Midterm Study Guide

Film History I Midterm Exam Study Guide
The Midterm Exam will cover chapters 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 from the Thompson and Bordwell text, chapters 1 and 2 from the Allen and Gomery text, and the following powerpoints: “Origins of Cinema,” “Edison Co.,” “Lumiere Bros.,” “Early Industry,” and “Narrative Begins.” Any material from those texts or class meetings may be covered, but pay particular attention to the material listed below.
Terms
1. Bricolage- “Tinkering” the bringing together of bits and pieces of already known techniques to produce a new capability.
2. Mode of production- Ways movies get made.
3. Frames per second- (FPS) Is a measure of how motion video is displayed. Each frame is a still image.
4. Silent frames per second
5. Aspect ratio- The ratio of the width to the height of the image on a television screen.
6. Shot- One uninterrupted runs of the camera to expose a series of frames.
7. Crosscutting/Intercutting- Editing that alternates shots of two or more lines of action occurring in different places, usually simultaneously.
8. Match cut- A continuity cut that joins two shots of the same gesture, making it appear to continue uninterrupted.
9.Stop-Motion Replacement- Used to create an illusion of sudden appearance or disappearance of persons or objects.
10. Mise-en-scène- The staging of a play; the scenery and properties for a play, the stage setting.
11. Block booking- An arrangement in which the distributor forces exhibitors to rent several films in order to get the most desirable ones. Common in the U.S. film industry after the 1910’s, the practice was declared illegal in the “Paramount decision.”
12. Vertical integration- A practice in which a single company engages in two or more of the activities of the film industry. (Production, distribution, and exhibition)
13. Studio mode of production
14. Cinematographe- Hand cranked at 16 FPS, portable (16 pounds), easily converted into a projector, wide range of focus. Invited by Lumiere Brothers.
15. Genre- Various tyoes of films that audiences and filmmakers recognize by their recurring conventions. Common genres are horror films, gangster films, and Westerns.
16. Celebrity Film
17. Trick Film-
18. Historical Recreation/Reconstruction
19. Actuality
20. Western- first western: Great Train Robbery (12-15 minutes)
21. Science Fiction
22. Impressionism
23. Photogénie
24. Kuleshov Effect- You can create meaning that never actually happened on the screen. Urges viewers to project emotion. Create ficitional space.
25. Montage- editing. Not a scene, summaries a topic in a short amount of time. Example: beginning of UP! Series of brief images in short amound of time.
26. Dialectical/Intellectual Montage
27. Constructive Editing- Builds up the scene from a series of tight shots
28. Montage sequence
29. Mental Subjectivity- When we hear an internal voice reporting a character’s thoughts, or we might see the character’s inner images, representing memory, fantasy, dreams.
30. Perceptual Subjectivity

Major figures
Eedweard MUYBRIDGE- FIRST to break action into photos.
Étienne-Jules MAREY- FIRST to shoot multiple pictures with one camera, (12-15 frames.)
Émile REYNAUD
George EASTMAN
Reverend Hannibal GOODWIN
Henry M. REICHENBACH- Perfected celluloid film in 1889 for Eastman’s company.
William Kennedy-Laurie DICKSON- The primary inventor of Edison Co’s camera and viewer. Directed and shot the first and most famous Edison film.
William HEISE- Directed and shot the first and most famous Edison films.
EDISON Co.- They “borrowed” others inventions and employed inventors and artist.
LUMIERE BROTHERS- Invented their Cinématographe in 1895. By 1900 the Lumière Co. had mad 2,030 films. And by 1905, Louis Lumière lost interest in motion pictures and the company ceased production. What made them great:
1. Use of Perspective
2. Compositions
3. Multiple plans of Action (washer women)
Birt ACRES
R.W. PAUL- Father of English Cinema, made England’s first portable camera and most popular projector.
G.A. SMITH- Grandma’s reading glasses, earliest close up in films (POV)
Cecil HEPWORTH- Many technical innovations and refinements (close up, cross cut, POV shot, pan) Most important British producer of pre-feature film era.
James WILLIAMSON
Alice GUY-BLACHÉ – Gaumont’s secretary = became his first director, eventually oversaw all Gaumont production. Started Solax in 1910. “BE NATURAL” Her films address many social isues of the day.
GAUMONT- Founded in 1895 by Léon Gaumont. By 1897, the first working model of the studio system. First employed Alice Guy(Blache), FIRST female filmmaker and studio owner in the world.
PATHÉ FRÈRES- Founded in 1896 by Charles Pathé and 3 brothers, produced their first film in 1899.
Manufactured and sold equipment.
Produced films
Owned theatres.
Film D’Art
Edwin S. PORTER- (America) Made popular narrative films in 1902 and 1903.
George MÉLIÈS- the First Master of Narrative film. First film: the Card Game (1896), landmark film: Trip to the Moon (1902)
Represents an artisanal mode of production:
1. Small crew
2. Working on one film at a time (normally)
3. one person with a majority of creative control
4. artist chooses and writes projects himself.

