UNITS
1-Film Language: Terms and Concepts. Making a Movie. Hollywood Winners
2-The Birth. Silent Cinema (1894-1930).
3-Hollywood Classic Narrative & Style.
4-The American Studio System (1930-45).
6-Cinema in the Age of Television (1946-65).
7-Cynicism and Rebellion (1964-76)
8-The Return of the Myths (1977-today).
9-European Cinema (German, Soviet, Italian, French, and British)
10-Hispanic Cinema (Spanish, Mexican, Argentinean, and Cuban)
11-Eastern Cinema
This glossary was created using different sources; the most important are the books:
Mast, G. & Kawin, B.F. (2000). A Short History of the Movies,
Kupsc, J. (1989). The History of Cinema for Beginners, and
Belton, J. (1994). American Cinema
/ American Culture.
General Terms:
1-Action: The word the director uses when he wants the actors to begin performing.
2-Actor's call: Your call to the set. You will be called at least an hour before the assistant
director thinks you will be needed—be sure to show up at least a half hour before that.
This will help you become accustomed to the set, the props, and the atmosphere. Never be
late; the cost of a crew waiting for you is enormous.
3-Animation: The process of making inanimate drawings or objects appear to come to
life and move by shooting sequential drawings or an object in sequential positions, one
frame at a time.
4-Assistant Director: Person who keeps order on the set and makes sure the production moves according
to schedule. Normally hired by the producer, the assistant director aids the director but
also watches over the production company's investment. Sometimes this involves prodding
the director to finish the shots planned for a particular day, or hunting down actors if they
are not where they should be on the set. The assistant director also functions as a record
keeper and handles time cards and minor union disputes.
5-B Films: Quickly made motion pictures, usually produced to fill the second half of a
double bill; low-budget and short movies.
6-Block Booking: When a distributor forces an exhibitor to rent a group of inferior films
together with the successful titles.
7-Blockbuster: A major box-office hit; presently one that grosses $200 million or more.
Also, extremely expensive Hollywood productions.
8-Blocking: Planning and rehearsing the positions and movements of the actors and of
the camera within a shot or scene.
9-Box-office: Movie theater. Exhibitor of a movie.
10-Cable Television: A system for the transmission of television signals that uses cable
wires or fiber optics instead of radio waves broadcast through the air.
11-CARA / MPAA: The Motion Picture Association of America’s Classification and
Rating Administration; the board that awards a film its MPAA rating (G, PG, R, etc.).
12-Changeover: The instantaneous switch from one projector to another, as the reel on
the first projector ends and the next reel begins.
13-Cheating: When an actor takes on a physical position that would not be natural in real
life, such as looking at something other than the person or object on which she is
supposedly focused. This is often necessary to get the right effect or perspective on film.
14-Cinéaste or Cinéphile: French terms applied to an enthusiastic and knowledgeable
film lover. Also, a filmmaker, producer, etc.
15-Cinema: The art of motion pictures; “the movies” in general; a movie theater; the
films of a country or group.
16-Cineplex / Multiplex Cinema: A theater with many separate auditoriums.
17-Cinerama: Triptych format introduced in 1952 (3 cameras, 3 projectors) employing a
high, wide, deeply curve screen; replaced by the anamorphic system in the early 1960’s.
18-Co-production: A film produced by two or more business entities or nations.
19-Costume Design: The style or design of the clothing to be worn by the actors and
actresses who appear in a film.
20-Credits / Titles: A list including the name of the film, the studio, producer, distributor
and the names and contributions of those who worked on it. Head Credits: At the
beginning and Tail Credits: At the end.
21-Documentary: A nonfiction film that organizes and presents factual materials to make a point.
22-Electronic Cinema: The technology and practice of shooting, editing, and / or
projecting a movie with high-definition television camera, video editing board, and / or
video projector; the video images may or may not be transferred onto film with a
scanner or in a lab.
23-Exterior / Interior: Outdoor / indoor shooting location.
24-Feature: A movie whose running time is an hour or more. Also, a theatrical, narrative
film that usually lasts over 85 minutes.
25-Genre: A subcategory of the narrative film, define by the choice and treatment of
subject: mystery, musical, western, and so forth.
26-Gross: The amount of money earned by a film before any expenses are deducted.
27-Hit your mark: The ability to find your predetermined location in the scene without
looking at the marks that have been placed on the floor.
28-Hommage: A shot, a scene or element in a film that is reminiscent of and pays tribute
to the work of an earlier filmmaker.
29-Laserdisc: A digitally encoded disc that is read by a laser beam and yields a
high-quality video image with digital sound.
30-Letterbox: A video format that enables wide-screen films to be seen on television in
their original aspect ratio. It involves a reduction in the height of the image. A masking
appears above and below the original wide-screen image.
31-Location: A shooting site that is not on a studio lot.
32-Make up Person: The one responsible for all makeup.
33-Nickelodeon: The first permanent movie theater in America, which was converted
from a store, opened in 1905. Its name comes from Nickel (the admission’s cost) and
Odeon (theater in Greek).
34-Pay-per-view: A cable television distribution system that enables cable companies to
charge home viewers a fee for watching an individual film or show, rather than a
subscription fee for a channel or group of channels.
35-Pickup: The director uses this term to indicate that he or she wants to redo a small part of
the scene. For example, if a scene is going well until someone forgets a line, the director
might want to pick up the scene near that point to avoid reshooting the entire scene.
36-Postproduction: The phase of motion picture production during which footage filmed
during production is edited and assembled, special effects are created, music is
composed and recorded, and the sound track is mixed.
37-Preproduction: The phase of motion picture production during which a screenplay is
written, stars and parts are cast, a crew is assembled, and sets and costumes are
designed and constructed.
38-Producer: The person who selects and hires the creative team to write and shoot a
film, pays all the costs of filmmaking, owns the finished product, and arranges for the
film’s distribution. Also, the studio or company that performs these functions.
39-Producer’s Gross: The amount of money returned to the filmmaker or production
company after deductions by the exhibitor and distributor are made.
40-Production: The phase of motion picture production during which actual filming takes place.
41-Production Designer: An art director responsible for designing the complete look of
a film, coordinating and integrating its sets, dressings, props, costumes, and color schemes.
42-Prop. or Property: A physical object handled by an actor or displayed as part of a set.
The Property Master ensures the sets and actors have all the necessary dressing and props.
43-Rear or Back Projection: The projection of stills or footage onto a translucent
screen, from behind that screen, to provide a background for the live action that is
performed between the screen and the camera.
44-Remake: A movie copying other made before with the same content and characters.
45-Runs and Zones: A pattern of exhibition in which certain theaters secure the rights to
exhibit films before other theaters are permitted to show them. Runs are broken down
into first run, second run, and subsequent runs. New films are initially licensed only to
first-run theaters. Only one theater in a certain zone will be permitted to exhibit the
film in any particular run.
