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Transcript of Revision Booklet Early Cinema
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Revision Booklet
EARLYCINEMA: 1895
– 1915The Lumiere Brothers, early genre films and
the development of the American film industry
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Early Cinema – An overview
Where does cinema
come from? What drives
it? Truth, escapism,
verisimilitude, ideas?
Today we are aware of
red carpets, box office
figures and event-
movies. Innovation and
passion bring the ideas
through images and
audio. If we go back to
the start of film, we seethat it was this passion
and innovation that led
to the new (silent) art form.
1888 | The Birth of the Movie Camera and
Projector
It starts with the movie camera. The first patentedmoving image camera was designed by Louis Le
Prince in 1888, using paper bands and celluloid film.
However the first known one that actually worked
was by the great inventor, Thomas Edison.
The birth of early cinema began withshots. Thomas Edison (1847-1931), based in New Jersey,
East Coast of USA, was an inventor and he invented the light bulb and the phonograph.
Funfairs, circuses, magicians and still images were the way that people entertained themselves.
American, George Eastman came up with the idea of film on a roll. Edison and his colleague
found they could create the illusion of movement when they spun images in a box - movingimage. ‘The Black Maria’ was Edison’s film production studio and is widely known as the first
movie studio.
Edison realised that light would fuel this art form. He believed that cinema was about light and
dark. InThe Kiss (1896) he created a short moving image piece which he felt every one could
relate to (see image). Individuals were able to view this, one at a time, through a box – the
kinetoscope.
Between 1889 and 1895 several inventors invented (and patented) their version of a movie
camera. In 1889 William Friese-Greene was able to take ten photographs a second with this‘chronophotographic’ camera. When he gave a demonstration to the public in 1890 the low frame
rate and its unreliable nature meant that it met an underwhelmed response. The ‘Beater
Movement’ was constructed by Georges Demeny (and his employee Etienne Marey) in 1893 (film
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width of 60mm). Then in 1894-5, Max Skladanowsky introduced us to the ‘Bioscop’ projector.
This was the first duplex projecting machine and an 1896 wide-film projector can be seen at the
Science Museum in London.
In Lyon, France, the Lumière brothers Auguste and Louis believed that cinema could be bigger…
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!e L"miere Brot!ers The Lumiere brothers, Auguste and Louis, were sons of
well-known Lyons based portrait painter Antoine Lumiere.
They were both technically minded and excelled in science
subjects and were sent to Technical School.
Antoine was a keen business man and saw a future in the
photography business so turned his artistic endeavours to
the establishment of a photography business –
manufacturing and supplying photographic supplies. Louis
joined him in this business venture and began
experimenting with the photographic equipment.
At the age of 17, Louis developed a new ‘dry plate’ process
for film development. This innovation help boost his father’s
photography business and within a few years (1894), theLumieres were producing 15 million plates a year! Even at
this young age Louis was showing real technical promise.
Antoine (now a successful business man) was invited to a demonstration of Edison’s kinetoscope
in Paris. Excited by what he had seen, he gave Louis a piece of the film from the kinetoscope and
told him to try and replicate the technology. Louis worked with Auguste through the winter of
1894 experimenting with the technology. They wanted to overcome the limitations of Edison’s
kinetoscope and make a device which was smaller and could be viewed by more than one person
at a time.
By 1895 the brother had invented the Cinematographe – a camera, projector and printer all in
one compact machine. This machine was patented on February 13th 1895. It was lightweight,
hand-cranked and worked at the slower rate of 16fps (compared to Edison’s 48fps). This meant
the machine ran quieter than the kinetoscope. Louis incorporated the principle if intermittent
movement using a device similar to that found in a sewing machine – this meant the film
travelled more smoothly through the projector.
