chosehumanity (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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fandomhigh2009-07-14 09:05 am
chosehumanity) wrote in fandomhigh2009-07-14 09:05 am
Entry tags:
Film Through The Ages, Tuesday, Period 4
"Last week, we talked about the dawn of cinema," Mitchell told the class. He was still seated on a couch, but it was rather obviously the Danger Shop - there was a door behind him that couldn't possibly be a door. "At that moment in time, film was a vagrant, travelling from city to city as part of vaudeville shows and fairgrounds. And they weren't much more than twenty seconds in length. That started to change around 1905."
He remembered a few things about that time. "It started in France," he continued, "The Americas hadn't quite shown their skill yet, too unstable until at least 1912, but the French were expanding. Due to new laws, they had more time to have fun, to relax, to go and see a picture or two. Films started to get longer, and companies started to get bigger: Pathe was the first to make, distribute, and show films all at once. Italy started to match this as well, sending films all around the world, going beyond the one-reel films that had been normal up until then. It was progress, and the stir went fast."
He grinned. "I was lying earlier," he said, "The United States did have something to offer. These theatres called Nickelodeons, that would show you a sixty-minute film program for a nickel or a dime. Seems mad now, but it worked like a charm back then. Soon, there were more theatres in the US than... oh, anywhere else on the whole planet." Someone was excited about the subject, yes. Nostalgia, if even by proxy, because he hadn't gotten out of Ireland by then. "The US wouldn't start with multiple reel films until the 1910's, though. Right around the birth of Hollywood. By 1917, they had the rules of American cinema down, the way you know them, these principles of classic Hollywood film."
"Framing, action, everything was being figured out back then. People started to talk about the psychology of characters, why they did what they did, and how to best show it. Might be hard to realise now, but nobody had really heard of a close-up before." He smiled again, with a memory. "They actually thought that the close-up was unnatural and had no sense of art. Can you imagine that?" A pause. "Well, I suppose those of you who aren't of this time can. It was just a big thing at the time, if you managed to get out and catch a film, it was... magic."
It took him a moment to snap out of whatever had made him look that far away. "Today, you'll get to look at an actual film set-up of the time. Mess around a bit, see what looks good and what doesn't. Experiment, like they did back then."
He waved at the Danger Shop, which had been set-up with a classic 180 degree camera set-up. "Go ahead."
[[wait for the ocd up! ]]
He remembered a few things about that time. "It started in France," he continued, "The Americas hadn't quite shown their skill yet, too unstable until at least 1912, but the French were expanding. Due to new laws, they had more time to have fun, to relax, to go and see a picture or two. Films started to get longer, and companies started to get bigger: Pathe was the first to make, distribute, and show films all at once. Italy started to match this as well, sending films all around the world, going beyond the one-reel films that had been normal up until then. It was progress, and the stir went fast."
He grinned. "I was lying earlier," he said, "The United States did have something to offer. These theatres called Nickelodeons, that would show you a sixty-minute film program for a nickel or a dime. Seems mad now, but it worked like a charm back then. Soon, there were more theatres in the US than... oh, anywhere else on the whole planet." Someone was excited about the subject, yes. Nostalgia, if even by proxy, because he hadn't gotten out of Ireland by then. "The US wouldn't start with multiple reel films until the 1910's, though. Right around the birth of Hollywood. By 1917, they had the rules of American cinema down, the way you know them, these principles of classic Hollywood film."
"Framing, action, everything was being figured out back then. People started to talk about the psychology of characters, why they did what they did, and how to best show it. Might be hard to realise now, but nobody had really heard of a close-up before." He smiled again, with a memory. "They actually thought that the close-up was unnatural and had no sense of art. Can you imagine that?" A pause. "Well, I suppose those of you who aren't of this time can. It was just a big thing at the time, if you managed to get out and catch a film, it was... magic."
It took him a moment to snap out of whatever had made him look that far away. "Today, you'll get to look at an actual film set-up of the time. Mess around a bit, see what looks good and what doesn't. Experiment, like they did back then."
He waved at the Danger Shop, which had been set-up with a classic 180 degree camera set-up. "Go ahead."
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