American New Wave research - extended

My chosen films are Taxi Driver (1976), The Graduate (1967) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975).

Here is some extended research into the history of America, relating to my chosen films, at the time they were produced:

• (1947 - 1991) - The Cold War.
• (1955-1975) - Vietnam War.
• (1960 May) - The Civil Rights Act of 1960.
• (1963) - Civil rights becomes a central issue and leads to President Kennedy's Civil Rights Address.
• (1963 June) - The Equal Pay Act of 1963.
• (1963 August) - Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.
• (1963 September) - The 16th Street Church bombing carried out by a KKK splinter group killed four African-American girls, in what was seen as a turning point for the Civil Rights Movement.
• (1963 November) - President John F. Kennedy's assassination.
• (1964 July) - Civil Rights Act of 1964 is signed into law. Outlawing both segregation and major forms of discrimination against black and women.
• (1965 August) - The Voting Rights Act was signed into law.
• (1965 October) - The Immigration act of 1965 was signed into law.
• (1965 November) - The Higher Education Act of 1965 was passed.
• (1966 June) - The feminist group, the National Organisation for Women (NOW) was formed.
• (1968 October) - The Gun Control Act of 1968 was signed into law.
• (1971 June) - President Nixon declares a "War on Drugs", stating that drug use in the U.S. is "public enemy number one".
• (1973 August) - Vietnam War ends with the U.S. pulling out.
• (1974 August) - President Richard Nixon resigns.
• (1976) - Unemployment rose.

Life in the 1970's.

The Cold War 1947-1991

The Cold War was a political and military strain after World War II. The tension was between power in the Western Bloc (the United States, its NATO allies and others) and powers in the Eastern Bloc (the Soviet Union and its allies in the Warsaw Pact).

The war was to dominate international affairs, many major crises occurred, including the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Hungary and the Berlin Wall. However, the growth in weapons of mass destruction  was the most worrying issue. There was a clash between different beliefs and ideology, capitalism vs communism. Each was held with almost religious conviction formed the basis of an international power struggle with both sides vying for dominance, exploiting every opportunity for expansion anywhere in the world.

So why were these two super powers so distrustful of each other?

America:

- Free elections

- Democratic

- Capitalist

- 'Survival of the fittest'

- Richest world power

- Personal freedom

- Freedom of the media

Soviet Union:

- No elections or fixed

- Autocratic/dictatorship

- Communist

- Everybody helps everybody

- Poor economic base

- Society controlled by the NKVD (secret police)

- Total censorship

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) - Film 3

New Wave techniques in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

• Opening non-diegetic sound is in keeping with the rural landscape of mountains, and key character Chief Bromdon's ethnicity and heritage (American Indian).
• Dust on the film throughout, gives the picture an authentic feel. Mistakes that were not corrected. This was a common feature of New Wave.
• Diegetic sound.
• Natural lighting.
• Eye-level camera, point of view, giving perspective.
• Slow zoom into Nurse Ratched.
• Usually long cuts giving a sense of realism.
• Randle and the Chief are looking through the fence, shown behind bars and trapped.
• Framing.
• Handheld camera.
• Shallow depth of field, attracting focus to the key characters.
• Candid non-actors in the streets, when the patients are on the bus travelling.
• Fast cuts when Randle is fighting with a member of staff. Opposite to the usual long cuts.
• The electroconvulsive therapy scene reflects that time in America, when the treatment of patients in care was unknown behind closed doors.
• Mainly close-ups and mid-shots.
• The film opened peoples eyes and changed views on the treatment of psychiatric care within the current society, with scenes demonstrating electroconvulsive therapy and lobotomy.
• Randle McMurphy challenges the status quo, 'curing' the sick by inspiring confidence which they lack. His fellow inmates may be regarded as his 'disciples'. McMurphy is betrayed by Billy, as Judas betrayed Jesus. McMurphy dies for others 'sins', or trying to help them overcome them. In death, he inspires others to believe in themselves and something greater.
• The music from the opening scene is repeated again in the final scene when the Chief escapes the ward. Repetition in scenes was common in New Wave.

