"How motion pictures move and talk" done by United World Firls, inc. 1943 bell and howell was a famous camera company that was later bought out and turned to crap the early machines had a prefocused light source, a lens, and a film moving mechanism that was built like a watch the camera relies on the perferations on the side of the film the sound is reproduced from a track on the side of the film stock as the soundtrack travels through the beam, it creates electric currents that can be amplified through the speaker. they vibrate through the lightbulb that then goes to the screen with on screen sound the picture and sound are done at the same time to that they match the shutter goes around 3 times to create a perceptual effect of smoothness. the whole thing about persistence of vision is a stretch because if you saw two images at once, things would be blurry the Latham Loop: relieves tension so that the film stock does not break. the reel is movint the film at a constant rate, but the frames are not moving at a constant rate. if the film moves without slack, it jerks, so the loop smooths this out The nickelodeon Boom! (1905-1907). it is a short but important period. a nickelodeon is a small room (100-200 people can fit). ppl sit on wooden benches. they very quickly raised the price to 10 cents. but they were still cheaper than vaudeville (25-50 cents). a nickelodeon did not have scheduled films, they just ran films continuously all the time. vaudeville did have scheduled shows. a good analogy between vaudeville and nickelodeons is that VD is like fine dining and Nickelodeon is like fast food (when you think about planning). by the end of the boom there were 8,000 Nickelodeons. working class people could go to the Nickelodeon shows. because they are continuous runs, there are more opportunities to put people in the seats. they are extremely cheap to set up and operate (no need for ushers, etc). nickelodeons started changing films more frequently. 1905= change 2x/wk 1906= change 3x/wk 1907= change everyday in general, a nickelodeon show would be about an hour. the films were 15-20 minutes long. so in one show you saw 3 films. nickelodeons were the first dedicated film place in america. most nickelodeons were independently owned and operated. they were centered in cities MPPC- the motion picture patents company. before the MPPC was formed- there were patent wars (1897-1907). these were continuous lawsuits about camera and projector technology. everyone wants to control the industry. the litigation was hurting the enhancement of the industry. before 1908- most films shown in the US came from europe. the US spent more money on lawsuits than production. in 1908 the MPPC was formed from a bunch of companies that were suing eachother. they would all share free use of the patents interchangeably and not hassle one another. they were all americans besides Pathe(a french company). they let Pathe in because they were a major producer at the time. The MPPC would only let people outside of the pool use the patents if they paid for a licensing fee. this included the exhibition and production process. the 2 main technologies were Edison's sprocket holes and Biograph's Lathan loop. they were critical to smooth operation the MPPC weren't completely successful b/c there were so many independents that tried to operate outside the system. there were just too many to polive. SO, MPPC decided to take over distribution and formed a subsidiary= GFC GFC= general film corporation 1910. they wanted to monopolize distribution. they would go to a distributor and bully them and threaten to take away their license. very mafia-like. the GFC knows whether you are making or distributing a film through them or illegally. a Positive effect of this: it standardized the film industry, which helped it grow. they standardized the price for films. they all cost the same to rent, they were all the same length. the GFC introduced the idea of zoning (that different theatres get films at different times and pay different amounts for them). if you get a film at release- it's a first run, then second, and so on a Negative effect: if you are not in the MPPC, you are basically kicked out of the industry. the standard story is that the courts broke up the MPPC. in 1912 the (federal) court invalidated the Latham Loop patent. basically the court said that earlier patents had the same idea as Latent Loop and so it wasn't completely new. so now, people can make films without an MPPC license. 1915- another court says that the MPPC is a trust (like an oligopoly). their reels were a standard length- 15 minutes. all of their rates were based on this. by 1915, however, feature films were on the rise and replacing one-reel films. the feature films required new promotion. if you have a very expensive film- you might need to stay in a town longer to earn back your money. the one-reel films were the same length stay in each town. feature-films also cost different amounts to see. one-reelers were kind of becoming obsolete before the MPPC was broken up vitagraph- still making shorts at that time. CONTINUITY EDITING it took a while to evolve because the audience had to catch on to editing for it to make sense. explosion of a motorcar- 1900 tchin chao the chinese conjurer-1904 life of an american fireman-1903. uses a split-screen effect and then show action from inside and again, repeated, from outside. story biograph told- `905 3 strategies: intercutting, analytical, contiguity