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Sunday 26 September 2010

Introduction: Pre-cinema, moving picture devices and early cinema history (25/09/10)

The University of Warwick Open Studies Certificate: Introduction to Film and Cinema Studies; Term 1 1895-1950: The Birth and Development of Narrative Film"; Week 1 (25/09/10)


I initially believe that this course is akin to what would be traditionally known as film appreciation, though there is a firm emphasis on the history of narrative cinema. We follow chronologically the development and progression of narrative film, through key film movements and canonical cinematic texts. We mainly focus on the progression of Western, usually Hollywood, cinema.

This gives me ample opportunity to structure my weekly viewing and reading. Hopefully, I am able to extend my study of film history outside of this course, especially concerning the methods and problems of the scholarship surrounding the history of the cinema. This will help my investigation into the writing of film history, whether concerning the issue of causality, the idea of period (e.g. Silent Cinema, Sound Cinema, Post-war Cinema – which will be introduced within the Open studies sessions) and film movements (e.g. German Expressionism, Film Noir, the French ‘New Wave’) and its wider implications in regard to National Cinema. A key area that I would like to pursue outside of the Open Studies Certificate is the problems of film and realism (wider reading to include the work of André Bazin).

As the course focuses primarily on film history, I aim to develop my knowledge and understanding of film criticism and improve my analytical skills. This will probably be done through a combination of the study of key film texts, especially in the close analysis of stylistic elements
(camera movement, framing, lighting, editing, colour, sound, performance) and the meaning created through there interaction, and to study published critical accounts of key films.

In conjunction with the module I am taking with the Open College of the Arts, ‘Visual Studies 1: Understanding Visual Culture’, I will take the opportunity to study canonical theories concerning the interpretation and reception of moving image media (e.g. theories that concern realism, modernity and the application of such critical disciplines as Marxism and psychoanalysis).

My aim for this course is to reinforce my ability to think critically about films and their meanings; not only through class-work but mainly through the private study of film and cultural studies. This will be conducted through personal study of critical literature, either those of primary (including the work of Adorno, Freud and Saussure) or secondary (those who developed the works of earlier theorist, including Metz and Mulvey) theorists. I will also try to look specifically at the work critics and their work within film studies, including: The Editors of Cahiers du Cinema on Young Mr Lincoln, Raymond Bellour on ‘film fragments, Charles Barr on Cinemascope and the work of Victor Perkins in relation to film art. Outside of the classroom I will centre my reading and screenings on key moments of artistic and technical developments that were landmarks in both critical and practical history. I also want to develop my research skills, especially in the application to my study of film.

Hopefully, I am able to bring this course of study in line with what I am studying with the Open College of the Arts, especially in the relation to cultural and literary theories explored. Without a thorough external structure I aim to construct a coherent whole, as I believe areas of study should inform one another to enrich understanding, because I wish to develop my understanding of other interdisciplinary fields which will enhance my understanding and passion for film studies.


Personal Outline of the Open Studies Certificate: Introduction to Film and Cinema Studies

Term 1: 1895-1950: The Birth and Development of Narrative Film (Beginning 25th September 2010)

1) Introduction to the module - Pre-cinema, moving picture devices and early cinema history. Clips include some from the Lumiere and the Smith Company. Appropriate sections of Birth of a Nation Birth of a Nation (D.W Griffith, 1915) will be also screened in the relation to the development of narrative film and cinematic technique.

2) German Expressionism - An alternative to classical Hollywood cinema. Clips include from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1919) and Noseferatu (F.W Murnau, 1922).

3) Sergei Eisenstein: power of the image, influence of Griffiths and Expressionism – Study Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925) and October (Sergei Eisenstein, 1928)
4) The Great American Comics: Chaplin and Keaton - An exploration of Silent Cinema’s use of imagery within the narrative, classical Hollywood Cinema’s convention of the individual against the system and the birth of the sound image: The General (Buster Keaton, 1926) and City Lights (Charles Chaplin, 1931).

5) Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939)The Continued importance of Expressionism, as a stylistic element not a national film movement, and Imagery in its application to classical Hollywood cinema. Discussion about the growth of the American studio system, the development of sound and colour technology and its aesthetic implications

6) Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941) – New Developments in Expressionism and the introduction of the ‘Deep Focus’ technique.