22nd March 1895 – 44 de Rennes, Paris: The Lumiere brothers previewed their films for the first
time. The images were projected on a white sheet to a group on invited guests. The first screening
open to the public followed later that year on28th
December at the Grand Café on Paris’sBoulevard de Capuchines. The audience were shown around ten short films including ‘La Sortie
de usines Lumiere’ (1894) and L’Arroseur arrose (1895). The brothers were quick to patent their
cinematographe outside of France and had applied for an English patent on April 18th 1895.
Much excitement and interest developed around this new technology and demand grew. The
brothers started opening theatres to show their films (which became known as cinemas). In the
first four months of 1896 they had opened cinematographe theatres in London, Brussels,
Belgium and New York.
Louis and Auguste continued to make more films/actualities and used their workforce to also go
out and make films and sell them abroad. In 1897 they had 358 films in their catalogue and by1903 they had 2113 – less than 50 had been made by the brothers personally. Their interest
waned in the early 1900s and Louis famously said that ‘cinema was an invention without any
future’. But undoubtedly they had paved the way for other pioneering filmmakers.
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#ro$"%tion& $istri'"tion an$
e(!i'itionProduction
• The Lumieres invented their own camera (the cinematographe) so were able to producetheir own films. Their earliest work was shot in locations in their proximity (e.g. their
factory, their garden etc…) and they often ‘starred’ in their own films with family members
or their workers.
• The films were made using the hand-cranked cinematographe. Cameras were stationary
and generally captured movement from one angle and shot type – neutral, long shot.
Distribution
•
The Lumiere brothers dispatched films and projectionists to every continent with suchspeed that within one to two years of their first screenings in Paris audiences in most
countries had seen their famous ‘The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station’ film.
• In 1896 the Lumieres distributed films to Italy, Russia, Hungary, Romania, Sebia,
Denmark, Canada, India, Argentina and Cuba among others. Their films were reaching
audiences worldwide. In comparison, the UK had distributed to just the US and Germany
in 1896.
• By 1900 their films had even reached the palaces of the Middle East.
• The Lumieres fiercely protected their technology and were aware that in order to ensure
their films sold, their cameras could not be shown to other who may imitate the idea.
When they sent workers to other countries with the cinematographe, it was on the strictunderstanding that the camera/projector/printer was operated only by their workers.
• In 1902, film equipment and production company, Pathe, acquired the rights to the
Lumiere brothers’ patents and set about designing an improved studio camera to make
their own films. Their technology coupled with aggressive merchandising of their films
made them powerful distributers who possessed a huge share of the international market.
Exhibition
• As mentioned previously, the Lumieres are credited for holding the first ever publicscreening of a film to an audience of more than one person – Edison’s kinetoscope could
only be viewed by an individual at a time. Because of this they are often credited with
being the inventors of cinemas.
• In addition to distributing their films abroad, the Lumieres also opened cinematographe
cinemas in various countries such as the UK, Belgium and America. These cinemas
housed their cinematographes and would play only the films they had made – the perfect
way to make money and create demand for their films!
• After the Lumieres’ patents had been acquired by Pathe, cinematographe films were
released and exhibited by this growing company. In 1902 Pathe expanded to London and
they established a chain of cinemas. By 1909, Pathe had over 200 cinemas in France and
Belgium.
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E(em)lar Answer: *+,-.How important were technological factors in enabling the production, distribution
and exhibition of the early films of the Lumiere brothers?
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E(aminer/sComments:Mark – 27/30 Level 4
The response is a very knowledgeable and fluent one. The candidate is able to demonstrate
knowledge and understanding of many of the key facts and events relevant to the terms of the
question. The factual knowledge presented is accurate. This is a very secure Level 4 response – it
offers a clearly relevant and sustained response. To achieve a slightly higher mark, the response
could have attempted to bring more of a sense of debate to bear. The terminology used (for
example, when discussing the issue of the applicability of technological patents in Europe) is
confident and accurate. In its precision in marshalling relevant facts and events, the response
demonstrates excellence in the application of historical and technological factors and in so doing
also demonstrates excellent knowledge of aspects of industrial and social practice.
