Test 1 Review PDF

Test 1 Review Subjects to revise for the test; look back over your lecture notes: The prehistory of film: Key terms Camera obscura -any dark room with a tiny hole in it, used fr thiusands of years, image of the out...

Test 1 Review Subjects to revise for the test; look back over your lecture notes: The prehistory of film: Key terms Camera obscura -any dark room with a tiny hole in it, used fr thiusands of years, image of the outside appears on the opposite wall, can use lens to make it more focussed and precise Photography-recording an image of reality, was invented in 1820s/30s, camera captures light same way as camera obscura, but instead focusses on light sensitive chemicals- allowed people to preserve single moment in time ex Edweard Muybridges Photographic Studies of Motion in 1878 made longer with celluloid, printed on, was tough flexible and trasnparent, was perfect Illusion of movement- flicker books(aka flip books) existed since 1860s, gave fluckeing effect using flickering, without it one would only see a blur, each image must be wiped out by blankness before the next image appear, must happen at least 16x per secon 2. Birth of Film Thomas Edison - his company created first film camera and films USA based, rial was french lumiere brothers Films were viewed through an eyepiece, aka kinetscope lasted only about a minute Test 1 Review 1  Solitary activity Magic lantern effect- shining a light behind picture on tranparent paper projected larger versions on the wall with correct lens btw/ light and paper could make the image exactly the size one wanted Lumier Brothers (France) had rival system to Kinetescope, called cinematographie relied on magic lantern effect to project films onto a screen still only min long but could now be viewed in groups was massive success, kinetescopes gone by 1896, movie theatres began popping up everywhere Early films no sound, but accompanied by live music was just as sharp as clear and modern films (aged cellulid ruins the film but camera quality was same) first films were just one continuously exposed shot, began joining shots in 1890, created more complex stories cuts - when one shot switches to the next, became so popular became convention (people didnt even think about it anymore) eliptical cut- used by Edwin S Peter, jumps forward in time to important parts, missing out events that happened between , ex great train robbery in 1903 Stop Action photography - kind of editing where editor stops the camera, changes something in front of the camera and then restarts Test 1 Review 2  some make small subtle changes, other make more drastic ones, drastic makes objects in the film seem to suddenly change to the viewer , George Melies was master of this filmmakers tried to make cuts seem invisible even though impossible things are happening 3. Rise of Feature Length Films Studios a company not a building in film history by 1910s, dilmamking already dominated by large studios who could afform to mass produce films , american studios based out of Hollywood, LA Hollywood soon came to mean biggest ‘mainstream movies by biggest american film studios’ Other major studios around the world included the largest european nations Shanghai Tokyo Mumbai (Bombay) Cairo for first 30 years of film, was no sound , aka no inherent dialogue In Japn , benshi (voice actors) used, perfomed live voices of the charcters most other countries relied on silent movie acting and intertitles Test 1 Review 3  Silent movie acting - exaggertated form of acting to make characters’ emotions clear without words Actors came from huge theatres of 19th century , were already used to making over exaggerated expressions so film audience in back could see characters emotions, easily translated Film acting could be a bit more subtle with the facial expressions than theatre, could tell story with just their faces Intertitles - used increasingly more as silent films got longer , cards with written narration to dialogue to clarify the scenes, aimed to be used as lil as possible in a film, should only be used to tell what actors cant portray well enough GW Griffith Self proclaimed father of the movies Name became mark of quality, associated with exciting and emotionally intense films Claimed to have invented many conventions of filmmaking but just popularized them , moving camera, cross-cutting, close ups, length Moving camera- Griffith would move camera in chase scenes to give a sense of action and excitement Cross cutting- editing techique cutting back and fourth between scnes happening at the same time but in diff places Close ups- before griffith most used whole body shots, close up could convey more emotions subtley, but only used sparingly at emotional high points following succes of birth of a nation, griifths made intolderance, eight hour film that was cut to 3, had 4 storylines with different colours, was to complex storytelling, pushed limits too hard Test 1 Review 4  -Early films gradually becoming larger, 80 min italian epics existed by 1912, but griffith astonished world with 3 hour birth of a nation in 1915 -Was surpise box office sensation, editing techiques were very well received by audience Birth of a nation 1915 overtly racist, white supremacist of american history about the aftermath of the civil war shows misgeneration (interracial marriages) and racial equality movements as a threat to america African-American filmmmakers responded by making films outside of Hollywood