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GSU Film 2700 final exam review 3

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DWG's two big developments

1. Interframe Narration (editing) a. 180 Degree Rule / Axis of Action b. Alternating shot length (making image sentences) c. Crosscutting: editing between different spaces (and possibly times as well) d. Accelerated Montage: decreased shot time tends to increase dramatic tension, 2. Intraframe Narration (mise-en-scene and cinematography) a. Acting matters! b. Expressive use of lighting - manipulate time and mood c. Camera Movement - activates audience participation d. Multiple actions in single frame, e. Camera angles Conveys emotions, power dynamics, etc. f. Close-up tightens emotions and responses

kinetoscope

A moving-picture device, invented by Thomas Edison and his associates in 1892, that allowed one person at a time to watch a motion picture by looking through the viewer.

DWG editing

DWG took editing further than Porter, in that he creates linking in earlier scenes to justify later actions

Other Innovations

Dissolve - A Trip to the Moon ii. Flashback - Django Unchained iii. Fade - Black Swan iv. Irising v. Masking vi. Split Screen vii. Soft Focus

Marey

Made camera gun, filmed first cat vieo of cat falling.

SCANDALS and the Production Code

SCANDALS and the Production Code check out these salacious tales from 1920s Hollywood advocacy groups and public pressure concerning Hollywood "morals" Legion of Decency threatened boycott thus, Hays Code and the PCA instituted to avoid government censorship Production Code Administration (PCA), which forms out of the Hays Office/Code, had a list of "dos" and "don'ts" to self police both its output and input

spacial and temporal continuity

Some continuity rules that serve this style: establishing shot, re-establishing shots, cut-ins, screen direction, eyeline matches, Shot/Reverse Shot, crosscutting

Early problems with using sound in film

Synchronization--matching sound to image (which were recorded on separate devices) amplification--getting the sound to the whole theater

The ivisable style

That is, style was subordinate to story; conscious style was effaced. Thus, we refer to this "systemization of its form" as the Invisible Style: "...the systematic subordination of every cinematic element to the interests of a movie's narrative"- RobertRay

First one of these films?

The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (Weine, 1919) Entirely studio shot, this film uses intense mise-en-scene elements (set design and chiaroscuro lighting, pic2 draws our attention...) to render mood, atmosphere and story.

Georges Méliés

"pure cinema," transformation, fantasy Magician so would use editing to make it seem like magic tricks were happening. French illusionist and filmmaker famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema. he told sories bym manipulating time and space. stages acenes linked by edits. scene+scene+ scene instead of muybridge(still+still+still) Trip to the moon famous work. would color film by painting each frame.

Montage is achieve through two dynamics

1. neutralization: the process of breaking down reality into manageable parts a. into close-ups, dramatic shots, obscure angles, etc. b. thus, the shot rather than the scene is the key element in filmic language bridge scene from October 2. agitation: a film should assault the viewer by a continuous string of shocks a. each shot could deliver a stimulus to the spectator b. this type of cinema is highly directive Odessa Steps sequence

reverse shot

A shot in a sequence that is taken from the reverse angle of the shot previous to it.

mise-en-scene

All the elements placed in front of the camera to be photographed: the setting and props, lighting, costumes and make-up, and figure behavior

Hitchcock

Although working through and after the Hollywood studio era (1940s-1970s), Hitchcock (like Welles in some ways) foregrounded style (in contrast to dominant invisible style) in addition to story. Used symbolism and cinematic/visual meaning, also like Welles. Quite interested in Psychoanalysis.

Soviet Montage

An alternative to continuity editing, this style of editing was developed in silent Soviet cinema, based on the theory that editing should exploit the difference between shots to generate intellectual and emotional responses in the audience. to create this where two seemingly unrelated images were placed next to each other to create a distinct impression

Axis of Action

An imaginary line connecting two figures in a scene that defines the 180-degree space within which the camera can record shots of those figures.

screening: birth of a nation

Controversial but highly influential and innovative silent film directed by D.W. Griffith. It demonstrated the power of film propaganda and revived the KKK. First film to show the white hosue. plot: he film follows two juxtaposed families. One is the Northern Stonemans: abolitionist U.S. Representative Austin Stoneman (based on the Reconstruction-era Representative Thaddeus Stevens[14][15]), his two sons, and his daughter Elsie. The other is the Southern Camerons: Dr. Cameron, his wife, their two daughters, and three sons. The Stoneman brothers visit the Cameron estate in South Carolina, representing the Old South. Phil, the elder Stoneman son, falls in love with Margaret Cameron, while young Ben Cameron idolizes a picture of Elsie Stoneman. When the Civil War begins, these young men enlist in their respective armies. Black militiamen under a white leader ransack the Cameron house; the Cameron women are rescued by Confederate soldiers who rout the militia. Meanwhile, the younger Stoneman and two of the Cameron brothers are killed in the war. Ben Cameron leads a heroic charge at the Siege of Petersburg, earning the nickname of "the Little Colonel". But he is also wounded and captured, and is taken to a Union hospital in Washington, D.C. There he meets Elsie Stoneman, whose picture he has been carrying; she is working there as a nurse. While recovering, Cameron is told that he will be hanged for being a Confederate guerrilla. Elsie takes Cameron's mother, who had traveled to Washington to tend her son, to see Abraham Lincoln, and Mrs. Cameron persuades the President to pardon Ben. When Lincoln is assassinated at Ford's Theater, his conciliatory postwar policy expires with him. In the wake of the president's death, Austin Stoneman and his fellow Radical Republicans are determined to punish the South, employing harsh measures that Griffith depicts as having been typical of the Reconstruction era.[16] Part 2: Reconstruction[edit] Stoneman and his protégé Silas Lynch, a mulatto exhibiting psychopathic characteristics,[17] travel to South Carolina to observe the implementation of Reconstruction policies firsthand. Black occupation soldiers are seen parading through the streets and pushing white residents aside on the sidewalks. During the election, in which Lynch is elected lieutenant governor, whites are seen being prevented from voting while blacks are observed stuffing the ballot boxes. The newly elected, mostly black members of the South Carolina legislature are shown at their desks displaying inappropriate behavior, such as one member taking off his shoe and putting his feet up on his desk, and others drinking liquor and feasting on stereotypically African American fare such as fried chicken. The legislature passes laws requiring white civilians to salute black soldiers and allowing mixed-race marriages. Meanwhile, inspired by observing white children pretending to be ghosts to scare black children, Ben fights back by forming the Ku Klux Klan. As a result, Elsie, out of loyalty to her father, breaks off her relationship with Ben. Later, Flora Cameron goes off alone into the woods to fetch water and is followed by Gus, a freedman and soldier who is now a captain. He confronts Flora and tells her that he desires to get married. Frightened, she flees into the forest, pursued by Gus. Trapped on a precipice, Flora warns Gus she will jump if he comes any closer. When he does, she leaps to her death. Having run through the forest looking for her, Ben has seen her jump; he holds her as she dies, then carries her body back to the Cameron home. In response, the Klan hunts down Gus, tries him, finds him guilty, lynches him, and delivers his corpse to Lt. Gov. Lynch's doorstep. Lynch then orders a crackdown on the Klan. Dr. Cameron, Ben's father, is arrested for possessing Ben's Klan regalia, now considered a crime punishable by death. His faithful black servants rescue him with help from Phil Stoneman. Together they flee, along with Margaret Cameron. When their wagon breaks down, they make their way through the woods to a small hut that is home to two sympathetic former Union soldiers who agree to hide them. As an intertitle states, "The former enemies of North and South are united again in defense of their Aryan birthright." Congressman Stoneman leaves to avoid being connected with Lt. Gov. Lynch's crackdown. Elsie, learning of Dr. Cameron's arrest, goes to Lynch to plead for his release. Lynch, who had been lusting after Elsie, tries to force her to marry him, which causes her to faint. Stoneman returns, causing Elsie to be placed in another room. At first, Stoneman is happy when Lynch tells him he wants to marry a white woman, but is then angered when Lynch tells him that it is Stoneman's daughter. Undercover Klansmen spies discover Elsie's plight when she breaks a window and cries out for help, and the Klansmen go to get help. Elsie falls unconscious again, and revives while gagged and being bound. The Klan, gathered together at full strength and with Ben leading them, rides in to regain control of the town. When news about Elsie reaches Ben, he and others go to her rescue. Elsie frees her mouth and screams for help. Lynch is captured. Victorious, the Klansmen celebrate in the streets. Meanwhile, Lynch's militia surrounds and attacks the hut where the Camerons are hiding. The Klansmen, with Ben at their head, race in to save them just in time. The next election day, blacks find a line of mounted and armed Klansmen just outside their homes, and are intimidated into not voting. The film concludes with a double wedding as Margaret Cameron marries Phil Stoneman and Elsie Stoneman marries Ben Cameron. The masses are shown oppressed by a giant warlike figure who gradually fades away. The scene shifts to another group finding peace under the image of Jesus Christ. The penultimate title rhetorically asks: "Dare we dream of a golden day when the bestial War shall rule no more? But instead — the gentle Prince in the Hall of Brotherly Love in the City of Peace."

