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• Nandivelugu Lalithya Karthikeya

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AWARENESS Genre is very important to our enjoyment of a film – this is the way we tend to choose what films we go and see because if we recognise the genre, we have certain expectations of what the story will entail and what sort of characters we are likely to encounter. Film distributors are very aware that audiences will be more inclined to go and see a film if they can recognise the genre in advance and the way they market the release plays heavily upon audience recognition. Of course, if one film is perceived as being too much like another then it may not draw an audience because they feel they have ‘seen it all before’, so it is important for distributors to highlight the individual features of the film whilst still placing it comfortably within the characteristics of the genre. Look at the publicity material for Amélie on imdb.com. This could be the poster or even the DVD cover. What expectations does it set up in terms of genre? Consider the following: ■ How does the title give us clues as to what the story will be about?
 ■ How does the tag line – ‘She’ll change your life?’ add more information?
 ■ The main image – what is the expression on Amélie’s face and where is she looking? ■ What are the main colours used? ■ What fonts are used?
 THE OPENING OF THE FILM The first four minutes of a film are absolutely vital. Filmmakers know that if they have not captured the attention of the audience within this time frame then the likelihood is that they will not enjoy the film. For this reason many films delay the opening credits by anything up to twenty 1

minutes, until the story, main characters and location have been well established. Others may choose to present the opening credits in such a way as to entertain, shock or amuse. Either way, the opening sequence is often one of the most visually stunning of the whole film. Recognition of genre plays an important role in engaging the audience with the action and so the filmmaker will use these first few minutes to tell the audience what type of film they are watching, by giving them visual and audio clues. We, as an audience, enjoy piecing together the information we are given - this is an important part of how we interact with what is taking place on screen and is what encourages us to watch further. We enjoy the experience of identifying familiar elements and this builds our expectations of what will follow. For instance, as we are introduced to characters we enjoy recognising whether they are heroes or villains and anticipating what part they will play. Likewise, as a certain situation is set up within the narrative we feel comfortable that we can predict what will happen as events unfold. Even location can feed our expectations of what we are about to experience. As you have seen from the promotional material, Amélie is not a film that is easy to categorise. Watch the opening credits up until the story starts, paying attention to both sound and vision. How did it hold your attention? What clues are we given as to what the film will be about? Can you now say what genre it is?
 ■ Now watch the first five minutes of the film. Are you able to establish who the main characters are? If so, how? Can you predict what part they will play in the action? Do you identify with any of them? ■ What part does the voice-over commentary play in helping us to establish the genre? What type of films do we associate with voice-overs? Does Amélie follow the pattern of our expectations with regard to this?
 ■ Now watch the rest of the film. Are you able to classify Amélie in terms of genre? If you’re finding it difficult, a good way to do this is for 2

everyone in the group to write down three words to describe the film. Share your ideas and see what emerges as the most popular. Can you now make a decision? ■ What other films does Amélie remind you of? In what ways?
 ■ Having seen the film would you now choose to market it in a different way? Produce new publicity materials including a short synopsis of the film. REALITY vs. FANTASY Amélie has been described as a modern-day fairy tale. Certainly one of the qualities that give the film its charm is the way in which it interweaves elements of fantasy with reality. We, as the audience, never really know what will happen next and indeed whether what we see is really happening or not. So how is this element of unreality conveyed through each of the elements in the film? LOCATION Amélie is a story set in present-day Paris – or is it? The locations that we see are real areas of the city but manage to convey a sense of timelessness, of nostalgia, even, rather than the daily routine of busy modern life. It’s as though the action is taking place in a secret corner of the city unaffected by the concerns of the wider world. The sets do in fact contain many of the props of modern life such as TV sets and video cameras but still manage to be constructed in such a way as to suggest that the action is taking place in no specific timeframe. Consider the following: ■ Amélie’s family home
 ■ the fairground
 ■ Mr Dufayel’s flat
 ■ the grocer’s shop and the street it is in 3

■ Can you say what it is about each location that gives it a timeless feeling? Be as detailed as you can in your answer. CHARACTER Many of the characters in the film have a quirky quality to them which means they could easily be part of a fairy tale. The way they look, how they behave and their various idiosyncrasies set them slightly away from the modern world even though they live and work firmly within it. Amélie herself is a prime example of this. Although she is supposed to be twenty-eight in the film she has a child-like quality about the way she looks and behaves. Her dress is chic but she wears shoes and socks like a child. Her hair is fashionably cut but her fringe is short as if cut by her mother. Her face is full of expression - we see her ponder people’s speech and actions like a child would and she says very little but observes a great deal. Amélie behaves throughout the film like the traditional good fairy or elf, meddling in people’s lives to create happiness or on occasion, mischief. Her neighbour, Mr Dufayel is the one who sees that she hides from the world like a shy child and encourages her to come forward and take part in life; indeed when we see her consummate her relationship with Nino at the end of the film this is truly her becoming a part of the real world. Think about these other characters in the film. Which of these belong most definitely in the modern day and which have more of a storybook feel to them? For each character, try to say exactly what it is about the way they look and behave that makes them ‘modern’ or not.
 ■ Nino ■ girl in porn shop ■ Amélie’s mother 4

■ Gina
 ■ Mr Dufayel
 ■ the grocer’s assistant ■ Georgette ACTION
 We, as the audience, are captivated by the story of Amélie as it’s very difficult to predict what will happen next. We’re also never sure whether what we see will be part of the real world or fantastical in nature – the first time an element of the unreal is introduced we are delighted and surprised and from then on we watch intently in case we miss another ‘magical moment’. The film uses many of the regular conventions that we are familiar with which are not part of the real world, such as moving back and forth in time and being privy to the thoughts of a character. It also plays with the audience, tricking them on occasion into thinking something has a mystical quality to it when actually there is a very simple explanation, as in the case of the mystery ripped-up photos which turn out to be the samples of the photo booth repairman. With a partner, consider the following list of events from the film. Try to say whether each belongs in the world of fantasy or reality and place it in the correct column. For each answer, be prepared to explain why you have placed it in this category.
 ■ glasses on a tablecloth magically dance in the wind
 ■ the garden gnome travels the world and sends back photos of himself ■ Amélie counts the orgasms of everyone in Paris ■ the cat likes to listen to children’s stories ■ Amélie’s father thinks she has a heart defect
 ■ the key to the grocer’s flat glows in Amélie’s pocket 5

■ Georgette and Joseph fall in love
 ■ Mr Dufayel has bones which are so brittle they might break like glass ■ the grocer’s assistant takes over the shop ■ Amélie lays a trail of arrows for Nino to follow
 Try to find another three examples for each category
 ■ What other narrative tricks are played on the audience? ■ What other conventions of film that do not happen in the real world do we see in the film Amélie? SOUND Amélie is not a film that makes great use of background music. Much of the action is set against a backdrop of silence, which accentuates the sounds accompanying the action we see, such as glasses clinking, doors opening and so forth. In real life the sounds of everyday action are masked and muffled by the background noise so the clarity with which we hear these is quite startling at times, conveying the feeling that this is not reality. In addition, there are some sounds that are distorted, such as the trains echoing through an empty subway station, thus giving the scene an unearthly quality. ■ How does the theme music for the film add to the overall fairy tale quality?
 ■ Choose one scene where the sounds are exceptionally clear. What exactly can you hear? It may help to watch this scene with your eyes closed so you are not distracted by the visuals.
 ■ In what other scenes is the sound distorted and how does this enhance the action? 6

