first british animated film
Bob Godfrey
Do It For Yourself Cartoon Kit 1961
cutout animation featuring eccentric surrealist humour, a style adopted by Terry Gilliam in Monty Python's Flying Circus in the 70s.George Pal Hungary/USA
Tom Thumb 1958, won Oscar for best special effects 1959
Norman McLaren Neighbours stop motion animation Canada 1952
Karel Zeman Czech Republic
The Fabulous World of Jules Verne 1958
Samac (Alone) 1958 Croatia
initiated wave of existential films questioning the human condition
Dusan Vukotic and Zagreb Film
Surogat 1961
first animated short film to win an Oscar that was not made in USATaiji Yabushita Japan
made legend of the White Snake 1958
considered to be roots of anime and manga in Japan
Astro Boy
Wan Laiming
Havoc in Heaven, released 1961, followed by part 2 in 1964
story based on Buddhist story of the Monty King
Fyodor Khitruk
Story of One Crime 1962
caused concern among communist party officials who saw it as attack on the government housing policies
began late 1950s
principle directors began as film critics
films showed vibrant realism of Paris streets
themes- authorities to be distrusted and political and romantic commitment is suspect.
And God Created Woman (1956) by Roger Vadim considered to be first New Wave feature Film
Style
shot on location using portable equipment, unknown actors, and small crews
shot silent and post-dubbed
plots build around chance events and open-ended narratives
extended shots and handheld footage
scenes unrehearsed
natural lighting
scenes jump to and from different points in time
use of freeze frame
Francois Truffaut
Jules Et Jim
Jean-Luc Godard
film critic before making films
more abrasive style
juxtaposed staged with documentary material, often with little connection to the narrative
Breathlesss (1959) breaks traditional Hollywood storytelling conventions (jumpcuts, handheld, disjointed narrative improvised score, dialogue spoken directly to camera)
Not much happens in this film after the protagonist, a total shit, kills somebody on the highway. He manages to get his girlfriend, a Mia Farrow clone, into bed, she goes and buys a dress, they smoke a lot of cigarettes and talk philosophy. It's very French. At the time, it would have been startling and innovative. Now it seems ripe for parody. Every newspaper the guy picks up has his face on it. She sells newspapers but doesn't see him on the front until 45 minutes into the film. And it explains a lot of the bad 60s American movies I've seen: they weren't making it up out of thin air. Bad american films LOVE jump cuts, shaky cameras (it's ARTY!!!), and lovers on the run.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/7838372/Jean-Luc-Godards-Breathless-so-chic-it-takes-your-breath-away.html
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-breathless-1960 According to Roger Ebert, the jump cuts weren't deliberate: the film was 30 minutes too long and the director just started hacking at the film cutting out anything he thought was boring. This quick cutting style is much loved by action directors and certainly it does break up what would have been a tedious scene by giving it a sense of urgency.
The most obviously influenced film was Bonnie and Clyde which transplants the whole thing into 1930s America.
