01 - Birth & Childhood of a New Art: 1895 - 1914 Flashcards
Early popular toys, that were precursors to the film camera, capitalized on what three optical effects?
persistence of vision
phi phenomena
critical flicker effect
Eadweard Muybridge invited the first projector called what? How was it developed?
Zoopraxiscope (1878)
Studying animal movements - Horse tripping cords (1878) to see if all hooves leave the ground? (Yes)
What was Edison’s peep-show machine?
The Kinetoscope (May 1891) - small machine to view mostly circus acts and vaudeville performances.
Who invented the first working camera? When? What was it called?
Under Edison: W.K.L Dickson the Kinetoscope (Oct 1892)
How did the Lumiere brothers contribute to early filmmaking?
Invented the Cinematograph (1895) - both shoot & project within a single ‘camera’ unit.
Filmed “actualities” - every-day, common events, small activities:
Arrival of a Train at the Station (1895) - at the Cafe in Paris.
Feeding the Baby (France 1895)
L’Arroseur arrose (1895 ) - the sprayer sprayed.
What was the ‘cinema of attractions’? What did it rely on? When did it end?
1895 - > roughly 1905.
Relied on audience’ shock & curiosity with the medium and of its potentials.
When did George Melies begin his work?
begins shooting in April 1896
What did George Melies’ contribute to film?
What two overarching techniques, did he pioneer?
What genre/style of films is he best known for?
Name two of his most prominent films.
magician - fascinated with the medium after an accident - when film got stuck, he discovers rudimentary cinematic illusions. “trick films”
** Pioneer of early…
1. Cinematic narratives (important beginning steps) - helped increase running time from less than a minute to ten to fifteen minutes.
2. Fantastic imagery - i.e *SPECIAL EFFECTS *
KNOWN FOR: Fairy tales & Fantastic science fiction!
A Trip to the Moon (1902),
The Haunted Castle, & Vanishing Lady (1896)
What is Pantomime?
Tell story though exaggerated action.
What are the 2 tendencies/aesthetic impulses/seminal differences that Kracauer suggests continue to this today?
Realist & Formative - CONSTANTLY INTERACTING
What are the 3 main artistic modes that were present from the outset?
- Narrative - tell stories with new & increasingly rich effectiveness
- Documentary - intentional capturing of real world: know & understand it more.
- Experimental - terrain of dream and the unconscious.
Who was Edwin Porter? (bio)
What was his contribution to film?
Most prominent films?
Mechanic - began in 1900 with Edison company. Develops minimal film grammar with narrative - action genre, train films. “pinnacle of movement" Films: Life of an American Fireman (1903) Great Train Robbery (1903) The Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906) Rescued from an Eagle’s Nest (1907)
What was D.W Griffith’s contribution to film?
Some techniques he discovered?
What are some of his films?
- Came to understand the shot as being the basic unit of a film, NOT THE SCENE
- develops nuanced editing & Cinematography, standard shot coverage, tempo through editing, cross-cutting (to extend scenes)…. Irises… masking, superimposition, split screen…..
The Adventures of Dollie (1908) - first film
The Lonsdale Operator (1911) - color tinting, pacing
** Birth of a Nation (1915) - first feature length film
Who shot “A Horse in Motion”? When was it shot?
Eadweard Muybridge (1878)
The realist tendency can be observed in which early filmmaker?
Lumiere Brothers
