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Classic Film 101
Classic films teach us about past generations' perceptions and provide cultural references still used today. They illustrate the evolution of cinema from early illusions of motion to full narratives and Hollywood studios. Key developments included silent films, talkies, color, special effects innovations, and the rise of genres like film noir. Iconic films from all eras like Citizen Kane, Casablanca, and more cement cinema's lasting influence and importance to study.
Classic Film 101
- 1. Classic Film 101 Jennifer Churchill Wednesday, May 19, 2010
- 2. Classic Film • Teaches us about the past - perceptions, dreams, aspirations of previous generations • Continuous, uninterrupted thread connects today’s movies with those of the past - science, art combine • Cultural references ingrained in our society: “I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille.” ... “I’ll be back.” ... “An Affair to Remember” ... “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” ... Rita Hayworth in “Shawshank Redemption” Wednesday, May 19, 2010
- 3. Why Study It? • “The language of the moving photographic image has become so pervasive in our daily lives that we scarcely notice its presence. ... We can choose to live in ignorance ... or teach ourselves to read it, to appreciate its very real and manifold truths, to recognize its equally real and manifold deceptions.” - David A. Cook, “A History of Narrative Film” Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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- 5. Film Is AnIllusion • The illusion of continuous motion upon which cinematography is based are dependent on: • Persistence of vision: the brain retains images cast upon the retina of the eye for @1/20 to 1/5 of a second beyond their actual removal from the field of vision • Phi phenomenon: causes us to see the individual blades of a rotating fan or different hues of a spinning color wheel as unitary forms Wednesday, May 19, 2010
- 6. Illusion of Motion • The illusion of continuous motion can be induced in our brains at rates as low as 12 frames (of still photography frames) per second, yet speeds have traditionally been set at 16 frames per second for silent film, 24 for sound • Frames are separated by thin, unexposed frame lines; we actually spend as much as 50% of the time in darkness every time we watch a film Wednesday, May 19, 2010
- 7. And thus ... • “... the continuity of movement and light that seems to be the most palpable quality of the cinema exists only in our brains, making cinema the first communications medium to be based upon psycho-perceptual illusions created by machines. The second, of course, is television.” - David A. Cook, “The History of Narrative Film” Wednesday, May 19, 2010
- 8. Pre/Still Photography • “Phase” drawings created optical illusions in many toys of the mid-1800s • Thaumatrope - early 19th c. children’s toy • Phenakistoscope - 1832- Greek for “deceitful view” • Zoetrope - 1834 • 1839 - Still photography invented by Daguerre Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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- 12. Series Photography • Eadweard Muybridge - hired in 1872 by Leland Stanford, former CA gov and wealthy businessman, to prove that at some point in its gallop a racehorse lifts all four hooves off the ground (flipbook handout) • 1877 - set up a a battery of a series of electrically operated cameras along a Sacramento racetrack • 1st time live action was recorded continuously Wednesday, May 19, 2010
- 13. Motion • The separate functions of the live action photography machines needed to be incorporated into a single instrument for cinema to be born • Many involved, independently inventing plates to roll film, projection devices: Etienne-Jules Marye, Hannibal Goodwin, George Eastman Wednesday, May 19, 2010
- 14. Kinetograph • First true motion-picture camera - Edison Laboratories - battery-driven and weighed several hundred pounds (viewed through a Kinetoscope, a box-like peep-show viewing machine, individual) • 1894: first Kinetoscope parlor opened in NYC - 5- cent views of vaudeville and slapstick skits • No concept of editing; captured what eye could see Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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- 16. Auguste & Louis Lumiere • Studied Edison’s machine and invented an apparatus that served as camera, projector, and film printer: the Cinematographe - coined the term still attached to the medium of film today and established the 16 fps silent film standard • Portable, hand-cranked, weighed just 16 lbs., free from studio confinement Wednesday, May 19, 2010