zoopraxiscope

Created by Eadweard Muybridge. May be considered the first movie projector. Projected images from rotating glass disks in rapid succession to give the impression of motion

Edison

Created the kinescope. Film studio: the black maria (first to exist) created parlors full of kinescopes called nickelodeons since it cost a nickel to watch small videos. They showed brief stages theatrical routines, such as the iss, dancing couples and individuals, blacksmiths, and much more. He also filmed an elephant being electricuted for his own business efforts. jerk.

Lumieres vs. Milies

Lumieres documented the world; Méliés transformed the world he recorded. Lumieres showed ("showing function," above) that the camera could record a real event; Méliés shows that film can create an event that never happened. Lumieres set pattern for "showing function"; Méliés opens the door to "telling function".

vertical integration

Practice where a single entity controls the entire process of a product, from the raw materials to distribution

Factory / Assembly line system

Producer and screenwriter are most important people at this time! · Shooting Manuals and Continuity Scripts

Dark turn

Quintessential b-film, often made by German filmmakers who moved to US to escape fascism in Europe, film noir took the crime story on a particularly dark turn.

Use of montage

Rather than thinking about montage as a directive, political tool, Hollywood and other national cinemas began to understand how to use editing more effectively to tell a story. In (pre) Hollywood, remember, the goal was to tell stories in logical, linear form; thus, Hollywood easily adopted/adapted quick editing for storytelling.

Some Major Films:

Ossessione (Visconti, 1942) Rome, Open City (Rossellini, 1945) (Hulu), Part 1 (55:24) Bicycle Thieves (DeSica, 1948) Part 1

Other genres and musicals

Other genres begin near the end of silent era and flourish with the coming of sound. We will learn more about early sound film technologies and challenges Musical Thrived with coming of sound (for obvious reasons), often mixing romance with song/dance numbers that interrupt the film's narrative (or present plot through song and dance), tie-in from Cinema of Attractions, spectacle, song and dance performers become huge stars (Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, etc.) MGM from Top Hat (1935) Busby Berkley - one of Hollywood's most well-known choreographers of this time, mixing dance, geometry, objectifying people (women...), and overhead shots Footlight Parade (1933) opening of 42ndStreet (1933) Beauty and the Beast (1991), very much inspired from Berkley Insert any number of musicals (Grease, Moulin Rouge, High School Musical, Glee, Chicago, Cabaret, All That Jazz, Bob Fosse, Wizard of Oz, My Fair Lady, etc.)

story over stylization

Recall that early studios were designed as factories that worked on telling stories in clear, linear, continuity form. The trend toward clear storytelling came to dominate studio film from 1920s through the late 1950s; polished in the early years of sound film (1927-1933), this focus on story over overt stylization sought to conceal the aesthetics of a film's construction in favor of clear story development. Next week, we'll find out much more about CHC's specific aesthetics (issues of mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound). Now, we will meet the conditions under which these films were produced.

Mack Sennett

Sennett involved in creating the most recognizable genre (Slapstick Comedy) of the 1920s - Keystone Studios Keystone Kops

Rise of the Star System

brief introduction to the beginnings of Hollywood's star system, which sought to harness movie stars' financial muscle. As studios discovered the power of stars, they had to shift production and exhibition focus. As you read it, notice how stars were genuine commodities, a key factor in studio strength from 1910s-1950s .Florence Lawrence (considered the first movie star!), Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Fatty Arbuckle, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton,

For Eisenstein, montage =

conflict, collision, and contrast

spatial continuity

crossing the axis of action or the 180 degree line. Effect of continuity errors is to confuse audience--even if only on sub-conscious level. Causes audience to be distracted and not pay attention.