Due to segration laws there were many all black only theatres, played both hollywood and Afircan American films aka race films , some were genre films, some were political aka Within Our Gates attacks the racial in equalities in modern america, and was banned in many states many race films could not match hollywoods technical qualitym, and only a few remain Conventions of Silent Drama Kinds of music Silent movies always accompanied by live music Large theatres may have a Wurlitzer organ, can imitate sounds of many instruments , smaller theatres would have a live piano, premieres would have full orchestras Test 1 Review 5  improvisation was common, changing the mood of the music according to the scenes on screen, quality of music varied drastically Large budget films would have scores specifically written for them, but few survived Borrowed from opera use of leitmotifs to tell story- reocurring peice of music associated with one person, situation or idea once established, it may chnage slightly to reflect a character’s changing situations common system used in soundtracks today for most silent films no offical music survives, witgh different soundtracks often available, which can affect one interest level in the silent film Early colour film Existed since early days of cinema , but systems were too expensive to mass produce Three technoques for producing simple colour; hand painting (only practical for short films), tinting, two strip technocolour Tinting - simplest of 3, celluloid was dyed in a single colour, could be tinted accordigng to a pattern such as night scenes often blue , aided complex storytelling Two-strip Technicolor - invented in 1920, became first workable colour system, but could only capture red and green Melodramatic narratives Storytelling in silent films descended from melodramatic theatre in 19th century Negative term today but was used neurtally back then Test 1 Review 6  5 key feautures, not all films have them but the more they do the more melodramatic they are Pathos - deisgned to evoke audience sympathy, intensified when good character suffers in hands of evil characters, often gendered with virtous women often meaced by evil men Moral polarization - characters divided between good and evil, stark contrast, no interest in exploring why characters are evil, are there for audience to hate , complex characters seen as a surprise for audience, challeng them to think differenlty about characters they may automatically love/hate Raw emotion - characters suffer terribly, show their suffering in uncontrolled outbursts, aim to provoke emotional responses from the audience Situations - a plot moment designed to increase tension and excitement, used in all films but used more in melodrama and more extreme, include bad and good luck strokes, coincidences, last minute rescues and cliffhangers Poetic Justice - virtous characters suffer but are rewarded, the villains punished, feeling of joy as part of the pleasure of melodrama for audience 5. Goddess Text Notes Film stars - seen by millions of people with some becoming incredibly famous, try to be aware of what they were famous for on and off screen and what did their images mean to audiences of the time Melodrama is eurocentric term, but elements of melodrama found in chinese silent fillms as well, called wenyi, normally meaning literature , but 1930s meant quality films that provoked emotions, used cautiously by some as equivalent of melodrama American melodramas had major influence on chinese silent films Test 1 Review 7  Point of view in cinema Silent movies quickly developed ways of helping audience understand character POVS without words Filmmaker can tell us what a character is looking at with eyeline match - shows shot of person looking , then a shot of what they say seen from correct angle, actor seems to be ‘seeing’ the thing they are looking at even tho they arent actually Show what charcters are thinking about, sometimes accompanied witth special effects , can suggest what a character is feeling by filming a shot as a way to emphasize an emotion or idea Shanghai Cinema - chinas hollywood in 1930s, mosr westernized of chinese cities with many foreign residents Cinema associated with internationalism During chinese civil war and Japan invasion often very socially progressive opposed to tradtional morality Poverty very common and crime bosses part of everyday life , prostitution very common Goddess unusually in its direct depicting of prostitution , director Wu wanted to encoruage tolerance and sympathy for sex workers , had to be careful of the censors who enforced moral codes 6. Silent Comedians 3 most popular silent comedians were Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chapmin and Buster Keaton Harold Lloyd played boy next door who gets into exciting drama Test 1 Review 8  Charlie Chapmin played a homeless character ‘the little tramp’ cheeky but good hearted Buster Keaton never smiled and perfomed dangerous stunts Ediitng tricks - audiences could increasingly pick up on editing trickery, so stunts were more impressive if they were done all in one shot Comedy and Acting comedy shots also had minimal editing were carefully choreographed with a lot of agility and attention to detail, rehearsed obsesively so they could do in long takes, but long takes riskier as use more cellulloid and wasted if have to be retaken many times , but are exciting to not see actors ‘cheat’ Melodrama in silent comedy Buster Keaton