This document provides an overview of the history of film and art appreciation course. It covers early forms of photography and moving images before film. Key developments discussed include the work of Eadweard Muybridge, the introduction of silent black and white films and nickelodeons in the late 19th century. Influential early films from D.W. Griffith, Orson Welles, and the transition to sound and color in the 1920s-30s are summarized. The document also briefly outlines the growth of animation, special effects technologies, genres, experimental films, video artworks, and influential artists.

1. ART
APPRECIATION:
FILM
T, R, 9:30-10:50AM
Professor Paige Prater

2. 1. Name one of the forms of earliest
photography, either printed on silver-
plate (French) or with light-sensitive
solution on paper (English)
2. Name 2 principles and 2 elements of art
at play in this photograph:
QUICK QUIZ:

3. • Zoetrope
– Illusion of movement
• Persistence of vision (theory)
– Flip-book
• Modern movie: 24 frames per second
• IMAX: 48 frames per second
MOVING
IMAGES
BEFORE FILM

4. • Flexible, culluloid, light-sensitive (splice-
able, high production costs)
vs.
• equipment/software (cheaper, long-
term)
FILM VS.
DIGITAL

5. • Galloping horse wager
– All 4 legs off ground at once?
EADWEARD
MUYBRIDGE

6. • No soundtrack
• Nickelodeons: small storefront movie
theatres/ live piano & drums, sometimes
lecturers
• 1896: movies shown all over Europe &
U.S.
SILENT
FILM/BLACK &
WHITE

7. • 1861-1938 – magician, filmmaker,
theatrical magic show
• Multiple settings, repeated scenes, cuts
(time moving forward)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JD
aOOw0MEE
EDWARD
MÉLIÈS’ TRIP
TO THE MOON
(1902)

8. • Hollywood’s first blockbuster
• Epic story
• Original editing styles
– Symbolism
– Gesture
– Intertitles
• Reinforcement of racist views?
• Propaganda tool
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9U
POkIpR0A
D.W.
GRIFFITH’S
BIRTH OF A
NATION (1915)

9. • Wrote/directed/starred in it
• Box-office failure; critics loved it
• Loosely based on newspaper tycoon
William Randolph Hearst; questions values
of American Dream
• Fabricated newspaper reels
• Flashbacks
• Dramatic lighting, natural sound
• Elaborate sets
• Moving camera shots/ innovative
editing/deep focus/low camera angles
• Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyv19b
g0scg
ORSON
WELLES
CITIZEN KANE
(1941)

10. • The Wizard of Oz (1939) – black-white
to color
• Singin’ in the Rain (1952) – integrated
sound
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4
0ushYAaYA
– synchronizing sound with lip
movements/dubbing
– Songs/sounds recorded
separately; no longer “live”
SOUND &
COLOR –1920S

11. • Wladyslaw Starewicz (1882-1965)
The Cameraman’s Revenge (1912)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIC0Sb
6pLvI
• Walt Disney “Snow White” (1938)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7Z
kWfD0ELE
• CEL- DRAWING
• Spirited Away (2001)
– 12-30 drawings for every second!
– 125 min: 90,000-200,000 drawings!
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6az
9wGfeSgM
ANIMATION &
SPECIAL
EFFECTS

12. • Blockbuster: $194 million
• Tunisia, Guatemala, Death Valley, CA –
footage on location
• Super-realist paintings
• Detailed models
• Computer-generated/digitally-timed
effects
GEORGE
LUCAS STAR
WARS (1977)

13. • Musicals
• Sci-fi
• Romantic
• Westerns
• Horror
– German Expressionism: The
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) –
directed by Robert Wiene (1873-
1938) -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=Y0A0sfxM6AE
• Documentary
FILM GENRES

14. • Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) – Maya
Deren (1917-1961) and husbund,
cinematographer Alexander Hammid
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S0
3Aw5HULU
• Flat is Beautiful (1998) –Sadie Benning
– Toy camera, Super 8 film, collages
FILM AS ART

15. • Global Groove (1973) - Nam June Paik
– Paik-Abe Synthesizer: device to
modulate video signals
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=InLcRXfd3NI
• The Raft (2004), Bill Viola
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faA
KOxACgAw
VIDEO
ARTWORKS