Some markers/characteristics of noir:

downbeat mood cynical look toward humanity morally corrupt society suspicious, venal main characters dark atmosphere shadows (both literally [lighting] and figuratively [see above] often used voice

Kabuki

drama aimed at farmers, merchants, and other common folk A popular type of Japanese drama combined with music and dance, it is the type of theatre in Japan(Played buy all male actors). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67-bgSFJiKc

Edwin S. Porter

entered motion picture work in 1896, the first year movies were commercially projected on large screens in the United States. The Great Train Robbery (1903), Porter took the archetypal American Western story, already familiar to audiences from dime novels and stage melodrama, and made it an entirely new visual experience. The one-reel film, with a running time of twelve minutes, was assembled in twenty separate shots, along with a startling close-up of a bandit firing at the camera. His films appear logical and linear, series of shots. Life Of An American Fireman (awkward edits) Life of An American Fireman (continuity edits) UncleTom'sCabin The Great Train Robbery firsto ne to use continuety editing to show change in scene. Scene A + scene B = Story C

Kuleshov effect

expression on Mosjoukine's face was different each time he appeared, depending on whether he was "looking at" the plate of soup, the girl in the coffin, or the woman on the divan, showing an expression of hunger, grief or desire, respectively. The footage of Mosjoukine was actually the same shot each time. the power of perceiving spatial relationships even when given minimal visual information

Muybridge

filmed horse running video by taking multiple picctures ina row of cameras as the horse ran by. invented the zoopraxiscope for projecting slides onto a distant surface

Why did they move to Hollywood?

To get away from MPPC Good weather, less cold, cheap labor

Film Noir

We can claim that Hollywood presented a pretty heterogenous vision of American society and culture during the war years, forwarding a balanced, idealized image of itself that was in sharp contrast to the lived realities. War films often presented integrated platoons (when in fact the military was segregated); musicals presented fantastic images of impossible realities; screwball comedies used language and situations that were not present in filmgoer's lives; and, crime films--as a result of the PCA--continued to show a clear image of 'good' winning out (again, often at odds with social reality). One film style--it's not really a genre in a strict sense--turned its camera on cynical and often violent stories of American life not found in other films during the 1940s-1950s: film noir.

Mack Sennett

the new cinematic spectacle Influenced by pantomime (Rowan Atkinson, Rowan Atkinson 2, Marcel Marceau), the circus, chase films, slapstick a surreal universe in which logic is subordinated collection of clips from Keystone Studios Keystone Kops Canadian-born silent-film director who founded Keystone Studios in 1912

Main Stylistics:

use of non-professional actors allows greater contact with "real" people mise-en-scene that works to present stories in the "realist" fashion "real people" in real locations/situations documentary look/feel so as to focus on the "real" stories/issues and not on a fabricated look created in studio productions contrast to CHC's perfectly controlled mise-en-scene and cinematography hand-held cameras loose script and dialogue again, working toward realist function stories that really don't end when the film is over since the story/trauma of war continued even when fighting was over

Hitchcock attributes

used mise-en-scene and cinematography as style - as means of mood and atmosphere McGuffin/MacGuffin - Examples learns from expressionists that camera and its setting can render characterization and mood - Psycho still clip from Shadow of a Doubt (1942) (DVD) opening of Rear Window (1956) through suspense (not horror or mystery) aimed for a physical response from the audience Notorious (1946) (whole film) 1:00:55! a la Eisenstein editing to "shock," editing as the violence (recall October clip) clip here from Psycho (1960) editing and cinematography in Vertigo (1958) - How'd he do that? Obsessed with Vertigo documentary - part 1, part 2

Buster Keaton

uses editing and mise-en-scene for comedy, as well as physical/bodily comedy. Sherlock Jr, used editing to make it look like actor went into movie sccreen.

Jean-luc Godard

was a bit more radical (our book calls him "more abrasive") in his politics than Truffaut and even more concerned with radicalizing (rather than "shifting" a la Truffaut) cinema's aesthetic possibilities. In this early scene from his first feature, Breathless, Godard introduces us to a radical use of jump cuts that disrupt viewing by making us constantly aware we're watching a movie. It's not that JLG "invented" this technique at all (remember Melies' trick films or Eisenstein's montage), but he brought its use into storytelling in a way that that others had not. Can you imagine why a film would want to call attention to its own construction like this? And, check out the film's ending, which we can tell is not interested at all in linearity or continuity or any attempt at the 'mannered' realism offered by typical studio products. Breathless Analysis. These techniques and styles often call attention to the director's power to manipulate the viewer (remember that all films manipulate; these guys just foreground it). Thus, some of them are meta-cinematic or self-reflexive, concerning the nature of filmmaking itself.

Day-For-Night Shooting

wet streets, headlights, filters - The Searchers, Maltese Falcon clip

Screwball Comedy

xcessive dialogue, witty, outrageous situations, class relations, usually takes place in upper class world, quirky characters, male characters' masculinity challenged, etc. scene from It Happened One Night (1934) a perfect display of generic features of screwball comedy: Bringing Up Baby (1938) Idiosyncratic characters, sexual antagonism, etc. listen to the verbal exchange typical of genre found in My Man Godfrey (1936), The Philadelphia Story (1940), and His Girl Friday (1940) Modern directors influenced by screwball: Woody Allen, The Coen Brothers, Kevin Smith, Joss Whedon, etc.

Jazz Singer

first film to use sound as a means of telling a story

Screening for Class: A trip to the moon

At a meeting of the Astronomic Club, its president, Professor Barbenfouillis,[b][c] proposes an expedition to the Moon. After addressing some dissent, five other brave astronomers—Nostradamus,[d] Alcofrisbas,[e] Omega, Micromegas,[f] and Parafaragaramus—agree to the plan. They build a space capsule in the shape of a bullet, and a huge cannon to shoot it into space. The astronomers embark and their capsule is fired from the cannon with the help of "marines", most of whom are played by a bevy of young women in sailors' outfits. The Man in the Moon watches the capsule as it approaches, and it hits him in the eye.[g] Landing safely on the Moon, the astronomers get out of the capsule (without the need of space suits) and watch the Earth rise in the distance. Exhausted by their journey, they unroll their blankets and sleep. As they sleep, a comet passes, the Big Dipper appears with human faces peering out of each star, old Saturn leans out of a window in his ringed planet, and Phoebe, goddess of the Moon, appears seated in a crescent-moon swing. Phoebe causes a snowfall that awakens the astronomers, and they seek shelter in a cavern where they discover giant mushrooms. One astronomer opens his umbrella; it promptly takes root and turns into a giant mushroom itself. At this point, a Selenite (an insectoid alien inhabitant of the Moon, named after one of the Greek moon goddesses, Selene) appears, but it is killed easily by an astronomer, as the creatures explode if they are hit with force. More Selenites appear and it becomes increasingly difficult for the astronomers to destroy them as they are surrounded. The Selenites capture the astronomers and take them to the palace of their king. An astronomer lifts the Selenite King off his throne and throws him to the ground, causing him to explode. The astronomers run back to their capsule while continuing to hit the pursuing Selenites, and five get inside. The sixth astronomer, Barbenfouillis himself, uses a rope to tip the capsule over a ledge on the Moon and into space. A Selenite tries to seize the capsule at the last minute. Astronomer, capsule, and Selenite fall through space and land in an ocean on Earth, where they are rescued by a ship and towed ashore. The final sequence (missing from some prints of the film) depicts a celebratory parade in honor of the travelers' return, including a display of the captive Selenite and the unveiling of a commemorative statue bearing the motto "Labor omnia vincit".[h]

Japanese Film Overview

Before WWII, Japan developed much differently than US and Europe for isolationist reasons and it developed from a much different cultural/artistic tradition. NO WOMAN ACTORS!

