Friday, November 9, 2012
D.W. Griffith - a GREAT choice for your
presentation
the first modern director
creator of the “star system”
one of the first to use close ups for real
made the first epic
instrumental in shot variation
Star System -
when Griffith used actors, he chose the same ones over and over
this was different from just using friends and family
the director started using a particular group - in that group was Mary Pickford - she attracted attention and they started using her to build interest
eventually, they would show her more clearly in close up
SHE became an attraction over the movie itself
you don’t see the director, or the producer - you see the Girl with the Curls
the movie makers realized that they could keep doing this and it became the standard in Hollywood - actors are kings and queens and even more - gods
the studios used press and stories to build them up, and the stars were the inducement for audiences to see movies
D.W. Griffith made one movie that blew Hollywood away and changed everything
Why Hollywood?
the first modern director
creator of the “star system”
one of the first to use close ups for real
made the first epic
instrumental in shot variation
Star System -
when Griffith used actors, he chose the same ones over and over
this was different from just using friends and family
the director started using a particular group - in that group was Mary Pickford - she attracted attention and they started using her to build interest
eventually, they would show her more clearly in close up
SHE became an attraction over the movie itself
you don’t see the director, or the producer - you see the Girl with the Curls
the movie makers realized that they could keep doing this and it became the standard in Hollywood - actors are kings and queens and even more - gods
the studios used press and stories to build them up, and the stars were the inducement for audiences to see movies
D.W. Griffith made one movie that blew Hollywood away and changed everything
Why Hollywood?
Film History - November 8, 2012
Narrative Film
There are two kinds of movies (actually, there are lots more, but we are categorizing two).
Non-narrative - no story line - narrative is a story
Some docs, experimental films and shorts can be non-narratives.
You can look for Michael Snow movies, Kenneth Anger, Andy Warhol, etc.
These movies are more about the form than the entertainment - it’s art
Narrative movies are about stories - we are going to focus on these.
Viral videos that work are often in the non-narrative category, but the best ones tend to have stories.
History of Film
You are going to have a project on the history of film.
A film or slide show on a particular movement, artist, style, genre, technological advance or something else you pull from film history that is PRIOR to 1980.
Pre-1900
There were people working on technological advances that were interesting in art.
Film - celluloid - allowed strips to be used
Prior to this, it was metal plates and chemicals and time and effort and crazy.
Once film appears, it allows a whole bunch of new stuff to happen.
Cameras change, the times change - no more hours, it’s faster, it’s more shots at a time.
Eadweard Muybridge - photos of the running horse in sequence (for the bet)
unintended consequence - discover the flipbook thing works perfectly!
Persistence of Vision - your brain builds the images you see
if you have a lot pictures and if the motions match, it’s a movie!
Scientists start messing with this fun stuff - the brain, photos and technology
Thomas Edison - in the US
Kinetoscope - big black box with strip film inside that collected images in sequence
he recorded images in a big studio called The Black Maria
he recorded strange little scenes that he thought people might pay a penny to watch as an amusement -
he was a greedy bastard who loved making money with inventions
he immediately saw business
Paradigm Shift
This cool science thing is based on a THEATRE MODEL.
Lumiere Brothers - in France
completely different model
these guys already had a factory making photo plates
they transitioned in messing around with the idea of recording movement
Cinematographe
they had a total shift in concept - HEY! get the camera OUTSIDE!
they began to document the world around them
based on reality
Another Paradigm Shift
train leaving a station - train comes toward camera - audience freaks
Lumiere DON’T realize what they’ve got
somebody else in the room TOTALLY clued in
George Melies - the most important person in cinema history
had an interesting job that made him PERFECT for changing the Lumiere idea
he was at the first exhibition in a theatre
he was a magician
he KNEW that he could use this technology to impact an audience
he literally invented the language of movies - first of SO MANY techniques and ideas and those ideas came from the needs of MAGIC
These movies were changing constantly with tech.
Lots of inventions were coming all the time and changing how the movies were made and WHY they were made.
The Jewish Connection
there was a strange thing going on in New York, which was close to New Jersey, which is where Edison lived and worked
Jewish immigrants were showing early films in their shops at night
why? there was a rule that Jews couldn’t own property and be involved in certain kinds of business
etc - Carl Laemmle - German Jew who owned a fur shop
he started showing movies in the back of his shop in the evening
he was NOT ALONE in doing this
this side of his business soon overtook his furrier business
he soon ran out of silly little Edison movies
what did he have to do?
he licensed the tech from Edison (who, remember, is a bastard) and he hired his friends to start making movies
this is in the invention of Hollywood
There begins a movie industry - that is run by Jewish shopkeepers and their friends, or THOMAS FRICKING EDISON
A couple of early geniuses appear - they have a huge impact on these early pictures
Edwin S. Porter - the first story-based (narrative) movies in America
Life of an American Fireman - (1903) - invention of parallel action - cross-cutting, close up Great Train Robbery - action, gunfights, aiming at the audience, pans, coloured frame
There are two kinds of movies (actually, there are lots more, but we are categorizing two).
