Film Studies Essay

Grant Tabler

0676441

Essay #2

Film Study AHSS 1070 Section 01

Prof. Don Moore

1 April 2010

Reimagining Film through Stylization Variation 

            The film is a medium in constant flux, with genres that can change and reinvent themselves on a consistent basis. However, sometimes Films become placid and fall into a rut of recreating the same type or style of film ad nauseam. Often this leads to a reimagining of style, such as with movements like the French New Wave and Dogme95. The style of these films is has many noticeable similarities, though they are defined by their stylistic differences. These movements are aimed at telling their story in an impactful way, with varying degrees of success. The French New Wave stylization of sound, and aesthetics in Godard’s Breathless (Godard, 1960) made the film far more impactful than the lack of such stylizations in Von Trier’s Dogme95 film Breaking the Waves (Von Trier, 1996)

 Films of both French New Wave and Dogme 95 style are aimed at changing the way people see and understand film. By making revisions to the established paradigms, these films augment the viewers idea of what constitutes a film and what tells the most effective story based on the chosen style. The effectiveness of these types of films is often measured by the impact they have on the audience. If the film can cause the audience to think differently about how films can be composed or presented then it has accomplished something for its style. The two movements go about this in slightly different ways however. Dogme95 is based around a specific set of rigid rules. By comparison, the French New Wave is about experimentation, with somewhat less identifiable conventions.

 

Despite the variations, there have been some who attempt to define the French New Wave style based on general similarities. A New Wave film is usually made by an auteur-director who is preferably also the screenwriter.  New Wave films often make use of non professional actors or newcomers, along with improvisational aspects to the script and acting. Shooting on location is prioritized over shooting in a studio; these films often use small crews, rudimentary lighting and diegetic sound, at least for dialogue. New Wave films are regularly set around contemporary cultural issues and ordinary characters in everyday life. Many of the films also have an emphasis on intertextuality. (Hill 28-9) Though this author goes on to stress that these are very broad characteristics and that very few New Wave films include all of these.

 

Despite this, many of the defining characteristics are similar to that of Dogme95. Dogme95 is also based around improvisational scripting, on location shooting, a lack of created lighting or non-diegetic sound, and ordinary characters. However, these similarities are not accidental; they are instead inspired by movements like the French New Wave. As Tim Walters puts it, “many points of comparison can be drawn between Dogme95 and various other influential movements in the history of film. (Most obvious, of course, is the French New Wave, which is clearly an enormous formative influence.” (Walters 40-54) Indeed the similarities of the two are noticeable in certain aspects of the film making, like editing.

            Editing is a way in which both Dogme95 and the French New Wave are quite similar in style. As is notable in both Breathless and Breaking the Waves, jump cuts are a primary way of moving the action of the scene forward.  When directors of films of either style used this technique it allowed them to skip over the less interesting or less vital parts of a scene in order to progress to the next action, faster. If the cut was a planned part of filming and not just an editing revision this could also be a way of saving film, as the director would thus not have to film information in a scene that was planned to be skipped. Saving film could be an incentive to directors of this style as many of these films were lower budget works. This style of editing allows time to be compressed and cause the film to be discontinuous. That is, causing the film to represent events with a skewed perspective of space and/or time. Though not technically editing, these films have another stylistic element in common. (Pence 29-66)

The shots in films of these styles show a definite commonality. One very obvious example of this is the usage of characters looking directly into the camera for emphasis or intimacy. This style of shot is meant to jar the audience as their role of voyeur spectatorship has suddenly changed to a role of involvement. (Hill 26-50) Another type of shot that is used in both Breathless and Breaking the Waves is close-ups. Close-ups are used in the films to accentuate the emotional impact, of the scene and situation, on the characters’ faces to the audience. (Pence 29-66) Despite the inspirations and similarities between French New Wave and Dogme95, their differences are what constitute the impactfulness of each.

            One of the most noticeable differences between Breathless of the French New Wave style and Breaking the Waves of the Dogme95 style was the use of sound. In Breathless, there is non- diegetic music, which is used to amplify the tension, or other such emotions in a scene. In Breaking the Waves by contrast, the only use of music is in the chapter intermission-like screens. The music is used mostly as foreshadowing here as the lyrics of the songs are often chosen to make reference to the coming events of the next chapter. (Wall 115) Breaking the Waves, in accordance with Dogme95 rules, does not attempt to use non-diegetic sound for dramatic effect. Though both films are attempting to portray the stories with a high degree of realism, Godard does not see the need to detract from the dramatic impact of the scene by eliminating music from the film. This is the first of several aspects in which Breathless opts for stylistic impact over realism contributing to a more impactful film.