French New Wave History

Check out Chapter 12 in the book to read a nice, concise history of the film in the 1950s, a period that gives rise to some of the most influential filmmakers of the century. Throughout this section, you'll find a history of youth and vitality reacting against some very real-world forces (political, military, social, economic, cultural, media) that our filmmakers redirected toward new aims. Indeed, the history of FNW is nicely approached by understanding what was "new" and what was "old."

important films during time

Classic opening scenes from 1944's Double Indemnity - opening, office memorandum, approach, speed limit Asphalt Jungle (1950) 1947's Out Of the Past has many of these characteristics Maybe the defining noir of the 1940s: Detour Kiss Me Deadly (1955) 1958 finds Orson Welles making one of the greatest (and final) noirs: Touch of Evil

Screen before class - Cleo From 5 To 7

Cléo Victoire (played by Corinne Marchand) is having a tarot card reading with a fortune teller, who tells her that there is a widow in Cléo's life, who is completely devoted to her, but is also a terrible influence (her maid, Angèle). The fortune teller also sees that Cléo has recently met a generous young man, which she confirms, claiming that she doesn't see him too often, but he got her into the music industry. There is also an evil force in Cléo's life: a doctor. The fortune teller then pulls the hanged man card, meaning that Cléo is ill, potentially with cancer. She then proceeds to pull the death tarot card, and Cléo requests that the fortune teller read her palm. After examining her lifeline, the fortune teller remains silent before telling Cléo that she does not read hands, leading for Cléo to believe that she is doomed. While distraught from her visit to the fortune teller, Cléo reminds herself "as long as I'm beautiful, I'm alive" and that death is ugly. She meets her maid, Angèle, at a café and recounts the results of the reading she received from the fortune teller, claiming that if it's cancer, she'll kill herself. Cléo cries in the café, even though there are people around, including the owner of the café. Cléo and Angèle proceed to go hat shopping, where Cléo only pays attention to the black fur hats, despite Angèle constantly reminding her that it's summertime. The black hats all beckon her, but she eventually picks out a black, winter hat. Cléo wants to wear the hat home, but Angèle reminds her that it's Tuesday, and it's bad luck to buy something new on a Tuesday. They have the shopkeeper send the hat to Cléo's home, and Cléo and Angèle take a taxi home in time for Cléo's rehearsal with a female taxi driver, who the two women find to be an interesting character. On the ride home, one of Cléo's songs plays, and they listen to the radio, discussing current news including The Algerian War, rebels who have been recently arrested, the Vienna Conference, President John F. Kennedy of the United States, and even Édith Piaf's recent surgery. Towards the end of the taxi ride back, Cléo grows nauseous and attributes it to her illness. Upon returning home, Cléo cannot breathe, and Angèle tells her to do some exercise in response. Angèle helps her change into her clothes for rehearsal while Cléo is stretching out on a pullout bar. She then lights a cigarette and relaxes in her bed. Before Cléo's lover, the man who the fortune teller mentioned earlier, enters the building, Angèle tells Cléo to not tell him that she's ill because men hate weakness. Her lover, a very busy man, tells her that he only has time to stop by for a kiss and that he'll be able to take her on vacation soon. Cléo tells him that she's ill, but he doesn't take her seriously. Cléo thinks that she's too good to men who are all egoists, which Angèle agrees with. Once Cléo's lover leaves, Bob the pianist and Maurice arrive at her home for her rehearsal. Bob and Maurice pretend to be doctors once Angèle tells them that Cléo is ill, because "all women like a good joke." However, Cléo does not find their joke funny, because no one is taking her illness seriously but her. Bob goes to the piano, and they begin to practice some of Cléo's songs and Cléo's mood quickly darkens after singing the song "Sans Toi." Cléo feels like all that people do is exploit her and that it won't be long until she's just a puppet for the music industry. After saying that everyone spoils her but no one loves her, Cléo leaves everyone behind in her home. On the way to a café, Cléo passes a street performer swallowing frogs and spitting them back out on a huge wave of water. She then plays one of her songs at a jukebox and is upset when no one in the café seems to notice the music playing in the background. Instead of remaining at the café for longer, Cléo goes to a sculpting studio to visit her old friend, Dorothée, who is sculpting nude for an artist. Once she's finished, Dorothée claims that her body makes her happy, not proud, and Dorothée drives Cléo to her home in her car. Cléo tells her friend that she is dying of cancer, and breaks a mirror, which Cléo claims is a bad omen. However, on their drive the two women pass a crime scene where a man was killed, and Dorothée tells her that the broken mirror was meant for that man, not Cléo. Dorothée returns the car to her lover, who works with film, and they show Cléo the new comedy he's been working on, which jokingly shows a woman dying. Cléo and Dorothée then take a taxi to drop Dorothée off at her own home. Once dropping Dorothée off at her apartment, Cléo has the taxi driver take her to a park. By a bridge on a river, Cléo meets Antoine, a soldier on leave from the Algerian War. Antoine helps Cléo realize her selfishness, and asks that she accompany him to the station to return to the war if he accompanies her to the hospital to get her test results back. Before leaving, Antoine confides in Cléo about his thoughts on the war, and that in Algeria, they die for nothing, and that scares him. He also tells Cléo that girls always seem to be afraid to give themselves completely to someone and that they're afraid of losing something close to them, so they love by halves. Cléo realizes that that describes her perfectly. Antoine and Cléo go to the hospital by a bus, and the doctor who tested Cléo for her possible cancer isn't in, despite the fact that he told her he'd be present at 7 pm that day. Cléo and Antoine sit on a bench outside, as Cléo is still determined that the doctor will be there. While Cléo has come to terms with her illness and is able to face the test results with courage thanks to Antoine's help, the doctor rolls by in his car and tells her that Cléo will be fine and completely cured with two months of treatment. Cléo is relieved to hear this, and tells Antoine that they have plenty of time together before he leaves to go back to Algeria as a soldier. For the first time in at least two hours, Cléo is finally happy.

main people

Luchino Visconti Roberto Rossellini Vittorio DeSica

Horror

Dominated by Universal Pictures, heavy contrast of light and dark, shadows, emphasis on sound and making subtle sounds extremely audible (water droplets, wind howling, thunder storms, heartbeat, etc.), females in distress, characters making wrong decisions increasing audience anxiety and participation, claustrophobic, monsters, close-ups, darker side of human psychology, Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr., etc., influence from German Expressionism... Nosferatu (1922) is precursor watch as Dracula (1931) meets Renfield in Cat People (1932) we see all the stylizations that typify the genre Frankenstein (1931) It's Alive!! The Mummy (1932) Trailer Limitless remakes and sequels of all these classic horror films have been created since the 1930s! Dracula (1958), Blacula (1972), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), Dracula Untold (2014) Insert any number of modern horror films (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, Friday the 13th, The Exorcist, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Rosemary's Baby, The Blair Witch Project, The Ring, Psycho, Night of the Living Dead, Paranormal Activity, etc.)