D.W. GRIFFITH
Charles CHAPLIN

Motion Picture Patents Company/The Trust
National Board of Censorship/National Board of Review
AMERICAN BIOGRAPH- founded in 1897, lead by WKL DICKSON, most successful studio for several years, started careers of DW GRIFFITH, Mack Sennett, Mary Pickford Gish sisters, etc.
VITAGRAPH- founded and lead by J. Stuart Blackton. Innovative, productive, and lasted longest of any early American company (until 1925) Became known for it’s sophisticated Trick Films
Dmitri KIRSANOFF
F.W. MURNAU
Fritz LANG
Robert WIENE
Carl MAYER
G.W. PABST
Charlie CHAPLIN
Buster KEATON
Mary PICKFORD
PARAMOUNT(-Publix)- Lasky and Zukor buy in 1925 and adopt the name. Most successful studio of silent era. They initiated block booking.
MGM (Loew’s)- Marcus Loew owned national theatre chain. Became known for it’s stable of stars and prestige pictures.
FIRST NATIONAL- Counter strategy to Paramount’s block booking, exhibitors handed together and contracted with filmmakers directly: production money in exchange for exhibition rights. Lasts until 1928. Chaplin, Keaton, Harry Langdon, etc.
UNITED ARTISTS- Founded by DW Griffith, Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks in 1919. Just a distribution company: artists make movies independently and use distribution deals to get production money. Merged with MGM in 1981. This business model stood out at the time but now is a norm.
FOX FILM CO.- founded by William Fox, 2nd studio to venture into sound cinema, merges with 20th Century Productions in 1935. Known as 20th Century Fox ever since.
UNIVERSAL- Laemmle merges his Independent Motion Pictures with 8 small cos. in 1912.
WARNER BROS.- founded by Harry, Abe, Sam, and Jack in 1913; incorporated in 1923. Buys Vitagrpah in 1925  Vitagraph becomes WB’s sound “wing.” Produced the first sound feature film. Known for gangster movies, horror films, other B Movie fare. First three sound feature films made by WB.
COLUMBIA- Incorporated by Harry and Jack Cohn in 1924. Frank Capra, Cary Grant, and string of witty comedies and romances put them on the map.
Lev KULESHOV
Sergei EISENSTEIN- took kuleshov’s and pudvkin’s ideas much father and delivered intellectual montage. (collision montage, dialectical montage)
Vsevolod PUDOVKIN- wanted you to notice the different camera shots, meaning produced by accumulation of images. “Shots are like bricks, assembled correctly they build metaphorical and emotional significance.”
Dziga VERTOV

Movements and Periods
1. Cinema of Attractions- The era of cinema before narrative films came to dominate 1894-1904. A broad type of motion picture, cinema that consciously engages the viewer’s curiosity, directly addresses the audience rather than trying to involve them in narrative or engagement with character.
2. The Trust Era- Ended lawsuits over patents and copyrights. Kept all other companies out of the American Film Industry. Standard film lengths 1 reel. Standard prices (all films cost the same to rent.)
a. Creation of the National Board of Censorship in 1909, became National Board of Review in 1915. Est. industry, and nationwide standards and principles to diminish moral objections to MPPC products, especially localized incidents.
b. Edison, Biograph, Vitagraph, Essanay, Lubin, Selig, Kalem, Melies, Pathe, Thomas Armat, George Kleine
3. French Impressionism- emphasized the photogenie of the image. Meaning is produced with shots.
4. German Expressionism- emphasized mise-en-scene. Meaning is produced with shots.
5. Soviet Montage- emphasized editing; meaning is produced between the shots. Influenced by Constructivism.
6. Silent Hollywood- major production units: Paramount, Metro Goldwyn, universal, fox film, warner brothers, Columbia, first national, united artist.

Films
Lumiere films
Workers Leaving the Factory- First Lumiere film ever projected.
Arrival of a Train at the Station- The most famous Lumiere movie, met all the major point on what made the Lumiere brothers great.
Watering the Gardener- stop motion replacement.
Baby’s Breakfast
Washer Women
European Women in China
Edison films
Blacksmithing Scene- First film shown publicly via Kinetoscope.
Shows a lot of movement.
Social class is demonstrated throughout the movie, seeing as upper classes went to see the movies in the beginning, they were watching a lower class.
No editing in the movie.
Record of a Sneeze
Annie Oakley- Celebrity film
Dickson Experimental Sound Film- No women were working for the Edison company therefore two men were used. Sound film in 1894. Example of Edison Company’s innovative spirit.
Execution of Mary- Beginning of the Historical Recreation genre. First time we have ever seen stop motion replacement.
Queen of Scots
The Kiss- just another scandalous film.
The Kiss in the Tunnel
Grandma’s Reading Glasses- Earliest POV shot in films.
Countryman and the Cinematograph- first movie to use a technique called back projection. (RW PAUL)
A Chess Dispute­- RW PAUL
Rescued by Rover- Made in 1904, remade in 1905. Uses several match cuts, maintains consistent screen directions, time and space are organized. Earlier performance of studio light.
The Big Swallow- James Williamson
An Interesting Story- James Williamson
Dream and Reality- This is our first example of mental subjective narration. (Pathé Frères)
La Revolution en Russe-
Peeping Tom- This film demonstrates the cinema’s ability to satisfy comedy desires. (Pathé Frères)
The Golden Beetle- Zecca was a master of this genre of film and animation, the sheer volume of techniques being used, technique- hand tinting, stop motion replacement, super imposition.
Princess Nicotine- Trick Film, Vitagraph.
Trip to the Moon- Changed everything in motion pictures, by George Melies. It was elaborate, imaginative, compared to non-narrative films of the day, transports viewer to space, uses trick film techniques in the service of a narrative. BAD: no camera movement, editing is one scene = one shot.
Life of an American Fireman
The Great Train Robbery
Falling Leaves- Typical melodrama centered on current health issue.
Menílmontant
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Nosferatu
The Last Laugh
Sherlock Jr.
Battleship Potemkin
Mother- wanted you to notice the different camera shots, never changed emotion on her face.
Man With a Movie Camera