Non-narrative - no story line - narrative is a story
Some docs, experimental films and shorts can be non-narratives.
You can look for Michael Snow movies, Kenneth Anger, Andy Warhol, etc.
These movies are more about the form than the entertainment - it’s art
Narrative movies are about stories - we are going to focus on these.
Viral videos that work are often in the non-narrative category, but the best ones tend to have stories.
History of Film
You are going to have a project on the history of film.
A film or slide show on a particular movement, artist, style, genre, technological advance or something else you pull from film history that is PRIOR to 1980.
Pre-1900
There were people working on technological advances that were interesting in art.
Film - celluloid - allowed strips to be used
Prior to this, it was metal plates and chemicals and time and effort and crazy.
Once film appears, it allows a whole bunch of new stuff to happen.
Cameras change, the times change - no more hours, it’s faster, it’s more shots at a time.
Eadweard Muybridge - photos of the running horse in sequence (for the bet)
unintended consequence - discover the flipbook thing works perfectly!
Persistence of Vision - your brain builds the images you see
if you have a lot pictures and if the motions match, it’s a movie!
Scientists start messing with this fun stuff - the brain, photos and technology
Thomas Edison - in the US
Kinetoscope - big black box with strip film inside that collected images in sequence
he recorded images in a big studio called The Black Maria
he recorded strange little scenes that he thought people might pay a penny to watch as an amusement -
he was a greedy bastard who loved making money with inventions
he immediately saw business
Paradigm Shift
This cool science thing is based on a THEATRE MODEL.
Lumiere Brothers - in France
completely different model
these guys already had a factory making photo plates
they transitioned in messing around with the idea of recording movement
Cinematographe
they had a total shift in concept - HEY! get the camera OUTSIDE!
they began to document the world around them
based on reality
Another Paradigm Shift
train leaving a station - train comes toward camera - audience freaks
Lumiere DON’T realize what they’ve got
somebody else in the room TOTALLY clued in
George Melies - the most important person in cinema history
had an interesting job that made him PERFECT for changing the Lumiere idea
he was at the first exhibition in a theatre
he was a magician
he KNEW that he could use this technology to impact an audience
he literally invented the language of movies - first of SO MANY techniques and ideas and those ideas came from the needs of MAGIC
These movies were changing constantly with tech.
Lots of inventions were coming all the time and changing how the movies were made and WHY they were made.
The Jewish Connection
there was a strange thing going on in New York, which was close to New Jersey, which is where Edison lived and worked
Jewish immigrants were showing early films in their shops at night
why? there was a rule that Jews couldn’t own property and be involved in certain kinds of business
etc - Carl Laemmle - German Jew who owned a fur shop
he started showing movies in the back of his shop in the evening
he was NOT ALONE in doing this
this side of his business soon overtook his furrier business
he soon ran out of silly little Edison movies
what did he have to do?
he licensed the tech from Edison (who, remember, is a bastard) and he hired his friends to start making movies
this is in the invention of Hollywood
There begins a movie industry - that is run by Jewish shopkeepers and their friends, or THOMAS FRICKING EDISON
A couple of early geniuses appear - they have a huge impact on these early pictures
Edwin S. Porter - the first story-based (narrative) movies in America
Life of an American Fireman - (1903) - invention of parallel action - cross-cutting, close up Great Train Robbery - action, gunfights, aiming at the audience, pans, coloured frame
November 6, 2012
What Stops Some Videos from Going Viral?
Copyright issues will shut you down - Google will do a takedown
Generic - it doesn’t have anything to separate it from the 72 hours of video uploaded every minute!
Commercial linkage - people don’t like to be sold things, it seems - the Internet is free?
Naked business can get you shut down (however, some nudity is an advantage)
Lacks that element or combination that we discussed -
Meme - what is a meme?
You need to do your viral video within a WEEK!
Hand in - a report that covers this whole area
Hand in - a video that takes the report findings into consideration
Groups - single contributors get single marks - what? yes. You also need to give in a report on each person’s contribution
Copyright issues will shut you down - Google will do a takedown
Generic - it doesn’t have anything to separate it from the 72 hours of video uploaded every minute!
Commercial linkage - people don’t like to be sold things, it seems - the Internet is free?
Naked business can get you shut down (however, some nudity is an advantage)
Lacks that element or combination that we discussed -
Meme - what is a meme?
You need to do your viral video within a WEEK!
Hand in - a report that covers this whole area
Hand in - a video that takes the report findings into consideration
Groups - single contributors get single marks - what? yes. You also need to give in a report on each person’s contribution
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