46-Restoration: Returning a film to the condition it was in when it was new and complete.
47-Scenario: A film script or screenplay.
48-Scene: The film’s smallest dramatic unit; it consists of one or more shots in a single location.
49-Screenwriter, Scenarist, or Scriptwriter: The author of a screenplay; the artist who
first determines the structure, characters, themes, events, and dialogue of a film as well
as many of its crucial images.
50-Segmentation: The breaking down of a film into its basic parts for purposes of analysis
51-Sequel: A film whose action follows that of a previously released film in a way that
extends, varies, or continues the essential narrative of the first film. Sequels have to be
shown in order.
52-Sequence: A series of related scenes with a consistent dramatic project, not
necessarily restricted to a single location, that has its own beginning, middle, and end.
53-Serial: A film made of chapters that are shown at regular intervals, in most cases weekly.
54-Series: A set of films that feature the same main characters but may be shown in any order.
55-Set: A decorated sound stage, interior or exterior. The Set Dresser decorates the set.
56-Slapstick: A style of film comedy rooted in burlesque and circus.
57-Studio System: The control of all aspects of film production, distribution, and
exhibition by a small number of big studios (Vertical Integration).
58-Stunt: Actor for dangerous scenes.
59-Subtitle: A line of words printed near the bottom of the screen as the translation of
foreign-language dialogue.
60-Wardrobe Master: Person
responsible for all wardrobe needs.
Cinema Philosophies, Concepts and Movements
coherent thematic vision that are developed throughout a body of work.
movements in the arts, associated to modernism. As a style, it implies change and
rupture with the bondage of established tastes or structures; it involves an effort on the
part of the artist to release himself and his work from any constrain limiting his artistic horizon.
characters and situations, to forget their own problems. Escapist fictions that make
political analysis appear irrelevant and unnecessary.
the fiction, to analyze the dramatized situation in political terms, and to keep in mind
the theatrical / cinematic nature of the spectacle. Inspired by German playwright
Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956).
cinema that involves certain narrative and stylistic practices. Narratives are structured
around characters who have specific, clearly defined goals and deal with their triumph
over various obstacles that stand in the way.
ideology and elements of a film to analyze its contradictions, problems, defects.
Formulated by Jacques Derrida.
from the perspective of the artist’s intuition, his / her inner being, his / her human
emotions and sensations. The art of rendering inner states as aspects of the outer
world. Emotionally intense creative distortion of reality.
of reality (corruption, greed, violence, crime), mostly taken from the novels of Dashiell
Hammett, Raymond Chandler or Graham Greene. These movies are full of mystery,
tough romantic intensity, deceptive surfaces, unsentimental melodrama, low-key
lighting, moral duplicity, treason and revenge
structure, techniques and strategies (artistry) of a film, rather than on its subject,
content, and circumstances (ideology).
person, group, or culture.
Usually, one that wants to make different type of movies, not oriented to satisfy the
taste of the common / large public, the masses. Very frequently, these movies don’t
produce large profits.
draws strong, vivid distinctions between good and evil.
developing story.
observation of hereditary, instinctive, psychological, social, economic, and political
forces, rejecting theistic explanations along with sentimentality. Exaggeration of some
negative social problems or acts caused by forces from the human nature..
socially committed plots, nonprofessional acting, emphasis on the everyday struggles
of common people. A rejection of bourgeois fantasy as well as Expressionism.
Locations are intended to present the characters in their real social environments and
the plot to show the political and economic circumstances of a way of life.
1950’s. Also, the sudden appearance, on many fronts, of a host of brilliant films by
directors who had not previously made features or whose earlier work had gone
unnoticed.
American identity based upon preindustrial, agrarian ideals, such as that of Jefferson’s
yeoman farmer, the small businessperson, the opponent of big government, the
anti-intellectual, and the good neighbor.
to a contemporary, real-world topic of concern.
system of government, like helping to “educate” (indoctrinate) the people, show what
people are doing “to build a socialist society”, and the difficulties and achievements of
the “people” under that system. Many of the movies within this category are
history-war related or concerned with socio-political issues. The promoters of this
movement consider that to be arty was to be elitist, to confuse and distract the people
from the reality and from the real important issues (those of the government).
the juxtapositions, transitions,
and bizarre logic characteristic of dreams.
Photography
1-Anamorphic Lens: A lens that compresses the width of an image to fit it into the
film’s frame (it compresses the horizontal dimension of an image without affecting the
vertical dimension). During projection, the lens “de-squeezes” the image into the
original size to produce a widescreen effect.
2-Animation: Making inanimate drawings or objects appear to come to life and move,
usually by shooting sequential drawings or an object in sequential positions, one frame at a time.
3-Aspect Ratio: The ratio of the width of the image to its height (a constant). The
Academy (35mm):1.33:1; European Widescreen (35mm): 1.66:1; American
Widescreen (35mm): 1.85:1; Panavision wide-screen anamorphic format (35mm):
2.35:1; Cinemascope anamorphic (35mm): 2.35:1; 70mm anamorphic: 2.75:1.
4-Back Light: Light used to illuminate the space between characters and their
backgrounds, to separate one from the other.
5-Barney or Blimp: A cover placed over the camera to soundproof it.
6-Blue Screen: A special effects process which involves photographing a person, action
or object against a bright blue background and adding later to the image any desire
background through optical printing (green screen when using the digital variation of it).
7-Boom: The arm of a crane, which supports the camera platform and moves it.
8-Boom Shot / Crane Shot: A shot taken from a crane.
9-Cameraman / Cameraperson / Cinematographer / Director of Photography: The
person in charge of lightning and shooting a movie.
10-Camera Angle: Position of the camera in relation to the subject (High Angle: camera
above the subject; Low Angle: camera below the subject; Dutch Angle: camera tilted
to one side to deviate from the horizontal and vertical axis of the subject; Eye-level Angle:
camera looks at the action head-on, from a position that is chest or head high).
12-Camera Distance: The relative distance of the camera from the action or subject. The
scale upon which the distance is measured is generally that of the human body. Each
film establishes its own scale of distances. Extreme close-up ECU (eye), close-up CU
(face), medium close-up MCU or close shot CS (chest), medium shot MS (waist up),
medium long shot MLS (knees up), long shot LS (full-figure), extreme long shot
ELS (human body is overwhelmed by the setting).
13-Camera Movement: The physical movement of the camera. Rotation on an axis: Pan
or Tilt Shot. Movement on a track, a dolly, a crane, or other: Crane Shot, Dolly
Shot, Pan, Tilt, Tracking Shot.
14-Celluloid: Transparent material chemically derived from cellulose; cut into strips to be
used as film base.
