Film and Historiography HUM 3280 Narrative Film Fall

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Film and Historiography HUM 3280: Narrative Film Fall 2011 Dr. Perdigao August 24, 2011

Film and Historiography HUM 3280: Narrative Film Fall 2011 Dr. Perdigao August 24, 2011

A history of film • Evolutions, masterpieces, and periodization • Different ways of studying

A history of film • Evolutions, masterpieces, and periodization • Different ways of studying the relationship between history and film, constructing a film history • Historiography: “the study of the methods and principles through which the past becomes organized according to certain perspectives and methods” (Corrigan 368). • Hollywood film—as “framework for conventional histories of the movies” (Corrigan 373) • Periodization—standardization and differentiation (Corrigan and White 394) • Recognizable themes, plot devices, characterizations, genres, and visual styles, extends to costuming, casting, editing, and sound practices (Corrigan and White 394)

Measuring time • Early Cinema (1895 -1913) • Classical Cinema (1913 -1945) – Silent

Measuring time • Early Cinema (1895 -1913) • Classical Cinema (1913 -1945) – Silent films (1913 -1927) – Sound films, golden age of Hollywood (1927 -1945) • Postwar Cinema (1946 -1965) • Contemporary Cinema (post-1965)

Early Cinema (1895 -1913) • (Corrigan and White 394 -395) • Markers: rapid development

Early Cinema (1895 -1913) • (Corrigan and White 394 -395) • Markers: rapid development and experimentation during the period • 1895: public exhibition of movies • 1910: rise of the star, or celebrity, system • 1907 -1913: beginning of the international dominance of Hollywood • March 22, 1895: showing of Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory • New forms of entertainment emerging in the nineteenth century—vaudeville halls and popular literature, “dime novels” • After 1905, nickelodeon theaters showing fifteen minute long movies, replaced by movie palaces between 1914 -1920 (Corrigan and White 379) • Characteristics: shift from scenes to shots and beginnings of continuity editing; experimentation with crosscutting, close-ups, and long shots

Foundations • • 1640: Kircher’s magic lantern (Corrigan and White 375) 1839: Daguerre’s daguerreotype

Foundations • • 1640: Kircher’s magic lantern (Corrigan and White 375) 1839: Daguerre’s daguerreotype 1877: Muybridge’s images as movement 1892: Edison and Dickson’s Kinetoscope (machine selling for about 200 dollars; twenty-five cent admission) • 1895: Lumière brothers—public viewings with Kinetoscope: actualités; Cinèmatographe as alternative to Edison’s use of Armat’s and Jenkins’s Vitascope • Méliès A Trip to the Moon (1902) • Recording of social and historical realities (Corrigan and White 375) • Kinein: Greek, to move (Dick 2) • Recording image to recreating it, telling a story

Origins • http: //americanhistory. si. edu/muybridge/ • http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Ur. RUDS 1

Origins • http: //americanhistory. si. edu/muybridge/ • http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Ur. RUDS 1 xb. Ns&feature=related • http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=m. Ik. Lok-BYIk • http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Nrh. Vvp 2 If. YA&feature=related • E. S. Porter’s The Great Train Robbery (1903): http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=a. RBi 08 Z 00 Ec&feature=watch-nowbutton&wide=1

Classical Cinema (1913 -1945) • (Corrigan and White 395 -397) • Silent and sound

Classical Cinema (1913 -1945) • (Corrigan and White 395 -397) • Silent and sound films • Effects of World War I on American culture, represented in film • “energetic optimism” and “trembling fear” (Corrigan and White 395) • Developments in early twentieth century (1910 -1920): standardization of film production, establishment of the feature film, and cultural and economic expansion (Corrigan and White 395) • Normalized running time of 100 minutes for narrative film • Characteristics: full development of narrative realism and the integration of viewer’s perspective into editing and narrative action (Corrigan and White 396)

