Shweta Rana
RU ID 126002060
Chinese Cinema
2010 February 17
Camera: The Culture Shock
The camera is a versatile device that gave way to not only preservation of the world, but
to the expansion of an isolated culture as well. Ann Hu’s Shadow Magic, tells the story of a 1902
China first introduced to the camera. Before being introduced to the camera, many elites took
simple photographs to preserve their youth and for people to remember them. When the phono-
graph, or the camera, was introduced to the Chinese people, they were reluctant to accept the
non-traditional, foreign “trick” but soon, they were amazed at its marvel of silent, moving pic-
tures.
When Raymond Wallace from America comes to make profit from the phonograph,
many Chinese people were reluctant and unbelieving. He came to simply earn some profit for his
silent movies. No one wanted to watch his “Shadow Magic” films but luckily, the chief photo-
grapher of the Feng Tai Photo Shop, Liu, became fascinated with the foreign invention. Knowing
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- Spring '11
- Song
- Chinese, Silent film, Shadow Magic, Ann Hu
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