chosehumanity: (mitchell: looking for smokes)
chosehumanity ([personal profile] chosehumanity) wrote in [community profile] fandomhigh2009-07-07 11:50 am
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Film Through The Ages, Tuesday, Period 3

"Morning."

Mitchell clapped his gloved hands once. His appearance before the class was in all aspects a lot healthier-looking than the last time he did this; after a few months, he was feeling better about this entire 'cold turkey' business. He grinned at the class, shifting his stance lightly. "I'm Mitchell. Please don't call me professor, I'm not that old." Liar. "Welcome to Film Through the Ages, where I'll be asking you all to put your Ace Ventura Ray Venturous crap aside to talk about the classics. Some of you might not come from a time where they've got films. I'll be making sure you all manage to keep up, all right?"

He pressed a button on the laptop he had in front of him, displaying some pictures. "This is the start of film," he said, "Or at least in the history as we're looking at it. Eadweard Muybridge, a photographer, made these around 1878. He mostly did them to contribute to the anatomical sciences." He tilted his head at the pictures. "Heh. Anyway, these pictures were done in the shape of something that was already common at the time: lanterns, in use since the seventeenth century, could show pictures. Add a spinning disk, or Zoetrope, and it looks as if the pictures are moving." He pressed a key again, causing the pictures to move. "Neat, yeah?"

He moved on. "He wasn't interested in making films," he continued, "That was left to the people who were inspired by this work, such as Thomas Edison. Although it was really his assistance, Dickson, who did most of the work. Lazy git." He grinned at the screen for a few seconds before he continued. "They practically invented film stock. Took film, in use for cameras, and spliced them together, slapped four holes in them and made it ready to put it through their invention, the Kinetoscope. The first device that could ever show film. They were these boxes," he made a gesture, "You'd have to lean over to take a peek at the film inside. Couldn't last much longer than twenty seconds, but it was huge for the time."

He looked up at the picture on the screen. "What followed were films that might seem simple now, but they were a huge crowd-gatherer back in 1895, when they were first shown." Also the year in which he was born, which meant he was approaching steadier ground. "Just a single shot. It was experimenting on a large scale. The Lumieres got involved - they made loads of these small films. Got their work all over the place by 1897. Things really started to pick up around then - by 1902, you had George Melies and A Trip to the Moon, the first science fiction movie ever made. But we'll get to that next week."

He had maybe gotten carried away just a bit. "I'd like you all to introduce yourselves. That's normal for these classes. Your name, your favorite film if any, and one thing you've encountered in your life that really should be put on film." He pointed at a student at random. "Go ahead."

[[ Wait for the OCD up! ]]
icecoldfrost: (So much more than you can handle)

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[personal profile] icecoldfrost 2009-07-07 05:43 pm (UTC)(link)
That? That would be the telepathic equivalent of Emma poking Jack in the ribs repeatedly, while keeping a totally angelic look on her face and paying perfect attention to Mr. Mitchell.

Revenge with powers was awesome, oh yes. The little red-headed harpy could bite her.
bitten_notshy: ([neu] broody in leather)

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[personal profile] bitten_notshy 2009-07-07 06:05 pm (UTC)(link)
After a few psychic jabs to his ribs, Jack really couldn't ignore it any longer. He leaned toward her again.

"Do you need my attention, Miss Frost?" he said, thinking something much closer to cut it out.
Edited 2009-07-07 18:06 (UTC)
icecoldfrost: (emma smile)

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[personal profile] icecoldfrost 2009-07-07 06:21 pm (UTC)(link)
"Noooooooooothing," she sang quietly, folding her hands and giving him her sweetest smile, even as she blew a mental kiss at him as a last poke. "Just making sure you haven't drifted off to sleep; I wouldn't want you to get in trouble for napping during class."

Smiting could take many forms, including being sweet and adorable at people, and Emma did so enjoy practicing them all.