Classical Cinema (1913 -1945) • New developments: representation of simultaneous actions, complex spatial geographies,

Classical Cinema (1913 -1945) • New developments: representation of simultaneous actions, complex spatial geographies, and psychological interaction of characters through narrative (Corrigan and White 396) • Point-of-view shots developed placing viewers within characters’ perspectives • 1926: Warner Bros. introduced the Vitaphone system, synchronized sound with images • Introduction of sound in 1927, with The Jazz Singer premiering on October 6 • Roaring twenties: Great Depression; spirit of optimism with Roosevelt’s New Deal • Presence of musicals in the 1930 s • 1930 s-1940 s developments in sound: synchronous sound to show reality; asynchronous sound to communicate psychological realities (Corrigan and White 378) • 1930 s and improvement of Technicolor

Classical Cinema (1913 -1945) • Elaboration of movie dialogue, emphasis on characterization; emergence of

Classical Cinema (1913 -1945) • Elaboration of movie dialogue, emphasis on characterization; emergence of generic formulas for narratives • Screenwriters—from novels to films (F. Scott Fitzgerald) • Hays Office and Production Code

Violations • Motion Picture Production Code, Hays Code • Established by Motion Pictures Producers

Violations • Motion Picture Production Code, Hays Code • Established by Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA), later Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) • Adopted in 1930, enforced in 1934, maintained until 1968 • Attempts to “clean up” film industry, after moves toward censorship in film • “The Formula” developed by Will Hays, hired as president of the MPPDA in 1922 • Follows 1915 Supreme Court ruling that free speech did not extend to film (Mutual Film Corporation v. Industrial Commission of Ohio) • Promoting “traditional values, ” protecting children, establishing standards of good taste

 • • Coding http: //course 1. winona. edu/pjohnson/h 140/hays_code. htm http: //www. npr.

• • Coding http: //course 1. winona. edu/pjohnson/h 140/hays_code. htm http: //www. npr. org/templates/story. php? story. Id=93301189 http: //www. artsreformation. com/a 001/hays-code. html http: //www. mpaa. org/ratings-history

Postwar Cinema (1945 -1965) • (Corrigan and White 397 -398) • World War II

Postwar Cinema (1945 -1965) • (Corrigan and White 397 -398) • World War II contexts and aftermath • Doubts about human nature, social progress—ideas about what art can do • Deterioration of American family, fears of the “other” as extension of Cold War culture • Civil Rights movement in the 1950 s • Spread of television in 1950 s • 1948 Paramount decision, 1968 relaxation of codes and development of ratings system • United States v. Paramount, antitrust laws violation, separation of production companies and theaters that arose with vertical integration (Corrigan and White 380) • More experimentation in film, testing boundaries, 3 -D format developed in 1950 s

Contemporary Cinema (1965 -present) • (Corrigan and White 398 -399) • Vietnam War—anger and

Contemporary Cinema (1965 -present) • (Corrigan and White 398 -399) • Vietnam War—anger and confusion, fragmentation in American culture, idea of national identity • Revolutionary 1960 s, 1970 s—ideas about sexuality • New Hollywood, influence of European cinema • VCRS (and Beta players!), cable, dvds, dvrs • Changing modes of production, dissemination • Multiple perspectives, opportunities to watch again, put together puzzles • Characteristics: image spectacles and special effects and fragmentation and reflexivity of narrative constructions (Corrigan and White 399) • Mid-1960 s, Dolby sound reduces noise and enriches sound (Corrigan and White 378)

Re-assessments • Evolutionary/revolutionary film history, ideas of progress • Technological, economic, and artistic dimensions

Re-assessments • Evolutionary/revolutionary film history, ideas of progress • Technological, economic, and artistic dimensions (Corrigan and White 374) • Chronicling history • Film archives • 80 percent of films made before 1930 have disappeared (Corrigan and White 402) • 1930 s movement to restore and preserve films • 1950 s developments in film theory