was experimental with metacinema (films about films) , ex in sherlock jr, Chapmin was a left wing activist who frequenlty used satirzed contemporary social issues, ex in modern times -When silent era ended, Buster Keaton’s career ended, was not funny when he talked, Lloyd successfully switched, Chaplin kept making silent movies into the 1930s long after the rest of hollywood moved on 7. German Expressionism Weimar culture - from 1918 to 1933, mainstream democratic nation, golden age of cinema due to minimal censorship, and artists were free to experiment with controversial social topics and artisitc innvoation Test 1 Review 9  Germany had mass unemployment at the time due to WWI and them taking blame for the war, left wingers compained for workers revolution like one in russia at the time, this collapse encouraged Nazi Party and its extremist nationalism Expressionism art - aartisic movement in 19th century germany at turn of 20th century, died out in 1920s distorts and exaggerates the real world, trying to show someone in particular psychological state characterized by its distorted mise-en-scene (physical objects around the camera) Cinematography and editing usually conventional First popular one was Cabinet of Dr Caligari 1920 Was used as a mixture of realist and expressionist sets, well suited fairytales, fantasy, sci fi and horror, but also any film exploring character’s mental state Expressionist sets often appear at significant moment to say something about the character’s experience Encourages audience to see stories as allegories, story that symbolzies soemthing beyond its literal meaning ex metropolis in 1927 biggest example of political allegory expressionist film ex hypnotized sleepwalkers in Caligari , look like allegoried depictions of citizens under infleunce of charismatic leaders Collapsed due to massive failures of biggest expressionist films such as Metropolis, Sunrise and Faust , but has infleuce in later films such as in dream sequences, musicals, horror movies and psychological thrillers Test 1 Review 10  Cinematography - effects created by the camera, how it frames the action, movement, changing of its lenses etc Editing- effects created when one shot transitions to the next 8. Soviet Montage Russian Revolution - russian empire ruled by autocratic empire, Tzar Nicholas II In Oct 1917, Lenin led a revolution to transform inot communist state soviet union, saw value as film as tool of propaganda, set up film school to train soviet filmmakers Editing - at first had no cameras, students learned by reediting old films , were more adventurous when they could make films as a result aka montage , both describe putting one shot in front of the other all editing relies on Kuleshov effect - one shot after the other, audience assumes thety are connected all filmmakers know this, first described by Lev Kuleshov, early soviet filmmaker created famous experiment with an actor with neutral psition juxtaposed wth shots of various objects, audiuece assumed actor was lookiung at them and interepreted his expression accordingly Connection can be simple and literalm, audience assumes two people in same place at same time , invisbible editing (we dont think about it), only becomes visible if shots are too different But soviet montage editing is deliberately visible, they jump between different things for shock effect, sometimes short shots less than a second long Test 1 Review 11  9. Passion of Joan Arc and silent art cinema Melodrama Story lacking situations - storytelling feels natural or realistic, has no artificial devices such as cliff hangers or coincidences , plot twists come from believable decisions by the characters can also mean story is not trying to evoke tension or suspense , evokes feelings instead Carol Theo Dreyer filmed passion of joan arc in 1928 saw human face as most interesting thing one could film , used close ups continually normal today but felt strange in 1920s to be so close to actors on screen slow pacing asking you to watch the characters as they think before they speak light everyone with hard light, made characters more human with use of subtle actin Saw many visual imperfections in actors faces in 1920s as the actors didn't wear makeup, were often filmed in hard light Hard light - creates harp transitions between light and shade, adds realism by showing textures on skin Soft light - creates gradual transitions between light and shade , glamorizes things by smoothing out complexions Test 1 Review 12  in classic cinema , lighting was often gendered women light with softer light than men Camera angles affects actors ability actors are sometimes filmed at particular angle only because it is meant to be a POV angle can also express psychological feelings of characters High angles camera looks down on subject , makes subject look weak low angles looks up at its target , usually makes the subject look powerful subtle form of expressionism, image is distorted to show characters psychological state Montage Inspired by soviet montage has short shots visible cuts are often startling and unexpected editing effects are only seen when they are graphically discontinuous between one image and the next In 1927 silent films were replaced by sound films remembered with mix of nostalgia but also disdain 10. Sound Films Sounds was invented before film, but filmmakers could not figure out how to play sound perfectly in sync with the frames , projectors and sound Test 1 Review 13  