Above: The front cover for the first Free Cinema programme
Free Cinema was a British Film movement during the 1950's. The term Free cinema is derived from the idea that the films were made free from the pressures of box office sales and the press. Starting off as a screening of 6 films from 1956 and 1959, Free Cinema really took off and 5 other films were shown under the title Free Cinema, gaining publicity quickly.
Free Cinema rejected the rules and regulations of British Cinema and took film making to a level that no one had ever seen before. It was a new take on film making and outputted films of a much different kind to the one most of the British Audience would have expected. The group opposed the fake reality of 1950's British Cinema and particularly resented its representation of the working class. Hence many of the films under the title Free Cinema are about ordinary people at work or play.
All of the Free Cinema films were created totally outside of a studio environment which on its own was enough to make it distinguishable from ordinary British cinema. Two notable technicians worked on the films, cameraman Walter Lassally and sound technician John Fletcher. Usually unpaid, these two contributed directly to the Free Cinema movement and it was with their effort and dedication that the movement became so popular. The films were largely lacking proper funding with 6 of the films funded by the very small BFI Experimental Film Fund and 2 of them sponsored by Ford, notably "We are the Lambeth Boys".
All of the films shared similar techniques and aesthetics. For one the films were all black and white and shot on a Bolex 16mm handheld camera. This is a spring loaded camera and the mechanism it contained meant that it could only shoot 22 second shots at a time. They steered clear of any voice over commentary and they threw the narrative structure out of the window.
There were many obvious technological restrictions at the time including an inability to record sound in sync outside of the studio environment. Though "We are the Lambeth Boys" was one of the first experimental films to test this technology when it emerged in late 1959. Things like the invention of a very light sensitive film stock helped to film without artificial lighting etc.
The Free Cinema 3 programme note that was handed out to the audience at the screening states, "with a 16mm camera, and minimal resources, and no payment for your technicians, you cannot achieve very much - in commercial terms.... But you can use your eyes and your ears. You can give indications. You can make poetry." This is a beautiful quote that sums up how the movement felt about their work and really enforces their beliefs and ideas behind the movement.
The movement grew into a group of auteurs and directors that became known as "The Angry Young Men". Making gritty and realistic films about the lower classes of British society and opposing social order. However in March 1959 the founders of the movement decided to end it, effectively making way for the "British New Wave", though some kept it going for some years it eventually moved on to something new.
Free Cinema is in many ways considered as the first pieces of true social realism and in this respect has become a milestone in British Cinema. It has paved the way for the gritty and blunt British Cinema that is being produced today.
Bibliography:
1. Christophe Dupin. (). Free Cinema. Available: http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/444789/index.html. Last accessed 01 February 2010.
Free Cinema rejected the rules and regulations of British Cinema and took film making to a level that no one had ever seen before. It was a new take on film making and outputted films of a much different kind to the one most of the British Audience would have expected. The group opposed the fake reality of 1950's British Cinema and particularly resented its representation of the working class. Hence many of the films under the title Free Cinema are about ordinary people at work or play.
All of the Free Cinema films were created totally outside of a studio environment which on its own was enough to make it distinguishable from ordinary British cinema. Two notable technicians worked on the films, cameraman Walter Lassally and sound technician John Fletcher. Usually unpaid, these two contributed directly to the Free Cinema movement and it was with their effort and dedication that the movement became so popular. The films were largely lacking proper funding with 6 of the films funded by the very small BFI Experimental Film Fund and 2 of them sponsored by Ford, notably "We are the Lambeth Boys".
All of the films shared similar techniques and aesthetics. For one the films were all black and white and shot on a Bolex 16mm handheld camera. This is a spring loaded camera and the mechanism it contained meant that it could only shoot 22 second shots at a time. They steered clear of any voice over commentary and they threw the narrative structure out of the window.
There were many obvious technological restrictions at the time including an inability to record sound in sync outside of the studio environment. Though "We are the Lambeth Boys" was one of the first experimental films to test this technology when it emerged in late 1959. Things like the invention of a very light sensitive film stock helped to film without artificial lighting etc.
The Free Cinema 3 programme note that was handed out to the audience at the screening states, "with a 16mm camera, and minimal resources, and no payment for your technicians, you cannot achieve very much - in commercial terms.... But you can use your eyes and your ears. You can give indications. You can make poetry." This is a beautiful quote that sums up how the movement felt about their work and really enforces their beliefs and ideas behind the movement.
The movement grew into a group of auteurs and directors that became known as "The Angry Young Men". Making gritty and realistic films about the lower classes of British society and opposing social order. However in March 1959 the founders of the movement decided to end it, effectively making way for the "British New Wave", though some kept it going for some years it eventually moved on to something new.
Free Cinema is in many ways considered as the first pieces of true social realism and in this respect has become a milestone in British Cinema. It has paved the way for the gritty and blunt British Cinema that is being produced today.
Bibliography:
1. Christophe Dupin. (). Free Cinema. Available: http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/444789/index.html. Last accessed 01 February 2010.
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