchiques with a intimate portrayal of the city which results in a heart felt but professional portrayal. the video relies heavily on time lapse shots combined with an extremely slow pan or tracking shot, whilst similar promotional videos i have discussed use this same technique, what this video does differently is the combination of tourist attractions and city streets, we are presented with an impressive pan of the ss Great Britan, juxtaposed with a shot of graffiti artists creating a mural in the BearPit, this seamless transition between historic monuments and contemporary urban settings creates the impression that the city is just as historically influential as it is urban. i believe that this video is closer to the target audience of young professionals and students than the other videos i have analysed.

this promotional video will essentially be a template for my promotional video, i will emulate the videos use of wide establishing shots combined with more personal close ups of the city streets.

locations to visit 

Our brief instructed us to include 10 pre established locations, in our group plan we came to the conclusion that rather than spend the entire day commuting between the ten locations, we should split the locations into 4 different teams, this way we would not only save time between the journey to each location, but send longer on each location, resulting in more professional and stylised footage.

TEAM 1
Joe; director
Aj ; cinematographer           locations; Cabot Tower/ College Green
Caitlin; safety/runner

TEAM 2
Ben; safety/runner
Claudia ; cinematographer  locations; Millennium Square/ Arnolfini/ Thekla
Leah; director

TEAM 3
Emily; Safety/runner
Olivia ; director                   locations; Clifton Bridge + Area/ Observatory
Ellie; cinematographer

TEAM 4
Emily; safety/runner
Connie; director                 locations; Bear Pit/ Xmas Steps/ Park Street
Leah; cinematographer


We will be staying at the Rock And Bowl Hostel located on Nelson Street, the hostel is essentially in the very centre of Bristol, meaning that it will be extremely convenient for all the groups, as we won't have to commute as far to our locations, compared to staying on the outskirts of Bristol, where a large majority of the day would have been the commute to each location.

Rock and Bowl hotel 

Nelson Street

luckily all of our target locations are within a 30 minute walk from the Hostel, below are the locations shown on google maps,

                                                                         Cabot Tower
                                                              approximately 20 minute walk

College Green

approximately 40 minute walk 

EQUIPMENT LIST 

DSLR Camera x2/per group
TRI- POD x2/per group
SD card/ 1 for each camera
GOPRO
Handheld Steady Cam


Story board