- 17. First Lumiere Film • La Sortie des ouvriers de l’usine Lumiere (Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory): March 22, 1895 http://www.institut-lumiere.org/francais/films/1seance/1seance01.html • Factory door opening was as shocking to the audience as Clint Eastwood walking off of the screen into the aisle today • Shown to a private audience in Paris; the 1st effective theatrical projection of a film • Dec. 28, 1895 - first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Paris, 10 short films - cost was 1 fr./person Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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- 19. Le Voyage dansla lune • Many changes lead to the commercial development of film as an entertainment medium and the evolution of narrative • Georges Melies, a magician: cinema’s first narrative artist - constructed storyboards, planned ahead • A Trip to the Moon, produced in 1902, @ 14 min. Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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- 21. Skipping ... • Modern continuity editing, patent wars, commercial establishment of the new art form, early American, German, Italian and French silent films • Focusing on American film ... production companies moved from NY to Hollywood 1907 to 1913 and established studios, the star system, etc. Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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- 23. Birth of aNation • World War I shut down the more successful French and Italian film industries, eliminating European competition (same chemicals used to produce celluloid were needed to make gun powder) • 1914: the U.S. produced @ half of the world’s motion pictures; by 1918, U.S. made almost all • 1915: D.W. Griffith’s epic was the largest and most expensive film ever made • http://www.archive.org/details/dw_griffith_birth_of_a_nation Wednesday, May 19, 2010
- 24. Birth of ANation • Controversial film - blatantly racist; Griffith edited it in later years under pressure from the NAACP • Stylistically and narratively genius • Composed of 1,544 separate shots (average was fewer than 100 at the time) • “It is like writing history with lightning.” - President Woodrow Wilson Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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- 26. Hollywood in the‘20s • Film became refined, appealed to upper classes, luxury theatres built, production budgets rose, star- system, Wall Street invested, post-war Jazz Age morality • Big studio systems being built: Paramount founded in 1916, Loew’s/Metro Pictures in 1921, United Artist formed in 1919 by D.W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer: 1924 Wednesday, May 19, 2010
- 27. Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd • Silent film greats: Charlie Chaplin (the Little Tramp, The Gold Rush), Buster Keaton (1927’s The General) and Harold Lloyd (Safety Last) Wednesday, May 19, 2010
- 28. Color & Sound • Silent film accompaniment (full-scale orchestras, Wurlitzer organs), synchronization of sound recorded with film biggest obstacle • 1927: The Jazz Singer, 1st feature-length film to employ synchronized dialogue realistically; Changed whole business structure: orchestras, silent stars who’d never spoke (Sunset Blvd) • Color: Stenciling/hand-tinting done for many years ... early 1930s Technicolor 2-c faded • 1939 famous color films - Wizard of Oz, GWTW Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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- 31. King Kong • Depression era • Studio system at its peak - adventure, romance, fantastical as escapism • The Champ, Grand Hotel, The Thin Man, 42nd Street, Robin Hood, It Happened One Night, Grand Illusion • 1933: http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/index/? o_cid=mediaroomlink&cid=219240 Wednesday, May 19, 2010
- 32. It Happened OneNight • 1934: http://www.tcm.com/ mediaroom/index/? o_cid=mediaroomlink&cid= 20854 Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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- 35. Citizen Kane • 1941 • directed by/starring Orson Welles • considered greatest movie of all time - innovative cinematography, narrative structure and music • Loosely based on W.R.H. Wednesday, May 19, 2010
- 36. The Maltese Falcon • Arsenic and Old Lace, The Best Years of Our Lives, Bambi, Casablanca, The Grapes of Wrath, It’s A Wonderful Life, The Philadelphia Story • Film noir at its height: stylish crime dramas, low- key b&w visual style, cynical, sexual - Humphrey Bogart, the face of popular film noir • http://www.archive.org/details/ TheMalteseFalcontrailer1941 Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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- 39. Production Changes • 1950s great movies: Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, African Queen, Lady & the Tramp, Hunchback of Notre Dame, North by Northwest, The 7-Year Itch, The 10 Commandments, Sweet Smell of Success, The Night of the Hunter (last 2 independent) • Independent films on the rise, big studio system began to change • Hitchcock: To Catch A Thief: • http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/index/?o_cid=mediaroomlink&cid=279552 Wednesday, May 19, 2010
- 40. Turner Classic Movies • http://www.tcm.com • Launched in 1994 • Goal - to create a haven for classic movie fans. “Committed to showing the widest range of classic movies possible, celebrating the greatest stars and filmmakers of all time and treating their work with the respect it deserves. TCM gives people the chance to discover movie gems that they might not have seen, and has introduced a whole new audience to the world of classic movies.” Wednesday, May 19, 2010
- 41. Classic Film Festival • Viewing highlights • Photos Wednesday, May 19, 2010
- 42. Films • A Star Is Born (1954) • Casablanca (1942) • North by Northwest (1959) • King Kong (1933) • The Story of Temple • Sweet Smell of Success Drake (1933) (1956) • Fragments (1916-1929) • Top Hat (1935) • Metropolis (1927) • Sunset Boulevard (1950) Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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- 68. Hollywood Today • Iron Man 2 Premiere Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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