15-Close Shot (CS) / Far Shot (FS): The position from which the camera takes the shot:
the camera is near / far from the subject or -using a long lens (Telephoto Lens)-
appears to be close (CS). Also, a CS is a shot in which the head and upper chest fill
the frame (slightly broader than the close-up).
16-Close-up (CU): A shot whose field of view is very narrow: the face, a hand.
17-Colorization: The computerized process of adding color to black-and-white movies electronically.
18-Cranking: Moving forward the turning device attached to the camera to expose new
frames of the film to the light, “to film” the movie, to shoot a scene.
19-Cranking Back: Rewinding the film a short distance in the camera, usually so it can
be re-exposed. Invented by R.W. Paul.
20-Dailies or Rushes: Quickly processed footage from the previous day’s shooting. These film clips are viewed
after each day's work in order to evaluate performances and spot any technical problems. They are shown to only
a few people—normally, only the director, producer, and director of photography.
21-Day-for-Night: Shooting in the daytime while using filters or underexposing to create
the impression of night.
22-Deep Focus: A visual field that is in sharp focus from foreground to background;
these two planes appear to be widely separated to accentuate composition in depth.
Effect usually created by a Wide-angle Lens.
23-Diffusion: The dispersion, unfocusing, or scattering of light to create a “soft” effect.
24-Dissolve / Lap Dissolve: A superimposed fade-out and fade-in; a transitional device in
which one image vanishes evenly and gradually while another gradually appears.
25-Dolly: A camera platform with rubber wheels that allow it to move freely over a floor,
unlike the earlier steel wheels that had to run on steel rail tracks.
26-Dupe: A print copied from another print.
27-Emulsion: The light-sensitive component of film stock, raw stock, stock or virgin /
unexposed film.
28-Establishing Shot: A long shot, early in a movie or scene, that shows where the
action takes place. Any shot that introduces a location.
29-Exposure: The amount of light that is allowed to reach the film. Overexposure
indicates too much light; underexposure too little.
30-Extreme Close-up (ECU): A shot with a very narrow field of view showing a very
specific detail. A mouth, a scar, a tattoo or the eyes may fill the frame.
31-Extreme Long Shot (ELS): A shot with a very broad field of view. The camera
appears to be extremely far from the subject. A human figure might be less than one
tenth of the height of the frame.
32-Fade-out / Fade-in: A transitional effect in which the image gradually disappears into
/ appears from darkness.
33-Fast Film: Film whose emulsion has a “high speed”, making it extremely reactive to
light and useful in low-light conditions.
34-Fast Motion or Undercracking / Slow Motion or Overcracking: Fast motion is the
effect of speed-up movement, achieved by exposing fewer than the normal (24)
number of frames per second. Slow motion is the contrary effect: slow-down
movement, achieved by exposing more than the normal (24) number of frames per second.
35-Film: The flexible medium, consisting of a perforated base coated with emulsion, on
which images are photographically imprinted. Also, a movie and general term for the
art of motion pictures. Also, the action of shooting.
36-Fill Light: A light used to fill in shadows cast by the key lights
37-Format: The physical and optical characteristics of a negative or print, the gauge of
the film, the aspect ratio of the image, and the number of perforations per frame. Also,
the type of soundtrack, optical or magnetic.
38-Fps.: Frames per second. The rate of exposing or projecting frames. Sound films run
at 24 fps. Silent films ran at 16 fps.
39-Frame: An individual photograph or picture area on a strip of film.
40-Freeze Frame: A sudden cessation of movement created by the continual reprinting of
the same frame.
41-Full Shot (FS): A medium long shot that offers a relative complete view of the set and
shows the human figure from head to foot.
42-Gauge or Gage; The width of a strip of film in millimeters (8mm: used by amateurs;
16mm: preferred in documentary, TV and low-budget films; 35mm: the standard
commercial gage; 65mm and 70mm: only used by big-budget epics; IMAX gage:
frame area 3 times larger than 70mm, used for super high-definition films presented in theme parks.
43-Gaffer: The person responsible for making sure all the lighting equipment is where it should be
and operating correctly. The gaffer sets the lights so that the finished picture will have the
desired effect.
44-Head: The beginning of a reel of film or tape. Tail: The end of a reel of film or tape.
45-High-key Lighting: A lighting plan in which the set is brightly lit and there is a low
contrast ratio. Low-key Lighting, on the contrary, is a lighting plan in which the set is
dimly lit, with rich shadows and occasional high-lights, and there is a high contrast ratio.
46-Iris: A circular mask. A transitional device in which the image appears as an
expanding circle (iris in) or disappears as a contracting circle (iris out). Iris Shot: A
shot whose picture area appears within a circle, whether or not the circle changes size.
47-Key Grip: Person responsible for the rigging (carpentry) and for moving and readying the
sets and camera dollies.
48-Key Light: The chief or brightest source of light of a scene.
49-Leader: Opaque film spliced to the beginning (head leader) and end (tail leader) of a
reel. Used to thread film in a projector.
50-Lighting: The illumination of the set or filming location by means of natural or
artificial lights. the standard lighting set-up used in Hollywood is called the
Three-point Lighting: Key Light, Fill Light, and Back Light.
51-Long Take / Long Shot: A shot that continues for a relatively long period of 20 or
more seconds.
52-Long Lens / Telephoto Lens: A lens with a long focal length and narrow field of
view. It appears to bring the subject closer. Contrary to the Wide-angle Lens: A lens
with a very short focal length and a very broad field of view.
53-Mask: A sheet of metal or cardboard, painted flat (matte) black, that admits light only
to specific areas of the frame.
54-Master Shot: A long take, usually a full or long shot, that covers all the major action
of a scene and into which closer or more specific views are intercut during edition.
55-Mindscreen: The field of the mind’s eye; a shot presenting the perspective of a
character’s mind (dreams, thoughts).
56-Mise-en-scéne: French for “ to put in a scene”. The atmosphere, setting, decor, and
texture of a shot. The way a scene has been designed and staged for the camera.
57-Negative: Film stock that turns black where it has been exposed to light. Also, the
original film in the camera.
58-Offscreen (OS): Outside of camera range.
59-Over-the-shoulder shot: A shot of one actor taken from over the shoulder of another
actor. An over-the-shoulder shot is used when two characters are interacting
face-to-face. Filming over an actor's shoulder focuses the audience's attention on one
actor at a time in a conversation, rather than on both.
60-Pan: Horizontal movement of the camera, turning from side to side. Also, panning
shot or panoramic shot.
61-Paper Print: A positive copy of a film, made on sheets of paper.
62-Point-of-view Shot (POV) or Subjective Camera: A series of shots that duplicate
the optical perspective of a specific character in a film. It involves three shots:
character looking at the object / action, the object or action per se, and the reaction of
the character to what he / she saw.
