Story of film part 1

 La Sortie des ouvriers de l’usine Lumière was the name of the first ever Lumiere film released in 1895.

Phantom ride was an early genre of film popular in Britain and the US at the end of the 19th century.

what was ground breaking about the silent films “the sick kitten” and ” life of an American fireman” ?

They both included various different shot types and angles which where getting newly introduced into the beginning of the 20th centaury.

Florence Annie Bridgwood also known as Flo was the first Hollywood film star.

Film production moved from the east coast to Hollywood due to the fact that film producers were constantly getting sued.

The film industry in the 1910s were dominated by the Motion Picture Patents Company also known as the trust due to the fact that their movies were short and were primarily shown by nickelodeons.

film directors and films from 1910s

Charlie Chaplin – A night in the show 1915

Giovanni Pastrone – Cabiria 1914

 D. W. Griffith directed birth of a nation and this film continues to divide opinions across critics due to the fact there is heavy involvement of racism and is known as one of the most offensive films to have been made.

Summarise what Astruc meant by the term “Auteur” and give some examples of the films cited by the movement as being created by Auteur directors. Remember to illustrate your post.

His contribution to the auteur theory centers on his notion of the caméra-stylo or “camera-pen” and the idea that directors should wield their cameras like writers use their pens. 

(source – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandre_Astruc

EXAMPLES: 

(Alfred Hitchcock) 

(Psycho (1960)) 

(Vertigo (1958)) 

(Rear Window (1954)) 

(signature use of light/shadows and close ups of characters when there is a suspicious or ominous atmosphere) 

INFLUENCE ON CONTEMPORARY CINEMA – TASK 5

Hitchcock is utilizing Kuleshov’s impactful method of emphasising characters emotions by adding two shots in a sequence that suggest a different meaning for the audience. The Kuleshov effect was heavily used in soviet cinema and had an obvious influence in Hitchcock’s films. other examples include his film ‘Psycho’ – 1960.

How does the Gerasimov Institute operate now?

Since 1986, the school has been named after the film director and actor Sergei Gerasimov. A full member of the international CILECT network of film schools, the Institute became a university in 2008.  

More recently, its alumni were drawn both from the USSR (Soviet Union) and from other socialist and other countries, though it was a requirement for students to first learn Russian prior to attending. It is among the few film schools which offer scriptwriting courses. 

(SOURCE – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerasimov_Institute_of_Cinematography) 

french new wave vs hollywood

New Wave:

  • Discontinuity editing
  • Dialogue is absurd and appears unscripted
  • No establishing shot
  • Crossing the line on purpose/ backs of heads are used as much as close ups
  • Extreme close ups are used for aesthetic purposes
  • Jumpcuts are left in
  • Hand held camera
  • Real locations
  • Long take
  • Breaks 4 wall

Hollywood:

  • Continuity editing
  • Focus on plot
  • Dialogue advances the plot
  • Establishing shot
  • Close ups to tell the story
  • Smooth shot
  • Technicolor

Describe some of the stylistic conventions associated with the expressionist art movement. Post some additional examples of Constructivist art.

Constructivists proposed to replace art’s traditional concern with composition with a focus on construction 

Objects were to be created not in order to express beauty, or the artist’s outlook, or to represent the world, but to carry out a fundamental analysis of the materials and forms of art, one which might lead to the design of functional objects. 

Design for the Monument to the Third International (1919-20) 

Artist: Vladimir Tatlin 

Pure Red Color, Pure Yellow Color, Pure Blue Color (1921) 

Artist: Alexander Rodchenko 

(SOURCE – https://www.theartstory.org/movement/constructivism/) 

Explain how the political, social and economic upheaval created by the aftermath of both the Russian Revolution and WW1 affected the production and content of classic Soviet Constructivist Cinema.

‘The declaration of war against Germany brought an abrupt end to commercial exchanges with the country. On the eve of the conflict, nearly 90 percent of film productions shown in Russia had come from abroad. The conflicts on land and over sea disrupted film distribution circuits. This was an extraordinary opportunity for an industry in which branches of the large French companies, somewhat Russianized, impeded their autonomy; in which studios bearing German sounding names were threatened (e.g. the Baltic Pavel Thiemann); and in which Russian entrepreneurs strove to fill the empty screens. The numbers speak for themselves: from 129 short and medium length films in 1913, national production rose to 230 in 1914, to 370 in 1915, and then to 500 in 1916.’