NARRATIVE At the very beginning of the film we hear the voice of the narrator, rather like someone reading a story from a children’s book.
 ■ What is the tone of the narrator? What does this add to the tale?
 ■ What information does he give us that we would not otherwise know? ■ How else could this information be conveyed?
 ■ Why do you think the role of the narrator is less obvious in the middle of the film? VIEWPOINT
 We see the action in Amélie from various viewpoints, but most frequently we are placed in the role of observer. The camera stands at a distance and we are invited to watch events take place as if watching them on stage. We are used to this convention in film but we are also used to being invited to get close into the action when it is appropriate, for instance if there is an important conversation. There are some occasions in Amélie where we expect to be closer in to the action than we are, for example in the closed cafe, when Amélie suggests to Georgette that Joseph likes her, we are positioned in a corner behind the stacked chairs, as if suggesting that we are eavesdropping on the conversation. This adds to the air of secrecy and mystery in the film. An extension of this is when we see the action through a window, or an actual physical barrier, such as the conversation between Amélie and Nino in the cafe where they talk through the glass screen. And removing the audience even further, binoculars and video cameras are used by the characters in the film in some scenes, lending an air of voyeurism to their, and consequently our, role.
 ■ Which scenes do we see through windows, binoculars or video cameras 7

and what effect does this have?
 ■ Where in the film is TV footage used and why? Amélie and Mr Dufayel have various conversations about the characters in the Renoir he has copied for twenty years. Try to recall one or more of these. How do they play with our perception of reality in the film? And finally...
 ■ Amélie contains some scenes with sexual content. Why are they there? What do they add to the film in terms of narrative, humour and pathos?

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AMELIE is a master piece I greatly enjoyed the French film Amelie (2001) the first time I saw it about eight years ago. I could relate on an emotional level to many of the themes of the story. This was obviously a work of art, created by someone who has a passion for the craft of film making. The story is emotional, lovely, whimsical and a delight, but also it was the look of the film that drew me in. No wonder it was nominated for 5 Academy Awards, including best cinematography. It was also nominated for a BAFTA award (Great Britain) and a Cesar (France) in the same category. The special features had a vignette that discussed the look of Amelie. The quote from the director, Jean Pierre Jeunet, spoke volumes about his work as an artist. He said "Nothing is difficult for me when making a film. I love so much to make. That's my reason to live." If only everyone felt that way about their career. It was pointed out that the look of the film had a lot to do with the saturation of colors. When watching the film I noticed that the color green was used extensively. As a complement, red was used as well, sometimes with a single blue object in the frame, like a blue lamp in a couple of cases. The director was influenced by a Brazilian painter named Fabio Marcelo who did the same thing. That painter uses vibrant colors much like one of my favorites, Romero Britto, who I have written about in an earlier blog post. In the vignette it was discussed how certain shots utilized a moving camera, but other shots used a fixed camera since the movement would disrupt from the emotional connection. The film Amelie was story boarded extensively, so the cast and crew knew exactly what to do when the arrived on set. I will give a synopsis of the film, detailing some of the key scenes and commenting on the emotional underpinnings of the work.

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Amelie is a French girl, shy, timid and sheltered. She grew up with a father who is a doctor. She had very little affection as a child so the only time he touched her was when he gave her a physical exam. Her heart would race when he examined her, so he figured she had a heart condition. Due to this she was home schooled, which led to a childhood of isolation where her only friend was a fish. The little girl found ways to amuse herself and retreated into a world of imagination. She enjoyed the simple things in life, such as skipping stones on a pond. Her parents were the same way and her dad liked to empty out his tool box and rearrange everything. Her mom liked to dump out her purse and rearrange the contents. Young Amelie gets a camera and starts taking pictures of the world around her. She is sensitive and solemn. Fast forward to the present, and Amelie works as a waitress at the Two Windmills Cafe. The film looks at her unusual co-workers, one of which is a hypochondriac. She goes to a movie every week and takes pleasure in watching the faces behind her of the movie patrons enjoying the show. She is single and lonely. A key character is a man in her building who has a disease where his bones are very brittle, so he must stay inside all day, otherwise he may break a bone. He is like a man made of glass, too fragile to take any chances. He paints a Renoir painting over and over, once per year, trying to get every detail just right. Amelie is living a life not much different than his, with her fragile heart made of glass, too delicate to risk emotional rejection from a male companion. Amelie has a life changing experience when she finds a box hidden behind a loose tile in her bathroom. Inside are relics from a childhood: a toy car, a toy bike, a photograph, etc. She will find the owner of the box and return it to him. She finds out his name and leaves the box in a phone booth where the owner will find it. When he finds it, he is 10

emotional and excited since the box takes him back to his childhood. Amelie feels wonderful since she has helped someone to find happiness. She feels a sense of harmony and elation. She feels like an outcast so much of the time but this makes her feel like she has done something special for someone else. One of the main themes of the film is that she works hard at helping others but in turn, neglects her own needs. Her father has a garden gnome which he paints and takes care of. Amelie is jealous of the attention that the statue receives and she steals it. Later, the father gets pictures in the mail of the gnome at world landmarks as he travels the globe. I had to wonder if this film is what made the travel company, Travelocity, use the roaming gnome as their mascot. Amelie does not like to see anyone mistreated. She notices that the neighborhood grocer is mean to his employee, belittling him in front of customers. Amelie gets her revenge by going into the grocer's apartment when he is not home and playing practical jokes on him. She swaps his slippers with a pair that are a size smaller, she sets his alarm clock for 4 a.m., she puts sugar in his wine, and other tricks that make him feel like he is losing his mind. She finds a photo album full of pictures taken in a photo booth at the train station. She seeks out the owner of the album and returns it to him. But, she did not turn it over to him personally, she sends him on a wild goose chase, following different clues until he finally gets it back. There is a scene where Amelie (Audrey Tautou) has large dark sunglasses and a scarf on her head where she looks similar to Audrey Hepburn in the film Breakfast at Tiffany's. Whether this was an homage to that film or not, I don't know.

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Amelie wants to meet this man and develops an interest in him but even when she comes up with an elaborate scheme for them to meet, she chickens out and lets her fear get in the way of love. Toward the end of the film, the glass man sends her a video tape telling her to go for what she wants in life. She is not glass like him, and she needs to take chances. He tells her to go to the man she loves. Her crush had come to her door once but she did not open it. After she watched the video by the glass man she went to her door to go after him and he was there. They embrace, and the film ends with them riding though Paris on a scooter together, the look of joy on each of their faces. This film is a delight. It is a feast for the eyes and the performance by Audrey Tautou was spot on. Amelie has a sense of mischief, whimsy and wonder. It is a celebration of life and love. Melancholy at times, yes, but the main theme is that life is too short, go after what you want. We are not made of glass. Even a broken heart will mend over time. A little analysis... i enjoy figuring out how things work and analysing is like taking apart a clock to see what makes it tick. only by identifying each component and understanding the part it plays in making the wheels turn, are we able to see what is necessary, what is redundant and what is simply brillant. i yearn to be overwhelmed by wit and beauty and grace, and the thrill at discovering something ingenious, seeing how others are able to make constraints work for, instead of against them, that never grows old...
 this assignment was done with a classmate, michael chung, for a film studies class. for such a short paper and presentation, we figured that it was more effective to focus on one main point and have everything lead

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into it, after some discussion, we settled on the following argument...and if you see shades of joseph campbell, you’re not wrong...

