History Yah Flashcards
How was the first motion picture created? What was it called and how did it come to be?
1872: governor leland stanford hires eadward Muybridge (photographer) to help win a bet if horses lift all 4 legs off the ground at once
1877: The Horse Experiment
What was the most important predecessor for the movie projector, who invented it and when?
1879
Zoopraxiscope
Eadward Muybridge
Which significant invention did the Lumier Brothers invent?
The Cinematographe/cinematography, a more efficient camera projector than the kinetograph
At the start of the 1900s, which tool was seen as the way to watch films?
Projectors
*Namely, the cinematographe? Clarify with Andy
Who was George Melies?
Briefly describe his first major turning point in film
When did he start screening his own films?
Famous stage magician interested in experimenting with special effects
Sees lumier brothers projectors and understands stage magic and film can mutually benefit
1896
What techniques in film did George Melies pioneer?
- editing to create illusions (happy accident)
- Trick stop (the first ‘cut’)
- Double exposure; layering to create effects
- Dissolves and fade in/fade out
Who directed The Great train robbery and when? What was significant about this film?
1903
Edwin S porter
(Predecessor to westerns and crime genres)
- earliest use of parallel editing/crosscutting
- matte shots
- made public fall in love with movies, led to opening of nickelodeon theatre
Who was the first known female filmmaker? Which notable film did she 100% write/produce/direct?
Alice Guy Blache
The Cabbage Fairy
Name four notable things about Alice Guy Blache’s film career
- manually color tinting frames for color effects
- directed >1000 films
- one of the first narrative fiction films (cabbage fairy?)
- interracial casting
Who directed Life of an American Fireman and when? What was significant about this film?
1903
Edwin s Porter
- first american narrative film
- early use of CU, pan shot, foreshadowing
Why did the Big 5 start up in California as opposed to NYC?
Which decade did they come to be?
20s
- Thomas Edison patents his technologies in NY (The motion picture patent company)
- Cali has consistent climate and influx of immigrant workers
Name the “The Big 5”
- Paramount
- 20th Century Fox
- Warner Bros
- RKO
- Metro Goldywn Myer (MGM) (The lion)
Name three major production houses that were founded by Artists
(smaller than “The Big 5” but major in their own right)
United Artists
Columbia
Universal Studios
“The lunatics running the asylum”
What was DW Griffith’s original production company called and what did it evolve to become over time?
DW Griffith Biograph Company
United Artists
Who founded United Artists?
Charlie Chaplin
Mary Pickford
Douglas Fairbanks
DW Griffith