Notes on Musicality

A Bout de Souffle

How has sound been thought about?

During the era of the French New Wave, filmmakers like Godard and Truffaut wanted to escape the boundaries that held down mainstream films. The point of their films was that they did not have to conform to the specific filmic laws that Hollywood had created for them. They therefore valued script and camera over everything else.

For example, during the opening sequence of the film, the main character is shown reading a newspaper. The next shot is a CU of a woman's face. This disregard for the 180 degree rule made it disorientating for the audience, and it was not apparent until a few frames later that the woman was in fact gesturing to the main character. This was the first time audience's experienced cinema that was not the norm.

The sound in the film A Bout de Souffle reflects this. During the opening section, when the main character is being introduced, soft jazz music plays. This reflects his character. At the end of this sequence, a dissolve is used to show the scene transition, with light hearted music. From here, the music changes every few minutes, changing in relation to the speed of the clips used, and the action on screen. The music is driven by the action, rather than the music being used to give a greater dramatic effect.