players were separate mechanism, solved with sound on film, printing soundtrack onto film itself First feature length sound film was the jazz singer in 1927, instant success in Hollywood, made Hollywood make more very quickly -by 1929 silent films almost extinct in amercia, excited other places due to language difcuclties with sound on film disadvanttages of sound could not used tinted films anymore, interfered with sound on sound film some popular actors couldn't translate to sound, like keaton now lanaguagr barrier btwen fims of different nations, most settled on subtitles or dubbing foreign films became hard to see in English speaking world advantages of sound screening writing had full artistic control of what the audiences heard music and sound effects only used occasionally when necessary to the plot could use true silence finally as powerful storytelling tool screen musicals could now exist pritorized sound over visuals initially feel like filmed theatre, camera is far away , with static camera and long takes as if filmed from the middle of the audience in 1930s Bushby Berkley made musicals more cinematic, cameras moved from many angles, creating visual images only possible on film Test 1 Review 14  Great Depression of 1929 Caused mass unemployment, and movie audiences were shrinking Industry responded by making cineam a whole night out to the movies w ith cinematic programme, which included cartoons , newsreels (equivalent of modern news), B picture film, low budget film about an hour log and A picture, main feature of the evening , high quality 11. Classical Hollywood Classical hollywood- sound films made in hollywoo from 1927-1960, differed from modern Hollywood films as produced by studio and star system (groomed talent to find their brand, studios controlled everything about production and owned the studios), uses more conventional film language, more censorship present Colour films - existed since 1935 but were still minutely used up until the 1960s, went from 1% in colour in 1936 to 10% in 44, 49% in colour in 56, 100% by 68 Studio system - Hollywood filmmaking domiamnted by few major studios, used studio system unique to classical era Studio System in Hollywood (but also existed in other film making nations) Studio- in classical cinema, studio was company whose films created entirely by its own employees , had own staff (directors, technicians, etc) who only worked for the studio, had recognizable look for each studio, had film stars who worked only for them died out in 60s , now modern directors and actors don't make ling term contracts so modern studios don't have recognizable looks MGM films were bigg budget, glossier- large glamurs shots with big sets and gorgeous costumes Warner Bros made many low budget films instead of a few big budget ones - cheap looking sets and plots very predictable and formulaic Universal known for B films and horror Test 1 Review 15  RKO was eccentric and hard to predict, went bankrupt after risky experiments Genres Screwball comedies- romantic comedies about eccentric couples, extremely fast paces dialogue, appeared with arrival of sound as vehicles for new breed of talking comedians ex It happened one night ,1934 Bringing up baby , 1938 Ganster movies v popular in early 1930s, ex. the public enemy of 1931 accused of glamorizing criminals, so the gangster must always die at the end and humiliated disappeared after 1924 censorship rules in hollywood Westerns Convenions familiar to everyone about relationship between civilization and wilderness, ex my darling clementine, 1946, and stageoich 1939 Racial politics can be uncomfortable to view, trumphalist attitude towards western civilizations and demonize Indigenous people - some tried to help this image but to much failure Women’s pictures vague term for films with female protagonists Hollywood overly targeted films towards female audiences epsically during WWII Always dramas not comedies 3 common story types romantic couple faces obstacles getting married problems in the marriage, sometimes infedelity Test 1 Review 16  maternal dramas, mother suffers to help her child ex now voyager in 1941 and Mildred Pierce 1945 horror movies classic horror not gore based, but scary atmosphere and sometimes monster makeup Ex Frankenstien in 1931, Cat people, 1942 film noir modern term for group of classical Hollywood films, did not become common English until 70s not used by filmmakers, they didn't see themselves as part of a group Characteristics, few have them all but more they have the more noir the film is usually crime related may have extrely complicated plots, tone of cynicism and pessisim interior pyshcology of character may be intense may have flashbacks and voice over narration may use shadows and dark lighting , hence the name may have dutch agles (aka canted angles), cameras is tilted to one side on a diagonal, to suggest something is wrong, influenced by german expressionism may have femme fatale - beautiful uey devious and maniualutive women) may reverse gender traditions, women ae active, men are weakened , could be due to cgnaging gender roles during WWII and the resulting male insecurities Test 1 Review 17  an anachronist description is a cluster concept neo noir- post 1950s with same noir characteristics 12. Censorship and Conventionality HOllywood was very uncensored. and graphic until 1934, Theatres were not age separated until the 60s, so films had to be all age appropriate Hollywood was afraid