7) Film Noir – Continued exploration of mood and atmosphere in black and white film. Clips include selctions from: Maltese Falcon (1941, John Huston), Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944) and Out of the Past (Jacques Tournuer, 1947).

8) Italian Neo-Realism – Important new developments in storytelling and the use of the natural external setting through an exploration of The Bicycle Theives (Vittoria de Sica, 1948).


Term 2: 1950-1970: Post-war Cinema and the Further Development of Narrative Film (Beginning 15th January 2011)

1) Development in post-war classical Hollywood cinema - An investigation of Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray, 1955) and the introduction of Cinemascope; new spatial dynamics, the close-up in colour and deep-focus effects. Also, the social message movie, Kiss Me Deadly (Robert Aldrich, 1955) and the development of the low-budget black and white film; subjectivity and the introduction of distortive and surrealist effects in the Noir ‘B’ movie.

2) The Beginning of the French ‘New Wave’ - A new aesthetic (e.g. street shooting, the hand-held camera and strong imagery) and the homage to classical Hollywood (especially Film Noir), Expressionism and Neo-Realism. This will be applied to Breathless (Jean-Luc Goddard, 1960)

3) Italian Neo-Realism into New Wave - A single study film week, La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, 1960).

4)The British Free Cinema and the following New Wave – A study of Momma Don’t Allow (Karel Reiz and Tony Richardson, 1955) and the Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Tony Richardson, 1962).

5) Political and aesthetic influences of New Wave in Hollywood – Hollywood filmmakers respond to the international movements. The American New Wave and trying to get the youth back into the cinemas. Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967).

6) The emergence of the ‘Movie Brats’ – An exploration of Easy Rider (Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper, 1969).

7)  The Gangster Movie: New Wave/New Style – An exploration of The Godfather Part 1 (Francis Ford Coppola , 1972).

8) The New Generation Go to War: the New Vietnam War Movie – An exploration of Apocalypse Now ((Francis Ford Coppola , 1979).

9) To be decided.


Term 3: Technology and the Science-Fiction Film

1) The New Style Space Age Movie - Style and influence from the past and special effects pre-computer generated imagery applied to 2001: Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968).

2) ‘Mother is not feeling herself today...’ Space age Tech-Noir, horror and the badly behaved computer... – A discussion of Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1961) and Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979).

3) Tech-Noir, Horror and the future city (1)Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982) in relation to  Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927) and Frankenstein (1931, James Whale). Intertextuality and Post-Modernism, more style and content influences from the past re-contextualised.

4) Tech-Noir, Horror and the future city (2) – Paranoia and the continuing influence of the French New Wave. Twelve Monkeys (Terry Gilliam, 1995) in relation to La Jetee (Chris Marker, 1962).

5) CGI and the Feature FilmToy Story (John Lassester, 1995) and Antz (Eric Darnell, 1998).

6) CGI and the Human Actor Titanic (James Cameron, 1997).

7) Developments in CGI: Colour and assisted acting: - Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring  (Peter Jackson, 2003)

8) GCI and Digital Motion Capture: Tech-Noir and the implication of the computer game in contemporary blockbusters; The Matrix Reloaded (Andy and Larry Wachowski, 2003).


Pre-Cinema moving picture devices and early cinema devices

This week consisted of a two hour illustrated lecture given by Julia Larden, on the hybrid origin of cinema and its development up to Griffith’s Birth of a Nation (D.W Griffith, USA, 1915).  We were introduced not only to the module but also to key forerunners of the cinema and early key filmmakers and film making techniques. Even from such a brief introduction I am able to understand the complexity of these ‘primitive’ texts and the uneven nature of  early representational techniques and stylistic practices.

We looked pre-cinema moving image devices including: the magic lantern, the camera obscura, the panorama, the zoetrope, the zooxpraxiscope.

We also discussed the technical achievements  and developments (advances made in narrative, editing and the use of
mise-en-scène) of early filmmakers including: Edweard Muybridge (1830-1904), Augustin Le Prince (1842-1890), the Lumière Brothers (Auguste and Louis), Thomas Edison (1847-1931), George Albert Smith (1864-1959) and Alice (1873-1968). We related their achievements to the development of narrative cinema. Through the work of Alice Guy we were able to discuss the role of women in the production of early cinema.

