Compose two styles
Rather than blending two styles into a middle, this assigns them roles: one carries the structure, the other appears as an accent. Where the two fight, it says so before you start.
How to divide the work
- Composition
- Follow French New Wave: Hold long takes without reverses, walk the actors through the street
- Type
- Set in French New Wave's manner (Mix handwriting with off-the-shelf type, drop titles casually at the edge), and let Italian Neorealism's lettering (Keep titles plain and let the filmed thing speak instead) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in French New Wave's material (Fast stock in available light, jump cuts that show the seam); bring in exactly one thing from Italian Neorealism (Shoot in available light, hold shadow detail in a grainy scale).
- Colour
- Build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 and admit one accent from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615.
Where they fight
- Both belong to Cinematic Visual Styles, so the difference is small. Push the roles further apart than feels comfortable.
Caution
- French New Wave Scattering jump cuts and handheld moves as style leaves only the pleasure of breaking rules, and the film stops being about anything.
- Italian Neorealism Filming poverty as raw material for a look reduces the people to texture, which inverts the whole premise of standing on the side of reality.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from French New Wave (Style, 1958–1968) and its accent from Italian Neorealism (Style, 1943–1952). Structural cues: Handheld camera; Jump cuts; Street locations; Cinema about cinema. Accent cues, used sparingly: Location shooting; Non-professional actors; Available light; Postwar streets. Composition: Hold long takes without reverses, walk the actors through the street. Type and lettering: Mix handwriting with off-the-shelf type, drop titles casually at the edge. Let one material quality come from the second style: Shoot in available light, hold shadow detail in a grainy scale. Mood: Rebellion, Play, Intimacy, Calm. Color: build on #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615 with a single accent drawn from #e9e6dd, #67635d, #171615. Constraints: do not imitate, reference or name any specific artist, studio, brand, character or copyrighted work. Produce an original composition in the general period languages described above.
Related entries
- French New Wave 1958–1968 / Style / Cinematic Visual Styles
Critics picked up cameras and went out into the street, using handheld shots, jump cuts and self-reference to turn the grammar of film into a playground.
- Italian Neorealism 1943–1952 / Style / Cinematic Visual Styles
Cinema that left the studio to film non-professional actors in the street, taking postwar poverty and daily life as its subject and standing on the side of reality.
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