of gov censorship so made own censorship board to self regulate, MPPDA, aka Hays Office and later Breen Office in 1922, but no guidance of what was considered provocative 1927 Hays office wrote production code of dos and don't, and what to mindful of, but vague and wasn't enforced , was later expanded on in 1930 with more detailed Prodution Code 1930 Code more detailed, but studios kept finding ways to avoid in 1934 pressure group urged Catholics to boycott Hollywood, scared Hollywood into enforcing following their own rules, hired Joseph Breen to reinforce them, 1934 was strictest period, movies before called pre-code movies Censorship included: Controversal political or religious statements avoided No swear words No racist name calling or epthiests Movie criminals must be punished for their crimes Test 1 Review 18  Immoral forms of sex (pre martial, gay, prosttituion) could only be hinted at and not shown in negative light sexual relations only alluded to in dialogue -prevented serious discussions of important issues race relations sexual crimes, drug abuse, etc conventional cinema classical era discouraged experimentation with film language langaugae is intended to be invisible and not draw attention to itself, believed audiences wanted to think about the story and now the ways is filmed post 1960s films more adventurous in their use of language of film, but many modern films can still be called classical if follow invisible style done by using continuity system Continuity system - the illusion that series of shots that record one continual moment, set of convetions to help make editing feel invisible, fundamental to classical style done by establishing shots (distant shot of characters and locations), and closeups on characters faces prevents confusion about where characters are in relation to each other in a shot, make film’s world seem more realistic 180 degree rule - camera places so one character is always on left and other always on right , following standard Hollywoo 180-degree rule convention minimizes spatial disorientation and creates sense of realistic physical world in the film Test 1 Review 19  -canted angles became a cliche and tender to only be used in films deliberately old fashioned styled, but common for film noir in classical Hollywood Continuity error - mismatch between two shots trying to show the same event ex man is wearing a hat in one shot and next shot he's not prove that two shots weren't filmed at same time, break illusion of reality Classical Hollywood Star system - actors were contracted to work for only one studio at a time, typecasting was typical (casted to play particular role) Ex Warner Bros has tow popular leading men in 1940s, Errol Flynn (lively and youthful) and Humphrey Bogart (mature and serious) studios package new stars by choosing films for them, sometimes gave new names and fictional biographies studios also repackage stars by giving new kind of roles to change audiences expectations be aware of what the original audience expected of the atcors and wether the it roels would be surprising or not - ex casa blanca Paul Henreid- always played elegant, refined romantic heroes, but never became a mega star Ingrid Berman - was not a star until casa blanca Claude Rain- known for playing intelligent sophictaed characters, good or evil, was always a surprise with his character Humphrey Bogart - played tough and ruthless bad guys, often gangsters, was repackaged as still tough but good deep down, casa blanca first romantic role Test 1 Review 20  The Goddess, 1934, Wu Yonggang Chinese silent film Story of a single mother who becomes a prostitute to support her young son Explores themes of societal prejudice and maternal sacrifice Considered a classic of Chinese cinema Important characters: The Nameless Woman (Ruan Lingyu): The protagonist, a single mother and prostitute Her Son: The child she struggles to support and protect The Gambler: A threatening figure who complicates the woman's life The Passion of Joan of Arc, 1928 Carl Dreyer French silent film directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer in 1928 Depicts the trial and execution of Joan of Arc Known for innovative cinematography and Renée Falconetti's powerful performance Uses close-ups and unconventional camera angles Test 1 Review 21  Influenced by German expressionism Important characters: Joan of Arc (Renée Falconetti): The protagonist, a young woman on trial for heresy Bishop Pierre Cauchon: The main interrogator and Joan's primary antagonist Jean Massieu: A sympathetic priest who serves as court clerk Casablanca Directed by Michael Curtiz American romantic drama from 1942, set during World War II Centers on Rick Blaine, an American expatriate in Casablanca Rick must choose between his love for a woman and helping her husband escape Features iconic performances by Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman Classic example of Hollywood studio system production Represents the conventions of classical Hollywood cinema Important characters: Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart): The cynical American expatriate who runs a nightclub Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman): Rick's former lover who reappears in his life Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid): Ilsa's husband, a Czech resistance leader Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains): The corrupt but charming French police prefect Test 1 Review 22