intercutting: to imply simultaneous action analytical: break up into parts. framing different aspects of the scene. rare before 1905. one type is a point of view shot (POV is optical, what someone sees with theis eyes, not inside their head). grandma's reading glass:1900. the magnifying glass was used for cut-ins. another type of cut in is a zoom. as seen through telescope:1900. playhouseL1921. an insert is a POV that has writing (so more information) You can also have a cut-in that's not from anyone's POV. ex: gay shoe clerk 1903 mary jane's mishap 1903 (woman polishing a shoe and gets some on her nose) also an example of a poor match on action, which is important for continuity editing because it's got to seem continuous. New York Hat is a good example of more subtle, believable acting contiguity: contiguous means 'next to' in space. it lets us understand how two spaces relate to eachother. ex:through the keyhole 1901- this POV shots of the guy peeking in the keyhole shows where and how he's spying eyeline match- shows what a character is looking at and shows how the spaces relate to eachother- but it's from an optical POV. starts in the early 1910's. ex: cops-1920 screen direction- starts in 1905. becomes a norm by the early teens. ex:rescued by rover 1905. seeing and knowing where the dog is going bc we know relation of space. ex- runaway horse 1907. ex- grass widower1908. shot reverse shot is part of analytical and part of contiguity MAJOR TRENDS 1895-1915 PRODUCTION-before 1905, ppl are still trying to figure out how films work. 1905- nickelodeons create a sudden huge demand for films. at this time, foreign film is still dominating. in 1910 the MPPC tries to take over the film industry with one-reelers. by 1915- the MPPC is gone and feature films are starting to dominate DISTRIBUTION- before 1905: films are sold. 1905nickelodeon boon creates a market for rental distribution because of affordability issues. by 1910the GFC creates a monopoly distribution system. by 1915- the GFC is gone and film distributors are focusing more on feature films EXHIBITION- before 1905: film piggy-backs on other venues. it is exhibited in other entertainment places. 1905-1907 you get the nickelodeon boom with designated theatres. after 1907- you get nicer dedicated spaces. when features come in you get a full show. GERMANS! before WWI the german film industry is not very significant, very few exports (unlike france and USA) imports dominated the domestic market 1916-1920 during WWI, there was a ban on imports into Germany. for 5 years, the german film industry had no competition. this helps domestic production tremendously the # of german film producers: 1914: 25 1918:130 1921:300 in 1917- UFA is formed it was the most important german film company in 1920's and WWII. hyperinflation! the treaty of versailles was signed in 1919. it was the official end of WWI. britain and france wanted germany to have reparations for the war. germany had to send goods to britain and grance. it forced them to send more goods than they could handle. hyperinflation begins in 1923. the shortages of goods in germany caused inflation. the german government kept printing more money. inflation got so bad that you almost could not keep up with changing prices, they changed during the day. you as a worker got paid for the day at lunch and at dinner because of the differences store goods had prices, and then at the front of the store, they would change the multiplier. old people's pension is basically nothing, insurance claims are basically nothing a measure of marks to the US dollar: 1914- 4:1 1919- 14:1 1921- 57:1 1922- 402:1 mid 1923- 776,000:1 late 1923- 6 billion:1 the middle class was most hurt by hyperinflation because their savings disappeared and became calue-less. the poor had nothing to lose. the wealthy could protect their money by buying foreign currency or gold. hyperinflation ends in 1924 by the US daws plan. it has a number of parts: lowered germany's annual payments to britain and france gave germany back control over areas of germany that had been under foregin control forced germany to raise some taxes to generate money for the government this affected the movie industry by raising costs and having more people go to the movies because as soon as you are paid, your money loses value. you might as well spend it. because goods were scarce- they couldn't buy things, so they bought entertainment. the production studios started spending all of their money. they invested in sets, studios, production technology. a good example of a film displaying this is metropolis. it almost killed UFA because they spent so much money on it. hollywood looked into films like "the last laugh" for uses on how to use the moving camera on suspension cables. their sets start using false perspective the studios could hire lots of cheap labor at this time german studios had the most technologcally advanced studios in the world except for hollywood. the ban on imports lifed in 1921. it was sstill hard to get outside films because the mark was not worth very much. german films were renting for very cheap this increased german exports in the 1920s by 1922 people were less mad at germany and started to import their films when hyperinflation ends, the film industry is hurt. in 1923, 60% of films shown were german, 20% were US, and 20% were other countries. by 1926, 40% of films shown were german, 40% were american, and 20% were other countries. SPECTACLE