Film Art and Culture 2009

The Story of Cinema7 February 2009

Today:

• Nature of cinema

• Its development– Mechanism– Content– Relationship with audience

• Cinema and other aspects of life/society

Nature of cinema:

What is a movie?

film

picture

motion picture

The mechanism of “motion”

• Origins of Motion Picture (1956)– The development of the mechanical aspect of

“motion” picture

Movie = moving images

Images: drawings, pictures, photographs …+

Movement+

Optical illusion+

Projection+

Public viewing

Early Cinema 1

• First still photograph - 1826

• Illusion of motion – optical toys

• Short films for individual viewers– Thomas Edison: Kinetograph camera and

Kinetoscope viewing box in 1891– Individual viewing– Film length: 20 seconds

Early Cinema 2

• Longer films and more audience– Lumière Brothers invented the projection

system in 1895 for public showing– December 1895 first public showing – A programme of 10 films, a total of 25 minutes

• The birth of cinema (in terms of mechanism) was completed by 1897

Now, a game…

• Get into groups of 5 or 6 people.

• You are going to make a film –– it can be any genre (romance, history,

revenge, kung fu…)– there can be no dialogue– the film should be 20 seconds long!

What about content?

But movie is not just moving pictures. Movie/Film is a means of communication.

Sender – Message – Receiver

Receiver: audience viewerscritics

Sender:director,

actor,scriptwriter,

cinematographer

Message: reviews, behaviour, prize

values beliefs

traditionshistory

Message: film

Development of motion picture

• USA

• France

• Germany

• The Soviet Union

USA 1

• Before 1905, films were shown by touring exhibitors: 25 cents/person

• 1905-1907, lots of film theatres were built:– one storey– about 200 seats– Price was usually one nickel (5 cents)– Cinemas called nickel theatres/nickelodeon

• 1908 the nickelodeon was the main form of movie venue

USA 2

• Up to now, films were one reel long (10-15 minutes)

• 1909, US producers started making multi-reel films: longer

• Mid-1910: decline of short films and the rise of feature films

• LA became the major production centre of US films

USA 3

• USA film style during this early period:– Focused on narrative cause and effect– Emphasized continuity– Used intertitles to help create clarity– Basic editing method: Intercutting, Analytical

editing, Continuity editing– Lots of close-ups– Usually showed character’s optical point of

view (POV)

France: Impressionism 1

• 2 major views to cinema:– for profit– for art

• 1918-1923: film was art - Impressionist theory– Art is a form of expression– It should create fleeting feeling or impression– It emphasizes “experience”– It evokes emotions (of viewers)

Pierre August Renoir: Dance at the Moulin de la Galette (1876)

Claude Monet: Rouen Cathedral (1892-1894)

France: Impressionism 2

• Beliefs about French film in that period:– A synthesis of other arts– The medium as a tool– Natural acting– On-location shooting– Emotions are the basis of the films

France: Impressionism 3

• French impressionist films:

– Enhance the “photogenie” of the films

– Show character subjectivity

– Use optical tricks to create different impressions: filter, out of focus shooting, slow motion, etc.

Germany: Expressionism

• 1908 Expressionism was a style in painting and theatre: express inner emotions

• Edvard Munch: “The Scream” (1895)

Oskar Kokoschka: The Storm (1914)

• The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)– Stylised sets and special mise-en-scene– Un-natural style of acting– This film became internationally famous and

created a new style

Something to think about:

• Do you think Frances is telling the truth (about Dr. Caligari)?

• Why? (or why not?)

• As an audience, how do you relate to the film narrative?

