French Impressionism Short Film

Synopsis

The story is about a girl who enjoys her day off at a shopping center. She found her ideal jacket and imagines herself wearing the jacket that she wanted so badly. The imagination was interrupted by a phone call from her superior. She thought of the moment (flashback) where her superior gave her tons of workload, which causes her to answer the phone call in an unpleasant mood. She was in a dilemma situation where she had to choose either continue to shop or get back to work. In the end, she made a decision.

Content

This short film is taken to pay tribute to French Impressionism film. Our short film focuses on the fast changes of emotions. 

At the beginning of the short film, point of view editing is used.That scene first shows the point of view of a car where we can see the main character is walking towards something, then shifted to the car that she is looking at. Point of view of a car is not a usual view that we can see in the reality.

As French impressionist emphasizes on character’s feelings and emotions, a lot of mobile framing which is also described as point of view shots are used in this short film. The scene where the main character is driving is shown by using the point of view of her and the car (Figure 1.1 & 1.1.5). Besides that, the point of view of the main character is shown when she is shopping in the mall (Figure 1.2). It is to show the exciting mental state of the subject where the scene is shot in a fast pace when she is in the mall.

Figure 1.1: The driving scene shot by using point of view of the main character

Figure 1.1.5: The driving scene shot by using point of view of the car

Figure 1.2: Point of view of the main character by indicating the eyes’ level around shopping mall

Next, the fantasy part of the character and her ideal jacket. Dreamy effect is applied in that particular scene. The main character imagines herself wearing the jacket after she saw the jacket that she likes (Figure 1.3). This scene not only indicates the happy and satisfy feeling of the subject while wearing the jacket but also indirectly shows that most of the people will also have the same kind of fantasy when they are shopping.

Figure 1.3: Main character’s fantasy while wearing the jacket

There is an abrupt cut of the fantasy part and jump cut to the phone scene to indicate subject's fantasy had been interrupted. Flashback is used to bring audience to the character’s thoughts and to show memories in the past. In this short film, the flashback indicates the main character’s thought of the workload while she has received the call from her superior (Figure 1.4). Also, mono color is used to indicate flashback scene.

Figure 1.4: Flashback of the main character

Superimpose is normally used to show character’s feeling or thought by dissolving two visuals in one scene (Bordwell & Thompson, 2009, p.465). The visuals of her face are cutting cross each other in the scene to show different emotions in the scene. The superimposition is used to represent her who is in dilemma and confusion by blending two visuals of shopping and working together (Figure 1.5).

Figure 1.5: Superimposition that represents the dilemma and confusion faced by the main character

The characteristic of focusing is also used in this short film. Focusing technique shows character’s feeling in great detail and the scene will slowly focus on the character’s facial expression by using close up shot. When the main character is talking to her superior on the phone. Her eyes are in focus to show her feeling after receiving the order to go back to work (Figure 1.6).

Figure 1.6: Close up shot of the main character’s eyes

Lastly, Cinema pur/pure cinema is applied in this short film. There is no narrator in this short film. It left some space for the audience to think and understand the feeling of the main character and hidden meanings of the film. For instance, the ending of this short film is up to the audiences' thought.

The History and Development of French Impressionism

French Impressionism known as the avant- garde aesthetic. It is a term applied to a group of filmmakers in 1920s who are Abel Gance, Marcel L’Herbier, Germaine Dulac and Jean Epstein. In the past silent era, there are a number of change of film movements in France. This is to transform the Hollywood tradition by alternating the abstract of cinema and film making. It comes to a favoured new and progressive ideas towards the French Impression within the film industry. The impressionist film makers operated this style in large and started to form their own independent companies after their works been proved financially successful. Germaine Dulac had made some important impressionist film such as “La souriante Madame Beudet” and “Gossette” in 1923 whereas Jacques Feyder was made his impressionist films from 1923 to 1926. Bordwell, David & Thompson, Kristin (2010) stated that during the World War I, French film industry was interrupted as the personnel were conscripted, studio were moved to wartime uses and the export was stopped. Therefore, in 1915, American films began to step in to the France until year 1917. In these three years, Hollywood films dominated the market. After the war ended, French film making was still not fully recovered yet they tended to use a lot of techniques to recapture the audiences by imitating the Hollywood production methods.

