Style in Amelie

One of Amelie's most obvious characteristics from the outset is its style. The film makes use of heavy colour grading giving every scene and location in the film a warm romantic film. This contributes to making the film both enjoyable and beautiful but also to selling Paris as a tourist location to the viewers of the film. Throughout the film there are no negative views presented about Paris, showing the film is "tourist cinema".

The style has been heavily criticised for portraying nothing about the true situation of France however it can be argued that the film makes use of this warm, colourful style to present the state of the mind of Amelie. As we follow her for the duration of the film it shows the viewer her childish state of mind and the stark contrast between that and what the true situation of Paris actually is.

Auteur Theory

http://jasminea2film.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/french-auteur-theory.html

Style and Magical Realism in Pans Labyrinth

http://lukenuttera2filmstudies.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/style-magical-realism-in-pans-labyrinth.html

Pans Labyrinth Overview

Pan's Labyrinth from lukenutter

Pans Labrinth Therapy

New Spanish Cinema

• New Spanish CInema
• Art House Cinema                                                                                  Viewed as though it felt it was above popular cinema, was more of an art-form like “painting”
• Auteur Cinema, muh the same as french new wave cinema in the ways that the directors gave their own personal stamp and ownership to the films
• International or foreign inclinations
• Conflictive relationship with the Spanish government, the films were very anti-facist
• Hauntology, contained many popular ideas and motifs that 'haunted' spanish culture, myths, events from the past
• The cinema made use of non conventional non-diegetic sound, Shock cuts and violent scenes, realist strategies
• The films aimed to be politically engaging and deeply troubling for the audience viewing the film

French New Wave Research

French New Wave
- An artistic movement
- Birth of the 'auteur theory'
- It was seen as a cultural revolution
- Many of its characteristics were present in Andre Bazin's journal of filmmaking 'Cahiers du Cinema'
- Was the first main step towards when artistic expression and personal authorship were born in film
- The filmakers aimed to be unique and distinctive rather than aiming for mainstream success
- French new wave cinema rarely followed a pre-determined shooting script
- The directors opted for direct sound and natural lighting rather than foley and false lighting
- Famous actors had no power over the directors
- Low budget films were created
- Erased the boundaries between professional and amateur cinema
- Was seen from a foreign perspective as a very young singularly French idea

- Le Boucher, is a key example of a French New Wave text

- Cinematography Techniques
  Alternative framing, natural lighting, mistakes often left in
- Editing Techniques 
  Flash pans, long takes, discontinuity of shots, rapid reframing
- Sound Techniques
  Direct sound, modern soundtracks, random comments