The Graduate (1967) - Film 2

New Wave techniques in The Graduate

• Diegetic sound.
• Diegetic sound in the airport fused with the song "The Sound of Silence", as Ben is in his 'own world' despite being in a public place.
• Soundtrack by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, music from the era.
• The song "Mrs Robinson" is played in numerous scenes featuring Mrs Robinson.
• Long tracking shot of Ben on a travelator, giving a sense of realism as the shot is so long.
• Handheld camera shots, giving a perspective view and sense of uneasiness when Ben is feeling uncomfortable at his party.
• Long cuts, with minimal editing at the party scene.
• Eye-level camera giving perspective.
• Natural lighting.
• Fast cuts of Mrs Robinson when she is trying to seduce Ben in the bedroom, showing how uncomfortable Ben is, also common of the New Wave.
• At the following scene in Ben's garden, the camera is showing a point of view, and the sound outside is muted with just diegetic sound of him breathing. Again, he is feeling alone and isolated, apart from the people around him.
• In the pool, the sound of the next scene can be heard in the current scene, overlapping and not in sync with each other.
• Mise-en-scene establishes the era e.g. buildings, clothing and music.
• Shallow depth of field when Ben is feeling nervous, concentrating his attention to one specific subject, the hotel receptionist.
• High angle, showing his loneliness and vulnerability in the hotel lobby.
• Shadow of the cameraman can be seen in a wooden door in the hotel lobby. Mistakes like this were left unedited and common of the New Wave.
• Lens flare.
• Jump cuts of different locations/memories, non-linear.
• Ben is shown in low key lighting when telling Mrs Robinson his feelings for her, showing his guilt and shame.
• Fade out edit to the next scene.
• The shot outside the strip club is a long shot from across the street, diegetic sound and a lot of people around them, using non-actors.
• Camera transition from out of focus to in focus in the same shot.
• Close-up of Mrs Robinson zooms out to a long shot then showing Mrs Robinson and Ben.
• Ben sitting alone at the fountain, then a straight cut to a crowd of people around him, with the camera in the same position.
• Fast zoom in on Elaine by the fountain.
• Framing the subjects.
• Candidly watching Elaine and other people walking, point of view.
• Busy streets with people doing day-to-day activities, using non-actors.
• Ben shown behind bars at the Zoo, suggesting he is trapped.
• When Ben is asking Elaine to marry him, a clock tower bell is heard diegetically, sounding like wedding bells.
• An instrumental of Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs Robinson" can be heard, sounding like a more childish version of the original, as Elaine is the daughter of Mrs Robinson and younger.

Taxi Driver (1976) - Film 1

New Wave techniques in Taxi Driver

• Introduction with non-diegetic jazz music, which was popular in New York at the time, reflecting the society at the time.
• Travis has a mental handicap.
• Set after the Vietnam War, Travis is an honourably discharged (May 1973) U.S. Marine who is lonely and depressed, suffering from insomnia.
• Camera tracking shots.
• Natural lighting.
• Jump cut shows Travis walking from one side of a street to the other instantly, showing the transition in time.
• Voice-over from Travis' diary allows the audience to know exactly what is happening within the narrative.
• Point-of-view shots, showing what Travis is seeing, putting the audience in his position. "Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets".
• Handheld camera following people candidly walking down the street, non-actors.
• Diegetic sound of car horns and city noise.
• Clothing establishes the era.
• Out of focus shots in the city.
• Travis hates the city. "Clean up this city here, because this city here is like an open sewer you know. It's full of filth and scum".
• Client in the back of the taxi uses the word "nigger", reflecting the race issues of the time.
• Colour connotations e.g. red showing the danger of the city.
• The camera is seen in the window reflection.
• Travis seems fixated with guns when the salesman is showing him a selection, reflecting the mental handicap he has from the war, and the increasing violent crime and murder rate in America with guns in the mid/late 1970's.
• Repetition of part of the scene in Travis' bedroom, common of the New Wave.
• Panning camera shots.
• Iris makes a reference to women's lib (women's liberation and equal rights). The women's liberation movement was a type of feminism that began in the late 1960's and persisted throughout the 1970's.
• Shots are re-created compositionally in separate scenes.
• Long takes give a sense of realism.
• Travis is determined to assassinate Senator Palantine. He cuts his hair into a mohawk. This is a visual device that shows he is consciously removing himself from "normality". Mohawks were much less frequently seen at the time the movie was made.
• The modern mohawk haircut originated among soldiers in World War II, who would shave their heads in the style of old Native American warriors before going into battle. Travis is a Marine veteran who may have been exposed to soldiers with this type of haircut when he served in the war.

New Wave film design brief

For this task I will be planning, shooting and editing a New Wave film, based around the American New Wave. This genre of film challenged the Hollywood stereotype of film, and broke the rules of cinema. After researching the New Wave, I have gathered enough techniques and qualities of the genre that I plan to adapt and use. I want to use similar features such as long takes, jump cuts, natural lighting, diegetic sound and urban environments.
New Wave films were experimental, which I intend to simulate in my own film. I am researching Taxi Driver, The Graduate and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and plan to use techniques used in these films, but experiment with other elements to make my film different and individual.
My main aim is to create a montage sequence, looking as though it could be a sequence from part of a film. New Wave films do not tend to use actors and actresses, using people candidly and a lot of improvisation e.g. movement and dialogue. I will not be planning much of a narrative, as I want to capture footage that gives a true representation people in day-to-day life. I will be using shots from busy bustling locations, to isolated lonely places, giving binary opposition and experimental qualities.

