1st feature length films Flashcards
what did Hollywood come to represent?
mainstream movies by the biggest american filmmakers, a sense of being conventional
define benshi
a voice actor who narrated a silent film and performed the voices of characters
why is silent movie acting so exaggerated?
to make a character’s emotions clear without words
what are intertitles?
cards with written narration or dialogue, aimed to convey things that the actors couldn’t express silently
who is D.W. Griffith?
the first famous film director, self-proclaimed “father of the movies”
what are some of the film conventions D.W. Griffith claimed to have invented?
cross-cutting, close-ups, longer films, and the moving camera
define cross-cutting
cutting back and forth between actions that are occurring simultaneously but in different places, enables, complex storytelling and suspense
what do the filmmaking techniques of Birth of a Nation emphasize?
the racist themes of the film
what effect did Birth of a Nation have on race relations?
inspired the revival of the KKK, caused Civil War statues to be put up in the 1920s
what does Birth of a Nation reveal in relation to the power of cinema?
power of cinema to manipulate the viewer’s political attitudes via their emotions
define race films
films made outside of Hollywood by African American filmmakers
who is Oscar Micheaux and what did he direct?
a famous director of race films, directed Within Our Gates (1919)
what is Intolerance (1916) and why did it fail?
D.W. Griffith’s film released after Birth of a Nation, failed due to how complex and long it was