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Li2e o2 an Ameri%an ireman – 19.-3E$win 4 #orter
Edwin S. Porter was an early 6lm )ioneer& most 2amo"s as a $ire%tor wit! !omas E$ison7s
Com)any e oine$ t!e ;4 Navy in 189- an$ s!owe$ a
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So how was this film important/significant?
Edwin S Porter demonstrates in this piece of work some visual aids which have become the most
common way to communicate through film. He is credited with the creation of the ‘shot’ as an
element of a larger scene. Shots are the most basic unit of narrative film. Porter created
‘dissolves’ as a way to gradually transition from one scene to another – this helped to suggest a
passage of time had passed. Though not the first to use double-exposure, he used it in a way tohelp the audience understand the abstract idea that we could see the fireman’s dream. Written
in the synopsis at the time of this film’s release were the words: “It would be difficult for the
exhibitor to conceive of the amount of work involved and the number of rehearsals necessary to
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produce a film of this description.” The
film was ambitious for its time and
paved the way for even more ambitious
works of narrative film-making – even
Porter, a year later, built on the skills
seen in this film and produced ‘The
Great Train Robbery’.
istri'"tionBelow are some of the advertisements
sent to cinemas to sell Porter’s 6
minute film to exhibitors:
C"t to lon< s!ot o2 6re!o"se e(terior an$
en
'"t 2rom a $ierent view)oint #orter !as yet
to $is%over %ross@%"ttin
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n giving t!is descri"tion to t!e "u#lic$ we un!esitatingly
clai% &or it t!e strongest %otion "icture attraction ever
atte%"ted in t!is lengt! o& 'l%. t will #e di(cult &or t!e
e)!i#itor to conceive t!e a%ount o& work involved and
t!e nu%#er o& re!earsals necessary to turn out a 'l% o&
t!is kind. *e were co%"elled to enlist t!e services o&
t!e 're de"art%ents o& &our di+erent cities$ ,ew -ork$
,ewark$ range$ and East range$ ,..$ and a#out 300
're%en a""ear in t!e various scenes o& t!is 'l%.
ro% t!e 'rst conce"tion o& t!is wonder&ul series o&
"ictures it !as #een our ai% to "ortray 1Li&e o& an
%erican ire%an1 wit!out e)aggeration$ at t!e sa%e
ti%e e%#odying t!e dra%atic situations and s"ectacular
e+ects w!ic! so greatly en!ance a %otion "icture
"er&or%ance.
!e record work o& t!e %odern %erican 're
de"art%ent is known t!roug!out t!e universe$ and t!e&a%e o& t!e %erican 're%an is ec!oed around t!e
entire world. e is known to #e t!e %ost e)"ert$ as well
as t!e #ravest$ o& all 're 'g!ters. !is 'l% &ait!&ully and
accurately de"icts !is t!rilling and dangerous li&e$
e%"!asi5ing t!e "erils !e su#6ects !i%sel& to w!en
!u%an li&e is at stake. *e s!ow t!e world in t!is 'l% t!e
every %ove%ent o& t!e #rave 're%en and t!eir "er&ectly
trained !orses &ro% t!e %o%ent t!e %en lea" &ro% t!eir
#eds in res"onse to an alar% until t!e 're is
e)tinguis!ed and a wo%an and c!ild are rescued a&ter%any 'erce #attles wit! a%e and s%oke. 8elow we give
a descri"tion o& eac! o& t!e seven scenes w!ic! %ake u"
t!is %ost wonder&ul o& all 're scenes$ 1Li&e o& an
%erican ire%an.1
This flm is sold in one length only. Send inyour complete order quick, Get the flm and Get the money. This is the only complete frescene ever attempted where the men areshown leaving their beds, and a genuinehitch taken inside the engine house. AMoney Getter is what this flm has been pronounced. ou need it in your businessbecause it will be the strongest card on your
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!e Musketeers o& Pig lley –
9:92 ;Reviews and notes
The first gangster film, THE MUSKETEERS OF PIG
ALLEY established several basic characteristics of the
genre. Like the films of the twenties and thirties, it sprang
from newspaper stories. Lillian Gish recalled that D.W.