63-Principal Photography: The process of shooting the principal performers and every
dialogued scene in the script.
64-Print: Any printed copy of a film, whether positive or negative. Also, a positive,
projectable copy of a film. Also, the action of duplicating a frame, a shot, a reel, or a
complete movie.
65-Printer: A film-copying machine (raw stock or processed film).
66-Raw Stock or Film: Unexposed and unprocessed film.
67-Reaction Shot: A cutaway or reverse shot, usually a close-up or close shot, that
shows how one or more characters react to an action, usually one that has been shown
in the preceding shot.
68-Reel: One thousand (1,000) feet of film wound on a reel. A Double Reel: A metal or
plastic spool on which film or tape is wound; it has outside rims or flanges.
69-Setup: The position (location and angle) of the camera, fitted with a particular lens.
70-Shooting Script: A copy of the movie’s screenplay which includes precise directions
for camera movement, lighting, blocking, and other technical information.
71-Shot / Take: A continuously exposed series of frames; an unbroken strip of film made
by an uninterrupted running of the camera and edited at the beginning and end in
preparation for its inclusion in a film.
72-Stop-motion Animation: Frame-by-frame shooting of a model or any object
incapable of moving under its own power.
73-Superimposition: Multiple exposure, printing or shooting of one image over another.
74-That's a wrap: A phrase that means, "We're done. Shooting is over for today."
75-Timing: Correcting overexposure, underexposure, and color values when making a print.
76-Traveling Shot: A shot in which the camera moves from one place to another.
77-Zoom Lens: A lens with a variable focal length.
78-Zoom in or forward zoom / Zoom out or backward zoom: To adjust the focal
length of a zoom lens while the camera is running or a shot taken while the zoom lens
is being adjusted. In a Zoom in the lens behaves like a telephoto lens; in a Zoom out
the lens behaves like a wide-angle
lens.
Edition
considered complementary and related, accumulate into a whole, like a wall made out
of bricks. This type of montage was created by Vsevolod Pudovkin.
sequence; the plot as a string of scenes, as a result of edition. Shots taken at different
times and places appear to be recording a single, continuous event.
final version of the film, prepared by the editor.
actions, sometimes between scenes that are presented as occurring in different
locations at the same time and that are dramatically related.
another or the splice itself. Also, the way a particular version of a film has been
edited, as in the director’s cut. Also, the instruction to stop shooting or to end a shot.
or significantly conflict with each other, ideally generating a synthesis or creating a
message in the mind of the viewer. Formulated by Sergei Eisenstein.
editing) and the tracks (sound editing) that make up the finished motion picture.
or symetrical way (A-B-C-D-C-B-A), using a flashback structure and using parallel
editing. This type of editing provides the structure of the film. From one scene to the
next editors use five basic transitional devices: the cut, the fade, the dissolve, the iris,
and/or the wipe.
to shot, making the film appear to be seamless flow of images. This process relies
upon a system of matches: graphic matches (major features in the composition in one
shot will be duplicated in the next shot, providing graphic continuity); matches on
action (use of the carryover of physical movement from one shot to the next to
conceal cuts); eye-line matches and point-of-view editing.
shot. Interweaving shots from separate scenes, not in a cross-cutting pattern.
different, that the subject appears to “jump” from one position to another. A
disorienting shot; a sudden transition that breaks the normal continuity and calls
attention to itself. Contrary to the Match Cut: A cut over which an action appears to
continue seamlessly.
expand action, space, or time.
showing the optical perspective of
a character.
Sound / Music
1-Boom: The lightweight pole from which a microphone is suspended above the actors,
whose movements it follows.
2-Channel: The sound meant to be played through a particular speaker (left, right, center).
3-Clacker: Slate that is hold by an assistant in front of the actor's face and he / she snaps it shut before every
take. This will later aid the film editor in synchronizing the picture to the sound.
4-Contrapuntal Sound: Sound that is synchronized to clash with what is shown; a
soundtrack that works against the image track.
5-Diegetic Sound: Sound which comes from the world depicted in the film (radio, TV,
noise, music) and may be heard by the characters and is part of the plot.
6-Dolby Stereo / Dolby SVA: An encoded, optical, variable area soundtrack that
usually carries four channels (left, center, right, and surround) on two tracks, mostly
found on 35mm prints. See Dolby Digital.
7-Dubbing: Replacing one performer’s voice with that of another (singer). Also,
replacing all the dialogues spoken in another language.
8-Magnetic Soundtrack: One or more strips of magnetized iron-oxide particles bearing
the final soundtrack of a film (separated or bonded).
9-Mixer: The person responsible for recording the sound. Other sounds are added during
post-production by foley artists.
10-Movietone: The sound-on-film (optical sound) process introduced by Fox. Identical to
Phonofilm invented by Lee de Forest
11-Leitmotif: A recurring musical theme that is associated with a recurring narrative
element or theme. Formulated by Richard Wagner.
12-Lip Sync: Perfect synchronization between picture and sound.
13-Live Sound: Tracks recorded during shooting.
14-Score: The original music arranged for a film.
15-Soundtrack: All the sounds heard in a film; the optical or magnetic track; the narrow
strip located next to the image on which all sound information is encoded optically or magnetically.
16-Sound Mixing: The combination, during postproduction, of three different categories
of film sound: dialogue, sound effects, and music.
17-Voice-over: A voice heard over the action which is not synchronized with any
character appearing on screen.
Usually used as a narration or explanation.
MAKING A
MOVIE
Screenwriter
1-In the beginning (1890’s), because movies were silent, there was no need for
dialogue: no screenwriters.
2-During the end of the 1920’s, writers flocked to Hollywood in droves, including
some of the most famous (William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Bertolt Brecht, and
Thomas Mann). High salaries ($6,000 for a story or $1,200 per week), a very
stressful pace (Hollywood was making movies like Ford was making cars in his
assembling lines), and low professional prestige in the studio ladder.
3-After WW II (1945), the power of the studios decreased and the authority of stars
and script’s writers increase (more money -$100,000 for a script-, more
participation, more creative control over their work).
4- The 1950’s were the years of senator McCarthy’s Witches Hunt. A very strong
censorship and frequent accusations plagued Hollywood. Many screenwriters were
victims of the excesses of the time: Blacklists, the “Hollywood Ten”, etc.
5-Today, screenwriters are active and very important players in the filmmaking
process. They are paid as well as directors and producers and their work is consider
an art, sometimes published and sold in bookstores. It’s very common that
screenwriters become directors.
6-Screenwriters, Scenarists, or Scriptwriters are the authors of a screenplay; the
artists who first determine the structure, characters, themes, events, and dialogue of
a film as well as many of its crucial images.