Screen before class - Singin' in the Rain

Don Lockwood (Kelly) is a popular silent film star with humble roots as a singer, dancer and stuntman. Don barely tolerates his vain, cunning, and shallow leading lady, Lina Lamont (Hagen), though their studio, Monumental Pictures, links them romantically to increase their popularity. Lina herself is convinced they are in love, despite Don's protestations otherwise. At the première of his newest film, The Royal Rascal, Don tells the gathered crowd an exaggerated version of his life story, including his motto: "Dignity, always dignity." His words are humorously contradicted by flashbacks alongside his best friend Cosmo Brown (O'Connor). Gene Kelly dancing while singing the title song "Singin' in the Rain" To escape from his fans after the premiere, Don jumps into a passing car driven by Kathy Selden (Reynolds). She drops him off, but not before claiming to be a stage actress and sneering at his "undignified" accomplishments as a movie star. Later, at a party, the head of Don's studio, R.F. Simpson (Millard Mitchell), shows a short demonstration of a talking picture,[a] but his guests are unimpressed. To Don's amusement, Kathy pops out of a mock cake right in front of him, revealing herself to be a chorus girl. Furious at Don's teasing, she throws a real cake at him, only to hit Lina right in the face. She runs away. Don is smitten with her and searches for her for weeks. Lina tells him while filming a love scene that she had Kathy fired. Don finally finds Kathy working in another Monumental Pictures production. She confesses to having been a fan of his all along. After a rival studio has an enormous hit with its first talking picture, The Jazz Singer (1927), R.F. decides he has no choice but to convert the next Lockwood and Lamont film, The Duelling Cavalier, into a talkie. The production is beset with difficulties, but by far the worst is Lina's grating voice and strong New York accent. An exasperated diction coach tries to teach her how to speak properly, but to no avail. The Duelling Cavalier's test screening is a disaster; the actors are barely audible thanks to the awkward placing of the microphones, Don repeats the line "I love you" to Lina over and over, to the audience's derisive laughter,[b] and in the middle of the film, the sound goes out of synchronization, with hilarious results. Don, Kathy and Cosmo come up with the idea to turn The Duelling Cavalier into a musical called The Dancing Cavalier, complete with a modern musical number called "Broadway Melody". However, they are stumped about what to do about Lina's voice. Cosmo, inspired by a scene in The Duelling Cavalier where Lina's voice was out of sync, suggests they dub Lina's voice with Kathy's. R.F. approves the idea, but has them not tell Lina about the dubbing. When Lina finds out, she is infuriated. She becomes even angrier when she discovers that R.F. intends to give Kathy a screen credit and a big publicity buildup afterward. Lina threatens to sue R.F. unless he orders Kathy to continue working uncredited as Lina's voice. R.F. reluctantly agrees to her demands. The premiere of The Dancing Cavalier is a tremendous success. When the audience clamors for Lina to sing live, Don, Cosmo, and R.F. tell her to lip sync into the microphone while Kathy, hidden behind the curtain, sings into a second one. While Lina is "singing", Don, Cosmo and R.F. gleefully raise the curtain. Lina flees. A distressed Kathy tries to run away as well, but Don proudly announces to the audience that she's "the real star of the film". Later, Kathy and Don kiss in front of a billboard for their new film, Singin' in the Rain.

Italian Neo-Realism

During and immediately following WWII, Italy was in significant disarray: geographically, politically, economically. Yet, as our book describes on 177ff, a distinct approach to filmmaking and storytelling appears amid the rubble and devastation, pointing to "cultural renewal and social change." The fascism that dominated Italian politics for two decades left a political vacuum and an economy in shambles. Italian people suffered under Mussolini's dictatorship and suffered doubly during the war years, as they were originally an axis power then switched to the US-British-led Allies. With their studios severely damaged during the war, filmmakers turned to filming in the streets and countryside, finding stories that were far different from the grand productions Italy had been known for in previous decades. See some of QuoVadis? (1913) and intro to Cabiria (1914). The war stories these new filmmakers told were far different than the grand spectacles of the 1910s and from the light comedies and dramas we find in the 1930s: see brief history here of "white telephone" films of this era. This new group of filmmakers and stories focused on themes and people and not on the massive stories (of the grand epics) and manufactured stories of melodrama ("white telephone" films). These INR filmmakers found their stories and their style amid the rubble and locales of the war years.

Crosscutting

Editing that alternates shots of two or more lines of action occurring in different places, usually simultaneously.

Classical Hollywood Cinema - Style

Ever notice how effortless it is to watch most of the films you watch? The story begins somehow, you become interested (somehow), and, if 'things' are working smoothly, "you" disappear, forgetting that you're actually watching a screen; it's as if life/reality is unfolding in front of you on that screen. It's a really cool feeling (losing your 'self' in a film), and it's the effect of a whole bunch of cinematic devices (in addition to acting, the quality of story, etc) that were polished in Hollywood's classical era. Suture. We refer to this era as classical Hollywood cinema (CHC) because "classical" refers not to its age ("way back in the day") but to the systemization of its form: general "rules" of storytelling using mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound. Compare this short discussion of classical film, for example, to what we call "classical music." In both uses, "classical" refers to patterns established through repetition. Here, we want to focus on the specific cinematic devices (the 'things' noted in the second sentence above) and how they work in concert for the dominant mode of storytelling during mid-to-late 1920s to the late 1950s/early 1960s, all of which worked to foreground a film's story over its creation (its artistic/formal aspects).

Narative Film

Film stayed the same (Edison shorts, Lumiere actualities et al) until narrative. with narrative, a "telling" function takes over "showing"

180 Degree Rule

Filming and editing so that all shots in a scene are from the same side of an imaginary straight line running between the scene's major subjects.

cinema of attractions

Notice that in the Edison and Lumiere films, the camera is like a spectator in the theater watching from a good seat. Characters move left to right on a single plane with little to no depth-of-field.

