Film Midterm

Question 1

pre-cinema technology: magic lantern, zoopratiscope, kinetoscope, cinematographe

Answer 1

Magic lantern- one of the first machines that projected images
Zoopratiscope- projects moving images on a loop from a disk, drawings not photographs
Kinetoscope- recorded sound/moving images in individual booths to look in
Cinematographe- used 35 mm film and an intermittent mechanism modeled like sewing machine

Question 2

The cinema of attractions
vs.
The cinema of narrative

Answer 2

cinema of attraction: driven by desire, power of image on screen, contact w/ audience, fairground like modes, understanding of space fascination with motion, action overlap (primitive mode)

cinema of narrative: driven by narrative, no contact w/ audience, multiple shots/camera angles, parallel editing, coherence of time/action (institutional mode)

Question 3

The Brighton Conference

Answer 3

1978, renewed historiographical interest in early cinema

Question 4

mise-en-scene

Answer 4

arrangement of setting or surroundings of an event of action

Question 5

Etienne-Jules Marey

Answer 5

puts all pictures of motion together into one instead of splitting images

Question 6

Eadward Muybridge

Answer 6

did many local motion photos (photos that portray motion from one place to another, zoopratiscope)

Question 7

Thomas Edison

Answer 7

famous inventor/businessman who worked with Dickson to make kinetoscope

Question 8

W.K.L Dickson

Answer 8

worked w/ Edison to make kinetoscope

Question 9

The Lumiere brothers

Answer 9

earliest filmmakers, short silent films

Question 10

Notions of primitivism in film would mean that film was or was not respected at the time?

Answer 10

was not, lack of film respect

Question 11

Nickelodeon

Answer 11

main trend from 1905-1907 with the rapid multiplication of theaters, usually cost a nickel

Question 12

Vertical integration
and an example
this led to what?

Answer 12

one firm controlling the production/distribution of a film
ex: Pathe, largest film production company in the world in early cinema years
this led to emergence of classical hollywood style

Question 13

Edwin S. Porter

Answer 13

Edison film, primitive and institutional director

films: great train robbery

Question 14

the silent serial, its qualities, and examples

Answer 14

film style that asks you to come back, plot pulls you in, exciting, narration style
ex: the kid, sherlock jr, fantomas

Question 15

sight gag

Answer 15

audience is aware of what is happening while the characters in the movie are not

Question 16

keystone studio

Answer 16

main comedy studio from 1912-1917, ended w/ scandal, known for the keystone cops, at time was an increase in comedies

Question 17

Harold Lloyd

Answer 17

one of the first great comic actors, less well known, did Safety Last (1923)

Question 18

Max Linder

Answer 18

comedian with new “look” (represented aristocratic culture: french, posh, upper class)

Question 19

Charlie Chaplin

Answer 19

British comedian, one of best of time, studios did not control him, had character The Tramp that became more complex over time hence why it was so successful, full creative control

Question 20

Buster Keaton

Answer 20

master of stunts in early silent comedy, more philosophical than Chaplin, different goals

Question 21

Classical hollywood style features

Answer 21

emphasis on editing (backbone), most efficient style, attentions and emotions controlled

Question 22

Star System

what happened with the cheat?

Answer 22

emerged 1914
audiences started wanting to know names of actors they saw, stars started making more money/recognition
The Cheat’s Sessue Hayakawa became sex symbol and created his own production company

Question 23

Consequences of the emergence of the studio system in Hollywood

Answer 23

things became regulated, less variety, system of success, less about creativity

Question 24

Oscar Micheaux

Answer 24

black director who did silent race melodramas and tried to spread race/life messages through film, rejected Griffith

Question 25

Qualities of silent cinema

Answer 25

multiple “scenes” at the same time, many planes of action, lots of action at once

Question 26

D.W. Griffith

personality, qualities, movies

Answer 26

narrative editing “father of editing”, wants to elevate film into art form, great storyteller but lacks ideology and depth, many references to Dickens, parallel storytelling, images as a language, familiar, logical
1913: left short film studio to pursue individual projects, was not a complete success long term

Question 27

German cinema after 1919

Answer 27

emergence of german expressionism, rise in cinema production, UFA, movies cheaply made, heavily exported

Question 28

UFA

Answer 28

big production company in germany post-WWI, monopoly, controlled distribution and censorship: caused German Expressionism

Question 29

montage

Answer 29

conveys an idea, more than editing, picture stories

Question 30

German expressionism: style, themes, influence?

Answer 30

style: non-realistic, twisted, 2D, lack of depth, disjointed shapes, stylized
themes: refusal of naturalism, dark, disturbing
influences: griffith, kokoschka, schiele
also known as Weimar Cinema

Question 31

expressionism vs. impressionism

Answer 31

opposites, expressionism does NOT use camera to create shots/theme, using sets more than camera (Caligari)

impressionism does use camera to create shots/theme, mechanical nature of cinema is what makes it art (Nosferatu)

Question 32

Photogenie

Answer 32

any aspect of reality in a film, anything the camera adds to physical reality, movement is modern, art, photogenic

Question 33

Qualities of russian film industry after WWI and Russian Revolution

Answer 33

influenced cinema, mise-en-scene more important than editing, long, boring, sad endings

Question 34

Lev Kuleshov

Answer 34

older film professor at state school, came up with montage as the foundation of cinematography, compared expressionism w impressionism

Question 35

Soviet montage features

3 major names in movement

Answer 35

re-edited footage, made into something new, experimentation, different variety of shots, meaning created through editing
ex: Eisenstein, Vlad, Kuleshov

Question 36

What is montage of attractions

Answer 36

organization of cinematic material that constructs a real point of view in a real cinematic space, our understanding that something that influences us can be combined with other things to control the audiences emotions and lead them

Question 37

Patents War (story time) 
and the rise of independents

Answer 37

nickleodeon boom caused intense industry competition, more established leaders, tried to exclude newcomers and become more powerful
Edison Co claimed to own all basic patents, other companies suffered and went out of business
Edison sued AM&B for not cooperating, ended in AM&B’s favor, continued rivalry
Finally settled and came together to make Motion Picture Patents Company
^oligarchy
Other companies still excluded, some refused to pay MMPC fees = independent companies: unlicensed theaters provided a market for unlicensed producers/distributors