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Le Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (The fabulous destiny of Amelie Poulain) Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet Released on 2001 Largely within the comedic genre History:
 Set in the picturesque town of Montmartre, home to many impoverished artists such as Renoir, Monet, Van Gogh and Picasso, this light-hearted fare was a notable departure for acclaimed French director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Famed for the dark and twisted elements in his previous feature films “Delicatessen” and “The City of Lost Children”, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s break with long-time collaborator Marc Caro, led to the production of this vivacious, whimsical tale. Montmartre Movie credentials:
 Though canned by Cannes Film Festival, “Le Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain” attained both commercial and critical success and went on to win many awards, including best film at the European Film Awards, four César Awards and two BAFTA Awards. It also garnered multiple nominations for the 2001 Academy Awards. Synopsis:
 Played to perfection by French ingenue Audrey Tautou, this is a story about a young woman, so introverted that she exists in her own selfcontained realm, separate from the outside world that she experiences in vivid colours and textures. 14

Audrey Tautou as Amelie Poulain This is a reflection of her childhood where she was largely confined to her house and the world beyond was out of her reach and appeared to be filled with wondrous things. She takes pleasure in the little things in life because of her fascination with the outside world. Amelie sinking hand in grain and skipping stones. Her lack of contact with the outside world has led to her feeling out of touch with reality and she ends up observing the world and people around her instead of interacting with them.
 Camera work:
 Often times, the director would bring the viewer into Amelie’s inner world by showing her point of view through the lens of the camera. This technique perfectly captured her sense of detachment from the world around her.

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Looking at cinema-goers instead of the movie and noticing details that others do not pay attention to. Jean-Pierre Jeunet also employed the frequent use of close-ups to stress certain attributes. Right from the start of the film, close-ups were used to highlight the tight lips of Amelie’s aseptic father, as well as the nervous twitch of her neurotic mother. Having brought our attention to her parents’ extreme natures, we are able to better understand how Amelie ended up home-schooled, making imaginary friends and becoming fascinated with the outside world. Tight lips and nervous twitch. In addition, note how the film was shot as a picture. See the way the scenes were framed, each looked pretty as a postcard and reflected her status of an observer. Unique camera angles also reflected her quirky personality. Scenes framed as pictures. Visual effects:
 The director used, to great advantage, visual effects to emphasise a point. In the scene where Nino (her love interest) left her cafe and seemingly out of her life, it was not enough for Amelie to appear devastated. Amelie was shown to literally dissolve into a pool of discarded water. Amelie melting in disappointment. 16

To actually visually realise the metaphor of Amelie dissolving into a pool of water was a brilliant touch in providing us an insight into the eccentric yet intense nature of her emotions. Another great use of visual effects to actualise a metaphor was in the scene where Amelie solved the riddle of the mystery man. We were shown the torn fragments of his photograph fitted together in order to form a picture of his complete face. A metaphor for Amelie putting the pieces of a puzzle together.

Solving the mystery of the man in the photos.

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Theme of Reflection:
 Besides using visual effects to illustrate a metaphor, the director also employed the people, places and props around her to embody a recurring theme of reflection. In the cafe where she worked, we saw how Amelie was able to write on the glass in reverse so easily, reflecting her inverse outlook on life. Amelie deftly engaging in mirror writing. The introduction of Glassman served as a perfect reflection of Amelie’s insecurities and inadequacies. A man with brittle bones who entombed himself in his apartment, Glassman forced Amelie to confront the truth about herself. Being cooped up at home for much of her childhood, she was as socially awkward as he was. They both derived pleasure from observing the world around them from the safety of their own protected sanctums, Amelie from her inner world and Glassman from his apartment. Even their voyeuristic tendencies were portrayed similarly by their mutual use of spyglasses. Amelie and Glassman spying on each other. Another prominent feature of the movie is the use of black and white videos to represent Amelie’s thoughts. These images are visualisations of how she views herself, reflections of her inner world. While the outside world is colourful and vibrant, her inner world is in black and white, which reflects the past and how her childhood still has a strong hold on her. While she is different from the people around her, she sees herself as special, rather than an outcast. The Glassman forces her to acknowledge that she has not done anything really special and she decides to find some meaning in her life. She turns to vigilante activities. She begins seeing herself as an ally of justice. 18

Black and white videos of Amelie’s thoughts Being a Hero:
 She started by carrying out commendable actions – helping a man recover his childhood treasures and memories, helping a blind man across the street – but her good deeds soon devolved into pranks, whereby she employed deception as a tool. She succumbed to the fallacy that the ends justify the means. She suffered from the hubris of thinking that she could fix the cracks in other people’s lives. Some of her pranks were kind, such as Amelie forging a love letter to a heartbroken lady, and some not so kind, such as Amelie sabotaging the mean grocer’s apartment.

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Forging letter and spiking brandy. Some of her pranks were pure mischief (sending her father’s garden gnome round the world) and some were downright meddlesome (trying to matchmake two lonely people). These pranks show that Amelie had no real moral compass because she had no qualms about misleading or deceiving others. This reflected her childlike nature, whereby she did not understand the consequences of her actions. Kidnapping a gnome and playing matchmaker. However, pranks also led her to finding her soulmate. Nino was a guy as quirky as she was, someone who saw the world differently as well. He loved puzzles, fitting the pieces together. So in order to attract his attention, Amelie made herself into a puzzle for Nino to solve. Amelie meets Nino and baits him. Journey to Adulthood:
 However, like a child afraid of being rejected, she thought that she could spare herself pain by refusing to commit, by not putting herself or her feelings on the line. But she would soon realise that the regret of letting slip a golden opportunity was no less difficult to endure than the pain of rejection. She learnt that the one’s whose life she needed to fix was her own. The heart she needed to heal was her own. Understanding that happiness is something one should grasp with one’s own hands, she finally opened her heart and leapt into the great unknown.
 As the great playwright J. M. Barrie noted, “children are gay, innocent and heartless”. Opening her heart to pain and sorrow, but also to love, Amelie’s attainment of a life with her beloved Nino is concrete proof that 20

Amelie had reached emotional maturity.
 Importance of Mentors:
 The unique relation between people who were once strangers is amply illustrated here. As with Amelie’s chance encounter with Nino, both united in their wacky pursuits, both going through unnecessary lengths to resolve vigilante causes (Amelie) or puzzles (Nino). Or with Amelie’s growing affection for a formerly remote neighbour (Glassman), where they ended up developing a pseudo father-daughter relationship. As the Glassman nudged Amelie to take stock of her emotions and feelings for Nino, in our own life journeys, we cannot help but wish that – in our weakest moments or facing major milestones when we are uncertain or too cowardly to commit – someone would give us a gentle nudge or hard push forward to help us along. Conclusion:
 The journey of childlike pranks and ideology ended with the first blush of emotional and hormonal maturity. Towards the end of the film, we see a sentence from a little-read book scrawled on a public wall. The author of those words, a regular patron of Amelie’s cafe, was shaken out his jaded despondency at the sight of a quote by an anonymous fan. The spring in his step as he walked away was unmistakable. 


