The French New Wave- "400 Blows"

Francois Truffaut, a French New Wave filmmaker, directed "The 400 Blows," his first feature. "The 400 Blows" is the story of a french boy that faces challenges in school, with his family, and with himself. The story reveals to its audience the importance of a caring family that loves and supports you. The protagonist, Antoine, shows how with a lack of familial bonding, a young boy can quickly become a grown man.

French New Wave films are known for long tracking shots, quick clips, jump cuts, environmental changes, and the breaking of the 180 degree rule. Francois Truffaut uses many very long tracking shots throughout "The 400 Blows." For example, this type of shot is used when Antoine and his friend run along the streets of Paris or when Antoine spends the night on the streets. These shots contrast the quick cuts at the end of scenes. Often, after quite a long shot, Truffaut will cut from one location to another very promptly, helping move the story along. The best example of this in "The 400 Blows" is in the last scene when Antoine finally gets to see the ocean. The camera follows his journey from the military academy all the way to the ocean: freedom.  

 

This is my favorite shot of the entire film. It is long, but purposeful.

How "Inglorious Basterds" Influenced Me

Of any Tarantino film ever made, "Inglorious Basterds" influenced me the most. This film's extensively-developed plot, detailed costuming, realistic gore makeup, and simple, wide shots have forced me to rethink my personal filmmaking style.

The reason I believe that this is Tarantino's masterpiece is because of the way he makes the story and the violence so real to the audience. In "Inglorious Basterds" he unveiled a theme very sensitive to us in a such an avant-garde and potentially destructive fashion, that you can't help but respect this film. Tarantino successfully created a new kind of gruesome war-cinema that is expressed in not only "Inglorious Basterds" but also in nearly every film he ever made. He has created modern, stylistic violence.

When anyone indulges in a Tarantino film, there are certain expectations that need to be met. Everything onscreen will be purposeful, visually interesting, and there is often a repeated, mastered shot. In this specific film, the shot that Tarantino has mastered and repeated is a Point of View shot that looks up from the ground. This is used anytime Pitt's character is engraving the Nazi symbol on someone's forehead as well as during fast-moving fight scenes. I strive to be able to effectively include this type of shot in one of my upcoming films.