7-A good script is the foundation for a good film. On average, one script page is the
equivalent of one minute of screen time. When shooting the movie, each day are
covered three
pages.
Assignment: Write a brief script for two people traveling in a train, telling the story
of their lives. Check
examples.
Director
1-The Director is the person who guides the actors in performance, determines the
staging of the action, supervises all aspects of shooting, and works with the
producer, writer, and designer before production and with the film and sound
editors after production to ensure the consistency and excellence of the movie. He /
she is also responsible for the best possible use of the personnel, materials, and
resources provided by the producer.
2-The director’s vision shapes the look and feel of the film. He / she is the creative
force that pulls a film together, responsible for turning the words of a script into
images on the screen. He / she directs actors, cameramen, editors, etc.
3-One of the problems that a director has to face as an artist is to stay “invisible” for
the public, to pull you into the story without being aware of the director’s hand.
However the imprint of some exceptional Directors is unmistakable.
4-As a Director, when you receive the screenplay you have to see the characters
coming to life, you have to envision the lighting and to hear the sound, you have to
be absorbed in the world of the story until the movie is finished.
5-A Director has to assembly the proper cast and crew, people who respect his vision
and work well with one another. He should make the suggestions to the producer to
hire the right people.
6-When the film goes to pre-production, the Director participates in the distribution
of the budget, the elaboration of the shooting schedule, the design of every shot and
set to be used.
7-During the filming period, the Director has to be able to improvise on the set and
be flexible and at the same time he / she has to continue communicating his vision of
the film to all the people involved. Previously, he / she met with the director of
photography and the storyboard artist to plan and decide about types of shots,
camera angles, distances, and movements.
8-Once the shoot is over, it’s time to guide the editors to create the “Director’s cut”.
Producer
1-The Producer is the person who selects and hires the creative team to write and
shoot a film, pays all the costs of filmmaking, owns the finished product, and
arranges for the film’s distribution.
2-The Producer acts as an administrator, prepares the budget and deals with the
marketing and distribution of the
movie.
Assignment:
Prepare a detailed budget for a
film. See the parameters and recommendations.
Art Director or Production Designer
1-The Art Director is the person who designs a movie’s sets and decor; coordinating
and integrating in sets,
dressings, props, costumes, and color schemes.
Actor / Actress
1-You first need to read the script; then, you have to connect closely with your
character, to become that person.
2-You have to understand the relationships of your character with the other
characters in the film.
3-You have to learn your lines, plan and practice the expressions, emotions, feelings,
moods, gestures, and movements
that you are suppose to show or make.
Director of Photography
1-The Cinematographer or Director of Photography is an essential element in a film.
He / she is responsible for the lighting, choice of film, correct exposure, correct use of
lens, compliance with the types of shots, camera distances, angles and movements
agreed with the Director, and for
the supervision of the camera crew.
Editor
1-The Editor selects sounds and images from all the film that has been shot and
arrange them, following the script, to make the movie. He / she must know how to
tell a story.
2-Editors plan and suggest to the Director how one shot will best transition to the
next. He / she has to assemble the scenes during the shooting phase and show them
to the Director and Producer to view and make corrections or not.
3-Usually, the first cut or “rough cut” of a film takes up to three months to
complete. The final cut may take another month to finish.
4-Today, most editors use
computers or digital editing systems to edit a film.
Assignment:
Identify in order all the types of shots and cuts in the scene of the “Odessa Steps” in
the film Battleship Potemkin.
Hollywood Winners
All-Time USA Box Office Leaders
Unajusted for Inflation .................................. Adjusted for Inflation
1-Titanic (1997)..............................................1-Gone With the Wind (1939)
2-Star Wars (1977)........................................2-Star Wars (1977)
3-Star Wars: Episode I (1999)......................3-The Sound of Music (1965)
4-E. T. (1982).................................................4-E. T. (1982)
5-Jurassic Park (1993)..................................5-Titanic (1997)
6-Forrest Gump (1994).................................6-The Ten Commandments (1956)
7-Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's...............7-Jaws (1975)
Stone (2001)..................................................8-Doctor Zhivago (1965)
8-The Lion King (1994).................................9-The Jungle Book (1967)
9-Star Wars: Episode VI (1983).................10-Snow White and the Seven
10-Independence Day (1996)...........................Dwarfs (1937)
11-The Sixth Sense (1999)...........................11-Ben Hur (1959)
12-Star Wars: Episode V (1980)..................12-101 Dalmatians (1961)
13-Home Alone (1990)..................................13-The Exorcist (1973)
14-Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship..........14-Star Wars: Episode V (1980)
of the Ring (2001)..........................................15-Star Wars: Episode VI (1983)
15-Shrek (2001).............................................16-Star Wars: Episode I (1999)
16-How the Grinch Stole...............................17-The Sting (1973)
Christmas (2000)...........................................18-Mary Poppins (1964)
17-Jaws (1975)...............................................19-Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
18-Monsters, Inc. (2001)...............................20-Jurassic Park (1993)
19-Batman (1989)
20-Men in Black (1997)
Films with more Nominations and Academy Awards
Nominations ....................................................................... Oscars
All About Eve (1950).................14..............................Ben Hur (1959)........................11
Titanic (1997).............................14...............................Titanic (1997)...........................11
Gone with the Wind (1939)........13..............................West Side Story (1961)............10
From Here to Eternity (1953)....13...............................Gigi (1958).................................9
Mary Poppins (1964).................13................................The Last Emperor (1987).........9
Who's Afraid of VirginiaWoolf? (1966)....13................The English Patient (1996)...... 9
Forrest Gump (1994)..................13...............................Gone with the Wind (1939).......8
Shakespeare in Love (1998)......13...............................From Here to Eternity (1953)...8
The Lord of the Rings (2001)....13...............................On the Waterfront (1954)..........8
A Streetcar Named Desire........12...............................My Fair Lady (1964)..................8
On the Waterfront (1954)..........12................................Cabaret (1972)...........................8
Ben Hur (1959)...........................12...............................Ghandi 1982)...............................8
My Fair Lady (1964)..................12...............................Amadeus(1984)............................8
Dances with Wolves (1990)........12..............................Shakespeare in Love (1998)........7
