New Waves in the Cinematic Ocean

The “American New Wave” or post classical Hollywood began in the early 1960’s when audiences to theatres was half of what it was 20 years earlier. Because of this loss, the film industry was not making money, therefore needed to revamp entirely. There were many changes in the production aspect to make films more interesting, in attempt to draw in more crowds. Hollywood began to embrace new technology, such as Cinerama and Cinescope to produce movies much larger than before. Movie producers also started selling movies to TV companies to acquire more of a profit. The popular cast that had been used earlier was proving to become too expensive, so production companies started hiring independent filmmakers and foreign actors to shoot films. In this period, “baby-boomers” had become the bulk of the movie audience, which greatly affected what kinds of movies were being produced; because of this the United States created a systematic classification for movies, with the ‘G’, ‘PG’, ‘R’, and ‘X’ ratings that we see today. Because of these changes “Hollywood moved from studio to independent production, but the story-telling form of the films remained much the same” (Oxford 450). Directors now also became recognized as an extremely important part of the film, rather than just a hand for hire, who would be considered the center of production at the time, with little studio control.

            The French New Wave was influenced greatly by Neo-Realism and classical Hollywood. Its directors, who denied the classical filmmaking fashion that had become the template for making films, defined the French New Wave. These directors were young and full of fresh ideas that reflected their youthfulness. The French New Wave films had been using unheard of techniques in the film industry, such as clearly cut scenes with no attempt at creating fluidity.

            American and French New Wave had many similarities and just as many differences. The French New Wave came ten years before the American did. However, French New Wave was greatly influenced by the American “Auteur Theory”, which in turn influenced the “American New Wave.” Young directors with fresh ideas that would greatly impact how movies would look while being filmed directed in both New Waves. However, the American would still have the Studio above the director, just with much less control over the film during production. Each New Wave was kick started by different events. The French New Wave was developed directly after World War II. Where the American was forced onto the Studios by the major downturn in movie attendance and the reoccurring flop of extremely expensive productions. Though different from each other, both New Waves would effect world cinema and lead to changes in directing aspects and ratings.