According to Cousins, why did the hub of film production in the USA move from the East Coast of America to Hollywood?

To escape his control, and because of the ideal weather conditions and varied terrain, moviemakers began to arrive in Los Angeles to make their films. If agents from Edison’s company came out west to find and stop these filmmakers, adequate notice allowed for a quick escape to Mexico.

Which nation’s film industry does Cousin’s describe as “the best in the world” in the 1910’s and why?

Give an example of two films and two directors from this place and time cited by Cousin’s as remarkable.

Haxan: A hybrid of documentary and fiction, this silent film explores the history of witchcraft, demonology and satanism 1922: Sweeden

The phantom carridge: On New Year’s Eve, the driver of a ghostly carriage forces a drunken man (Victor Sjöström) to look back at his wasted life. 1921:sweeden

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

1895; “Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory”

What is the “Phantom Ride”?​

Phantom rides or panoramas were an early genre of film popular in Britain and the US at the end of the 19th century. Pre-dating true narrative, the films simply show the progress of a vehicle moving forwards, usually shot by strapping a cameraman to the front.

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

“Life of an American Fireman” had the first cross cut showing indoors and outdoors looking from behind to in-front

“The sick kitten” had the first close up

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

Florence Lawrence

• He is a Canadian philosopher
• He predicted that the world wide web would happen 30 years before it did
• he was most known for understanding media
• McLuhan studied at the University of Manitoba and the University of Cambridge
• Marshall’s book ‘The Media Is The Massage’ sold over 1 million copies around the world

• Canadian philosopher
• His work is one of the cornerstones of the study of media theory
• “The medium is the message” is a phrase coined by the Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan and introduced in McLuhan’s book Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, published in 1964. McLuhan proposes that a medium itself, not the content it carries, should be the focus of study .
• Technological determinism is a reductionist theory that assumes that a society’s technology determines the development of its social structure and cultural values.

Canadian philosopher -mass media – the medium is the massage/ message.

technological determinism – Technological determinism is a reductionist theory that assumes that a society’s technology determines the development of its social structure and cultural values.

“We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us.“

McLuhan proposes that a medium itself, not the content it carries, should be the focus of study. He said that a medium affects the society in which it plays a role not only by the content delivered over the medium, but also by the characteristics of the medium itself.

Technological determinism- Technological determinism is a reductionist theory that assumes that a society’s technology determines the development of its social structure and cultural values. Technological determinism tries to understand how technology has had an impact on human action and thought.

Mashall McLuhan- the message is within the media device used and not what the media says.

McLuhan coined the expression “the medium is the message” and the term global village, and predicted the World wide Web almost 30 years before it was invented. He was a fixture in media discourse in the late 1960s, though his influence began to wane in the early 1970s. In the years after his death, he continued to be a controversial figure in academic circles. With the arrival of the internet and the World Wide Web, interest was renewed in his work and perspective.

The Medium Is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects, published in 1967, was McLuhan’s best seller,^[13] “eventually selling nearly a million copies worldwide.”^[71] Initiated by Quentin Fiore,^[72] McLuhan adopted the term “massage” to denote the effect each medium has on the human sensorium, taking inventory of the “effects” of numerous media in terms of how they “massage” the sensorium.^[j]

technological determinism – marshall mcluhan studied the theory of media. He believed that the message that the media gave was through the device in which it was being delivered, not what it actually says.

Technological determinism – Technological determinism is a reductionist theory that assumes that a society’s technology determines the development of its social structure and cultural values. Technological determinism tries to understand how technology has had an impact on human action and thought

Marhsall McLuhan – Canadian philosopher. His work is one of the cornerstones of the study of media theory. Born in Edmonton, Alberta, McLuhan studied at the University of Manitoba and the University of Cambridge

Marshall McLuhan: The Medium is the Message – a good theorist to quote in your exam.

“Societies have always been shaped more by the nature of the media by which men communicate than by the content of the communication” (p. 8: 1967)

For many the role of technology is actually the most defining aspect of Media, for example Marshall McLuhan proposed in 1964 that the Medium was the message, or as he deliberately titled his book ‘The Media is the Massage’.  In other words, the medium (the technology) is more significant than anything else in determining meaning ie over companies, organisations, governments, individuals, representations, texts etc etc

Technological determinism – your biology and society is predetermined by the medium at which you are receiving the message