Schindler's List (1993)................12.............................Dances with Wolves (1990)...........7
The English Patient (1996).........12..............................Schindler's List (1993)...................7
Gladiator (2000)..........................12..............................Out of Africa (1985).......................7
Mrs Miniver (1942)....................12..............................Patton (1970)..................................7
The Song of Bernadette (1943)..12..............................Lawrence of Arabia (1962)............7
The 100 Greatest Films According the A.F.I. (Alphabetcal Order)
1-The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)....51-Fargo (1996)
2-The African Queen (1951)........................52-Frankenstein (1931)
3-All About Eve (1950).................................53-The French Connection (1971)
4-All Quiet on the Western Front (1930).....54-From Here to Eternity (1953)
5-An American in Paris (1951).....................55-GoodFellas (1990)
6-Annie Hall (1977).......................................56-Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
7-Apocalypse Now (1979).............................57-Modern Times (1936)
8-Ben Hur (1959)..........................................58-My Darling Clementine (1946)
9-The Best Years of Ours Lives (1946)......59-Nashville (1975)
10-The Big Parade (1925)............................60-Ninotchka (1939)
11-The Big Sleep (1946)...............................61-North by Northwest (1959)
12-The Birth of a Nation (1915)...................62-On the Waterfront (1954)
13-Blade Runner (1982)...............................63-One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
14-Bonnie and Clyde (1967).........................64-Paths of Glory (1957)
15-Bride of Frankenstein (1935)..................65-The Philadelphia Story (1940)
16-The Bridge On the River Kwai (1957)...66-Psycho (1960)
17-Bringing Up Baby (1938).........................67-The Quiet Man (1952)
18-Broken Blossoms (1919).........................68-Raging Bull (1980)
19-Casablanca (1942)...................................69-Rear Window (1954)
20-Chinatown (1974).....................................70-Rebecca (1940)
21-Citizen Kane (1941).................................71-Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
22-City Lights (1931)....................................72-Roman Holiday 1953)
23-The Crowd (1928)....................................73-Schindler’s List (1993)
24-Dr Strangelove (1964).............................74-The Searchers (1956)
25-Double Indemnity (1944).........................75-Shane (1953)
26-Duck Soup (1933).....................................76-Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
27-E. T. (1982)...............................................77-Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs (1937)
28-Easy Rider (1969)....................................78-Some Like It Hot (1959)
29-Fantasia (1941).........................................79-Stagecoach (1939)
30-42nd Street (1933)....................................80-A Star is Born (1954)
31-The General (1927)...................................81-Star Wars (1977)
32-The Godfather (1972)................................82-A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
33-The Gold Rush (1925)...............................83-Sunrise (1927)
34-Gone with the Wind (1939)........................84-Sunset Boulevard (1950)
35-The Graduate (1967)..................................85-Taxi Driver (1976)
36-The Grapes of Wrath (1940)......................86-The Third Man (1949)
37-Greed (1924)...............................................87-To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
38-High Noon (1952)........................................88-Top Hat (1935)
39-His Girl Friday (1940).................................89-Touch of Evil (1958)
40-Intolerance (1916).......................................90-The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
41-It Happened One Night (1934)...................91-Trouble in Paradise (1932)
42-It’s a Wonderful Life (1946).......................92-2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
43-Jaws (1975)..................................................93-Vertigo (1958)
44-King Kong (1933)........................................94-West Side Story (1961)
45-The Lady Eve (1941)...................................95-Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966)
46-Lawrence of Arabia (1962)..........................96-The Wild Bunch (1969)
47-Letter From an Unknown Woman (1948)...97-The Wizard of Oz (1939)
48-The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)...........98-Wuthering Heights (1939)
49-The Empires Strikes Back (1980)...............99-Yankee Doodle Yankee (1942)
50-The Exorcist (1973)....................................100-Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Best Actor / Actress: Nominations and Academy Awards
1-Katherine Hepburn................................................12 Nominations / 4 Oscars
2-Meryl Streep..........................................................12 Nominations / 2 Oscars
3-Jack Nicholson.......................................................11 Nominations / 3 Oscars
4-Bette Davis.............................................................11 Nominations / 2 Oscars
5-Laurence Oliver......................................................10 Nominations / 1 Oscar
6-Spencer Tracy.......................................................... 9 Nominations / 2 Oscars
7-Marlon Brando......................................................... 8 Nominations / 2 Oscars
8-Jack Lemmon .......................................................... 8 Nominations / 2 Oscars
9-Al Pacino.................................................................. 8 Nominations / 1 Oscar
10-Paul Newman......................................................... 8 Nominations / 1 Oscar
11-Ingrid Bergman..................................................... 7 Nominations / 3 Oscars
12-Tom Hanks........................................................... 5 Nominations / 2 Oscars
13-Jane Fonda............................................................. 7 Nominations / 2 Oscars
14-Dustin Hoffman...................................................... 7 Nominations / 2 Oscars
15-Richard Burton....................................................... 7 Nominations / 0 Oscars
16-Robert de Niro....................................................... 6 Nominations / 2 Oscars
17-Robert Duval.......................................................... 6 Nominations / 1 Oscar
18-Paul Muni............................................................... 6 Nominations / 1 Oscar
19-Vanessa Redgrave................................................. 6 Nominations / 1 Oscar
20-Gary Cooper........................................................... 5 Nominations / 2 Oscars
21-Olivia de Havilland............................................... 5 Nominations / 2 Oscars
22-Gene Hackman...................................................... 5 Nominations / 2 Oscars
23-Elizabeth Taylor ................................................... 5 Nominations / 2 Oscars
24-Shirley Maclaine.................................................... 5 Nominations / 1 Oscar
25-Gregory Peck......................................................... 5 Nominations / 1 Oscar
26-James Stewart........................................................ 5 Nominations / 1 Oscar
27-Susan Sarandon...................................................... 5 Nominations / 1 Oscar
28-Audrey Hepburn..................................................... 5 Nominations / 1 Oscar
29-Glenn Close.............................................................. 5 Nominations / 0 Oscar
30-Irene Duanne.......................................................... 5 Nominations / 0 Oscar
31-Humphrey Bogart................................................... 2 Nominations / 1 Oscar
Top 50 Actors / Actresses According to the A.F.I.