Films in Germany

Germany's struggle in 1920s between its history and present glorious past (history, duh) WWI (recent history) Economy (present problem) Politics (serious present problem) A German psyche "bordering between tyranny and chaos"-S. Kracauer Films produced during this time reflect this teetering.

Lumiere Brothers

Had the first film theater. Filmed workers leaving a factory and train. They showed "actualities" rather than edison's "routines" Auguste-Marie and Louis-Jean Lumiere worked with motion pictures beginning in 1894. Created the cinematographe (portable camera/projector)

Screen before class - Casablanca

In December 1941, American expatriate Rick Blaine is the proprietor of an upscale nightclub and gambling den in Casablanca. "Rick's Café Américain" attracts a varied clientele: Vichy French and German officials; refugees desperate to reach the still-neutral United States; and those who prey on them. Although Rick professes to be neutral in all matters, it is later revealed he ran guns to Ethiopia during its war with Italy and fought on the Loyalist side in the Spanish Civil War. Black-and-white film screenshot of several people in a nightclub. A man on the far left is wearing a suit and has a woman standing next to him wearing a hat and dress. A man at the center is looking at the man on the left. A man on the far right is wearing a suit and looking to the other people. From left to right: Henreid, Bergman, Rains and Bogart Petty crook Ugarte shows up and boasts to Rick of "letters of transit" obtained by murdering two German couriers. The papers allow the bearers to travel freely around German-controlled Europe and to neutral Portugal, and are thus almost priceless to the refugees stranded in Casablanca. Ugarte plans to sell them at the club that night, and asks Rick to hold them. Before he can meet his contact, he is intercepted by the local police under the command of Captain Louis Renault, an unabashedly corrupt Vichy official. Ugarte dies in custody without revealing that he entrusted the letters to Rick. At this point, the reason for Rick's bitterness—former lover Ilsa Lund—walks into his establishment. Upon spotting Rick's friend and house pianist, Sam, Ilsa asks him to play "As Time Goes By." Rick storms over, furious that Sam has disobeyed his order never to perform that song, and is stunned to see Ilsa. She is accompanied by her husband, Victor Laszlo, a renowned fugitive Czech Resistance leader. They need the letters to escape to America to continue his work. German Major Strasser has come to Casablanca to see that Laszlo does not succeed. When Laszlo makes inquiries, Ferrari, a major underworld figure and Rick's friendly business rival, divulges his suspicion that Rick has the letters. In private, Rick refuses to sell at any price, telling Laszlo to ask his wife the reason. They are interrupted when Strasser leads a group of officers in singing "Die Wacht am Rhein." Laszlo orders the house band to play "La Marseillaise." When the band looks to Rick, he nods his head. Laszlo starts singing, alone at first, then patriotic fervor grips the crowd and everyone joins in, drowning out the Germans. In retaliation, Strasser has Renault close the club. Black-and-white film screenshot of a man and woman as seen from the shoulders up. The two are close to each other as if about to kiss. Bogart and Bergman That night, Ilsa confronts Rick in the deserted café. When he refuses to give her the letters, she threatens him with a gun, but then confesses that she still loves him. She explains that when they met and fell in love in Paris in 1940, she believed her husband had been killed attempting to escape from a concentration camp. Later, while preparing to flee with Rick from the imminent fall of the city to the German army, she learned that Laszlo was alive and in hiding. She left Rick without explanation to nurse her sick husband. Rick's bitterness dissolves. He agrees to help, letting her believe that she will stay with him when Laszlo leaves. When Laszlo unexpectedly shows up, having narrowly escaped a police raid on a Resistance meeting, Rick has waiter Carl spirit Ilsa away. Laszlo, aware of Rick's love for Ilsa, tries to persuade him to use the letters to take her to safety. When the police arrest Laszlo on a minor, trumped-up charge, Rick persuades Renault to release him by promising to set him up for a much more serious crime: possession of the letters. To allay Renault's suspicions, Rick explains that he and Ilsa will be leaving for America. When Renault tries to arrest Laszlo as arranged, Rick forces him at gunpoint to assist in their escape. At the last moment, Rick makes Ilsa board the plane to Lisbon with her husband, telling her that she would regret it if she stayed—"Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life." Strasser, tipped off by Renault, drives up alone. Rick kills him when he tries to intervene. When policemen arrive, Renault pauses, then orders them to "round up the usual suspects." Renault suggests to Rick that they join the Free French in Brazzaville. As they walk away into the fog, Rick says, "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Screen before class - The Bicycle Thief

In the post-World War II Val Melaina neighbourhood of Rome, Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani) is desperate for work to support his wife Maria (Lianella Carell), his son Bruno (Enzo Staiola), and his small baby. He is offered a position posting advertising bills, but tells Maria that he cannot accept because the job requires a bicycle. Maria resolutely strips the bed of her dowry bedsheets—prized possessions for a poor family—and takes them to the pawn shop, where they bring enough to redeem Antonio's pawned bicycle. (A memorable shot shows the sheets being added to a mountain of bedding pawned by other families.) They cycle home—Maria on the crossbar—rejoicing in their good fortune. Along the way, Maria insists that she has to visit someone. Antonio discovers that it is a seer who had prophesied that Antonio would find work; Maria gives the seer money in appreciation of her prophecy. Antonio is derisive of Maria's faith in the seer, and teases her about spending money on such foolishness. On his first day of work Antonio is atop a ladder when a young man (Vittorio Antonucci) snatches the bicycle. Antonio gives chase but is thrown off the trail by the thief's confederates. The police take a report but warn that there is little they can do. Advised that stolen goods often surface at the Piazza Vittorio market, Antonio goes there with several friends and his small son Bruno. Finding a bike that might be Antonio's they summon an officer, but the serial numbers do not match. At the Porta Portese market Antonio and Bruno spot the thief with an old man. They pursue the thief but he eludes them. They then accost the old man demanding the thief's identity, but the old man feigns ignorance. They follow him into a church where, after disrupting the service, he slips away from them. Bruno shows dismay after this defeat, which angers Antonio, who in turn slaps his son, greatly upsetting the boy. Antonio has Bruno wait by a bridge and goes in search of the old man. Suddenly there are cries that a boy is drowning. Rushing toward the commotion Antonio is relieved to see that the drowning boy is not Bruno. Antonio treats Bruno to lunch in a restaurant, where they briefly forget their troubles, but on seeing a rich family enjoying a fine meal, Antonio is again seized by his calamity and tortures himself by reckoning his lost earnings. Desperate, Antonio consults the seer, who tells him, "You'll find the bike today, or not at all." Leaving the seer's house they encounter the thief; Antonio pursues him into what turns out to be a brothel, whose denizens quickly eject them. In the street hostile neighbors gather as Antonio accuses the thief, who conveniently falls into a fit for which the crowd blames Antonio. During this commotion Bruno fetches a policeman, who searches the thief's apartment without result. The policeman tells Antonio the case is weak—Antonio has no witnesses and the neighbors are certain to provide the thief with an alibi. Antonio and Bruno walk off in despair amid jeers and threats from the crowd. On their way home, they near Stadio Nazionale PNF football stadium. Inside a game is underway, while outside, rows of bicycles await their owners. Antonio sees an unattended bicycle near a doorway. He paces distractedly, then sits with Bruno on the curb, his hat in his hands. He looks as a stream of bicycles rush past—the world seems full of other people's bicycles. He resumes pacing, anguished and agitated, then gives Bruno a coin, telling him to take the streetcar and wait at Monte Sacro. Antonio circles the unattended bicycle, summons his courage, and jumps on it. Instantly the hue and cry is raised and Bruno, who has missed the streetcar, is stunned to see his father surrounded, pulled from the bike, slapped and insulted—his hat knocked off. As Antonio is being muscled toward the police station, the bicycle's owner notices Bruno, who is carrying Antonio's hat; in a moment of compassion he tells the others to release Antonio. Antonio and Bruno walk off slowly amid a buffeting crowd. Bruno hands his father the hat, crying as Antonio stares dazedly ahead, unreacting even as a truck brushes his shoulder. They look briefly at each other. Antonio fights back tears; Bruno takes his hand. The camera watches from behind as they disappear into the crowd.

