EARLY CINEMAFilm History 1895 to about 1914

Movies in America

They began in the East Coast of the United States

New York was the center for cinema at one time.

But there were problems with having the film industry there.

Inconsistent.

Problems and Solutions

As the cinema became popular there was a need to meet the demand.

So the film industry moved to….

HOLLYWOOD where it remains today.

First Film Studio

Hollywood – founded in 1909 by the Selig Polyscope company.

They rented the back lot of a Chinese laundry on Olive Street.

Today there are more than a dozen film companies, with the largest being Warner Bros, Paramount, Sony Pictures, Universal, Fox and Disney

Other fun facts

Studios were also in New Mexico and other parts of the country.

They too moved to the Los Angeles area due to cost issues.

The thinking was – why travel to these areas, when we can build sets that resemble these areas. (Hence Universal Studios).

The impact of Early Cinema Was a past time and in today’s

standards was considered Pop-culture.

One of modern industrial inventions. Thomas Edison’s First Projected and

screened moving picture in 1896. With help from W.K.L Dickson, Edison

adapted the phonograph. This was done by “borrowing” ideas

from the French.

Edison goes to France

In 1888 Etienne Marey builds a box type

moving picture camera which uses an intermittent mechanism and strips of paper film.

In 1888 Edison travels to Paris and sees this device. The device uses flexible film.

Dickson acquires some Eastman Kodak film and starts to develop a new machine.

The Kinetograph is developed This was developed in 1891. 1893: Dickson and Edison build a

film studio in New Jersey. First film “The Black Maria.”

Film further influenced by.. Henry Ford’s first motor vehicle in

1896. This allowed for quick transportation

modes.

Alexander Graham Bell’s Telephone (1876(

Films continue to stay current no matter the era because they adapt to technology and make it part of the film – like texting bubbles today.

Motion Pictures Patents Co. Trust Formed in 1908 by Edison. This was the first film industry to

monopolize the production and distribution of American movies.

Used Henry Ford’s efficiency model. (Distribution).

First films of MPPC Trust – The Great Train Robbery (1903).

MPPC Interests

They believed that most people that went to the movies were the elite.

Did not believe that the audience who went to films were immigrants, and working class patrons.

They didn’t believe they could sit and watch a film longer than 4 reels or 16 to 20 minutes.

Competitions from Independents Independent film makers – Carl

Laemmle, William Fox and Adoph Zukor. Attributed to “inventing” Hollywood.

These three were first generation immigrants.

Filmmakers

Edwin S. Porter – he introduced story films for the Edison Manufacturing Company.

He is known for editing – taking scene shots from different times and places and piecing them together (Encyclopedia Britannica).

His film, “The Great Train Robbery,” was acclaimed as the first successful film to establish continuous shots.

D.W. Griffith

First director-auteur. He is credited for creating many basic film techniques used today.

He screened his films to the working class. Used movies as a means to bring about

change and raise awareness. 1915 – “Birth of a Nation.” Captured violence

and excitement of War (PBS). He used extreme and dramatic camera

angles, interweaved edits. Film is attributed to raise of KKK, and riots in

Black communities.

Intolerance (1916) - Griffith A plea for understanding as social

reformers sought censorship for the film “Birth of a Nation.”

Film introduced narrative complexity, and intertwined separate stories from different eras.

His films had sophisticated set designs.

(Source – PBS.org).

Mack Sennett

Former Vaudeville He introduced “comedy” His films had stunts, and exploited

physical and geographic stereotypes. Made films for Keystone Studios.

Influence of Films

Cautionary messages – Evils of modernity and urbanization.

Commentary on changing economy and political culture.

Nostalgia for simpler times. Comedies – Showed an impatience

with puritanical morality of 19th century.

Silent Film

Silent Films

Accompanied Postwar Optimism and an economic boom.

Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties = Became the age when movie stars became popular. Rudolph Valentino Theda Bara

They were seen as those who could embody dangerous sexuality in an era that was known for urbanization, immigration and loosening of moral codes.

Actors

Wallace Reid, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and more… Represented ideals – healthy, beauty

and prosperity.

Actors became the reason why people went to the movies.

Couldn’t have a movie without a star.

1920s Studio Managers

Mostly Eastern European Jewish Immigrants found success operated the industry.

Laemmle (Universal) William Fox (Fox) Adolph Zukor (Paramount) Marcus Loew (MGM) Sam, Harry, Jack and Albert Warner (Warner

Bros.) These guys were businessmen – and not

artists or Filmmakers.

Directors in the 1920s

D.W. Griffith Cecil B. DeMille Erich von Stroheim F.W. Murnau

They all specialized in melodramas

Comedy Pioneers

Charlie Chaplin Buster Keaton Harold Lloyd

Laid the groundwork for contradictions between the American ideal and the realities of class difference; between freedoms and pleasures promised by modern life then; loss of traditional values

Opportunities for Women

Women could write and direct June Mathis – “The Four Horsemen of

the Apocalypse,” starring Rudolph Valentino (1921) directed by Rex Ingram.

Jeannie Macpherson – “The Cheat” (1915)

Frances Marion – won Oscars for “The Big House,” (1930) directed by George W. Hill. And King Vidor’s “The Champ.” (1931)

Women in Filmmaking

Alice Guy – or Alice Guy Blache – “The Making of an American Ciziten” (1912) – considered one of the first Female Directors if not THE first.

Louis Weber – “The Merchant of Venice,” (1914).

Dorothy Arzner – “The Wild Party,” (1929)

Women in the industry

As actors – celebrated for their beauty.

Took on traditional “house wife” roles.

Seen as the center for morals and values.

As Filmmakers (writers or directors) they were seen as having the insight to emotion.

Assignment for Thursday

Continue reading Chapter 9 If you did not have the book and still

need to do the assignment from this past week (page 18 and19 of book) do so and have it ready to turn in on Thursday.