Analysis Of Francois Truffaut's 'The 400 Blows'

The way the film was presented was partially effective for the fact that the message of the story, for me, was not easily or instantly understood. This is a humongous deal as a result of if I was not able to understand it at an age of 15 then a great deal of children would not be able to understand that message. When I first saw this shot my reaction was “look an insane decrepit man” which is a great deal of people's reaction to the film, I'm guessing.

The way Godard uses camerawork and editing in the film is another way that he uses forms and standards of cinema in order to purposefully draw the audience’s attention to the filmmaking process. In classic Hollywood cinema, spatial and graphic continuity editing is extremely important, and often worked to perfection. Editing in Breathless is not used to advance the storyline or show continuity between scenes, but to echo the rhythms of everyday life. There are many jump cuts throughout the movie, which is considered a sin in classic cinema. The interesting thing about the jump cuts is that the dialogue continues uninterrupted despite these choppy cuts.

In Zack Snyder’s 300, the battle of Thermopylae, the life of the Spartans and the glory of war comes to life on the big screen for all audiences worldwide. The movie, 300, released in 2006 is based on the graphic novel written by Frank Miller, 300. The movie focuses on the use of the Classical past to portray everything from the upbringing of a Spartan to the bravery of King Leonidas and the 300 Spartans on the battle fields of Thermopylae against the mighty Persians. Unlike most Hollywood movies proliferated based on real events, the movie 300, keeps accurate to the novel and the events that occurred in history. Despite the minor alterations and exaggerations such abandoning body armor and over-glorifying the Spartans, the movie still remains faithful to both the novel and history by using the classical past to explore social norms, accurately depict the way of life, events that occurred such as the battle of Thermopylae and the nature of people during 500 BCE.

Imagine having to face impossible odds, if failed, would kill you. This is exactly what the Spartans had to face when they were protecting their home. The movie 300, directed by Zack Snyder tells the story of the courage and solidarity of King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and his army of three hundred Spartans who fought the army of King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and his colossal Persian army to their deaths. In 300, producers cover the Spartan life, the Spartan women, and the Battle of Thermopylae.

Similar to how the hazy quality adds to the oneiric atmosphere of the shots in the Dietrichson’s household, the elements of the mise-en-scène contribute to the realistic characteristics of the first shot. Here, the viewer is presented with a seemingly perfect upper class neighborhood full of California Spanish houses. The children outside are playing baseball and an ice cream truck drives by, representing the epitome of the American Dream. The image is sharp and clear, with the light source coming from the right. However, the lighting is practically uniform in this shot. There are several hues and colors present in this shot, which is consistent with the realm of reality. Each frame of the camera is busy and cluttered, and there is a great deal of movement from both the props and the actors. However, it can also be argued that the first shot—though fairly realistic—is interrupted by oneiric qualities.

In the movie, See What I’m Saying, there are three Deaf men and one Hard of Hearing women. Their names are: Robert DeMayo, TL Forsberg. Bob Hiltermann and C.J Jones. Through out the movie, each person shows us a glimpse of their lives and what they have to deal with on a daily basis. See What I’m Saying shines a light on the oppressive behaviors within the performing arts industry and within mainstream media, and how these four individuals must navigate through their lives as performing artist.

Les girls: Was that the truth? Les Girls directed by George Kucor is a highly entertaining movie with catching numbers and amazing dance moves. The movie is based on three girls (Sybil Wren, Angele Ducros and Joy Henderson) who perform in the theater industry around the 1950’s. After a couple problems, their careers don’t last long enough. When Les Girls theater act ends, one of the girls, (Sybil Wren) writes a book about the things that happened when the group was still together.

1. The author is illustrating the French point of view during the 1870's. Most of the other European countries are looking at France and are portrayed in mostly negative manners. France is portrayed as an honorable country that is trying to fight off the invading Prussians.