Actors .............................................. Actresses
1-Humphrey Bogart.....................1-Katharine Hepburn
2-Cary Grant................................2-Bette Davis
3-James Stewart...........................3-Audrey Hepburn
4-Marlon Brando.........................4-Ingrid Bergman
5-Fred Astaire..............................5-Greta Garbo
6-Henry Fond...............................6-Marilyn Monroe
7-Clark Gable..............................7-Elizabeth Taylor
8-James Cagney...........................8-Judy Garland
9-Spencer Tracy...........................9-Marlene Dietrich
10-Charles Chaplin....................10-Joan Crawford
11-Gary Cooper.........................11-Barbara Stanwyck
12-Gregory Peck........................12-Claudette Colbert
13-John Wayne..........................13-Grace Kelly
14-Laurence Oliver...................14-Ginger Rogers
15-Gene Kelly............................15-Mae West
16-Orson Welles........................16-Vivian Leigh
17-Kirk Douglas........................17-Lillian Gish
18-James Dean..........................18-Shirley Temple
19-Burt Lancaster.....................19-Rita Hayworth
20-The Marx Brothers..............20-Lauren Bacall
21-Buster Keaton......................21-Sophia Loren
22-Sidney Poitier.......................22-Jean Harlow
23-Robert Mitchun...................23-Carole Lombard
24-Edward G. Robinson...........24-Mary Pickford
25-Willian Holden.....................25--Ava Gardner
Top Best Directors with more Nominations / Academy Awards
1-John Ford: 5 Nominations / 4 Oscars
2-William Wyler: 12 Nominations / 3 Oscars
3-Frank Capra: 6 Nominations / 3 Oscars
4-Billy Wider: 8 Nominations / 2 Oscars
5-David Lean:7 Nominations / 2 Oscars
2-Fred Zinnemann: 7 Nominations / 2 Oscars
3-Elia Kazan: 5 Nominations / 2 Oscars
4-Frank Lloyd: 5 Nominations / 2 Oscars
5-Steven Spielberg: 5 Nominations / 2 Oscars
6-Joseph L. Mankiewicz: 4 Nominations / 2 Oscars
7-Robert Wise: 3 Nominations / 2 Oscars
8-Oliver Stone: 3 Nominations / 2 Oscars
9-Milos Forman: 3 Nominations / 2 Oscars
10-Leo McCarey: 3 Nominations / 2 Oscars
11-Lewis Milestone: 3 Nominations / 2 Oscars
12-Frank Borzage: 2 Nominations / 2 Oscars
13-Woody Allen: 6 Nominations / 1 Oscar
14-George Cukor: 5 Nominations / 1 Oscar
15-John Huston: 5 Nominations / 1 Oscar
16-Francis F. Coppola: 4 Nominations / 1 Oscar
17-Michael Curtiz: 4 Nominations / 1 Oscar
18-Alfred Hitchcock: 5 Nominations / 0 Oscar
19-Robert Altman: 6 Nominations / 0 Oscar
20-Stanley Kubrick: 4 Nominations / 0 Oscar
21-Martin Scorsese: 3 Nominations / 0 Oscar
2-The Birth. Silent Cinema (1894-1930).
This unit summary was prepared using the following textbooks:
Cook, P. & Bernink, M. (1999). The cinema book. British Film Institute, St. Edmundsbury Press.
Mast, G. & Kawin, F. (2000). A short history of the movies. Pearson Education Co., Allyn & Bacon.
Nowell-Smith, G. (1997). The Oxford history of world cinema. The definitive historty of cinema worldwide. Oxford University Press.
1894-1907
1-Pre-classical. Pre-Hollywood.
2-Cinema of attractions, a technological novelty
3-Lumiére, Edison, Méliés, Pathé, Gaumont, and Porter.
1908-1918
1-Transitional cinema. Cinema of narrative integration.
2-Organization of the film industry.
3-Specialization increased as production, distribution and exhibition became
separate areas.
4-The formal elements of film making (lighting, shooting, editing) all became
subsidiary of the narrative.
5-Editing made possible characters’ subjectivity.
6-Directors and actors began to receive screen credit after 1912.
7-Griffith, Sennett, Chaplin.
Major Events
technological innovations, has not precise originating moment or particular
inventor.
Daguerreotype, 1837, France. Thomas Edison invented the incandescent lamp in
1879. George Eastman began his experiments with celluloid and with paper-roll
film in 1884 (Kodak).
the US, not in Europe), under his name, the invention of his English employee
William K. L. Dickson: the Kinetograph (camera) and the Kinetoscope (viewer)
in 1981. The first films were not edited. This was a bulky indoor camera. Man
Smiling and Waving was shown in 1891, to the National Federation of Women’s
Clubs. The earliest film on record at the Library of Congress is Fred Ott’s Sneeze.
bought Edison machines and studied them. In 1895, they developed their own
machine: the Cinematographe, a portable camera-projector. This same year they
shot their first film Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory.
basement room of the Grand Cafe in Paris.
his own projector introducing a small loop to relax the film’s tension: the
Latham Loop. Edison would take credit and sell the projector (the Vitascope) as
his own and Armat would silently receive a share of the profits.
April 23, 1896, at Koster & Bial’s Music Hall on 34th Street and Broadway in
New York City. Eventually, Edison also developed a portable camera and began
sending cameramen outdoors.
invented. Cinema is one of the most technological of art forms. The development
of new film technologies were the result of audience demands. Companies
invested in new technologies in order to win over their rivals, as a result of
market competition. The first films lasted between 15 and 90 seconds.
magician and owner of the Theater Robert-Houdin saw the movies as a new good
business. The same happened to Charles Pathé and his three brothers that created Pathé
Fréres, a company to make films, and to Léon Gaumont, who created in 1897
the first working model studio with writers, designers, cinematographers,
directors, performers, etc.
companies that began making and showing movies by 1897.
genres was the melodrama: evil triumphed over good during most of the play /
film, but good miraculously won out in the last seconds. The other genre was
farce.
Méliés vs Lumiére
-Lumiére documented the world, established that the camera could create a factual
record, setting the patterns for realism.
-Méliés transformed the world, proved that the camera could create an event that
never happened, opening the doors
of fantasy, illusion and distortion.
more than 500 movies. He was the first to light films from the side and from
above. His most famous work is the
30-scene A Trip to the Moon (1902).
chronologically; there were not leaps in time or space, no ellipses in the sequence
of events. Edwin S. Porter, Edison’s cameraman, changed this. He prepared the
way for Griffith showing that actions could be made to appear continuous using
edition. He introduced the “cause-and-effect” shots and the “mindscreen” (a
close-up filling the screen) to show the character’s thoughts. Porter’s two most
important films were Life of an American Fireman (1903) and The Great Train
Robbery (1903), considered Edison’s masterpiece.
patents or professional ethics; pirating and duplicating any instrument, device,
or technique that could produce money was a normal way to do business. In
1897, edison started a series of law suits against all companies and individuals
using a loop of film (Latham loop).
accompanying its showings with a piano, and charging its customers a nickel.
This was the first Nickelodeon. Many appeared very soon creating a huge
demand for new films.
the films from manufacturers and rented them to exhibitors.
minutes). The first feature film (one hour long, four reels) was made in Australia
in 1906: The Story of the Kelly Gang. In 1907 comedies comprised 70% of all
fiction films.
of controlling the expanding cinema industry. In 1907, the Film Service
Association was created, linking most of film manufacturers and exhibitors, all of
whom agreed to pay license fees to Edison. Even Pathé, interested in the
American market, agreed to Edison’s terms. In 1908, Film Service Company
became the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC) also known as the
“Trust”, which now linked Biograph, Vitagraph, Gaumont, Méliés and all the
other companies as Edison licensees. In 1910, MPPC extended its monopoly to
the field of distribution with the formation of General Film, the sole film
distributor in the US.
distribution was undercut by the formation of new independent companies and
by antitrust charges in 1912. Eventually, General Film was dissolved in 1915 and
the “Trust” itself was
outlawed by the Supreme Court two years later.