Screening included various early films from the BFI’s DVD Early Cinema: Primitive and Pioneers (2005):

Leaving the Factory (Sortie de l'Usine) (Lumiere, 1895)
Feeding the Baby (Lumiere, 1895)
Le Jardinier et le Pettit Espiegle (Lumiere, 1895)
Grandma's Reading Glasses (G. A. Smith, 1900)
A Kiss in the Tunnel (1) (G. A. Smith, 1900)
As seen through a Telescope (G. A. Smith, 1900)
Mary Jane's Mishap (G. A. Smith, 1903)
The Great Train Robbery (Edwin S. Porter, 1903)


It is interesting to note, that even from its beginning, Cinema was making reference to the voyeuristic nature of the medium through such subjective devices as the reading glasses and the telescope.

I further explored Porter’s contribution to cinematic in the essay, ‘Detours in Film Narrative: The Development of Cross-Cutting’ (Andre Gaudreault: 1979).

Following on from Porter, we discussed the importance of the work of D.W Griffith and his significance on the form of narrative cinema that we enjoy today. We then explored the move from short to feature-length film.

At some length we discussed the clips that were shown from Birth of a Nation, not only in relation to Griffith’s and cinematographer Billy Bitzer’s technical contributions but also how meaning is created, especially in Silent Cinema, through the interacting technical devices. We also explored the use of imagery, pictorialism and the idea of Silent Cinema being an universal language.

In regards to Lillian Gish, we were able to briefly discuss the emergence of the star system.

Julia suggested some general texts which included Barry Salt’s Film Style and Technology (2009: 3rd edition) and Bordwell and Thompson’s Film History: an Introduction (2009: 3rd edition).  I fortunately already had copies.

Sadly, this is an area of film history that I have not had the chance to investigate although it was an an alternative module on the A2 Film Studies syllabus. My private study this week has been to use various sources to research the origins of cinema and the development of early narrative film. Noticeably from this session is the lack of a mention of filmmaker George Melies, so he is one individual that I will investigate in the following week.

I will also try and explore this week the implication of actualities and jokes on the Cinema of Attractions, slapstick comedy and exhibition practices. An area I would like to pursue is Birth of a Nation in relation to history, spectacle and propaganda. Hopefully, I will have the chance to further investigate early narrative, spatial and editing integration.

Another text I would like the opportunity to read is The Birth of a Nation (Rutgers Films in Print), D. W. Griffith & Robert Lang (New Brunswick: Rutger’s University Press, 1994).



Bibliography

2000.  Early Cinema: Primitive and Pioneers [DVD]. UK: BFI Video

Bordwell, David., Thompson, Kristin. 2009. Film History: An Introduction. 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. pp. 1-67.

BFI Screenonline,, 2010. British Pioneers. [online] Available at: < http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/445817/ > [Accessed 29 September 2010]

Brownlow, Kevin. 1968. The Parade’s Gone by... Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California.


Casey Benyahia, Sarah. Gaffney, Freddie and White, .John., 2009. A2 Film Studies: The Essential Introduction. 2nd ed. Abingdon: Routledge. pp.289-314.

Cook, Pam., ed., 2008. The Cinema Book. London: BFI Publishing. pp. 1-16.


Gunning, Tom. 1995. An Aesthetic of Astonishment: Early Film and the (In)credulous  Spectator. In: L. Braudy & M. Cohen ed. Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings. 2004. 6th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 862-867.


Larden, J. (2010). Pre-Cinema: moving picture devices and early cinema history, [Lecture]. Introduction to Film and Cinema Studies. The University of Warwick. Open Studies Certificate. Stone Hall Adult Education Centre, 1083 Warwick Road, Acocks Green, Birmingham, 25th September.

Monaco, James., 1981. How to Read a Film: The Art, Technology, Language, History, and Theory Of Film and Media. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 195-208; pp. 235-238.


Nelmes, Jill., ed., 2007. Introduction to Film Studies. Abingdon: Routledge. pp. 24-28.

Salt, Barry., 2009. Film Style and Technology: History and Analysis. 3rd ed. London: Starwood Press

Usai, Paolo Cherchi. 2000. Silent Cinema: An Introduction. London: BFI publishing.


Filmography

Birth of a Nation (D.W Griffith, D.W. Griffith Corp. USA, 1915)

‘Pioneers’, episode one, Hollywood, first series, UK, Thames Television, tx. 1980.
‘In the Begining’, episode two, Hollywood, first series, UK, Thames Television, tx. 1980.


Further Course Information:

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/study/cll/open_courses/certs/filmandcinema/

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