Keaton defined silent cinema with his physical comedy and his dead pan expressions. A famous film of Keaton is ‘The General’ which demonstrates his comedic timing. Keaton inspired Soleman with his films.
Charlie Chaplin
Chaplin’s comedy focused much more on body movement. ‘The Kid’ is a film Chaplin based off his childhood which demonstrates his films could tackle difficult themes through comedy. Chaplin inspired Nicholas Roeg.
Harold Lloyd
Lloyd was heavily involved in comic stunts and action. ‘Safety Last’ is a film created by Lloyd that shows his climb a large building and swing from it. Lloyd inspired the film ‘I Flunked Out!’ due to its shocking comedy.
The Birth of a Nation was directed by D. W. Griffith. It has caused a lot of controversy due to its racism and representation of black people (played by white men in black face). However, the opinion is divided among critics as to whether it should be deemed a good film, due to its good use of cuts.
Buster Keaton. Keaton used many editing tricks and was highly inventive. the General is one of his most famous movies, all jokes are repeated throughout the film however amplified in the second half of the movie.
Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin’s first movie was inspired by his own childhood. City Lights (another one of his films) shows how he came up with his ideas due to the improvisation of the piece of wood in the sewer grate.
Harold Lloyd. Lloyd climbed a building for his movie while having vertigo and also missing two fingers.
Citizen Kane was ground breaking for the lighting technique and went on to inspire David Fincher’s “Mank”
Keaton inspired Ellie Suleman. Chaplin has inspired Nicolas Roeg as well as Billy Wilder. Lloyd inspired people such as Keaton and even Jackie Chan
Why did the hub of film production in the USA move from the East Coast to Hollywood?
This is due to Thomas Edison copyrighting the process of film making and in the west coast the laws were different and so film makers had freedom and escaped the patents.
Which nations film industry is described as the “best in the world” in the 1910s and why?
Denmark was the most innovative in film making and had a lot of importance in the industry.
Give an example of two films and two directors from this place and time cited as remarkable
HAXAN – Kristen Levring and The Passion of the Joan Arc – Carl Dreyer
1903-1918: The Thrill Becomes Story or The Hollywood Dream
According to Cousin’s, why did the hub if film production in the USA move from the East Coast of America to Hollywood?
Hollywood was an ideal place to produce movies since filmmakers couldn’t be sued there for infringing on motion picture film patents held by Thomas Edison and his Motion Picture Patents Company. It was also very cheap land so they could buy big buildings for filming.
Which nation’s film industry does Cousin’s describe as “the best in the world” in the 1910’s and why?
The Danish film industry was described as best in the world due to its morphing of film into an art of light.
Give an example of two films and two directors from this place and time cited by Cousin’s as remarkable.
Carl Theodor Dreyer – The Passion of Joan of Arc
Benjamin Christensen – Häxan
Who directed Birth of a Nation (1915) and why is the film continue to divide opinions among film critics, practitioners and theorists?
D.W. Griffith’s – Racism and a negative portrayal of Black characters (white men in black face, politically unacceptable in modern standards) makes the film controversial, but the opinion is divided by critics due to it’s use of cuts.
1918-1928
Who were Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd and why were they so influential?
Charlie Chaplin
Buster Keaton
Harold Lloyd
Greatest comic film maker audiences had seen. Keaton helped define cinema and he understood editing, visuals and illusions.
Charlie and Keaton once shared the screen. Charlie was far more interested in the body movement, he thought as a dancer before film and costume.
Chaplin co founded a company and made it into cinema blood.
Chaplin got kicked out of cinema in the 50s because he was a leftist.
Harold Lloyd (a comedian) was influenced by Chaplin.
What films did they make?
Keaton – One Week, Three Ages, The General
Chaplin – The Kid, City Lights, Bad Timing, Toto in Colour, Some Like it Hot
Harold – Safety Last!
Who did they influence?
Keaton inspired Soleman
Chaplin inspired Nicholas Roeg, Jaquee and the movie Sunset Blvd
Harold – Inspired movie I flunked out! from Harold’s shocking comedy.
A tracking shot from the front of a vehicle to show the process of it moving like a ghost
first use of a close up and cutting as well as editing being used to show continuity.
Florence Lawrence
1903-1918: The Hollywood Dream
The process of film making had been copyrighted on the east coast of the united states, so many moved to California in order to escape these laws and not have to pay to use the patented processes.
Denmark, it was the most innovative place for the film industry and important for the industry.
HAXAN- Kristian Levring, Dreyer- The Passion of the Joan Arc.
Birth of a Nation was directed by D W Griffith, it has continued to cause controversy due to the racist propaganda within the movie. Many see the movie as nothing more than racist propaganda due to it bringing the KKK back into popularity, whereas some people see it as a impressively produced film due to the costumes used as well as the techniques used throughout.