David Wark Griffith (1875-1948)
playwright. However, in 1907, over 30 and out of work, he accepted an acting
job that Porter offered him at $5 a day in the new Edison studios in the Bronx.
Because of the great demand for films, Biograph needed to speed up the
production and therefore needed another director. In 1908, Griffith was offered
the job; his first film: The Adventures of Dollie. The huge demand for new films
gave Griffith an ideal laboratory for experimentation and development. Between
1908 and 1913, he directed over 450 movies.
characters in the scene and part of the scenery). Griffith developed a full series
of different shooting perspectives: the medium or American shot (two actors
from the knees up), the close shot (the head and shoulders of a single actor), the
close-up (the face or a hand), the extreme close-up (the eyes), and the extreme
long shot (huge vistas and panoramas). He also discovered two moving-camera
shots: the pan and traveling shot.
together in the audience’s mind using a back-and-forth editing technique:
cross-cut or parallel cut.
Film”: as with words, there is a way to combine film shots to produce clarity,
power, and meaning. He achieved this goal using different shooting distances,
camera movements, and through edition. Griffith also changed the way of
acting, making it much quieter and natural. He began to present women not as
merely frail victims but as forceful, clever, and able human beings who could
take care of themselves when they had to. He also introduced the “Iris Shot”,
masking a certain part of the frame, concentrating the viewer’s attention on a
circle of light (the Iris was the equivalent of the theater spotlight or today’s zoom lens).
features were shown only in real theaters at higher prices. Biograph did not
wanted Griffith to make features and that’s why he left Biograph in 1914 for an
independent company, Mutual/Reliance-Majestic. He would have the freedom to
make one picture of his own each year in addition to the company interests.
Thomas Dixon, “The Clansman”, which was extremely racist. Griffith was a
Southerner, whose father served in the Confederate Army. He used no shooting
script and it took six weeks to rehearse and nine weeks to shoot the movie. Its
cost, $110,000, was the most ever invested in a motion picture to date. This
movie was brilliant because of its hugeness of conception, its acting, its sets, its
cinematic techniques were superior to anything done before. It was 12 reels long
(3 hours). This movie became the first authentic blockbuster in film history,
earning untold millions of dollars.
complex film. It cost $493,800 to produce. The movie told not one story but four:
Babylon (6th B.C.); Judea, in times of Jesus; the Reformation in France (16th
A.D.); and America in the 20th century. Instead of telling one story after
another, Griffith tells these stories all at once, interweaving them into an
intellectual and emotional argument. This is a demonstration that love, diversity,
and common people have always had to struggle against the overwhelming forces
of hypocrisy, intolerance, and oppression. Intolerance makes it clear that Griffith
detests those who meddle and destroy, those who take advantage of the poor,
hypocrites and monsters of lust and power. The audience of 1916 found the film
confusing and unpleasant. This was also a pacifist movie in a time when America
was preparing itself to send its
soldiers “Over There”. Intolerance was a financial
disaster.
Mack Sennett (1884-1960)
Edison to Biograph (like Griffith) working as a writer, actor and director. He
learned a lot from Griffith and began directing in 1910.
and silent film) on the principles developed by Henry Bergson in his “Le Rire”:
the source of a comic situation was to transform a human being into a machine,
but an imperishable machine, one that doesn’t suffer pain or real harm. By
undercranking the camera, recording the action at only 12 fps. and then
projecting it at 16 fps., he speeded up the action and the effect was a series of
even more comical and frantic scenes: cars smash into each other, boats sink,
people fall down wells, fall off roofs, but nobody was hurt.
He divided the gags in two groups: the fall of dignity and the mistaken identity.
His stories seldom go anywhere; they are only a series of gags. He also had a
great taste for parodying both styles and themes of famous directors.
feature, also the first American feature-length comedy, was Tillie’s Punctured
Romance (1914). Artists like Chaplin, Marie Dressler, Mabel Norman, Ford
Sterling, Gloria Swanson, Ben Turpin, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, and many
others worked in
Keystone.
Charlie Chaplin / Charlot (1889-1977)
when Keystone offered him a job ($150 a week). Sennett capitalized his ability to
fall and stagger and roll and bounce off both people and the floor.
was only interested in pure motion, speed, and gags, in silly surfaces; for Sennet,
comedy was an end; for Chaplin , it was a means to examine the serious world of
human needs and societal structures. In 1914, Chaplin began directing; he
directed 19 of the 35 films he acted in at Keystone. From 1915, he also wrote and
edited most of his films.
week, plus a $10,000 bonus on signing ( His New Job, The Champion, The Tramp,
A Woman). In 1916-17, he signed a new contract with the Mutual Corporation
for $10,000 per week, plus a $150,000 bonus (The Immigrant, The Adventurer,
Easy Street). During the year 1918, he worked with First National, a firm that
only distributed and exhibited films, for a million dollars. Now, he had become a
totally independent producer and the owner of his own film studio.
a home of divorced parents; his mother suffered from a bad health and insanity
and as a result of that, Chaplin spent two years of his Dickensian childhood in a
workhouse for the poor. The “fictional” character he created is in many ways
himself: an outsider, a tramp, a criminal, an immigrant, a poor worker, someone
excluded from the normal life.
survive, has a kind and generous heart. Chaplin uses physical types for comic
effect, but he also adds moral, social, economic, political, romantic, and
psychological values to his comedies. He tries to examine the inherent
contradictions within the definitions of good and evil in bourgeois industrial society.
Chaplin learned many of his movements, ideas, and gags from this gifted comic actor
working for Pathé studios in France.
Stars & Studios
1914, just as the American film imagination had begun to swell, the war came
along to cripple the European film industry. By the time the war ended in 1918,
the American film had become, as it remained, the dominant cinema in the
world.
first motion picture fan magazine appeared: “Photoplay”; many others followed.
This would contribute a big deal to the star machine system. Chaplin and Mary
Pickford, the first to sign a million dollars contract, helped to create the myths
around these new gods and goddesses.
another means for the film industry to package and market its product to the
public; others consider that movie stars are symptomatic of a superficial culture,
beautiful but shallow, powerful visual presences designed to promote
stereotypes; for some, movie stars are fictional characters in a fictional narrative,
and yet a real human being whose face and actions has a powerful and familiar
persona.
tramp), MARY PICKFORD (1893-1979), born in Canada, represented the woman child,
the sweet and innocent virgin; THEDA BARA was the vamp; TOM MIX (1880-1940),
was the cowboy dandy; RUDOLPH VALENTINO (1895-1926), born in Italy, was