The Soviet Union 1

• 1925 the government set up a new company, Sovkino, to run the film industry:– Cinema was for education, so for everyone– Sovkino got into financial difficulty– Later young directors helped to open western

market:• e.g. Sergei Eisenstein (Potemkin) 1925

The Soviet Union 2

• Soviet cinema:

–Had to be socially useful

–A new visual art called Constructivism: art = machines, made up of small parts

–To put small parts together = MONTAGE

The Soviet Union 3

• Soviet Montage Cinema:– Narrative: the mass as more important than

individual– Characteristics:

• greater number of shots• energetic cutting: intercutting editing used• audience’s active interpretation needed• not traditional coherent story telling

More mature cinema

• USA Hollywood: Techniques and Genre

• Italy: Neorealism

• France: New Wave

• Hong Kong

USA Hollywood: Techniques 1

• Sound recording:– First “talkie”: 1927 “The Jazz Singer”– multiple track recording by 1932

• Camera movement:– 1932 introduction of the Bell and Howell

Rotambulator, a heavy device (700lb.) to raise the camera up to 7 feet

– 1936 The Fearless Company invented the Panoram Dolly, small enough to put into rooms

– Crane movements more common: for spectacular shots

USA Hollywood: Techniques 2

• Technicolour– 1930s and 1940s use of colour for fantasy

and special effects

• Special effects– Rear projection– Optical printing: to combine images by

superimposition, or joined like jigsaw puzzle– New mechanical devices: dry-ice etc.

USA Hollywood: Genre

• Screwball comedy– Most popular during 1934-1945– e.g. Some Like It Hot (1959)– e.g. Monkey Business (1952)

• Horror film– e.g. James Wale’s Frankenstein (1931)

• Gangster film– A reflection of social problem– e.g. Howard Hawks’ Scarface (1932)

• Film noir– Big city crimes and criminals– e.g. John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Italy: Neorealism 1

• In Spring 1945, Italy was liberated

• Because of fall of Mussolini, no government control over film, film production shrank

• Neorealist cinema was a force of social change and cultural renewal

• Focused on social problems: inflation, unemployment, etc.

Italy: Neorealism 2

• Neorealist films:– Report reality to help social change– Emphasize moral dimension– Documentary approach:

• On-location shooting• Non-professional actors• Daily life incidents• Coincidence

France: New Wave 1

• During 1950s, idealism and political movement in France

• National centre of cinema (1953) sponsored new directors to make short films

• During 1959-1960 many new directors:– Claude Chabrol– François Truffaut– Jean-Luc Godard

France: New Wave 2

• Characteristics of New Wave cinema:– On-location shooting– Portable equipment– Not famous actors– Small crew– Film shot silent and sound dubbed later– Open-ended narrative– Main themes:

• No trust in authority• Political and romantic commitment suspected

Hong Kong 1

• Starting from 1950s, growth of Hong Kong film industry– Shaw Brothers company the biggest– Major genres: family melodramas, Cantonese

opera films, swordfight movies

• 1958 Movietown was built by the Shaw Brothers company

• 1960s Run Run Shaw revised the martial-arts film: more actions

Hong Kong 2

• Raymond Chow:– Originally head of production in Shaw

company– 1970 founded Golden Harvest– Starring Bruce Lee: 1971 film Fists of Fury

made him into a star

Hong Kong today

• More new genres, but strongest:– Gangster– Thriller/mystery – Kung fu/martial arts– Light romantic comedy

Summary

• Development of the mechanism of the cinema:– Still images– Moving images– Projection for the public– Other advanced effects

• Overview of the historical development in different countries:– USA: technology and genres– France: Impressionist approach – the visual

image and the emotions – the New Wave in the 1960s

– Germany: Expressionist approach – the effect of WWI

– The Soviet Union: montage– Italy: Neorealism and the post WWII effects

Motion picture has travelled a long way since its birth

Technique - Length – Content – Function – Audience - Status

• But different people have different ideas as to what is the essential value of cinema…

• Let’s hear Norma Desmond, a silent film movie star, talking about new technological developments in cinema in a film Sunset Boulevard (1958).

Next …

• Assignment:– A short reflection (200 words)– You have been taken through a brief history

of film today. In your opinion, what is the most important development in the history of film to make it what it is today? You may refer to its content, function, status, or any other factor which you think is relevant.

– Please submit a hard copy of your work next week.