Griffith got the idea forMUSKETEERS from a newspaper
article. In 1912, there was a series of gangster killings and
vice scandals that implicated the police. The newspapers headlined these events, and the climax came
with the shooting of a gambler named Herman Rosenthal. The social realism of stories and situations
based on newspaper reports that we have come to associate with the gangster genre began when the
Biograph Company capitalised on these headlines and the subsequent cries for reform.
Griffith shot the film on location and cast actual gangsters like 'Kid' Brood and 'Harlem Tom' Evans to play
in the rival gangs. According to the Biograph Bulletin of October 31, 1912: "This picture production, which
does not run very strong as to plot, is simply intended to show vividly the doings of the gangster type of
people."
The episodic plot begins in "New York's other side ", "where a poor musician goes off to improve his
fortune." On the way home, he shows his earnings to a friend in the street. The Snapper Kid, Chief of the
Musketeers, sees the full wallet, follows the musician, hits him over the head, and takes the money. After
recovering, the musician goes out to find his money, leaving the little lady, his girlfriend, worrying about
his safety and the rent. A friend comes to cheer up the little lady and takes her to a dance - the gangster's ball. A respectable-looking gangster invites the little lady for a drink and slips a drug into it. The Snapper
Kid watches the scene and stops the little lady before she downs the drink, thus provoking a gang war.
During the shootout, the musician sees the gangster and grabs his money back during the confusion of
the battle. The police break up the fight and arrest everyone but the Snapper Kid. He escapes to the little
lady's flat, reminds her that he saved her from being drugged and invites her out. She refuses and says
she'll stay with her husband. The gangster shrugs it off, thinking she must be crazy to prefer the
musician, and leaves. A cop nabs him and begins to arrest him for taking part in the gun battle, but the
Snapper Kid says he has an alibi - he was visiting his friends. The little lady and the musician back up the
Kid's story because, as the title card reads, "One good turn deserves another". The Kid makes a gesture of
friendship with his hands and goes out. After a title, "Links in the system", a mysterious hand slides into
the picture from out of frame and gives the Snapper Kid some money. The couple embrace, and the film
ends.
Griffith pictured the Snapper Kid sympathetically. Elmer Booth portrays a likeable, tough, coarse thief and
killer. Lillian Gish has said that Elmer Booth was a distinct precursor of James Cagney. Like gangsters
played by Cagney, the Snapper Kid is short, powerful, explosive, and expressive with his body, face and
gestures. He is violent and quick to act in movements that snap out like his name. He is good-natured
about the little lady's rejection, sly enough to avoid going to jail, wise enough not to fight in the Big Boss's
place, and constantly putting plans into action to get what he wants. He exudes a healthy self-confidence
and is proud of the snappy way he dresses. Griffith's mixing of a firm sense of realistic detail and a
romantic bias have shaded the Chief of the Musketeers as more chivalrous than the movie gangsters who
followed, but the Snapper Kid launched the central character of the genre - a sympathetic gangster - and
the movie gangsters who followed shared many of his traits.
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The Lower East Side locations in Musketeers provide an appropriate setting for the birth of the genre. "New
York's other side", as a title describes the setting, is comprised of dingy rooms and hallways, saloons,
narrow streets teeming with immigrants, and underworld alleyways filled with garbage cans, dust, and
debris. City textures and dark places predominate. The action takes place around the bottoms of
buildings, and we never see the sky. There are no country or uptown alternatives for the Snapper Kid - no
penthouse aspirations. The gangster genre began in the slums, and the people who lived there appreciated
the film. Billy Bitzer, who was Griffith's cameraman regularly and who shotMUSKETEERS, recalled an
early preview of the film: "Another way we learned was through tryouts. Tryouts were usually in remotetheatres, and it was to our advantage to be there. One memorable tryout was held in a converted store in
the Lower East Side Jewish section of Manhattan. It was in 1912 for The Musketeers of Pig Alley, an early
gangster film with Elmer Booth, much of which was filmed in that locale. We got very strong and
favourable reactions - it was one of the first realistic films, one of our best."
