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French movie title question
Good day,
Really happy to find this resource. I am an independent filmmaker in Canada, a bilingual country. I am trying to learn French and become better at catering to the many Francophone individuals here in Canada.
I am currently creating a small film completely done in French and I have some questions about the title of the film. I keep getting conflicting opinions from people I ask.
To give some background: it is a short 16mm black and white film that pays homage to the works of Jean-Luc Godard and the French New Wave style of cinema. A female protagonist goes on a bicycle ride across town and along the way has an important, yet subtle shift in attitude [basically from being upset to enlightened]. We're working with a fabulous translator for the narration and there is no dialogue. It's a fun, light-spirited film.
The titles options are:
Véronique en vélo
Véronique à vélo
I would love some opinions on these options. Thank you.
Keep in mind this is a film title. We went through many different renditions, including the use of "bicyclette", but found that the above options were easy, short, and used alliteration. I do like bicyclette, because it sounds classy, and Anglophones would understand the title a bit more, but ah well...
Thank you!
Really happy to find this resource. I am an independent filmmaker in Canada, a bilingual country. I am trying to learn French and become better at catering to the many Francophone individuals here in Canada.
I am currently creating a small film completely done in French and I have some questions about the title of the film. I keep getting conflicting opinions from people I ask.
To give some background: it is a short 16mm black and white film that pays homage to the works of Jean-Luc Godard and the French New Wave style of cinema. A female protagonist goes on a bicycle ride across town and along the way has an important, yet subtle shift in attitude [basically from being upset to enlightened]. We're working with a fabulous translator for the narration and there is no dialogue. It's a fun, light-spirited film.
The titles options are:
Véronique en vélo
Véronique à vélo
I would love some opinions on these options. Thank you.
Keep in mind this is a film title. We went through many different renditions, including the use of "bicyclette", but found that the above options were easy, short, and used alliteration. I do like bicyclette, because it sounds classy, and Anglophones would understand the title a bit more, but ah well...
Thank you!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Benoît on -
I'm not 100% sure for Canadian French people (There are slight differences between French French and Canadian French in every day usage), but French French can use both "en vélo" or "à vélo" even if we use more easily "à vélo".
By the way personnaly I like "à bicyclette" (wich is the tittle of a well none french song).
For your tittle:
à vélo Véro !
En selle Véronique !
Véronique à vélo
Véronique à bicyclitte.
...
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Permalink Reply by Julia on
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Indeed, the use of "bicyclette" sounds better than "vélo" for a title, especially if the movie is in black and white ("bicyclette" is a bit more old-fashion). Plus, I completely agree with Benoit: it reminds us (French people) of this old song by Yves Montand, "à bicyclette".
If you absolutely want to keep "vélo" : "Véronique à vélo" is better than "en vélo".
Still, I prefer "bicyclette". So, it's up to you :-D
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Permalink Reply by Vicky on
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Hi,
I'm a French Canadian and personally I think the use of the word ''vélo'' is ok.
As has been said before, you can use both expressions (à ou en vélo).
I also think, however, that ''à vélo'' is a little bit better.
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Permalink Reply by Ed la mouette on
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I don't know if there is really a rule in french grammar for that, but when you ride a vehicle, you say "à", and when you go inside a vehicle, you say "en" : à vélo, à moto, en voiture, en bus, à mobylette, en train, à cheval, en calèche...
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