FILMS: like expressionism. they were a deliberate attempt to copy italian historical epics. they were some of the few to export from germany and make a profit. ex: madame dewberry 1919. about france aristocracy. Major art movements leading to expressionism. bear in mind that most art movements were reactions to previous art movements. Realism: mid 1800s. an attempt to capture everyday scenes as they actually looked. realism is a response to art like religious art, which wasn't realistic. realism is often attributed to painting common, or even ugly scenes. Manet was a key figure in the transition from realism to impressionism. Impressionisn: 1960s-1900s. reaction to realism. has the goal of recreating the impression that the scene makes on the artist in the fleeting moment. focus on play of light and color.much of impressionism is outdoor scenes. Expressionism: 1890s-1920s. was a reaction to impressionism. the goal was to express the interior feelings of the artist through a distortion of visual reality. not the impression the world makes on the artist, but rather, the artist's interpretation of the world. expressionisn had many media forms. expressionism was centered in germany, and there were many sub-groups. some descriptions of expressionism include: 'old and unrealistic color" or "distorted shapes and perspective" or "objects shown with heavy outline and flat color" by the late 1910s, when you get expressionist films, it is not a radical movement. it is accepted, but not a norm for film yet. german expressionism refers to a film movement specifically. german expressionish has features like: the stories are usually not set in the present day often have myth, horror, or fantasy themes often have frame stories (bookend pieces at begining and end so that something happens inside a context) focuses on mise-en-scene( including sets, acting, and costume) the central idea is that every part of the image is expressive (not just acting) the actors are thought of as part of the set or scene visual elements: distortion, symetry, and composition. (not in the same way as expressionist painting) in film, the actors are placed to match or balance the set Features of Film During German Expressionism: distortion (of angles, color, perspective) know about Komershuel (sp??) films. like the chamberdrama symmetry and composition (elaborate sets)- ex: siegfried. they look like photography. an example of symmetry in distortionthe golem costume (people matching their backgrounds). great examplemetropolis Krachauer's view on ontology (the essence)--> what is basic way film works in the world. films scan the whole visual world. look on page 7 of the article. because film captures all the little things, it captures the magnitude of everything. the recording of the world automatically lessens the artist's perspective control. he thinks the things that you see in unpopular and popular films best reflect the psychology of the nation. Salt article: from Caligari to who? he cherrypicked the films he wanted to talk about. he greatly oversimplified german expressionism. he also talks about how "new features" of expressionist cinema (high camera angles, ets) actually came from other countries DOCUMENTARY in early film- non fiction film was very important because people were not always staged. categories of early film: actualities (slice of life films) topicals (newsworthy events) travel films ( show exotic places and things) attractions (performers and spectacles) early filmgoers thought of documentary differently at the time. it was common for newsreels to be fake or recreated. there is no distinction in advertising or reviews from fiction and nonfiction starting in 1905- fiction film starts growing in popularity. people got more used to seeing films overtime and now you need something more to make it appealing. from a production angle-->they wanted to make more fiction films because the sorts of interesting nonfiction (buildings falling down, earthquakes) weren't happening often enough. businesses like predictability in 1908- 68% of films are fiction there is no prestige in documentary films --silent documentary form robert flaherty and nanook of the north (1922) "exotic documentary" --> like categorical in intro. it opens your eyes to something you haven't seen before erik barnouw: why does he care about flaherty "the man" and his experiences making the movie the seal: he does not immediately identify the unseen creature. again he allows us the joy of discovery financial legitimacy for documentary: economically and aesthetically soviets! FH (p.185) lists all 3 sorts exotic record reality competition dziga vertov's man with a movie camera(1922) fights against conventional narratices kinopvavda newsreels. believes in kino eye and kino ear. wanted to break away from the formulas and conventions. he really recruited people to join the film movement. the camera is better than the eye, so rely on it. SOVIET MONTAGE montage filmmaking is influenced by artistic and political and economic factors it was a fusion of abstract art and political function at this time, they had to get government approval to get access to 35mm film stock CONDTRUCTIVISM art movement: taking pieces we know affect people and then putting them together. it is mechanical, and planned. Vsevolod meyerhold (theatre) --> biomechanical acting. acrobatics v. expressing emotion. art movement modeled on industrialization 1918: he stages noah and the flood as allegory for