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AMELIE an analysis

Amélie is one of my favorite films. I remember when I saw it for the first time. I watched it on a laptop while sitting in an armchair at my parents house. I had borrowed the DVD from the apprentice of a local potter who’s name escapes me now. “Watch this movie” he said. “Its really good.” It blew me away. It did things I had never seen done in a movie before. Granted, I wasn’t really into film at the time, but I still had watched plenty of movies. One of the biggest elements of the film that struck me was the visual style. I’m sure I had watched movies with distinctive visual style before. Movies by Tim Burton, Tony Scott, Wes Anderson, Michel Gondry
 and Terry Gilliam come immediately to mind. But Amélie was the first that made me sit up and take notice. Since then, I’ve watched all JeanPierre Jeunets other films and I think I can safely say that the visual style is consistant regardless of what cinematographer, production designer or art director Jeunet uses.

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A few observations about Amélie.
 Amélie was shot by Bruno Delbonnel on Kodak Vision 250D 5246 and Vision 320T 5277.
 Amélie has a very specific color palette. It is a very warm film infused with reds and greens. The color blue is only prominent in only a few shots; so few in fact you can probably count them on one hand. Although much of the color of the film was a result of the DI process (graded by Didier le Foues using Discreet Lustre and supervised by Yvan Lucas) some of the daytime images were shot with a 81EF filter to add some warmth and color. Amélie is also a very well lit film. There are virtually no scenes with complete darkness.
 Jeunet loves wide angle lenses and putting his characters very close to the camera. Amélie was shot almost entirely using 14, 18, 21, 25 and 27mm lenses. This creates very distorted facial features which works well with his use of actors with unusual features. Jeunet actually used different lenses for different actors doing tests ahead of time to see which lenses worked best for a particular actors facial features. For Tautou they found that the 25 or 27mm lens was just right. Anything longer or shorter didn’t look good. The camera
 in Amélie is seldom at eye level. It is usually a bit above or below eye level. Combined with the wide angle lenses, a slight tilt up or down can lead to a very dramatic look.
 The use of wide lenses also accomplishes two other things in the film. It creates a very deep depth of field where everything is in focus. I don’t blame him. If I had sets as beautiful and well designed as he does, I’d want them to be in focus all the time too. Basically having everything in focus allows you to have a better composed shot from a graphic point of view. The other thing this accomplishes, is that when the camera is moved the movement is that much more dramatic because the wide lens heightens the three dimensional quality of the camera moves. And 23

Jeunet moves the camera a lot. Even just for simple push ins. Next time you watch Amélie try to count how many straight push ins there are on characters. Lots and lots. Notice also that when Jeunet dollies the camera he doesn’t pan it at the same time. Dolly shots for Jeunet are almost always very strictly locked off. Jeunet has said in interviews that this is why he does not like to use a steadicam too much because it makes it too difficult for him to maintain the kind of strict consistency that he is looking for.
 Check out a few images from Amélie. Also notice how they look if you remove some of the warmth doing
 a kind of white balance. The first pictures are the original images from the movie. The second ones are corrected to be more realistically color balanced.
 It struck me as I looked at some of the uncorrected images how much they looked like they had been shot with the old technicolor two-strip process since the reds and greens where to prominent and the blues were all but nonexistent. I wondered if I took a film that had not been corrected made it look like it had been given the technicolor two-strip process and then added a warm orange filter if I would be able to approximate the colors of Amélie. So I took some frames from “The Untouchables” (just a random movie I happened to have on hand) added a two-strip filter and then ramped up the warmth. First picture is the original. Second picture is the technicolor two strip process. Third image is the two stip photo that has been warmed up. This is how it look
 So thats the process. Here are some more before and afters. The first being the original. The second being the Amélie-ized. Obviously this process isn’t perfect but if you were looking to grade your movie to look more like Amélie, this gives you a good place to start. Also “The Untouchables” is pretty desaturated to to begin with so maybe I 24

should have picked a different film to test my process out on, but if you were to apply this process to your own footage I think you would get very satisfactory results. If you try it out please post some images or a link I’d love to see how this works for you. Have fun. ight from the start Le Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain, or Amélieas it's now called in the U.S., was a runaway hit in France—the film has managed to sell seven and a half million tickets, which translates into roughly $40 million at the box office, a sum rarely achieved by French films at home. Our film industry is breathing a collective sigh of relief: we’ve got a hit! The miracle began with the first press screenings: everyone loved it, and even the most hardened critics applauded enthusiastically as they wept for joy. When Amélie was released in late April of this year, even serious newspapers likeLibération and Le Monde discreetly took part in the general euphoria. All of which led to one big question, which quickly flared into a controversy: why wasn’t Amélie representing France at the Cannes Film Festival? Extremely embarrassed by the scale of the phenomenon, the Festival directors let it be known through a press leak that the selection committee had seen only a workprint without music, and thus were unable to appreciate the film’s true worth. Then, to make matters worse, the film’s lead actor, Mathieu Kassovitz, who was on the Cannes jury, announced with his customary tact that if it had been up to him, not only would the film have been in competition at Cannes, it would also have taken home the Palme d’Or! In May, as the paradise for artists and intellectuals that is Cannes unfolded in its auteurist ghetto and as France belatedly discovered the subtleties of reality TV with the broadcast of Loft Story (France’s equivalent to Big Brother), the country only had eyes for Amélie. . . . 25

Back from Cannes, exhausted but pleased with the high standard of the festival’s lineup, I convinced myInrockuptiblescolleague Serge Kaganski to go with me to seeAmélie, at a regular theater with a regular audience. We had missed the press screenings and hadn’t said a word about it in the magazine, as much due to crass professional incompetence as total indifference to the film’s box-office success. After seeing films by Rivette, Lynch, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Claire Denis, Nobuhiro Suwa, Jean-Marie Straub and Claude Lanzmann, the sweet Amélie seemed rather insipid, a little boring, and, above all, too French to be true. When three inner-city youths appeared in the train station scene, I made the mistake of whispering to Kaganski: “Here come the film’s representatives of Otherness!” Whether or not my sarcastic comment influenced him, Kaganski left the film enraged, declaring his disgust with this demagogic retro postcard version of France, undeniably cleansed of all cultural diversity and, by extension, all immigrants. Determined to publicly take on Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Amélie’s creator, he vented his outrage in an op-ed published in Libérationentitled “Amélie pas jolie” (“Amélie is not pretty”). He fiercely enumerated the film’s glaring weaknesses: its formal bankruptcy, its culturally unifying tone, and its glorification of what Serge Daney called “the rancid,” a distillation of moldy, stereotypical “Frenchness,” seemingly representing the country’s true cultural values and morals, but in fact far removed from the reality of present-day Paris. Kaganski emphasized that this all-white vision of the popular Abbesses neighborhood, with its countless caricatures of the “little people of France,” was hardly credible in a film that was supposedly set in 1997 (as opposed to 1951 or even before the war), and plainly revealed the suspect basis of Jeunet’s spectacle. Riding the momentum of his polemic, Kaganski stuck his neck out by asserting that Amélie would make a fine promotional film for France’s xenophobic extreme 26