The criminal world depicted inMUSKETEERS is one of rival gangs, armed robbery, dodging the police,
saloons, drugs, dances and alleyways peopled with underworld milieu, a gangster protagonist and a
pictorially realistic urban setting,MUSKETEERS contributed several other basic elements to the genre.
The gang, of course, is an essential element of gangster films. The Snapper Kid's gang includes sevenarmed henchmen, sporting scars, derby hats, broken noses, and a cocky willingness to mix it up. And, as
in most gangster films that followed, there is one gang member who is the protagonist's sidekick, played by
Harry Carey inMUSKETEERS. He is the main character's constant companion until the end of the film;
his function is to back up the gangster in times of trouble and generally to amplify the protagonist's
personality and actions. When the Snapper Kid swaggers, Harry Carey hitches up his pants and echoes
the gesture... Another of the gangster's defining characteristics is that he takes what he wants, whether
it's money, an occupied chair at the Gangster's Ball, or a woman. InMUSKETEERS, after a title that
reads, "The Little Lady meets the Snapper Kid", the gangster sees the girl come out of her room and grabs
her by the arm to demand a kiss. But the little lady is tougher than most of her sisters who followed in the
genre. She energetically slaps him hard in the face, thereby winning the first round in the battle ofinterpersonal violence that was to characterise relations between men and women in the genre. This fiery
outburst further intrigues the Kid, who pursues the little lady throughout the film until she tells him she
already has a man...
Griffith also established the iconographic tradition of the Gangster's Ball inMUSKETEERS. The sign
outside reads: "Great Dance of the Jolly Three. Admission 25cts." Inside, the hall is filled with animated
couples dancing to some lively music. The dancers project a happy and comfortable sensuality that is
infectious, and the friend who brought the little lady is swept into the dancing crowd as soon as they
arrive. The dance hall has an adjoining saloon where other dancers are refreshing themselves, and both
rooms are ruled over by a gangster known as 'the Big Boss', who is feared by the other gangsters, including
the Snapper Kid. The scene typically ends in a fight over a woman. This scene appropriately entitled "The
Little Lady at the Gangster's Ball", has appeared in nearly every gangster film to followMUSKETEERS.
Although the nightclubs or speakeasies were to become gaudier, the dancers more drunk and lustful, and
the music characteristic of the Roaring Twenties - so that we usually associate this scene with the Jazz
Age - the basic elements are present in the first gangster film. The Gangster's Ball lightens the violent,
competitive, and hostile tones that dominate gangster dramas, and it defines the gangster milieu in terms
of city night life.
Another essential iconographic scene that appears inMUSKETEERS, one that is shared with other action
genres, is the shootout. Titled "the Gangsters' Feudal War", the first gangster shootout begins with the
Snapper Kid and his gangster rival rounding up their gangs. The Snapper Kid spins the barrel of his
revolver to make sure that it’s fully loaded, shoves it into his pocket, and leads his gang to the fight. The
gangs stalk each other through saloons and alleyways ducking around corners and fences and hiding
behind garbage cans. The not-so-innocent bystanders who realise what is going to happen run for cover.
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When the gangs run into each other in a litter-strewn alleyway, there is a short and explosive gunfight.
Billows of gun smoke obscure the fighting gangsters, parting occasionally to reveal some wounded gunman
staggering and falling or others aggressively moving forward and blasting away with their revolvers. This
deafening battle ends when squads of police come rushing in to haul the survivors off to jail. The
ritualistic weapons check, the deadly certain stalking, the explosive gun battle recur again and again, with
a number of variations in the gangster films that followed. As inMUSKETEERS the shootout scene has
usually been presented as the climax of the movie, and audiences expect it to be the most violent and
terrible moment of the film.
