Directed by – D.W Griffith and Thomas Dixon Jr.

The film was America’s first feature-length motion picture and a box-office smash, and during its unprecedented three hours Griffith popularized countless filmmaking techniques that remain central to the art today. However, because of its explicit racism, Birth of a Nation is also regarded as one of the most offensive films ever made. Actually titled The Clansman for its first month of release, the film provides a highly subjective history of the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan. Studied today as a masterpiece of political propaganda, Birth of a Nation caused riots in several cities and was banned in others but was seen by millions.

Chaplin and Keaton were both comedians who pioneered silent comedy/slapstick (exaggerated physical comedy). As well as this they created and wrote films such as the Dictator (1940) and the General (1926). Furthermore They helped to influence Toto and Films like Wallace and Gromit and Mr Bean.

Buster Keaton  – was an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression that earned him the nickname “The Great Stone Face”.

famous movie – The General (1927)

Charlie Chaplin – was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered one of the most important figures in the history of the film industry. 

famous movie – The Great Dictator (1940)

Harold Lloyd was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many silent comedy films. Lloyd is considered alongside Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton as one of the most influential film comedians of the silent film era.

famous movie – The King of Daredevil Comedy (1936)

The Birth Of A Nation (1915) was a silent film that ran over three hours, directed by D.W. Griffith, and was the longest, most-profitable, and most artistically advanced film of its time. It secured the future of feature-length films and the reception of film as a serious medium. However, its effects on race relations were heavily damaged and are still felt to this day. The film is stated as being ‘three hours of racist propaganda’ – starting with the Civil War and ending with the Ku Klux Klan riding in to save white people from black rule during the Reconstruction era.

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Auteur: An auteur is a word used to describe a director that has a lot of control over the whole film, sometimes filing in other roles too such as writing, editing and even acting. The word ‘auteur’ is a French word that when translated to English means ‘author’, something fitting as the directors are the ones who bring the film together, adding their own distinct style to each film similar to how an author writes books.

In order to be an auteur, film critic Andrew Sarris believes they must fall into 3 main criteria and created a comprehensive definition:

• Technical competence: Auteurs must be at the top of their craft in terms of technical filmmaking abilities. Auteurs always have a hand in multiple components of filmmaking and should be operating at a high level across the board.

• Distinguishable personality: What separates auteurs from other technically gifted directors is their unmistakable personality and style. When looking at an auteur’s collected works, you can generally see shared filming techniques and consistent themes being explored. One of the primary tenets of auteur theory is that auteurs make movies that are unmistakably theirs. This is in sharp contrast with the standard studio directors of the era who were simply translating script to screen with little interrogation of the source material or editorial input.

• Interior meaning: Auteurs make films that have layers of meaning and have more to say about the human condition. Films made by auteurs go beyond the pure entertainment-oriented spectacles produced by large studios, to instead reveal the filmmakers unique perspectives and ruminations on life.

Criteria source: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/film-101-what-is-an-auteur#the-3-components-of-auteur-theory

In the early 1900s, most motion picture patents were held by Thomas Edison’s Motion Picture Patents Company in New Jersey, and filmmakers were often sued to stop their productions. To escape this, independent filmmakers fled to Hollywood. The distance from the Edison Trust made it easier to work on their films without the tight control and patent enforcement. The reliable sunshine and temperature also made Hollywood a more suitable place to make films year-round.

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