1895-1918: The World Discovers A New Art form or Birth of the Cinema

What was the name if the first film made by the Lumiere Brother and when was this?

 Employees leaving the Lumiere Factory (1895)

What is the “Phantom Ride”?

A “Phantom Ride” is a tracking shot from front of a moving train. This technique is still used to this day.

What was ground-breaking about the silent films “The Sick Kitten” and “Life of an American Fireman”?

The use of cutting and editing introducing the idea of continuity.

Fragmented shots were used in “Life of an American Fireman” in order to emphasising movement.

The close up was introduced in the film “The Sick Kitten”.

What was the name of the first “film star” in Hollywood?

 Florence Lawrence

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?

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.

1895-1918: The World Discovers A New Art Form

1. Employees Leaving the Lumiere Factory (1985)
2. A tracking shot from the front of a vehicle to show the process of it moving like a ghost
3. first use of a close up and cutting as well as editing being used to show continuity.
4. Florence Lawrence

1903-1918: The Hollywood Dream

1. 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.
2. Denmark, it was the most innovative place for the film industry and important for the industry.
3. 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.

1895-1928: The Birth of Cinema

1. The first film made by the Lumiere brothers was Employees leaving the Lumiere factory, (1895).
2. The ‘Phantom Ride’ was where a tracking shot was created by filming from the front of a moving train, creating an effect a moving ghost.
3. The ground breaking thing about the films ‘The Sick Kitten’ and the ‘Life of an American fireman’ is that cutting was used as an editing technique without the fear of breaking up continuity. The sick kitten uses an effective closeup.
4. Florence Lawrence was the first film star in Hollywood.
5. The hub of film production is thought to have moved from the East Coast to the west coast due to the good weather, and east coast films and technology being patented.
6. The Danish film industry was described as best in the world due to its morphing of film into an art of light.
7. Kristian Levring – HAXAN, Dreyer – The Passion of Joan Arc.
8. D.W Griffiths Directed Birth of a Nation. Racism and the negative depiction of Black characters makes the film controversial, however critics still hold it up high on its ground breaking cut.
9. American Comedy Directors:

Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin were comedy directors.

Keaton’s famous works include ‘Sherlock Jr’, where editing is used to change setting. ‘The General’ was a film where Keaton played a Train driver during the American Civil War, the pacing of the film notably helps with its comedic value.

Ellie Suleman takes from Keaton, by keeping the shot in pan and making grumpiness a comedic theme.

Charlie Chaplin’s comedy focused more on body movement. ‘City Lights’ is a film where he displays his skill on using his body & character. ‘The Kid’ recreated the childhood Chaplin grew up in, showing how he was able to target complex themes through comedy.

Nicholas Roeg mimics Chaplin’s use of manuerisms, focusing on people’s fidgetting & expressions.

Harold Lloyd was an actor and his scenes involved stunts & action for comedy. ‘Safety Last’ was a film where Lloyd appears to climb a large building and swing across blocks by rope.

Yasujiro Ozu was inspired most by Lloyd, as his films contained stunts and visually funny humour.

1895 – 1918: The World Discovers A New Art Form

What was the name of the first film made by the Lumiere Brother and when was it? Employees Leaving the Lumiere Factory (1895)

What was the ‘Phantom Ride’? A tracking shot from the front of a vehicle to show the process of it moving, like a ghost.

What was so ground-breaking about the silent films “The Sick Kitten” and “Life of an American Fireman” It was the first use of a close up and continuous editing being used to show action in two different places.

What was the name of the first ‘film star’ in Hollywood? Florence Lawrence

PART 1

1895 – 1918 The World Discovers A New Art Form: The Birth of Cinema

What was the name of the first film made by the Lumiere brother’s and when was this? The Lumiere brother’s first film was called: Employees leaving the Lumiere Factory (1895)

What’s the “Phantom Ride”? A “Phantom Ride” is a tracking shot from front of a moving train (as if a ghost was floating through the air).

What was ground-breaking about silent films “The Sick Kitten” and “Life of an American Fireman”? The ground breaking aspect of these silent films were the use of cutting and editing (inside and outside continuity); fragmented shots emphasising movement – “Life of an American Fireman”. Along with introduction of the close up – “The Sick Kitten”

What was the name of the first Hollywood “Film star”? Florence Lawrence

1903-1918 The Thrill Becomes Story: The Hollywood Dream

According to Cousin’s, why did the hub of film production in the USA move from the East Coast of America to Hollywood? The film process had been copyrighted in the East Coast and California was far away from these rights owners (so easier to break the laws there). Thomas Edison.

Which nation’s film industry does Cousin’s describe as “the best in the world” in the 1910’s and why? Denmark – doing most innovative things, using the medium creatively

Find 2 films and 2 directors from this time cited by Cousin’s as remarkable. Carl Theodor Dreyer – The Passion of Joan of Arc and Benjamin Christensen- Häxan

Who Directed Birth of a Nation (1915) and why has the film continued 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.

PART 2

1918-1928

Who were Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd and why were they so influential? American comedy directors, black and white silent film.

Keaton- greatest comic image maker, defined silent cinema, physical comedy with deadpan expression

Chaplin- body movement, improvisation, politics

Lloyd- Actor, comedian, stunt performer, influenced by Chaplin

Some films they made and other filmmakers they influenced.

Chaplin- City Lights (1931), The Kid (1921), The Great Dictator (1940)

Lloyd- Safety Last (1923),

Palestinian film maker Elia Suleiman is influenced by Keaton.

Influenced by Chaplin- Nicolas Roeg, Jacques Tati, Harold Lloyd (Actor), Yasujiro Ozu.

https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/747ea7ef-89db-4f3f-9a02-8f55e410e3dc

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Description: the editor of a film is responsible for the speed and duration of camera shots in post-production. They also craft meaning in a film product through the order or montage of the camera shots. Editors work in close proximity with directors to ensure that the editing creates the intended meaning of the film; this could be achieved by using the correct type of montage or through the use of the kuleshov effect; an editing technique developed by soviet filmmaker Lev Kuleshov, in which the audience can derive meaning from the interaction of two usually reaction shots juxtaposed with a different shot between the two.

Inspirational Professional: I find lots of inspiration in the works of Australian film editor Lee Smith as of his heavy additions to many of Christopher Nolan’s most notable works, e.g. ‘Dunkirk’, ‘Interstellar’ and ‘Inception’. His usage of rhythmic montages in Nolan’s films adds another layer of the theme of ‘time’, reminding the audience of the importance of this theme on the overall narratives. Smith also utilises intellectual montages which adds a second layer of meaning to the finished film.