I will be considering health and safety as I shoot, with regards to equipment, and locations. Ensuring that we are away from danger e.g. busy roads.

Here are some examples of techniques that I plan to use, in addition to others, as shown in my selected films:

Eye-level camera and framing in Taxi Driver.

Candid crowds in The Graduate.

Shallow depth of field in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

American New Wave research

The term American New Wave has been used to refer to at least three generations of American filmmakers. The first, emerging in the 1950's in New York, were concerned with realism and a truthful depiction of American society at the time. The second, often called the New Hollywood generation, rose to prominence in the late 1960's, bringing a new set of values representative of the counter-culture, and an aesthetic influenced by the French New Wave. More recently, in the late 1980's and 1990's, a new generation of filmmakers.
American New Wave is also referred to as New Hollywood or post-classical Hollywood. This refers to the time from the late 1960's (Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate) to the early 1980's (Heaven's Gate, One from the Heart) when a new generation of young filmmakers came to prominence in America, influencing the types of films produced, their production, marketing and the way major studios approached filmmaking. The director in New Hollywood films took on a key authorial role. They introduced subject matter and styles that set them apart from the studio traditions that an earlier generation had established during the 1920's-1950's. New Hollywood has also been defined as a broader filmmaking movement influenced by this period, which has been called the Hollywood renaissance.

Notable films of American New Wave:

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

The Graduate (1967)

Planet of the Apes (1969)

Easy Rider (1969)

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Paper Moon (1973)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

Taxi Driver (1976)

Jaws (1975)

Major figures of American New Wave:

Martin Scorsese

Stanley Kubrick

Peter Bogdanovich

Miloš Forman

Dennis Hopper

George Lucas

Terrence Malick

Mike Nichols

Roman Polanski

Sydney Pollack

Ridley Scott

Steven Spielberg

Notable actors of American New Wave:

Woody Allen

Robert De Niro

Danny DeVito

Faye Dunaway

Jane Fonda

Jodie Foster

Richard Gere

Goldie Hawn

Dustin Hoffman

Steve McQueen

Jack Nicholson

Al Pacino

Christopher Reeve

Susan Sarandon

Roy Scheider

Sissy Spacek

Donald Sutherland

Christopher Walken

Gene Wilder

Techniques of American New Wave:

Trippy dream sequences.

Rapid-fire editing.

Camera angle changes less than 30 degrees, having a disorientating effect on the viewer.

Sudden/jarring cuts.

Public locations.

Natural light.

Improvised plot.

Improvised dialogue.

Diegetic sound, including mistakes and intrusions.

Long tracking shots.

Handheld camera.

Here is an extract from the documentary Cutting Edge, focusing on the rules of editing in the American New Wave, featuring Bonnie and Clyde and Easy Rider.

Easy Rider brief analysis

As a group we watched and analysed the 1969 American New Wave film, Easy Rider. We watched this film as it is a classic New Wave film, in addition to it giving great examples of New Wave shooting, editing and techniques, which will become useful when we begin to shoot our own New Wave films.

• The viewer is put into the same situation as the characters --> a foreign environment (Mexico) and a language barrier.
• Long/establishing shots.
• Counterculture --> cocaine use/dealing.
• Regular people are in the area, including non-actors.
• Using famous people for cameos e.g Phil Spector.
• Diegetic sound --> aeroplanes at the airport.
• Uses music of the time/era.
• Lens flare.
• Song lyrics replicate the story, "I've smoked a lot of grass".
• Fast-cuts and close-ups.
• Peter Fonda's character goes by the name 'Captain America' --> intertextual reference. American hero?
• Not wearing their helmets when riding their motorbikes whilst "Born To Be Wild" is playing, showing a rebellion.
• There is no vacancies at any hotels --> intertextual reference to Mary and Jesus, 'no room at the inn'.
• Handheld jump-cut POV shots/edits.
• Dennis Hopper's character called Billy --> intertextual reference to Billy the Kid, a historical American outlaw.
• Reference to the West --> cowboys and indians.
• Actors actually smoked drugs for effect and some sequences were un-scripted.
• People's reflections in windows/mirrors are filmed and left unedited.
• Shallow depth of field and focus shifts.
• Visual metaphors.
• Montage sequences in between scenes.

