By Paul Grivas
In collaboration with Desistfilm

I always find it strange when Jean-Luc Godard is accused of making “films without a script”.

Quite the contrary, his scripts are extremely precise, as shown in this short film.

The images, very similar as the ones used in a storyboard, come from different scripts JLG made, like an artisan, during the preparation of the shooting of Film Socialisme.

For these collages JLG uses every type of fixed photos: locations, actors, costume rehearsals, newspapers, advertising, books, etc., giving details for accessories we’ll need later (books, clothes, etc.) and also giving us an idea of the framing and focus of each shot.

JLG uses very rustic material to make these: scissors, markers, pencils, photocopies…
Many shots of Film Socialisme ended up very similar to these pre-production collages. – P.G.

(Please watch in full screen – HD)