The young production claimed that film should be an art instead of commercial craft. Art in the sense of having same category with poetry, painting and music. Thus, between 1918 and 1928, they started to alter and put this ideas into the film. Also, the young directors applied the new ways with cinema which emerging the Hollywood tradition. Impressionism is more focused on psychological story. According to Bordwell, David & Thompson, Kristin (2010), Germaine Dulac, a director said “ Another period arrived, that of the psychological and impressionist film. It would seem stupid to take place a character in a given situation without penetrating into the secret realm of his inner life, and the actor’s performance is explained by the play of thoughts and of visualized sensations.” Cinecollage. (2015) stated that Abel Gance’s film “La dixiѐme symphonie” had been the first major impressionist film in 1918. It storied about the symphony until his friends considered it as a successor by introducing a series of visual devices. Hence, such attempt becomes an important factor in French impressionism.

By giving the narration subjective depth and capturing the memory of the characters’ mind, the film makers gained the name of impressionist. An impressionist film would motive such events as a character’s dreams or hallucination. They were trying to highlight the emotional state of the characters. Eventually, they liked to play around the moods and feelings such as creating a love triangle with a small numbers of characters. French impressionism often included the flashback scene. It can be one or a series of them which bringing the audiences to the characters’ dreams and mental states. Thus, we can get into the characters’ emotion in detailed. 

Source from: Film History: France in the 1920s

The idea of impressionism is being hoped to be famous as Hollywood’s products. Unfortunately, it was not welcomed by the foreign audience; it was just popular among the French public. That is why some of their companies had been absorbed by the big companies since they got no enough money to experiment the sound film. From day to day, the cost of production also increased at that particular time. Impressionism has came to the end by 1929. But things that the film makers created and done such as their ideas and subjective style were brought us a legend in film industry. Until now, these innovation is still work in our film industry. For example, director wants to give their audience feels what the actor is actually sensing or feeling throughout the film in some abnormal state of mind. They work in a few techniques of camera work and editing. 

The Characteristics of French Impressionism’s films

According to Bordwell, David & Thompson, Kristin (2010), “films that are produced within a particular period and nation share significant traits of style and form.” There are several characteristics of French Impressionism’s films. Emotion of a character or film is important in order to make the audience feel the same way. As mentioned in the history part, the young generation thinks that cinema is a form of art. Art is another shape of expression, which communicate artists’ perspectives that consecutively produce experiences. Different experiences will evoke different kind of emotions. Nevertheless, the emotions or feelings are not directly portrayed in art but delivered through a suggestive manner to the audience. This type of film triggers the audience to have an immediate impression.

Other than that, Cinéma pur or pure cinema, film that signifying in and of itself through its plasticity and rhythms (René Clair, 1924) is also one of the characteristics. Cinema is treated as a “pure” medium where new inspirations had been introduce to the film makers. This characteristic focus more on the abstract visuals which film makers chose to create films that only emphasized on temporal form or graphics and usually without including a narrator. It is to leave more personal space for the audience to experience and understand the emotions behind the films. 

Next, we will also find trait such as Photogénie in French Impressionism’s films. The term Photogénie indicates things or objects are not merely photogenic but far more deeply interpreted from what they may seems like. Impressionist thinks that cinema is giving audience an opportunity to explore things that are far beyond the reality. It can present us the human souls and objects’ essence rather than just interpreting the object as the object. Also, Photogénie represents a film maker’s vision and expression where it cannot be found in reality. This often portrayed through different kind of camera movements. 

Film form of French Impressionism should be based on visual rhythm according to impressionists. This idea stems from the Impressionists' belief that emotions, rather than stories, should be the basis for films (Bordwell & Thompson, 2010, p. 91). The length of shots and attentive juxtaposition of the movements within the shots produces rhythm. By precisely applying visual rhythm in film, it can creates flows and enables visuals to narrate themselves so that audience can understand the emotions. There is one of the examples portrayed in the film L' Herbier's Rose-France. (Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1: Example from the film of L'Herbier's Rose-France. Frame divided into 3 images to centre the heroine as if a traditional triptych painting.

In French Impressionist film, the cinematography and editing is used to show the characters’ personal experience and optical impressions. The film interest falls on inner action instead of external physical behavior. The film normally uses the superimpositions to show a character’s thoughts or feelings (Bordwell & Thompson, 2009, p.465). This technique is used by dissolving two visuals cutting cross each other in a scene. For example, in the film La Roue (1922), there is a scene when the image of the heroine, Norma is overlapping with the image of smoke, which is a representation of fantasy of an engine driver who fell in love with Norma (Figure 1.2). Click here for the full movie 

Figure 1.2: In La Roue, the image of Norma is overlapping with the smoke, a representation of fantasy between the engine driver and her. (Bordwell & Thompson, 2009)

Another example in Menilmontant (1926), when the mother wanted to kill herself and her baby, the image is superimposed over the excitements of the city (Figure 1.3.1 & Figure 1.3.2).