THE MUSKETEERS OF PIG ALLEY launched the genre with an episodic slice of pictorial realism,
characteristic of the social realism of the Progressive era, muckraking, instead of a strong melodramatic
plot. Griffith began the genre with a sympathetic gangster and several characteristics that were to become
basic to gangster films. By 1912 the gangster film was securely rooted in American film history.
- Eugene Rosow, Born to Lose: The Gangster Film in America, OUP New York, 1978.
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E)e%"lar nswer? Early@ine%a ;9A:B – 9:9B>
Choose two films that were noted as significant in early cinema history.Explain why the two films you have chosen are significant.
The two films which I believe were significant during this time period are Edwin Porter’s ‘Life of
an American Fireman’ (1903) and DW Griffith’s ‘The Musketeers of Pig Alley’ (1912). These films
are significant for different reasons: the former pioneered continuity editing and was one of the
first films to utilise editing to form a narrative. The second established the codes and
conventions of the ‘gangster’ genre film. The reasons for their significance differ but the outcome
is the same – they both helped to shape the film making process for years to follow.
‘Life of an American Fireman’ was shot by Porter who worked as a director for Edison’s
Manufacturing Company. It was a mixture of real life footage of the fire brigade and staged
action. Film was a new medium and little had been seen in terms of extended narratives. Edison
and the Lumiere Brothers (among others) had focussed on showing the audience the wonder of a
moving image and narrative was not the focus for the first few years of film making. Georges
Melies pushed the film industry further forward with unique narratives and special effects.
However, if we were to look at Melies’ 1902 film, ‘Le Voyage dans la Lune’, whist we can see
innovative special effects for the time and a narrative (of sorts!), editing does not really contribute
to creating a reality for the viewer. For example, the transitions from shot to shot show movement
from one set up to another – it is sometimes difficult to connect the last shot to the next. Thereare also no intercuts or variety of camera shots and angles. This is why Porter’s ‘The Life of an
American Fireman’ (released the following year) was significant.
With Porter’s film we see a clear narrative which is connected from scene to scene. Editing is the
tool used to form this narrative structure. The film starts with innovative use of double exposure
(double exposure had been pioneered by Melies in 1898) to suggest to the audience that we were
seeing a man dreaming of a woman and child (perhaps his family). As he wakes the circular
image disappears, making it apparent to the viewer that this was his dream. This was a
technique that could never be replicated on stage – Porter had used double exposure in a unique
way which contributed to the understanding of the situation and character. It was more than
just a novelty.
Next we see an insert close up shot of a fire alarm being pulled. Here Porter uses detail to make
the meaning clear. This, coupled with the next shot of a firehouse interior and men leaping from
their beds, makes the narrative clear and also creates dramatic tension. This close up gives the
audience the detail required to establish clear meaning as to why in the following shot we see
men leaping from their beds. This attention to detail had rarely been used before. Although
Porter is not responsible for using the first ever cut to a close up (that can be attributed to
British film maker GA Smith in 1901), it was the first time a close up had been edited with a
series of other shots which slowly build a clear narrative. If we considering removing this close
up of the alarm being pulled it would create confusion as to why the men leap from their beds
and start getting ready.
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What follows are a series of long shots cut together to depict the journey from firehouse to the
burning building. The cuts which show the fire brigade on their journey really portray a sense of
passing time. Fades are used to suggest the passage of time and each shot has the brigade
moving from the right-hand side of the screen and to the left-hand side – this helps to create the
illusion of the journey. This is one of the earliest examples of continuity and the construction of
space through the use of editing. This is particularly significant as these elements form the basis
of film making even today.