Right. He made it clear that he was not ascribing any racist intentions to Jeunet, but maintained that that was the end result just the same. All of which set the cat among the pigeons. Kaganski found himself at the center of an increasingly vicious controversy, stoked by a press eager to get more mileage out of the year’s great French success story. Upon returning from vacation in mid-August, Jeunet responded to the article with typical subtlety by declaring that Kaganski was “wallowing in bitterness like a pig in its own shit” and that his “taste was complete crap.” What would he have said if Amélie hadn’t done as well as it did? Or if the press hadn’t been so kind when it opened? Apparently success doesn’t improve everyone. With the controversy finally blown over, and the film continuing to hum along, I went back to see Amélie for a second time. Again, I saw a very labored compilation of effects, at first a bit distracting and increasingly hard to endure. It is a by-the-numbers movie containing no real surprises or suspense. From the start, with its omniscient voiceover that looms over the narrative as well as the audience, the film never strays from its predetermined course. The story gives new meaning to the word “thin”: little Amélie, unloved as a child, gradually opens herself to the world around her, spreads goodness wherever she goes, and finally finds Love (in the form of Kassovitz) after a long series of mishaps and coincidences. With its proliferation of clichés and false surprises, Jeunet’s film has less to do with telling a story than with slipping the spectator into its pocket with one simple technique: the complicity of the permanent wink. Amélie is one of those films that never stops reassuring the audience that it’s on their side, taking them firmly by the hand and leading them. . . well, nowhere really. In this sense it’s a very old-fashioned film. To maintain the audience’s submission, Jeunet resorts to two distinct 27

methods: facile tricks and stereotypes, the first thriving by artificially animating the second. The audience has grown accustomed to these tricks after years of being beaten over the head with them in commercials. Characters are heavily typed until they’re transformed into familiar figures (the obnoxious merchant, his gentle, put-upon clerk, the reclusive old painter, the love-struck cashier, the big- hearted concierge . . .), and then we’re given a series of minute variations on said types. Once the audience is in familiar territory, it’s seduced by the use and abuse of in-your-face devices—like Amélie’s heart beating under her sweater or any number of crazy, ostentatious camera stunts. The frenetic piling up of, and constant emphasis on, these familiar devices, which initially make the film seem so lively, become tiresome. Jeunet creates nothing fresh, but he pulls out all the stops to conceal his lack of inspiration with a profusion of frenzied activity. What’s even more seductive is that he’s working with a very restricted iconography: the film is filled with hackneyed images of eternal “Frenchness,” from the Tour de France cyclist to playground marbles to Montmartre as the quintessence of touristic Paris; from Pierre-Auguste Renoir, the painter of French bliss par excellence, to Truffaut (in a Jules and Jimreference), the legendary custodian of French charm. This aspect of the film is as dull as it is reductive—and it’s stuck somewhere in a Fifties time warp. In a sense, Amélie depends on the maniacal cataloguing of signifiers of a caricature France: Jeunet nails every last one. But he cleverly opts for a tone that is modest rather than grandiose, and situates his film in the realm of the trivial. As the voiceover says of its heroine, the film “cultivates a particular taste for the small pleasures”—pleasures that, in the end, engage with nothing. And if the Kaganskian thesis of the film’s objective collusion with Jean-Marie LePen’s anti-immigrant platform seems a bit excessive, it must be said that the so-called poetry that 28

trickles through Amélie depends on a profoundly reactionary impulse— the reinstatement of a cliché snapshot image of France in order to reaffirm its enduring value. Amélie is a film that folds back on itself, a chilling return to an obsolete iconography and a frighteningly closed vision of the world. Any attempt to explain the film’s success has to deal with its underlying idea: reconciliation. The reconciliation of France with itself, with its past and its past values, and with the idea that the neighborhood is the sole desirable horizon (and between you and me, the only place where we’ll be safe and sound). Finally, when all is said and done, we can all hold up our heads with pride.

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Amelie Textual Analysis In this first scene of "Amelie" the camera position, angle, time of day, and coloring really caught my eye. In this scene, the x axis shot with the car driving by reveals a neighborhood that is calm because there seems to not be a lot of action going on in the foreground or background. The yellow tint could be both color corrected or from the sunset. The yellow tint in the shot shows me a mellow mood. It's not too bright and not too dark but to the point where it's relaxing and satisfying. I believe that these stylistic devices function in the movie as a way of revealing the type of atmosphere that the characters are going to be dealing with throughout the film. I feel that the director's intent and effect on the whole movie using color correction and different camera angles was to make the movie more interesting and let you be more involved with the characters life instead of just sitting and starring at the screen. I feel that this director wanted to pull each and everyone of his viewers into the characters shoes by giving us specific details of what the characters like and dislike. In this scene, I feel that the lighting and density of the scene is strong. The lighting once again has a yellow/ orange tint to it. The color correction that is added makes for a more adulthood type scene. It just makes the scene more proper and old styled. The density of the scene is shown through the foreground and the table setting. I feel that the table with the wine glasses sets for a romantic setting. Knowing that this is a foreign film from Paris is already a plus because we know that they are very romantic. I believe that this stylistic device functions in the movie as once again setting the mood and telling us where we are by locations. I feel that the director's intent and effect on the whole movie is to set the scene and mood was a way of introducing us where we are and certain 30

locations that we may run into again. Also, each location in the beginning is shown for a purpose so behind ever location there is a meaning to it and possibly showing themes or the movie by the locations that he picks to show in the beginning. In this scene the camera angle is unique and how they set up this shot. During this shot we( the camera) are looking up at the characters and object. This shot is used to allow us to see both the characters emotions while also seeing the actors functions. Throughout the film there is a various amounts of stylistic and unique camera angles that allow us to see more then normal. I believe that this stylistic device functions in the movie as a way to show us the unknown world that we sometimes can't see from certain perspectives. Even though in this scene there isn't much commotion going on, we still can reveal the different emotions from the mom and daughter at the same time without any disturbing cuts. I also feel that the directors intent and effect on the whole movie by using different camera angles is to show more to the story then simple LS, CU, ELS, and WS that we normally see in movies. Also this technique gives us a sense of foreground and background. In this scene, the realistic dream in the little girl is shown to us. We see things that only she can see and no one else. She is bringing us into her imaginary world that she uses to comfort herself since her dad won't even touch her. In this shot I like the camera angle because it shows us what she is looking at, not from her point of view but from our own eyes with her in the shot. It's our own perspective. I believe that this stylistic device functions in the movie as a way to keep us involved with the character and how she feels. Obviously she is happy because she is seeing a bunny in the clouds. Staying in touch with the characters feelings helps us understand the movie a lot more. I feel that the 31

directors intent and effect on the whole movie by using imagination to keep a smile on your face is used to show that life can be hard and sometimes you need to take yourself into your own reality where you feel most comfortable. Shot Analysis (Amelie) ● 1. Nycole Cheatham (910995555) FR 103 Shot Analysis: Amelie The French film Amelie has a particular whimsical feeling that is expressed heavily through the mis en scene in many scenes and also through the cinematography techniques used throughout the film. The main focus of the film is the book that Amelie’s love interest has misplaced. Through different cinematography and mis en scene techniques the viewer gets an understanding of the situation as if they were a part of the movie. Many feelings or ideas are easily visible because of the evident mis en scene and cinematography elements used in the film. The shot in particular where Amelie is standing in her apartment and a mirror acts as the viewing point and portrays a sense of reflection of Amelie, also through qualities of mis en scene, there is an assumed sadness coming from Amelie. This shot appears in Amelie’s apartment which throughout the film is a central point of reflection. There were many other points throughout the film where she would sit in her apartment and reflect. A mirror is a reflecting device by nature and the way Amelie is viewed in this shot is through the mirror. Because of the way this is shot, the mirror becomes a metaphor for reflection. The expression on Amelie’s face also shows sadness or deep thought. This feeling could also be assumed because of the color of the room. The somber, darker colors could represent some sort of sadness or reflection that Amelie might be feeling. It seems because of the room itself, Amelie has taken on the emotion of the room. The colors of green, red, and brown appear to suck the life out 32

