1. A BRIEF HISTORY AND OVERVIEW Film as...

2. Film as... 1. Science A scientific/medical experiment (and extension of still photography; DaVinci’s camera obscura, c. 1500; Louis Daguerre/daguerrotypes, c. 1840)

3. How a camera obscura works (Leonardo DaVinci and beyond) Film as... 1. Science

4. Daguerreotype of Edgar Allan Poe 1848

5. Civil War photography by Matthew Brady

6. Film as... 1. Science Persistence of vision (Roget, etc., 1820s)  Exercises:  Look at the light, and then close your eyes...  Try to “pan” across the room...

7. Peter Mark Roget’s essay on persistence of vision (1824, England)

8. Film as... 1. Science Persistence of Vision devices: Thaumatrope, Zoetrope, Magic Lantern shows (1830s)

9. Thaumatrope (from the Greek “wonder turning”) –Dr. John Paris (1825) –spinning disk with complementary drawings on the two sides (e.g., horse + rider = horse with rider; bird + cage = bird in cage)

10. Thaumatrope in action found at (http://youtube.com/watch?v=dol1xOW_Qzk)http://youtube.com/watch?v=dol1xOW_Qzk

11. Zoetrope (from the Greek “wheel of life”) -William George Horner(1834, England)—a revolving drum with hand-drawn stills viewed through slits

12. Magic Lantern -Appeared in early forms as early as late 1600’s -Popular in mid-1800’s, with moving pictures via “dissolving views”

13. Magic Lantern Animations

14. Film as... 1. Science Eadweard Muybridge, Cal. Gov. Stanford, $25,000 & a running horse (1877)

15. Eadweard Muybridge

16. Film as... 2. Information vs. 3. Art 2.Information  Documentation  News VS. 3.Art  Self-expression  Creativity  Filmmaker as auteur  “European”

17. Film as... 2. Information vs. 3. Art From the very beginning, filmmakers differentiated themselves: Information/Documentation vs. Art/Self-expression Lumiere Bros. vs. Georges Melies [realism] [formalism/expressionism]

18. Louis & Auguste Lumiere Below: Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (1895)

19. Let’s watch a few Lumiere films from the late 1800’s

20. Georges Melies Below: A Trip to the Moon (1902)

21. Let’s watch a portion of Georges Melies’ A Trip to the Moon (1902); oddly, it is taken from the introduction to the extravaganza film, Around the World in Eighty Days (1956, D: Michael Anderson, P: Michael Todd)

22. Definitions of Realism vs. Formalist/Expressionism (Dennis Giles) Realism:  Broad def. - - the reality outside the camera should be shown with as little distortion as possible; a neutral style that doesn't draw attention to itself  Narrow def. - - in doing the above, you use certain film techniques that minimize interference; deep focus shots, long takes (plan sequence) are used... as little decoupage as possible Formalism/Expressionism:  Broad def. - - you don't try to reproduce the reality of the world, but construct a new reality on film  Narrow def. – you do the above by distorting the image itself, so that the film image is unlike anything one would see in the real world; use of special lenses, filters, lighting, angles, etc. (Digital effects?)

23. Film as... 4. Commerce A very American concept--America entertains the world! Thomas Edison, William Dickson & the Kinetoscope, the Black Maria (1890s), Nickelodeons

24. Thomas Alva Edison Below: William K. L. Dickson

25. Kinetoscope parlors

26. The Black Maria

27. Nickelodeons

28. Film as... 4. Commerce The U.S. Studio System: Movie moguls  A homogenous group

29. MGM--The major studio 1920-50's; had "More Stars Than There Are in Heaven" (many star vehicles produced); Prestige at any cost!

30. Film as... 4. Commerce The U.S. Studio System: Production/Distribution/Exhibition (Vertical integration)

31. Film as... 4. Commerce The U.S. Studio System: Production/Distribution/Exhibition (Vertical integration) PRODUCTION DISTRIBUTION EXHIBITION

32. Film as... 4. Commerce Competition with other media, other forms of entertainment—e.g.,  Sound  AC  Drive-ins  3D  Widescreen technologies  William Castle gimmicks  Color  Special effects  3D revival  4D

33. Film as... 5. A Social Force National cinemas (e.g., Soviet Montage; Francophone African cinema)  Assumption that national control or support is necessary due to power of the moving image Propaganda (e.g., Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will)  Direct assumption that films can change minds

34. Film as... 5. A Social Force A moral influence... Examples of evidence:  Payne Fund studies—set of 1930s studies that examined content and effects of movies on national morals (possible impact on the young)  Censorship/self-censorship—Hays Office & Production Code (1922-45), MPAA ratings (since 1966)  Blacklisting--an assumption that off-screen activities have an influence on on-screen material (e.g., Fatty Arbuckle, Robert Downey, Jr., “Hollywood Ten” during McCarthy era, Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave)

35. Fatty Arbuckle  1921—the Virginia Rappe case  1922—establishment of the Hay Office

36. end