Contextual studies essay - chosen American New Wave films

Taxi Driver (1976) - Martin Scorsese
Plot synopsis: Travis Bickle is an ex-Marine and Vietnam War veteran living in New York City. As he suffers from insomnia, he spends his time working as a taxi driver at night, watching porn movies at seedy cinemas during the day, or thinking  about how the world, New York in particular, has deteriorated into a cesspool. He's a loner who has strong opinions about what is right and wrong with mankind. For him, the one bright spot in New York humanity is Betsy, a worker on the presidential nomination campaign of Senator Charles Palantine. He becomes obsessed with her. After an incident with her, he believes he has to do whatever he needs to make the world a better place in his opinion. One of his priorities is to be the saviour for Iris, a twelve-year-old runaway and prostitute who he believes wants out of the profession.

The Graduate (1967) - Mike Nichols
Plot synopsis: Benjamin Braddock has recently graduated college, with his parents now expecting great things from him. He returns to California, but Ben isn't quite sure what to do with the rest of his life. At his homecoming party, Mrs Robinson, the wife of his father's business partner, has Ben drive her home, which leads to an affair between the two. She methodically pursues the inexperienced young man and soon they are meeting regularly in hotel rooms. The affair eventually ends, but comes back to haunt him when he finds himself falling for Elaine, Mrs Robinson's daughter.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) - Milos Formas
Plot synopsis: McMuphy has a criminal past and has once again gotten himself into trouble with the law. To escape labor duties in prison, McMurphy pleads insanity and is sent to a ward for the mentally unstable. Once here, McMurphy both endures and stands witness to the abuse and degradation to the oppressive Nurse Ratched, who gains superiority and power through the flaws of the other inmates. McMurphy and the other inmates band together to make a rebellious stance against the atrocious Nurse.

French New Wave

The influence that French New Wave has had on film is said to be a 'cultural revolution'. Prompting the birth of the auteur, a film director who influences their films so much that they rank as their author. The New Wave approach allowed for a greater sense of flexibility, erasing the boundaries between professional and amateur cinema/fiction and documentary. The low budgets allow exploration of contemporary film, with an unrestricted narrative, giving the director a wider scope to experiment and be creative. The cinematic styles of the French New Wave brought a fresh new look to cinema with improvised dialogue, rapid scene changes and shots that go beyond the common 180 degree axis. The camera was not used to mesmerise the audience with elaborate narrative and intense visuals, but to play with the expectations of cinema. Typical conventions emphasised tight control over the filmmaking process, however, the New Wave deliberately avoided this. They often filmed in public locations with improvised dialogue and plots constructed on the fly. In many ways, it seemed sloppy, but it also captured a vibrancy and spontaneity that no 'quality' film could hope to match.

Key texts:

• À Bout de Souffle (1960).
• Les Mistons (1958). 
• Et Dieu crêa la femme (1956).
• Les Quatre cent coups (1959).
• Jules et Jim (1962).
• Le Boucher (1970).
• La Peau Deuce (1964).
• Charlotte et son Jules (1960).
• Pierrot le Fou (1965).

Filming techniques:

• Natural lighting to achieve a sharp contrast between black and white, often conveying a sense of realism in spontaneous street environments.
• Alternative framing for fast and sensitive shots.
• Self reference, using certain cinematic techniques and director styles.
• Collaboration with cinematographers.
• Reportage (the hidden camera).
• Making deliberate mistakes.
• Liberation of the camera from the tripod, using handheld angles. New Wave filmmakers were helped in shooting by new generations of camera.
• Scenes were often shot in public locations so they could move the camera around very easily, creating long tracking shots and flowing camera movement around a given space. They could also shoot in tight quarters, creating an intimacy that bulkier and more expensive cameras couldn't rival. Many New Wave films use long and extended shots, which hand-held cameras facilitated.

Editing techniques:

• Flash pans.
• Discontinuity of shot.
• Jump cuts are sudden, jarring editing cuts which take place out of sequence or during an unexpected moment. They often involve camera angle changes of less than 30 degrees, which can have a disorienting effect on the viewer. Traditional filmmaking rejected such cuts because they threw the viewer out of the onscreen drama. To New Wave filmmakers, that was precisely the point.
• Modern montage.
• Rapid re-framing, jumping from one shot to another.
• Long takes, using static/mobile or lateral tracking.
• A disregard to continuity editing.
• Breaking the rules...and creating new ones.
• Syncopated editing.

Sound techniques:

• Interior monologues and random comments.
• Modern soundtracks.
• Transcribing, using direct sound and post synchronization (early New Wave films were post synchronized).
• Sacrificing the sound for authenticity.
• French New Wave filmmakers often discarded the use of remixing their sound. Instead, they used a naturalistic soundtrack recorded during the shoot and shown unaltered, despite often featuring mistakes and intrusions. This lent the films a sense of freshness and energy that earlier movies lacked.