of the shot. The dark lighting also plays a role to the feeling in the shot. There seems to only be one source of lighting in the frame which is the dim sunlight coming from the lone window in the apartment. This shot also utilizes components of deep space ● 2. to show that all of the elements that are within the frame are important and contribute to the emotion in the room. From the two portraits on the wall which also show somber settings and have the same colors to the darker elements in the back behind Amelie which also follow suit with the same darkness which is felt in this shot. This shot has a huge element of darkness or sadness which is portrayed by the mis en scene components of setting, lighting, color, and deep space used in this scene. Amelie’s apartment is a central point of reflection throughout the film. The dark lighting and colors contribute to the feeling of sadness or darkness which Amelie may be feeling herself. The deep space just shows that all of the elements in the room relate to the feeling because they are all in focus or visible. Also through the cinematographic elements of framing and camera angle it also shows a great sense of reflection. The mirror is the focal point for this part in the film and that is how Amelie is viewed in the shot. The mirror also becomes the frame that she is placed in but the way that the camera is placed, the viewer also sees the entire space of the apartment. 2 scenes of Amélie Source and view the film Amélie, originally titled as Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain, directed by Jean- Pierre Jeunet, with cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel.


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Analyse and discuss two scenes where camera movement is used to: ● develop the narrative ● portray emotion
 There’s an enjoyable Amélie trailer on YouTube to watch. This romantic comedy stars Audrey Tautou as the title character Amélie Poulain, and Mathieu Kassovitz as the admired Nino Quincampoix. Union Générale Cinématographique (UGC) has produced over 150 films in France including Amélie which was inspired by The Idiot, a novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky. The film has quite high-production values (with a glossy and expensive look) and was nominated for 5 academy awards. In addition to the familiar pan and tilt movements, Bruno Delbonnel makes creative use of a broad range of camera movements throughout Amélie including follows and leads, tracking and pedding. A narrative scene Amélie happened to pick up Nino’s photo album. The shy waitress determines to do the good deed of returning it but would also like to risk the chance of meeting a potential boyfriend. Leaving a note on the back of one of his portrait prints, a rendevouz is arranged at the Monmartre carousel. Dressed incognito, she calls Nino via a public phone at the base of the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, “Follow the arrows, Mr Quincampoix.”The camera follows Nino in the ensuing scene as he travels along both the physical directions of various arrows and pointers, as well as his curiosity to discover the identity of his mysterious and quirky admirer. Starting with blue chalked arrows on the pavement, the camera initially pans with Nino along the arc ramps. It subsequently climbs the stairs maintaining a downward tilt to reveal the pigeons eating his latest arrow of birdseed. 34

With Nino out of breath, the camera makes a dizzying pan around a living statue followed by an upward tilt to highlight the statue’s index finger indicating that Nino must go higher still, all the way to the coin operated binoculars. Upon looking through the binoculars, he sees Amélie replacing his precious photo album into his scooter saddlebag. Despite running all the way back down, she hides but leaves another mysterious clue to her identity on page 51 of the album. Throughout the scene, the tracking movement of the camera emphasises the characters effort to satisfy his curiosity, particularly after the previous scene where Nino wakes at night with the 4-shot portrait photos talking to him about who she is.

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Cinematography in Amelie Camera Movement and Time
 The majority of shots in Amelie contain some kind of camera movement, whether it be panning or tracking, and gives the film a very fluid feel. This fluidity ties in closely with the theme of fate, and the underlying premise that time is of the essence. The use of camera movement is exceptionally useful in portraying time, whether it be time passing by quickly or slowly. For example, a still, tripod shot of an unmoving door feels very “slow” in regards to minute-time, and therefore causes the viewer to feel anxious to see the door open. On the other hand, a tracking shot of a person walking creates a sense of time passing by quickly as the mis en scene is constantly changing with the exception of the character being in the frame. Amelie (movie) uses this to its advantage by having camera movement in many shots, especially corresponding, adjacent shots. While this is present throughout the entire movie, it varies in degree. The movie starts off with ample camera movement and lessens towards the end when Amelie finally realizes that she ought to tend to her own life rather than help others. The significance of this is that in scenes where Amelie helps others, the movement is fluid and continuous which in turn suggests that time is running out. However, when Amelie finally pursues her own desires, camera movement decreases in both rapidity and magnitude, indicating that time is no longer running out for Amelie finally has what she needed all along. Color and Emotion
 Amelie is a very warm and vibrant film, in regards to color. In one respect, this could be related again to time, in that the increased saturation is prominent of fast-paced plot as desaturated shots tend to correlate with slow, dragging shots. However, I think color is far more representative of 36

the emotion in Amelie. On a grand scale, the warmth of the film reflects the whimsical, likable character and actions of Amelie. However I think the color palette is much deeper than that. Amelie puts a lot of emphasis on the colors red and green. Red and green, naturally, are opposing colors, and therefore are used in correspondence with each other to show the ups and downs of Amelie’s life. This however is merely my theory and even then, I would have to qualify that as I’m sure this is not true of every instance of red/green throughout the film. This theory aside, Red plays a much greater role than green, for it is more prominent and in more of the film. In fact, in almost every single shot there is red. Because red is largely attributed to love, the deliberate abundance of red in Amelie, I believe, is to convey the theme of love that turns out to be what Amelie needed all along. Framing and Expression
 Amelie is shot mainly in medium shots and close ups. This is because, as Amelie (character) is the focus of the film, it is imperative that her emotions be known to the audience. Therefore, close ups are used in shots which require the audience to know what Amelie is feeling in order for the plot to resonate with the audience. For example, in the beginning of the film when one of the crashed drivers blames Amelie wrongly, the camera pushes in to a close up of Amelie’s face, showing her annoyed and troubled expression. The next scene then shows Amelie getting revenge by sabotaging the man’s cable during a soccer game. In showing Amelie’s expression in a close up, the viewer is much more anticipant of the corresponding shot. Another similar example is when the grocer insults Lucien; the close up of Amelie’s face indicates feelings of contempt and foreshadows Amelie’s sabotaging of the grocers apartment. 
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Amelie Poulain Different films require different critical approaches. Choose a film or tv program and discuss the most rewarding critical theories and methods for a thorough understanding of it’s importance. In the film Sense Sergei Eisenstein speaks of how each shot within a sequence is like a line within a poem. In this particular situation the poet would be Jaques Prevert, writer of the script for “Les Enfants du Paradis” and “Quai Des Brumes”. These films were part of the French Poetic movement which was important from the mid 1930’s onwards when the larger studios such as Pathe and Gaumont lost their place in the market giving a greater freedom to the smaller independent producers. Producers and directors were free to make their films and had access to the big studios and their facilities. As part of this they were also able to use the cinema circuits for the projection of their pieces so that a new wider market was easier to access . Marcel Carne who worked with Jaques Prevert on films such as Les Enfants du Paradis and Quai des Brumes inspired Jean Pierre Jeunet for his own film. Whereas their was a movement of socio-realism this movement was based upon work within studios which attempted to recreate Paris. The characters within these pieces were normally male and facing problems. A lot of poetic symbolism was used, for example with setting, gesture. Verbal and non verbal actions as well as movements and lighting. This ties in with Le Fabuleux Destin D’Amelie because he is using elements within that style to demonstrate Amelie within a modern Paris. The setting being Montmartre and Audrey Tautou working within a studio for certain scenes whilst going out to the “Des Deux Moulins” for the scenes within the café. Amelie’s character itself goes away from the French poetic movement in 38