Porter’s film is often cited as the first example of cross-cutting. However, in Porter’s original 1903
release cross-cutting was not employed and the sequence of the woman’s rescue is played once
from the building’s interior and then again from the exterior. Porter realised that this took the
audience out of the reality of the piece and saw the merits of showing the audience the interior
first and then the fireman approaching from an exterior view – cutting back and forth created the
tension required for this sequence (something he learned from his 1903 film ‘the Great Train
Robbery’). The film was recut and re-released with these edits in place. Again, Porter had given
the world another significant development of film language which still is used today.
The second film I would say was significant to early cinema history is DW Griffiths’ ‘TheMusketeers of Pig Alley’. This film is regarded as the first example of the ‘gangster’ genre on film.
Genre within film was slowly starting to be established through media language (for example,
Melies’ Trip to the Moon had elements of science fiction/fantasy and Porter’s The Great Train
Robbery had the look of what would come to be a western). However, if look closely at ‘The
Musketeers of Pig Alley’ as a modern audience, we can still see recognisable features which
signify a gangster film.
Griffith worked first as an actor and was even directed by Edwin Porter. He got into directing
mainly by coincidence but was soon to become a prolific film maker often credited with making
Hollywood’s first ever film and America’s first feature length film (‘Birth of a Nation’). Prior to thishowever was ‘The Musketeers of Pig Alley’ shot and released in 1912. The film was shot on
location in New York City. This was significant because it gave the film a gritty reality that could
not be replicated by indoor studios. The camera stays neutral and the sky is never seen – this
helps to create a feeling of being trapped in the underworld. Mise-en-scene is also used to create
this dingy and oppressive atmosphere – bins and empty crates litter the narrow alley ways and
crowds of unsavoury looking characters mill about. This ‘underworld’ of criminals has become
commonplace in gangster films since – anything from the seedy bars in ‘Goodfellas’ to the back
streets of ‘The Departed’. This shows how significant this film was in establishing the genre.
The look of the gangster himself was first constructed in this film and has continued to be used
in countless other subsequent gangster films. Snapper Kid and his gang are dressed in sharp
suits and Griffith frames the three men in a mid-shot to show them as they adjust their hats
and ‘saunter’ off in a cocky manner. If you look at films such as ‘The Godfather’ and ‘Casino’ we
see the very same looks being replicated – again showing the impact that this film has had on
the genre. Griffith actually cast real gangsters to act in the picture – the sallow look of the
gangster with sinister smiles and dark features has also endured over the years.
Finally, Griffith gave us the classic gangster shoot-out. We see the classic gun-loading shot
where the Snapper Kid spins the barrel of his gun and shoves into his pocket – a glamourizing of
violence/weapons (see most action or gangster films). The Snapper Kid slowly stalks the enemy –
Griffith uses a particularly effective close-up which allows the audience to connect with the
Snapper Kid and empathise with him. This is also something which has lasted within the genre –
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despite gangster films being entirely made up of villains in essence, there is always one character
(an anti-hero) which the audience can connect with. Here we see the beginnings of that concept.
As you can see, here we have two different films in terms of tone and narrative but each are
significant in their own way and have definitely played a part in shaping cinema and film
language into what it is today.
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!e Birt! o2 ollywoo$Shifting from the East Coast to the West
Coast:
The projectors were the real reason that the West
Coast is now another word for the movies -Hollywood.
Hollywood is a district or suburb of Los Angeles in
California. The name of the district is now used as
another word for blockbuster movies or popular
American film.
It was once an agricultural area due mainly to the
crops and great weather. The name comes from one
of the landowner’s wives originally as the name of a500 acre plot.
We know that the East Coast of the States (New York) had Edison and the original movie
cameras. The hardware, or to be more specific, the patents of the projectors and cameras (like
the ‘Latham Loop’ for example, which allowed slack in the projector so the film would be less
likely to snap and virtually all projectors used from 1905 onwards) meant that filming near
Edison’s headquarters (in New Jersey) meant that company agents could seize and destroy
cameras if the film makers did not own (pay for) the rights for the cameras and/or projectors.
