PART A - EARLY FILM HISTORY
Edison was one of the first filmmakers to have had his own “studio,” a set where his camera was setup up in front of a stage where his subjects would be filmed.
Gamont
Lumiere BrothersGrade: 2.5 / 5
Hollywood was removed from the growing removed from the growing constraints of the New York City filmmaking scene, where the Edison Trust was attempting to control all aspects of filmmaking from control of the production supplies, to controlling how films were screened in theatres. Hollywood was also desirable as it provided filmmakers with a variety of different landscapes that could be used for various productions - from beaches and ocean seashores, to city streets, and nearby deserts for westerns. It was also a largely undeveloped area, with spaces for large studio warehouses for sets, backdrops, and other needs specific to the new industry.
Grade: 4.5 / 5
(Question 4) The Edison Trust was an Eastern group of filmmakers who attempted to monopolize the process of filmmaking. They wanted and were accused of trying to control all aspects of filmmaking from supplying the equipment used in filming to controlling actors, as well as distribution, and even the venues where films were screened.
Grade: 4 / 5
(Question 6) Hollywood and the major studios also became a “monopoly” of sorts, which was in many ways similar to what the Edison Trust had tried to do 40 years earlier in New York. The major studios had the equipment and supplies needed to make films, and each studio signed directors and actors to work solely for them. Instructor’s Note: “Vertical integration.”
Grade: 3 / 5
(Question 8) The Hayes Code was a set of guidelines for portraying morality in and on film. The Catholic Church had long lobbied for such a code, and when economic times got bad, they encouraged congregations to stop seeing films. As such, Hollywood relented and implemented the code to keep patrons in the theatres. This code applied to a wide range of things, from the plot, narrative structure, storylines, and character actions, to how actors could dress, interact with each other, and talk.
Grade: 4.5 / 5
TOTAL GRADE FOR PART 1: 18.5 / 25
PART B - FILM TERMS AND TECHNIQUES
“Cross-Cutting” or “Intercutting” describes the process of moving between two different scenes in a film. The Great Train Robbery cut between scenes of the robbery to scenes in town.
Grade: 4 / 5
“Mis-en-scene” represents the various elements of what makes up a scene, as shown within the frame of a film - from lighting, to costumes, to items on a set, to even how an actor acts. Rear Window opens with a long shot setting the scene for the film - showing various characters in the film in their own apartments, to our protagonist’s own apartment where the viewer sees items belonging to the protagonist from photos, and photography equipment that all suggest that he might be a photographer.
Grade: 5 / 5
“Rear Projection” or matte paintings, help add to make the “mis-en-scene” of a film and can make production easier by eliminating the need for filming on location, which was not an easy option in the early days of filmmaking due to the size and weight of cameras. One of the first examples of this use of technology can be found in THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY where a train can be seen arriving at the station through the window from inside the train station. The technique has also been used in many a car-ride, in both movies and television up to today.
Grade: 5 / 5
(Question 5) “Cinematography” is a complex but vitally important part of the filmmaking process, forming the field that is the heart of filmmaking. Specifically, it deals with how shots are composed from storyboarding to lighting, to the stock of film used. Often, many directors will work with the same, or even one cinematographer over the course of their career, as understanding each other is an important part towards realizing a director’s vision.
Grade: 5 / 5
(Question 10) A “tracking shot” is a long single shot that takes a viewer into or across an overall setting. Hitchcock used tracking shots a lot including in the opening shot of PSYCHO which tracked the viewer above the Phoenix City landscape towards, and through, the window of a hotel where two characters were interacting. By contrast, in the opening moments of REAR WINDOW, the camera tracked across the windows of various apartments that different characters inhabited, all of whom would at one point or another, catch the attention of the film’s protagonist played by Jimmy Stewart.
Grade: 4.5 / 5
TOTAL GRADE FOR PART B: 23.5 / 25
PART C - CLIP DISCUSSIONS
I believe that Howard Hughes made THE OUTLAW, which was controversial because it tried to buck and push back against various aspects of the Hayes Code. The “trailer” for the film was very dramatic and highlighted the epic scope of the story about to be told - so epoch that it was “two years in the making!” A lot of hype exists in the clip, which tried to hook audiences into seeing the film. The clip highlighted scenes from the film and showcased the film’s stars who audiences would have recognized and would have wanted to see. Text flew across the scenes as fast as the film’s action would have. Ultimately, many of these techniques seen in the trailer would become common in other film trailers from that time, and would become staples used in trailers up to today.
Grade: 6.5 / 10
THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY was very innovative as it was one of the first films to tell a narrative story from the beginning to the end. It employed ‘mis-en-scene’ to reveal the look of the old west, from the costumes worn by, and hairstyles of, its characters; to the outdoor sets used in the film which added to the film’s realism; to the use of ‘rear projection,’ which helped make clear from the start that viewers were seeing a train station which the film’s characters had come to in order to rob a train. Finally, when guns were fired, there was smoke rising from the barrels of the guns which heightened the overall drama.
Grade: 6.8 / 10
(My note: “10 minutes left!”)
Films like WHITE CHRISTMAS represented a pure kind of escapism into a fantasy world where the characters were largely happy-go-lucky, and any problems the faced were all happily dealt with by the end which represented what would become known as a ‘Hollywood’ ending if you will. These films were designed to give people hope after the harsh realities of the depression as well as two world wars. But the overall content, and the way of storytelling in these film would ultimately become cliché, leading to the establishment of cultural stereotypes for this era of American film, where life wasn’t like how it played out on the big screen.
Grade: 7 / 10
THE CABINET OF DR CALIGARI used large, surreal sets that were able to be lit in ways that created sharp, black and white contrasts when lit to emphasize fantastical fantasy and other larger than life elements of the film’s narrative story. The lighting helped to emphasize the idea of black and white morality, and the characters presented in the film were dark, ambiguous, and caught up in larger than life situations with endings that were far removed from the ‘Hollywood’ happy ending. Here, endings were ambiguous and they made viewers think and ask questions, as seen in the film M.
Grade: 6.8 / 10
The LUMIERE BROTHERS filmed ‘slice of life’ scenes of the everyday, from people going home from work to walking down a street - they took pride in capturing movements on screen which had never been seen before in the way moving film images could show them. The topics they explored would be seen as rather mundane by today’s standards but in the era they were shown where films were new, people flocked in droves to see the moving images of life. The experience of seeing these moving images likely felt fantastical at first, so the actual content and even the formation of stories, didn’t matter as much.
Grade: 6.8 / 10
TOTAL GRADE FOR PART C: 33.9 / 50
FINAL MIDTERM GRADE: B+ (75.9 / 100)
Header Image > Everett Collection / Shutterstock. “Thomas Edison 1847-1931 and George Eastman 1854-1932 standing with motion picture camera.” 1925