that she is female and works to bring happiness to herself through good actions to others. To some extent the film would also be part of the art cinema. This is particularly visible through it’s being far more character based. We are exposed to every character and certain scenes are designed away from the American studio’s way of creating characters. No character within the film is superficial. The way the film is constructed and sequences are done becomes more artistic but I will discuss this further when looking at the technology which was used for the post production of this film. The new wave cinema which is aimed and created by younger people may also become important in analyising this film because of the subject matter which we see exposed through the use of characters and where they are age wise within the film. Through the 3rd person omniscient narration we are taken into a world we have never experienced, structured as Milan Kundera novels and Jaques Prevert poems. Jaques Prevert wrote poetry, which spoke of simple things making transforming them into something else; he played with absurdity and with existentialism. Throughout the film we come to the problems of existence. As a person we must be happy with what we are doing and ourselves, make others appreciate what we do and have a lot of self respect and self confidence before even moving into a relationship. This is very different from American films and their philosophy because whereas in America it is viewed that you must win someone else other rather than yourself. Amelie Poulain does actions which make her happy with whom she is and through doing things for others, not being egocentric she becomes a much stronger character within the plot. There 39

is a message of self-acceptance rather than expecting others to accept you. Manon Des Sources and so many other films within Europe are as much about community as anything else, community is important within Roberto Begnini’s “La Vita e Bella”, “Chocolate” develops a sense of community and it’s importance to a greater degree. If we were to take Bridget Jones’s character with that of Amelie Poulain most people would prefer Amelie because of her kind-hearted nature. Through her we find out about the importance of our own place within society before that of within a single other person’s life. Elements within the film could illustrate poems such as “Le Cancre” where a student goes up to the board but rather than do the work he is meant to erases all that is bad and replaces that with sur le tableau noir du malheur il dessine le visage du bonheur Amelie is “Le Cancre” and becomes le Cancre whilst listening to news of Princess Diana’s death on France 2 whilst in the bathroom. At the same moment the ball, which serves as a top for a bottle falls to the ground and rolls towards a tile dislodging it and uncovering a secret box affecting the rest of the film. Within the film and the poem these occurrences help to demonstrate how personal happiness is attained through forgetting about things that make us unhappy, of wiping the slate clean in effect and starting anew. Her good actions are quite timid at the beginning and through times they become more important. Through the generosity of her actions she gains self-confidence and begins to think more about herself. This moves away from what we see in American films where the characters think only of themselves. Amelie’s character is far more complex because of the way she evolves throughout the film. It is

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through her actions to bring pleasure to others that she thinks more about herlself for the conclusion of the film. Amelie’s behaviour could be taken to be generous and charitable through actions she carries out. When she finds the box and returns it to his owner her charitable action moves her into wanting to do more charitable actions, thinking more about others than herself opening a way for critics to comment about it’s socialist nature at moments, working for the greater good of a community. At other moments such as in the street when she helps the blind man by accompanying him along and recounts what is around him this act of charity could be seized upon as an act of kindness and charity, something which Christianity would look kindly onto. Whilst we have scene the strength of Amelie Poulain we may notice how it seems fascist because of the lack of any other ethnicity within the film, never do we see anyone other than white people in the film’s Paris. There is no mention of homo-sexuality therefore some critics may feel that it is a sign of fascist tendencies. From my personal point of view I believe that adding certain groups of people would not contribute to the film, after all it is the story of Amelie, not of the city. If Amelie does not experience these films then it is irrelevant to our understanding of the film. In terms of audience and their look on le Fabuleux Destin D’Amelie Poulain because it is based in France it shows a different culture, different locations and more. The location is one which so many Europeans know because they have travelled there. The world and culture within the film are typically French, rather for example than seeing everyone sitting at a pub drinking we have them in a café. Rather than people going to the super bowl we have them going to cathedrals etc. It allows the French to 41

be voyeuristic about a world that they know and have experienced. The language itself is quite important for the audience, being given the precise time of day, the likes and dislikes of the characters etc. all help to give it cultural identity, the humor within the language is French. The inter-textuality is quite important with this film, mentioning Diana’s death through France 2, showing Etoile Etoile, which is a program by Fred Mitterand, all help to make the audience feel it is something they know and live with each day. Jamel whom was on television plays a minor role without the director knowing how important he would become through other television programs. Through having a smaller industry the structure is far better because Jean Pierre Jeunet did not need to speak to studio executives all the time to defend every small idea so it was far more creative from his point of view. Added to this is the fact that the technology allows for making the director’s role and that of the crew more varied. Technology was important whilst editing Le Fabuleux Destin D’Amelie Poulain because it required no negative cutting; instead everything was digitized and edited on a non-linear system. Through editing through this method he was able to play around far more with the structure of the film because of the amount of time saved during postproduction. Due to where he was editing he was able to participate far more in directing the special effects, for example with compositing certain shots like the speaking paintings, split screen photographs and the replacement of boring skies with more interesting skies. Through the advances in postproduction technology and it’s spreading the director’s role in France is not simply confined to directing the actors but to every single stage of production. The director in effect understands the whole process and through understanding the 42

whole process can give far better directions to the crew whom is working for him. The way in which the audience and the industry have embraced Le Fabuleux Destin D’Amelie is quite important. With it being the most successful foreign film in America Canada and England it demonstrates it’s international values for the audience. The audience for this film is an international one. Apart from the audience appreciating the industry recognizes the film, winning the Goya for best foreign film, best foreign film for the Broadcast Film Critics association, prix du public at the Chicago film Festival, and many other awards show how important and influential this film has been. The music is iconic of the film as well, whenever the music is heard people instantly think of the film, giving the music’s creator fame. In conlusion through studying the origins of the unique style of the film we begin to understand a lot more about the film, for example through knowing that he was inspired by Jaques Prevert makes a large difference as it helps to do more research on Jean Pierre Jeunet and the film genres he was inspired by. At the same time through studying the audience we have another incite to the film as a whole both from their reaction to it as well as from the type of film you would expect. It separates itself greatly from the American film industry for example. Finally understanding the language is a great help to understand what culture inspired Jean Pierre Jeunet to create this type of character.

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Learning from the Masters – Amélie

Amélie, my favourite film, period. Story, language, beauty, detail, simple, mystery, humor, elegance, bright, musical, color, all of these describe this film. Perfect for the first entry in a series titled “Learning from the Masters”. This series recognizes beautiful films, films that simply feel gorgeous.
 Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain was directed by the French Director Jean-Pierre Jeanet and written by Guillaume Laurant and Jean-Pierre Jeanet. Director of Photography Bruno Delbonnel and Composer Yann Tiersen worked with Jean-Pierre to bring Amélie to life. Jean-Pierre is a pre-production fanatic and perfectionist and it definitely shows. As mentioned earlier Amélie is a harmonious blend of story, lighting and music that leaves the viewer with a comfortable dose of pleasure filled emotion by films end. With a color palette borrowing inspiration from a variety of artists notably Brazilian painter Juarez Machado, Amélie is filled with reds, yellows, and greens with an occasional spot of blue.