proletarian conquest you build art poster art becomes huge and abstract. movies are thought of as teamwork. a real extension of things happening in industrial art the show camera operators a lot war communism (1918-1920) lunacharsky had few resources-- received a note from "lenon" (which, the authenticity is arguable) dziga vertov and newsreels agit-prop trains lev kuleshov's experiments and shot sign (building bricks..) and actor turned to mannequin (expression using portions of the body) music is the manipulation of sounds, cinema is the ordering of shots. ex: by the law (1926) CUBISM- constructivism recycling... SM Eisenstein: theorized "theatrical attractions" as startling shocks one of his first plays was the mexican--> set to a boxing match art should agitate the viewer: make them feel and think writers must practice "language engineering" and all must combine artistic modernism and radical ideology the artist is the psycho-engineer, calculating and organizing responses art and technology yields cinema pavlov- stimulus response marxist dialectics thesis and antithesis-->synthesis montage= engineering new thoughts he loved the clash of imagery in Haiku film form: "beyond the shot" cinema is first and foremost, montage montage is present in hieroglyphs, whic are a compilation of icons/ideograms bird + mouth= sing cinema= juxtaposing shots japanese poetry= thinking in sequential images. in montage lists/ phrases psychological, intellectual, emotional effects and ineffects acting styles (kabuki) the shot= a montage cell. there is collision and conflict. conflict lies at the basis of every art graphics/lines shot scale/ levels volumes/masses/spaces between objects and space and time strategies include counterpoint between fragments. free the actor from nature and decomposing movement into discrete cels dramas reinforce clash of social issues. eisenstein plots out interaction with the film he feels like he can control your blood pressure Content Regulation 3 institutions that play a role in development of regulation censurship whorts industry groups judicial courts pre 1910's: the first set of concerns about content regulation was involving Nickelodeons. it doesn't have to do just with sex and violence, but about eh exhibition space itself there were two types of people that wanted regulation: political progressives (wanted to control urban immigrant working class leisure activities) and rural people (thought that values coming out of hollywood were too liberal) they didn't like working class people in the dark, on bare benches, all crammed in together. they suggested reforms like keeping the lights on, eliminating overcrowding in the theatre, and marking exits for safety 1908: NYC mayor closed down all the city's Nickelodeons. when this happened, a number of groups became concerned about censorship. so, they very quickly reopened strategy: if you have non-government (private citizen) approve films, then it will prevent the government from getting involved 1909: national board of censorship founded. the name changed in 1915 to National Board of Review. there are many censorship boards in lots of cities because they are private citizens, they are merely an advisory board. they don't have strong enforcement. they promote the films that they want you to see. they also advise the studios as to what the community might think of the film. they charge studios money for the service the industry wanted respect and a better image the MPPC was the organization that had the former relationship with the studios. what happened between 1909 and 1920- basically the NBC loses a lot of influence as the MPPC becomes less effective 1922- the film industry has a problem because a series of star scandles (death by drug overdose, being bisexual, fatty arbuckle and virginia rapp- she died at a party and he was accused of raping and then killing her). as a response, industry forms the motion picture producer and distributors of america (MPPDA). the name changes to MPAA eventually industry groups will often promote themselves as existing for good behavior and morale of the industry. but they really have the economic interest of the studios at heart. if we regulate ourselves, then people will not demand that the government regulate us the studios collectively own the MPPDA, but there's often conflict between the MPPDA and individual studios. 1924- MPPDA adopts "the formula"- it involves when a studio makes a film, based on another work, they review the adaptation and reccommend changes. it is an advisory opinion and is voluntary submission. as a studio, you do it to avoid future problems 1927- they adopt a policy called the "donts and be carefuls'- a list of content in films that have previously found objectionable by private censorship boards. the MPPDA will review at any point in the process. they might even tell you certain states that you shouldn't show your finished film in 1930- MPPDA adopts production code. at this point, it is mandatory for all major studios to not include certain images in films there is no real enforcement mechanism for the standards one element- no picture should violate moral sympathy of the audience another- the sanctity of marriage and the home are to be upheld 1934- the MPPDA forms a subgroup- the production code administration (PCA). it also adopts a provision that says studio owned theatres may not show a film without MPPDA seal of approval. this is a huge enforceable ban and when everything gets nuts