Figure 1.3.1 (Menilmontant, 1926)

Figure 1.3.2: In Menilmontant (1926), the mother who was holding her baby and looking at the sea is superimposed over the busy city life, representing the deep considerations of leaving this city. 

Also, to suggest the subjectivity, filters and distorting lenses are used. A filter is placed on the lens to achieve a subjective effect, and distorting shots are established such as a shot into a curved mirror or shooting from an oblique angle to show dizziness. Distorted or filtered shots or camera movements are used to show the scene of characters who are drunk or feeling dizzy. For example, in El Dorado (1920), a man is drinking and the tipsiness is conveyed through a curved mirror.

Focusing is also one of the characteristics. There are scenes when the lens is thrown out of focus to show subjectivity. There are also scenes when the camera slowly focuses on the character’s expression by using close up shot. This is to show the character’s feeling in great detail. For example, in the film Menilmontant (1926), there is a scene when the girl character saw the man she loved had an affair, she was shocked and terrified. The scene was shot in a close up of her widely opened eyes. (Figure 1.4)

Figure 1.4: In Menilmontant (1926), the character could not believe her own eyes when she saw someone she loved betrayed her.

Mobile framing that is used in French Impressionist film shows the point of view of the characters. As French Impressionist film emphasizes the thinking or feeling of character, the frames usually changes all the time by varying the camera height, camera angle and camera distance, to show from the angle of the character. Besides that, the camera movement of French Impressionist film is smooth. To achieve a smooth camera movement, there is a series of technological innovation. They tie their camera to cars, wheels, or rollers in order to achieve a smooth camera movement. In L’Argent (1928), the camera is dropped straight to the crowd to show the traders’ excitement. (Figure 1.5.1 & Figure 1.5.2)

Figure 1.5.1 L'Argent (1928)（Bordwell & Thompson, 2008)

Figure 1.5.2: In L'Argent (1928), the camera is dropped from the top to the floor to create smooth camera movement (Bordwell & Thompson, 2008)

As French Impressionist focus on personal emotion and inner action, a lot of flashback is used to depict memories. Furthermore, they even insist to show the dreams, fantasies and mental states of characters (Bordwell & Thompson, 2008, p.451). For example, The Smiling Mme. Beudat (1923) shows how the main character imagines her fantasy life while trying to escape from the dull marriage.

In the aspect of editing, French Impressionist film uses point-of-view editing and rhythmic editing to depict the mental states. Point-of-view editing is used to show things from the angle of a single character. For example, the scene will start from a shot which the character is looking at something, then shifts to the object that the character is looking at. Rhythmic editing is usually used for violence scene, which the rhythm accelerates, and the shots get shorter and shorter (Bordwell & Thompson, 2008, p.451). In La Roue (1923), the number of frames decreases to suggest the train’s dangerous acceleration (Bordwell & Thompson, 2010, p.95). 

Conclusion

In a nut shell, French Impressionism films did not attract audiences in a mass. It emphasizes mostly on emotions, which audiences see it as boring because some may not understand clearly what the films are conveying about. 

The techniques used in French Impressionist film were starting to become common, which caused the filmmakers to become independent by starting experiment in different directions and forming own production companies.

Large firms that distribute films were less interested in supporting French Impressionist films. In the late 1920s the films were becoming less competitive as there were films from the United States and Germany. 

During 1929, sound was introduced in the film industry, which increased the cost in production.

The tradition that French Cinema produced and the technique used were then carried on by other filmmakers in the late 1920s.

Reference

1. Bordwell, D. & Thompson, K. (2008) Film Art An 
          Introduction, 8^th ed., USA:  McGraw-Hill, pp. 450-452

2. Bordwell, D. & Thompson, K. (2009) Film Art An 
          Introduction, 9^th ed., USA:  McGraw-Hill, pp. 465

3.Bordwell, D. & Thompson, K. (2010) Film Art An 
          Introduction, 10^th ed., USA:  McGraw-Hill, pp. 472-474 

4. Bordwell, D. & Thompson, K. (2010) Film History: An

          Introduction, 3^rd  ed., USA:  McGraw-Hill, pp. 86-100

5. Caiuscinus.(2014, September 3). La Roue- Abel Gance- 
          FILM COMPLET (4h21)[Video file]. Retrieved from 
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmQj9fETRN8

6. Cinecollage. (2015) Film Styles & Movements. Retrieved 
          from
          http://cinecollage.net/french-impressionism.html