chosehumanity: (mitchell: looking for smokes)
chosehumanity ([personal profile] chosehumanity) wrote in [community profile] fandomhigh2009-07-07 11:50 am
Entry tags:

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! ]]

Re: Sign In

[identity profile] heartflames.livejournal.com 2009-07-07 11:38 am (UTC)(link)
Eleanor Robinson

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[identity profile] heartflames.livejournal.com 2009-07-07 11:39 am (UTC)(link)
Eleanor was paying rapt attention. Moving pictures were an exciting thing to her.

Re: Introduce Yourself

[identity profile] heartflames.livejournal.com 2009-07-07 11:41 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm Eleanor Robinson and I don't really have a favorite film as they have not been wide spread in my time. I can't really think of anything from my life that should be on film." Not anything that she was comfortable with anyway.

Re: Watch Old Films

[identity profile] heartflames.livejournal.com 2009-07-07 11:42 am (UTC)(link)
Eleanor watched both. Repeatedly. It was fascinating!

...perhaps she needed to hang out in common rooms more often.
bitten_notshy: ([neg] disdainful in jacket)

Re: Sign In

[personal profile] bitten_notshy 2009-07-07 12:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Jack Priest
bitten_notshy: ([neu] looking off to the side)

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[personal profile] bitten_notshy 2009-07-07 12:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Jack was enjoying the comfy chairs, mostly, and feeling ... oh, about 127, to remember and recognize all of this. (Though in slightly altered form, since the film industry was a bit ahead of itself in his world.) Still, he didn't mind familiar ground.
bitten_notshy: ([neu] chin in hand)

Re: Introduce Yourself

[personal profile] bitten_notshy 2009-07-07 12:50 pm (UTC)(link)
"Jack Priest, I haven't seen a great many films yet but my favorite I've seen is metaMaltese Falcon, and .... something to put on film." He mused for a moment before deciding he could talk about the first thing he thought of. "There was a murder during our voyage here. That case might make for an interesting sort of film."
Edited 2009-07-07 12:50 (UTC)
bitten_notshy: ([neu] at your service)

Re: Watch Old Films

[personal profile] bitten_notshy 2009-07-07 12:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Jack hadn't seen these films precisely, but they were enough like what he had seen that he watched with one eye and some nostalgia, and used the other eye to observe the other students.
icecoldfrost: (I'm listening)

Re: Sign In

[personal profile] icecoldfrost 2009-07-07 01:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Emma Frost
longislandiceme: (confused)

Re: Talk to Mitchell

[personal profile] longislandiceme 2009-07-07 01:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Bobby was not in this class, but Kate was, which is why he was here holding his roommate in his arms (that was still weird every time he thought about it too much).

"Uh, sir? Dude?"
icecoldfrost: (Just a Girl)

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[personal profile] icecoldfrost 2009-07-07 01:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Comfy chairs were fantastic, and Emma curled up in one with her cup of coffee clutched tightly in her hands.

So far Mitchell was winning for Best Professor Ever, especially compared to her Monday class, and it seemed like this was going to be both educational and fun. Now if only the rest of her classes could maintain this level of awesome...
icecoldfrost: (Emma is thinking)

Re: Introduce Yourself

[personal profile] icecoldfrost 2009-07-07 02:11 pm (UTC)(link)
"Emma Frost, and really, almost anything with Katharine Hepburn is a personal favorite," she mused. "Although you can't pry me away from the television if meta for Bringing Up Baby or Lion in Winter is on."

Yes, Emma was a sap for snappy patter and screwball comedy. Which she would probably never admit outside of class, but that was just fine.

"And really, there's nothing exciting enough from my life to put on film," she lied demurred sweetly. "Not yet, anyway."
Edited 2009-07-07 14:11 (UTC)

Re: Sign In

[identity profile] mauledbyabear.livejournal.com 2009-07-07 02:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Emmett Cullen
bitten_notshy: ([pos] 'cause I'm cute)

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[personal profile] bitten_notshy 2009-07-07 02:35 pm (UTC)(link)
"Emmmmmmmmma...." Jack didn't have Bond's class to talk to Emma during, so he was going to take his eyes off Mitchell and whisper. "Which cabin are you in?"

Page 1 of 4