History of Films/ Romance Films.

By Danielle Fletcher.

Mini History of Film Timeline: Once the first motion picture camera had been

invented, films were created in the 1890’s. However, these films contained no sound, and were

often only under a minute long. It was not until 1927, when they became longer in length.

In 1903, a British film-maker named George Smith produced ‘Mary Jane's Mishap’. This film was praised for its sophisticated editing. It included many shot types which are used in Media today: Close-up, Medium and wide Establishing shots.

Walt Disney created his first animation in 1924, ‘Alice in Wonderland’.

In 1997, ‘Titanic’ hit the big screens and became one of the most expensive films, costing $250-$300 million to produce.

Romance Film consist of: A typical love stories which follows the main characters

on a journey; strong, true and pure romantic love takes them through dating or even marriage.

They tend to face obstacles along the way which the audience can relate to. The relationship could break down, and they have to fight to be together.

Romance films with always contain perfect scenarios, allowing the audience to escape reality and become apart of this fantasy.

However, not all romances end in ‘Happily Ever After’, the lovers could be torn apart due to an illness, death or financial

Most include a theme throughout the film, maybe love at first sight, passionate love, a large age gap between the characters. There are many themes that could be used.

First Romance Film: The first romantic film was created in 1896 by a man

called Thomas Edison. After being on a Broadway show, a couple were said to have staged a kiss in front of a camera. This was made in a black and white silent film. It lasts only 20 seconds long, but became a popular film during that era nevertheless. The film was called ‘The May Irwin Kiss’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zURTEs8C1lo

Most Famous Romance Film: Romeo and Juliet (1996), is one of the most well-

known romance films to exist. It was a film originally written as a play by William Shakespeare, involving what two characters would do in the name of love. Baz Luhrmann, director, intended to modernise the classic, Shakespeare play into a film. The play was first written in the 1590’s, displaying that romance has been around for hundreds of years. Back then they did not have the technology to produce Romeo and Juliet into a film, therefore they performed it to a live audience. It was only recently that romance films, and films in general have been produced, thanks to the technology invented.

Romance Films today: From 1896 to 2014, a lot has changed in the

production of romantic films. They are usually over an hour long, compared with under a minute long. They are now produced in colour, rather than black and white. And they now have sound, as technology has developed. There is also a storyline in romance films today, which was not there in 1896.

Romance films today include very modern issues within society. These films can either exploit the corruption of today's society, or its can explore the issues found in society.

One of the most recent romantic film released is called ‘The Best of Me’. It involves two high school lovers reunited after 20 years, following their emotional journey.