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These scenes needed something to contrast the strong red push so blue lamps were added in post. Director of Photography Bruno Delbonnel says Jean-Pierre really liked the way it looked but could not do it for every scene as it would become too obvious. Jean-Pierre wanted a bright, saturated look with a happy feel which is a contrast to some of his earlier films. Jean-Pierre is a big fan of wide angle lenses. He also has motivated camera movement to carry the viewer through the story. Jean-Pierre loves actors with odd facial features. Combined with a wide angle lens and dolly push it really gives the viewer a slightly distorted sense of reality. A very magical thing happened with Amélie, something that as has happened with other groundbreaking films like Jurassic Park and the original Tron. Technology was at the right place at the right time. In 2000 the Coen Brothers released O’ Brother Where Art Thou, credited as the first film to have the color timing process done 100% digitally vs during film processing (referred to as a Digital Intermediate or DI for short). Jean-Pierre was definitely excited to use digital color grading in order to achieve the precise color and look he desired for this film. In behind the scenes interviews from the Amélie DVD, Jean-Pierre noted that he was very disappointed with some of the past films he’d directed because of lab color timing results, particularly Delicatessen. He made the argument that your vision is at the mercy of the film lab and that it can be extremely frustrating and disappointing.
 While still a brand new process (DI) , I personally feel Amélie turned out beautiful. Nothing felt forced to me even though the colors where obviously oversaturated and pushed to red and green. For me, it was a 45

perfect marriage of style and story causing the two elements to blend together so perfectly, neither one stole from the other.
 Here are few more stills from the filmThe cafe where Amélie works.This is a real cafe just a few blocks from Jean-Pierre’s residence. He mentions in his interview that the owner was ready to call it quits on the cafe and it actually took about a year to convince them to let him film there. Since the success of the movie, the cafe’s business is thriving, they are alive and well and the cafe has become a must see for tourists. Amélie’s flat, one of the best lit scenes along with the Glass Man’s house. These two locations were shot in studio not on location. This particular morning yielded rain which Jean-Pierre did not care for. He added fog to cover the rain even though he says fog would never actually be present there. As a person who maps out his films with extremely detailed shot lists, test shots, and storyboards, Jean-Pierre told viewers in his interview that he never wants to shoot outside again, he said it was very frustrating. Director of Photography Bruno Delbonnel vividly recalls the same about Jean-Pierre’s thoughts on shooting outside. Here is a scene at the produce venders flat. Classic soft lighting on Audrey with pools of light delicately placed in the background. I love this shot (also at the produce venders flat) I would love to know if they carried the practical with another light. Based on Audrey’s eyes I’m thinking not.

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This is a scene in the cafe with Amélie and Nico. I really like the way it’s shot. There is a continuity error in this scene, guess you’ll have to watch it to try and find it. This is one of the most challenging camera moves in the film, very graceful and very cinematic. Apparently Audrey Tautou, as beautiful as she is, can’t skip stones very well. On a challenging shot like this sometimes it’s easier to add the element in post and that’s exactly what they did. This shot from the beginning of the film has two wine glasses dancing on a table cloth. Apparently Jean- Pierre saw this actually happen and decided to incorporate it in the film. Turned out to be extremely difficult to reproduce. I closing, I really hope if you haven’t seen this film, you take some time to do so. If you are interested in Pre- Production watch the behind the scenes. The DVD/Blu-Ray is full of behind the scenes elements and is such a treat to watch. The film is a great learning tool for people interested in production and it breaks away from some of the more popular choices filmmakers make. In particular for Amélie, camera lens selection was all wide angle during what is currently a long running trend of shooting everything on a longer lens. I find films tend to resonate so much better to audiences when the technical decisions are made based on story not popularity. Au revoir! EDA AYDIN

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Amélie Color Analysis The film Amélie, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet is the story of a French girl. Being raised by a cold father and a mother who is at constant stress, she has been suppressed by her parents all her life. Short after the beginning of the film, her mother faces death, leaving Amélie to spend the rest of her childhood living with her father. She grows up with lack of love and comfort. She dreams of the days in which she will get to move out of her father’s home, and have one of herself. Amélie is portrayed as a unique, odd, yet innocent girl, who faces her own isolation through the good deed she offers to the world. As Amélie notices that she takes a great joy in changing the lives of people around her for the better, she spends most of her time doing so. Along her journey, she is exposed to love, which she has never before experienced. It looks as though the whole movie is portrayed through a singular filter. The color scheme used in the movie helps us understand the emotions that are felt by the main character Amélie Poulain. The most dominant colors used throughout the film are yellow, red and green. At the beginning of the movie, we are introduced to the setting, the location for the very first time when the streets of Paris are presented through a luminous yellow tone, which plays the role of sunlight in a very unnatural manner. This baffling tone of yellow is not limited to the opening scene. As a matter of fact, it becomes a commonly used color. The bright warm color yellow is used to represent liveliness, happiness, joy, and excitement... Throughout Amélie, this element does not cease to exist. This is because the whole storyline is based on the thrilling expedition Amélie is having, as she searches for finding who she is. It is full of curiosity, and 48

revelations. The color yellow is mainly used in representing the city through a surreal lens,

which Amélie withholds. As scenes are examined, it can be noticed that it is as if yellow has taken over the usage of white. There are barely any scenes where white would normally take charge, such as walls, a fridge or even a bathroom; but rather very different shades of yellow are being used instead. One of the first times in which the audience is exposed to red is when young Amélie is eating raspberries; the fruit itself is known to be vigorously passionate, it could have been any other fruit, but instead the importance of the color red is revealed through great attention to great detail. Throughout Amélie, life has not shown its affection to her, therefore she is in constant search for love, which she does find towards the end of the movie. The color red is used continuously; this can represent love and passion. Amelie’s whole apartment has one major use of color, and again it is red, it is as though the film lies out and presents Amelie’s feelings not only through dialect and actions but also through the use of colors. The most personal aspect, which is extremely distinctive to one’s self is home.The color of her home, the very place in which she resides at all times, repeatedly revolves around red. This seems to be a representation of Amélie’s soul and personality, a vibrant character, whose purity is expressed through three very dynamic colors, which don’t fail to grasp the attention of the audience during the continuance of the film. 49

Amongst yellow and red, green plays a key role as well. The audience is introduced to these three colors in various ways, through the use of objects, clothing, and buildings. In the exposition of the color green, it is initially seen in a glass filled with green liquid, shortly accompanied by the clothing that little Amélie wears, even to the extent in which green can be seen in the smallest objects used as a part of the background.Green is accepted and understood as a color of peace, nature, relaxation, and calmness. This attribute can be witnessed in Amélie’s identity as she remains calm, and relaxed throughout this journey she pursues. Another outstanding detail in the film is that, Amélie constantly either wears something containing the color green or red. In addition to this, it is not only the character of Amélie but including every other female character. They all have an object or have a part of their clothes in the color green or red. Everyone around Amélie seems to project her features. The aspect of love, passion contrasted with the purity, peace, and calmness within her. Amélie is able to create a surreal, unique yet identifiable feel and aspect to the film through its expressive usage of these constant colors. Not only does it become a motif in the film but also these colors play a major role in forming and advancing the character of Amélie Poulain. The usage of these three colors can be more vividly seen as the movie develops while linking back to the very beginning of the film, as the character of young Amélie is represented to the audience. It seems as though Amélie has created a whole world of her own, with the major roles of these three colors that are a reflection of Amélie’s developing identity.

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