Thomas Ince

Ince created first recognizable film studio (Inceville), which set the standard for film studios

Noh Theater

Japanese classical theater - musical - during meiji reached offical drama status a classic form of Japanese drama involving heroic themes, a chorus, and dance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2Oi3C4G1WI

Kuleshov

Kuleshov shows that the shot has two distinct values: (original experiment) 1. that which it possesses in itself as a photograph, and 2. that which it acquires when placed in relationship with other shots thus, 'real' space and 'real' time are subordinate to the processes of editing

Screen before class - Breathless/A Bout De Souffle

Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a youthful criminal who is intrigued with the film persona of Humphrey Bogart. After stealing a car in Marseille, Michel shoots and kills a policeman who has followed him onto a country road. Penniless and on the run from the police, he turns to an American love interest Patricia (Jean Seberg), a student and aspiring journalist, who sells the New York Herald Tribune on the streets of Paris. The ambivalent Patricia unwittingly hides him in her apartment as he simultaneously tries to seduce her and call in a loan to fund their escape to Italy. Patricia says she is pregnant, probably with Michel's child. She learns that Michel is on the run when questioned by the police. Eventually she betrays him, but before the police arrive she tells Michel what she has done. He is somewhat resigned to a life in prison, and does not try to escape at first. The police shoot him in the street and, after a prolonged death run, he dies "à bout de souffle" (out of breath). Closing dialogue[edit] Michel's death scene is one of the most iconic scenes in the film, but the film's final lines of dialogue are the source of some confusion for English-speaking audiences. In some translations, it is unclear whether Michel is condemning Patricia, or alternatively condemning the world in general. As Patricia and Detective Vital catch up with the dying Michel, they have the following dialogue: MICHEL: C'est vraiment dégueulasse. PATRICIA: Qu'est-ce qu'il a dit? VITAL: Il a dit que vous êtes vraiment "une dégueulasse". PATRICIA: Qu'est-ce que c'est "dégueulasse"?[3][4] In the English captioning of the 2001 Fox-Lorber Region One DVD, "dégueulasse" is translated as "scumbag", producing the following dialogue: MICHEL: It's disgusting, really. PATRICIA: What did he say? VITAL: He said, "You're a real scumbag". PATRICIA: What's a scumbag? The 2007 Criterion Collection Region One DVD uses a less literal translation: MICHEL: Makes me want to puke. PATRICIA: What did he say? VITAL: He said you make him want to puke. PATRICIA: What's that mean, "puke"?

MPPC

Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC, also known as the Edison Trust), founded in December 1908 and terminated 10 years later in 1918 after conflicts within the industry, was a trust of all the major American film companies

Film in the 1920s

Nickelodeons became main way to watch films in the first decade of 20th century. Edison's MPPC dominated (financially) all aspects of filming, a trait that weds American filmmaking to $$ very early Notice on p24 that morality/judgment "against" film was already ongoing

Other Films

Nosferatu (Murnau, 1922) Creative use of outdoor and indoor shooting, using camera angles, high contrast lighting and fluid editing to guide viewer through story, exaggerated physical features, clear distinction of good and evil. Clips The Last Laugh (Murnau, 1924) Uses the most expressive camera movements, facial expressions and linear editing to tell its story. Complicated framing devices (through windows, doors etc). Almost no intertitles. The incredible "Dream Sequence" Metropolis (Lang, 1927) Blends the line between man and machine, dystopian future, mechanized movements, takes a serious look at class structure and socioeconomics, industrial fantasy motif throughout the film, technology surpasses humanity and takes on a life of its own. City Sequence, Dance Sequence, Moloch Scene M (Lang, 1931) Made near the end of the expressionist period. "The brilliance of the film's narrative structure, its classic visual images (the killer's shadow appearing on a poster announcing a reward for his capture, a child's balloon caught in a power line, Lorre's bulging eyes as he discovers a chalk "M" on his shoulder) and its inventive use of sound, for example in the serial killer's ominous whistling of Grieg's Peer Gynt, have made M one of the most studied and imitated films ever made."--Mike Springer Knife scene, Confession scene

For Vertov, Eisenstein was too caught up in narrative filmmaking!

The Man With The Movie Camera (1929): The film contains an amalgamation of editing techniques - visual matches, Kuleshov effects, montage, visual jokes/puns, meta-film moments, political and social messages, an exploration of what this film medium (specifically the editing aspect) can actually do!

Silent slapstick comedy

The dominant genre of the 1910s-20s until the coming of sound (1927+) · Often featured in "shorts" before features

block-booking

The practice of forcing a theater to buy B films as a pre-condition for acquiring A films

Zoetrope

The refined phenokistoscope. A cylinder with slits cut in it and a band of images on the inner surface.

