Welcome!

What are we doing today? Practicum:  Collect the following: Course fee, Talent release form, equipment agreement, Syllabus signed.  Trojan Fest this Saturday  Discuss Announcements – Need a crew of 4  Discuss weekly schedule for class  The Beginning of Cinema lecture  Get to know new equipment 1. Don’t forget: watch films during the weekend (DUE SEPTEMBER 8 TH ) 2. Start organizing media for your video essay assignment 3. Get a HD for your work (at least 100GB) IB FILM:  Homework: Read the IB Film Guide on the website  Check out the Rough draft list of films so you can start watching the films ahead of time  Sign up to lead 1 st discussion on films

Your “Me Documentary” - Assignment  A 5-10 minute documentary about yourself and your life, where you have been, where you want to go…  A documentary script in correct format (see example)  At least 5 photos (baby photos and current photos). Use Ken Burns or other types of keyframing  1 list of 10 questions for interviews  Four interviews: Yourself, parents, friends, and a teacher.  Voice over (optional, but recommended. Commentary should be insightful and reflexive)  B-roll of you, things you do, family gathering, friend get-togethers, etc. Montage of some of your past work in film.  Title, credits, and soundtrack

5 minute Warm-up activity 1. Find a partner and introduce yourself. 2. Face each other, in such a way that one partner is facing the board and the other has his/her back to the board. 3. Challenge for those facing the board: Without giving away the title of the film, get your partner to guess what film you’re talking about!

Back to the Future (1985)

Men in Black (1997)

Wizard of Oz (1939)

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Students with a movie camera What happens when you have too much freedom!

CINEMA: THE BEGINNING

Early Cinema Overview  The history of film spans over a hundred years, from the later part of the 19 th century to the beginning of the 21 st.  Motion pictures developed gradually from a carnival novelty to one of the most important tools of communication and entertainment in the 20th century.  Early cinema developed as a result of experiments with still photographs to create a sense of movement.  Movies were more or less silent (synchronous sound was not developed until 1927) although accompanied by live musicians and sometimes sound effects, and with dialogue and narration presented in intertitles.

Early Cameras  “Cameras” were devices that gave the illusion of motion: examples were the Phenakistoscope (1832), Zoetrope (1834), and Praxinoscope (1877).  Earliest movie cameras were fixed in position during the course of the shot, and hence the first camera movements were the result of mounting a camera on a moving vehicle/train. This was called “Phantom Ride.”

Early Illusion Toys Phenakistoscope Zoetrope Praxinoscope

Early Experiments Muybridge Studies  Eadweard Muybridge was asked, in 1873, by the ex-governor of California - Leland Stanford to settle a bet as to whether horses’ hooves left the ground when they galloped. He did this by setting up a bank of twelve cameras with trip-wires connected to their shutters, each camera took a picture when the horse tripped its wire. Muybridge developed a projector similar to the Zoetrope to present his finding. (Hooves leave the ground!)

Pioneers of Early Cinema  Thomas A. Edison  Louis and Auguste Lumiere  George Melies  Alice Guy Blache  Edwin Porter  D.W. Griffith

Pioneers of Early Cinema Alice Guy Blache George MeliesD.W. Griffith First Female Director Father of Narrative Film Father of cinematic language *Edwin Porter “Father of continuity Editing”

Before 1989  Films were categorized as : Magic lantern shows or early cell animation  1989 – development of celluloid film which allowed moving pictures.  1891 – Edison develops Kinetoscope (people could drop pennies to view films) (US)  1895 – Lumiere brothers develop a similar device called the cinematographe (France)  1900 – most films are “actuality films”  1901 – Edison builds first indoor studio.  1902 – films begin to tell stories (Great Train Roberry, 1903)  1905 – Nickelodeons are born (5 cent attractions). These were seen as immoral and indecent by some.  1910 – movie stars are born  major studios are considering moving to California (plenty of light and space for filming)  United Artists (Chaplin and DW Griffith among others) create a union to give actors freedom in which movies they appear.  – The “Golden Age” of cinema – Gargo, Chaney, Chaplin, Keaton, Valentino, and Loyd are popular starts.  1920’s – color film sequences start to appear and the Vitaphone (sound disks) begin to get incorporated into the theater experience.  1927 – The Jazz Singer comes out – Combines sound and silent segments – end of silent film era

Timeline of Important Events  Joseph Niepce and Louis Deguerre invented photography (1827)  Invention of celluloid film by George Eastman (1888)  Eadwaerd Muybridge studies (1870’s)  Thomas Edison invents the Kinetoscope in the U.S. (1889)  Lumiere brothers invnent the Cinematographe in France (1895)  George Melies makes longer films and experimented with special effects

Movie Examples  Early Edison films  The arrival of the Train at La Ciotat (1895)  Man with a movie camera

Early Edison Films

The Arrival of the Train at La Ciotat

The Man with the Movie camera

Early Silent Cinema  Focused on the human experience – a lot of physical comedies (Keaton and Chaplin)  Experimental in nature – technology was developing along with the art form.  No live sound recorded on the actual film strip – films were often screened in theaters with a live orchestras. How does this change the viewing experience?  What else?

Questions for review (20 minutes) On your own, answer the following questions:  What influences of the silent cinema era are still practiced or seen in contemporary films? Justify your answer by giving examples.  How does the invention of cinematic technology influence the filmmaking practices of a particular decade?  Come up with at least 5 questions that you could ask about the silent film era on your own.

Early Film Effects  Superimposition, resulting in “ghost” effect.  Reverse action, slow and fast speed action.  Dissolve one image into another.  Duplication of images.  Example: The Execution of Mary Queen of Scots (1895) The executioner brings his axe down, and the queen's severed head drops onto the ground. This trick was worked by stopping the camera and replacing the actor with a dummy, then restarting the camera before the axe falls. The two pieces of film were then trimmed and cemented together so that the action appeared continuous when the film was shown.

Voyage Dans la Lune (1902)  A fifteen minute epic fantasy parodying the writings of Jules Verne and HG Wells. The film used innovative special effect techniques and introduced color to the screen through hand-painting and tinting.  What elements of this film are still practiced today?

Rotation Stations  You will be rotating stations (15 minutes): Tripods, Cameras, and Reading  Tripods: Practice putting the different cameras on the tripods and folding the tripods, using the wireless mics on the small Panasonic cameras, turning them on, finding their functions, etc.  Cameras: Take a look at some of the new cameras – Turn them on, find the functions, etc. Read the manuals, get comfortable using them. Take photos around the room, etc.  Reading: Pages and 44-53; Write notes using Cornell Note paper