While avant-garde most easily comes to mind as following a cinema of attraction model, with its much smaller focus on narrative, even Hollywood films apply this same sense of attraction with their use of special effects, CGI, and other tools with what Gunning called a “cinema of effects,” (234). Demolition of a Wall in many ways is one of the first elements of special effects, or an illusion of some sort, in cinema. More importantly than the first special effects, this is arguably the first film to use in camera editing. It stresses what is possible within the realm of cinema, the manipulation of time. Since this film’s release, both special effects and time manipulation in film has advanced considerably. In David Lynch’s tribute to the Lumiere brothers, there is another form of time manipulation at work in the form of cuts to different scenes. Instead of reversing time, Lynch is jumping to different points in time, and location, showcasing the true power of editing. While it is easy to point to figures like Eisenstein, and D.W. Griffith for their impact on montage, and continuity editing, it would be foolish to leave out the Lumiere’s despite relying mostly on single shots. This ability to put fundamental rules of nature, like time and space, in the hands

This film analysis will delineate the diverse directorial decisions of The French New Wave cinema movement, and how they have been utilised and developed to challenge and subvert the typical Hollywood filmmaking conventions and techniques of the 1950s and 60s Hollywood cinema, in François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows (1959). Hollywood produced films of the time used a very limited variation in film techniques such as camera, acting, mise-en-scene, editing and sound. This can be mainly attributed to the low innovative thought of creative and expressive camera movements, angles, etc… due to technological hindrances. In particular, this film analysis will de-construct the filmmaking elements of the revelatory French New Wave movement in Truffaut’s The 400 Blows ending scene (01:34:42 – 01:39:32) portraying the main character Antoine Doinel’s escape from juvie and trek to the bespoken beach.

The French New Wave, or Nouvelle Vague, is among the most revolutionary film eras in the history of cinema. Spurred as a result of major shifts in economic, social and technological norms within post-WW11 France, the New Wave conceived a renewed mode of expression across various creative industries. Francois Truffaut’s The 400 Blows (1959) and Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (1960) are two films, which despite major disparities, would go on to exemplify integral characteristics of the movement in the following years. Perhaps, the best way to truly appreciate the fervor of New Wave cinema is to examine the context of its inception. Both the stylistic and thematic qualities of French New Wave works directly reflect the implicit values, virtues and vices possessed by the emerging youth culture of the late 1950s, which consequently posed a fundamental challenge to the institutions, ideas and attitudes of the past.

The movie is based upon a graphic novel by Frank Miller (of comic book fame). They are both based upon a one of the most famous battles in the Persian Wars (492 - 449 BC), The Battle of Thermopylae.

They knew a lot about film theory and history but not a lot about film production. This allowed them to experiment and try new ways to make films. They also began to break traditional rules in filmmaking.”(Tu) At first audiences were confused by this new style, but now many of the innovative conventions of the French New Wave are normal cinematic devices that we all understand today, like the jump-cut, long take, voice over and handheld location shooting. The 400 Blows, is not a film one is going to understand while watching for the first time, that is where the true beauty lies. As Antoine grows up he will be able to understand his life with a reflective mentality, just as we the viewer will understand the film the more we think about it. The goal of the French New Wave was to have cinema become as worthy of academic study as any other art form. “Existentialism was also a major influence on the French New Wave. French New Wave incorporated working on location as opposed to in the studio. Lightweight hand held cameras were used. Available light was preferred to studio-style lighting and available sound was preferred to extensive audio dubbing. Following characters down streets, cafes and shops were done in the French New Wave just as was in this film 400 Blows. Also long takes like when Antoine was

Furthermore, Vant Sant makes statements which are just as strong through his use of camera angles and shots. Together with the film’s cinematographer, Jean-Yves Escoffier, he creates a mise-en-scene which is striking and powerful

The 300 is a fictional retelling of Herodotus’s account of the Battle of Thermopylae from the perspective of Leonidas I and his fellow Spartans. The film is based on a comic book of the same name and is a live action, shot-by-shot visualization of said comic. 300 utilizes stunning two-dimensional graphics and dramatic lighting and camera angles to make the film look more like a moving comic. Both the film and its literary counterpart are full of historical inaccuracies, exaggerations, and modern biases that obscure history, but like the writings of Herodotus, they’re quite entertaining and do an excellent job portraying Spartan life and the gruesomeness of the Battle of Thermopylae. Once more Gerard