Benshi

Throughout the world, silent films were screened with musical accompaniment. In Japan, however, silent films were usually accompanied by an orchestra and a performer known as a benshi, who stood next to the screen to read the subtitles, explaining and interpreting the film. This kind of narration developed in many countries in the early years of the silent film era; however, the only countries in which it became a central component of the cinematic experience were Japan, Korea, and Thailand (the latter two countries, because of Japanese influence). Filmmakers in America and Europe also experimented with narrators of various kinds; however, they did not develop as a significant component of American or European films. In contrast, in Japan, the benshi became central figures in the presentation of silent films, and some achieved a status in public popularity comparable to the film stars of later decades. The first three chapters of Dym's book detail the development of Japanese film from the end of the nineteenth century through the first decade of the twentieth century. In these formative years of Japanese cinema, the only stars were the benshi. The benshi, through their direct role in communicating with the audience, had a critical role in interpreting the films that they accompanied. Indeed, it was not until almost 1920 that subtitles first appeared in Japanese films. As a consequence, it was the benshi who interpreted the film images and brought the characters to life for the audience. Chapters 4, 5 and 6 go on to paint a richly illustrated picture of the central role the benshi played in the Japanese silent film era. Indeed, the importance of the role played by the benshi makes one wonder why they have been relatively neglected as a subject worthy of scholarly attention. Chapters 7 and 8 similarly paint a detailed and engaging picture of the benshi as challenging authority and cultural norms. Benshi brought a decidedly subversive character to their readings of films and often tapped into some of the most non-conformist elements of Japanese culture. Japanese newspapers, magazines and government officials frequently criticised benshi for performing drunk, for having affairs with married women, for cheating women out of money, and for giving bawdy setsumei. The Japanese government tried to control the non-conformist, anti-authoritarian elements of benshi behaviour and its perceived effects on society. Yet the laws, and the methods the government used to control the benshi, were only partly effective, as the benshi frequently and openly ignored them. Benshi reveal that early twentieth-century Japan was not wholly consumed by politics and war. It was also about challenging moral propriety, enjoying life, and living life to its hedonistic fullest. The popularity of the benshi faded with the introduction of sound to accompany film. Ironically, given the historical dominance of the benshi profession during the silent film era, today the most celebrated benshi is a woman, Sawato Midori. Midori has worked as a professional benshi for the past twenty years, and is now the only person in Japan who earns a living in this field. Dym notes that, when Midori was asked what is the most important role of the benshi today, she replied, 'Communicating the spirit of the films made in the past to today's audiences' (page 223-4). Chapters 9 and 10 are notable for highlighting the largely overlooked narrative art of setsumei. Dym notes that jōruri, kōdan, rakugo, naniwabushi, manzai, mandan, and gidayū are a few of the narrative arts which are often mentioned when one talks about the art of story telling (wajutsu) in Japan. However, setsumei is rarely mentioned. This is a regrettable omission, as setsumei was one of the most unique and dynamic narrative arts to emerge in Japan during the twentieth century, particularly during the 1910s and 1920s. Setsumei is like kōdan, for it is story-like; it is similar to rakugo, as it is theatre-like; it employs a voice that is scratchy and rough, like the one used by naniwabushi storytellers; and it is identical to jōruri, in that it supplies a vocal element to a visual performance. Although setsumei borrowed from Japan's narrative tradition and contains elements from various vocal arts, it has its own unique sound and structure. A strength of Dym's book is how it details the unique features of setsumei and highlights its enduring legacy and influence on Japanese narrative arts. A further strong point is how the book explains and elevates the roles played by the benshi. The book demonstrates that the benshi were masterful narrators. They developed an ability to perform poetic rhetoric that perfectly meshed with the moving images, to describe creatively images within a strict time constraint, and constantly to think ahead in anticipation of upcoming scenes. As Dym notes: Benshi often inserted highly poetic lines into their setsumei because they sounded great, even though they often had nothing to do with the film and thus made little sense. Although superfluous, when used judiciously, they added to the poetic beauty and flow of the setsumei. Kunii Shikō, for example, liked to interject the following lines into his setsumei: 'In the forest of the flowers, the spring moon, one bird goes, another returns: don't cross the bridge of dreams.' (page 191) Usually, benshi saved their most poetic lines for the end of the film. Chapter 11 emphasises that the benshi, while largely forgotten by contemporary society, are not quite extinct. Indeed, a small number of people, primarily amateurs, still practice the narrative arts of the benshi, and books such as Dym's may help revive further interest. From my experience as a television announcer in Japan, and from recent experience acting as a benshi for Ozu Yasujirō's 1932 film Umarete wa mita keredo ('I was born, but ...') at the 2005 Auckland and Wellington Film Society Festival in New Zealand, I have gained an appreciation of how fascinating the benshi role can be. Benshi performances usually entail a careful mix of dialogue and explanation, sensitive variations of volume, tone, pace and timing, precise modulation of music and silence, and alignment of the stage presence of the benshi with the visual images and storyline. My recent experience acting as a benshi also provided me with an appreciation of Dym's efforts in writing this illuminating and richly detailed history of benshi and setsumei. Much about the early cinema in Japan, as in the West and elsewhere, was novel and exploratory. This early period of Japanese cinema has, to some extent, been undervalued. Dym's book helps to rectify this neglect, and highlights the important historical role of the benshi, both as a link between traditional and modern theatre and as a cultural phenomenon of Japan's early twentieth century. Benshi, Japanese Silent Film Narrators, and Their Forgotten Narrative Art of Setsumei is a significant contribution to our knowledge about the history of Japanese popular culture, and also highlights the continuing influence that benshi and setsumei have on contemporary Japanese cinema and narrative arts. The book will be of particular relevance to those interested in silent films and narrative arts and is, more generally, likely to enhance the appreciation of Japan's early-twentieth-century popular culture.

Change from CHC

We've gotten a bit about what was "old" by understanding CHC as a system of filmmaking that taught the world what moving images can do, what they "mean" and how they're to be "read": a system of patterns (which make it "classical") and repeated themes, styles and stories told in highly functional (and highly predictable) fashion. We could refer to CHC as being highly "mannered" in this sense: tightly controlled mise-en-scene, camerawork and editing discouraged individual style and experimentation. Much French film of the period reflected the same systemization resulting from firmly established studio control. This way of making films ran in contrast to the new generation coming of age after WWII who saw a world in need of change and redirection (in terms of political, social and economic issues AND in terms of cultural, artistic products like film).

Defying the old

Writing in film journals (most notably in Cahiers du Cinema and see 216 in book) and hanging out in film clubs, a generation of loosely aligned people ended up making films that radically shifted what film could do, what stories it could tell, and how it could tell them. They sought to defy "old" industrial (studio bound) conventions by pointing the way to a more "personal cinema" that reflected the values, styles and media literacies of their generation by actively promoting "innovations in film form and style."

History of Biograph - griffitth

a. One-Reelers b. Developing Narrative Language (still used today) c. Showed future, as drive toward increased film length

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