fandomhigh | 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! ]]

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Hang out on your couches, watch, contemplate, pass notes. Mitchell won't mind.

Kate listened almost uncharacteristically intently. Probably because she was still kind of embarrassed for having missed the first class.

She also noted how much her brother would have loved this workshop.

Jack listened, and, eventually, raised his hand. He kept thinking he had this future down ... and then something like this would be entirely sideways. At home, the big motion picture studios in Atlanta had been there since Jack knew there was such a thing as the movies.

"Sir?"

"Yeah?" Mitchell paused, shooting him an inquiring look.

"This is all different. At home the film studios have been in Atlanta for years." And another thought struck him as he remembered a certain courtesan.

"Do you know of an actress called Lillian Meadows?"

"Haven't heard of her," Mitchell said, shaking his head and attempting to place that. For once, it sounded like it was actually before his time. "I can't remember any film studios based in Atlanta, either."

Not that he paid that much attention to all of the studios, but he'd have remembered that part.

"Then it's something else I thought I understood that I don't." The words were petulant, but the tone wasn't; Jack had gotten used to this world being just far enough off from home for something like this to shift under his feet. "She's rather well-known in my time. It hardly matters."

It didn't, and the fact Jack found himself none too displeased that she was forgotten in this one made it matter even less.

Mitchell shrugged, or gave the appearance of it. "We didn't get major film studios until the 1910s," he said, "So something else must've worked as a catalyst in wherever your world is. Suppose it doesn't matter beyond the details - just shaken time a little earlier."

Jack was thoughtful. "It's not really worth the research I'd have to do to find that catalyst. I'll just be grateful we're ahead of ourselves at home, and move on. Movies are better when they're more than 20 seconds long, anyhow."

Edited 2009-07-14 13:37 (UTC)

"As long as it's settled right, it doesn't really matter," he agreed, "And we've got plenty of the good stuff ahead either way."

Chloe was taking notes and pondering what it must have been like back then.

Emma was happily curled up on a couch, sipping at her coffee and trying to balance her notepad on her knee to take notes.

This was totally her favorite class out of all four she had this semester, hands-down. And while Ems found the subject matter absolutely fascinating and well-presented, obviously, it didn't hurt that the teacher was smart and hot.

Robin was finding he really liked Mitchell's lectures. You really got the feeling that he'd been there. It must have been so cool to be around for all that.

Eleanor took numerous notes. Though these events were close to her own time, she hadn't heard much about anything thanks to her stepmother.

Film Through The Ages, Tuesday, Period 4

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