            Another aspect of style in which the two movements differ is their use of aesthetics. The Dogme95 style attempts to throw off the conventions that have become clichéd in films. As it says in the Dogme95 manifesto, on which the movement is based, “The movie has been cosmeticized to death.” (Von Trier, and Vinterberg) The French New Wave movement was also about a return to a simpler style of film with fewer effects, though certain stylistic elements remained for effect. One director of the French New Wave style, Jacques Demy used several such elements in his films. “Demy gave his lead actors the ‘star treatment’ in terms of glamour lighting, makeup, coiffures, and costumes.” (Hill 26-50)

This represents a rather major stylistic difference, one that Dogme95 attempted to remedy with their movement. Dogme95 made direct reference to what they saw as failures of the New Wave movement in their manifesto stating, “In 1960 enough was enough! The movie was dead and called for resurrection. The goal was correct but the means were not! The new wave proved to be a ripple that washed ashore and turned to muck.” (Von Trier, and Vinterberg) However, French New Wave went about changing the paradigms of cinema of its time in a less radical and thusly more palatable style. In using some degree of stylization without allowing film to become too cosmeticized they created a middle path. A style of film that was not as clichéd as the Hollywood films without going as far as the “vow of chastity” (Von Trier, and Vinterberg) that Dogme95 employed within their more extreme movement. By using less extreme changes to stylistic elements, French New Wave is able to appeal to a wider audience without alienating them, thus having a larger impact on audiences.

Both Breathless of the French New Wave style and Breaking the Waves of the Danish Dogme95 style, are films that attempt to change the audiences viewpoint of films. They do this in ways that can be in harmony or contrast with each other’s style. They attempt to generate impact in the same ways through usage of things like: editing such as in jump cuts and the compression of time; additionally they are similar in the usage of shots such as with characters that address the audience directly or are shown with close-ups. The films contrast each other in elements such as: the usage of non-diagetic sounds such as music; and the usage of certain stylistic aesthetics. Despite their means of interfacing with the viewers, both of these films strive to cause the greatest impact upon their audience. For, these are films that are attempting to change the way viewers see and understand films. Not only for what they are, but also for what they can be. Based on the film’s usage of stylistic elements without over exemplifying earlier dogma, this goal is achieved more successfully by Breathless and the French New Wave movement.

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Works Cited

Godard, Jean-Luc, Dir. Breathless. Films Around the World, Inc.: 1960, DVD.

Hill, Rodney. "The New Wave Meets the Tradition of Quality: Jacques Demy’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg." Cinema Journal 48.1 (2008): 26-50. Web. 25 Mar 2010. Project Muse.

Pence, Jeffery. "Cinema of the Sublime: Theorizing the Ineffable ." Poetics Today 25.1 (2004):     29-66. Web. 24 March 2010. Project Muse.

Von Trier, Lars, and Thomas Vinterberg. "The Dogme95 Manifesto." Dogme95.dk. Lars Von       Trier, n.d. Web. 23 Mar 2010. Project Muse.

Von Trier, Lars, Dir. Breaking the Waves. October Films: 1996, DVD.

Wall, James M. “Paradoxical goodness.” Christian Century 114.5 (1997): 115. Web. 20 Mar. 2010. Project Muse.

Walters, Tim. "Reconsidering The Idiots: Dogme95, Lars von Trier, and the Cinema of      Subversion?." Velvet Light Trap 53.1 (2004): 40-54. Web. 23 Mar 2010. Project Muse.

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Godard, Jean-Luc, Dir. Breathless. Films Around the World, Inc.: 1960, DVD.

Hill, Rodney. "The New Wave Meets the Tradition of Quality: Jacques Demy’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg." Cinema Journal 48.1 (2008): 26-50. Web. 25 Mar 2010. Project Muse.

Kelly, Richard. The Name of This Book Is Dogme95. London: Faber and Faber, 2000. Print.

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Pence, Jeffery. "Cinema of the Sublime: Theorizing the Ineffable ." Poetics Today 25.1 (2004):     29-66. Web. 24 Mar 2010. Project Muse.

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Von Trier, Lars, and Thomas Vinterberg. "The Dogme95 Manifesto." Dogme95.dk. Lars Von Trier, n.d. Web. 23 Mar 2010. Project Muse.

Von Trier, Lars, Dir. Breaking the Waves. October Films: 1996, DVD.

Wall, James M. “Paradoxical goodness.” Christian Century 114.5 (1997): 115. Web. 20 Mar.        2010. Project Muse.

Walters, Tim. "Reconsidering The Idiots: Dogme95, Lars von Trier, and the Cinema of       Subversion?." Velvet Light Trap 53.1 (2004): 40-54. Web. 23 Mar 2010. Project Muse.