As a result, by 1912 most of the major film companies moved to Southern California around or
in Los Angeles. Southern Californian offered a variety of landscapes which were cheap to rent
and great weather for the majority of the year.
Director DW Griffith was the first to make a ‘motion’ picture in Hollywood,In Old California
(1910), and it was filmed in the village for
Biograph Company. He was an actor turned
director who wanted to make films for more than
just the working classes. He wanted to bring
realistic performances to the screen and saw
film as an art form.
Distribution and control of the
market:
From around 1910 onwards, a number of film
companies set up business in and around the
small suburb of Hollywood to the west of Los
Angeles. Within a decade, the system they created came to dominate the cinema—not only in the
United States—but throughout the world. Heads of Hollywood studios quickly recognized that
they could make more money if they expanded to reach foreign audiences too. Simple economics,
right? Increase the demand for films and you’ll have to increase the supply of films—therebymaking more money. Often if a film didn’t make up what it cost to make it in America, it could
easilymake up the money (and even make a profit!) by showing it to foreign audiences.
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Having recognized this, studio heads such as Adolph Zukor (founder of Paramount Pictures) put
up a tough fight to make sure that foreign countries permitted Hollywood corporations to import
their films into other countries without any constraints. Soon Hollywood films were shown in
every country in Europe, in the Soviet Union, and in several countries in Asia and South
America.
Foreign countries quickly began to realize that imports of Hollywood films were overrunning their
own national cinemas. This was bad not only because it hurt their own country’s film economy, but they began to fear that Hollywood was beginning to imperialistically force American culture
upon their countries and rob them of their national heritage. Many countries responded by
placing quotas upon American films, which means that they began to set a limit on how many
American films could be imported into the country. However, it wasn’t long before Hollywood had
soon overcame those obstacles, too. For instance, England created a policy that only a certain
number of Hollywood films could be imported in proportion to the number of British films which
were made. Hollywood bypassed that barrier by simply setting up some production companies in
England, thereby qualifying those productions as “British.”
As a result of all these steps taken on account of Hollywood executives, American films began tosaturate foreign screens until finally they became the only films being shown on most foreign
shores.
World War I
World War I was another factor that contributed to Hollywood’s eventual dominance over the
foreign film-viewing market. In 1914, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated, thus
triggering the First World War. Before long, the face of the European continent was enveloped in
war.
The war stopped virtually all film production in Europe. Suddenly the price of materials for filmequipment became extremely expensive and film companies could no longer afford to make films.
Additionally, many film crew members were drafted to fight in the war, emptying studios of their
personnel. Several studios were converted into temporary barracks for soldiers and companies
that made film stock and camera equipment were changed into factories for making war
supplies.
The United States, by contrast, were largely insulated from the effects of World War I since it was
not fought on U.S. soil and since the U.S. remained neutral in the war until 1917, quite late in
the war. Hollywood studio executives took advantage of a weakened foreign competition to fill the
theatres with their films.
Talent Poaching
And the final contributor to U.S. success is the fact that Hollywood quite literally stole the talent
from other countries. Whenever an actor or actress was successful in a foreign country,
Hollywood executives would offer these actors glittering salaries if they would come to Hollywood
and begin making films for them. When Hollywood producers “poached” acting talent from other
national industries, it not only weakened their competitors, but it also recruited the affections
and loyalties of foreign populations, which might account for the appeal of American films
abroad.
It was not just actors who were recruited from foreign industries, but also technical workers of
all kinds, most notably directors and cameramen. It was a logical business move for an industry
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E(!i'itionIn the early 1900s, motion pictures ("flickers") were no longer innovative
experiments. They soon became an escapist entertainment medium for the
working-class masses, and one could spend an evening at the cinema for a
cheap entry fee. Kinetoscope parlors, lecture halls, and storefronts were
often converted intonickelodeons, the first real movie theatres. The normal
admission charge was a nickel (sometimes a dime). Nickel- was attached to
the Greek word for theatre -- "odeon." Hence the namenickelodeon. They
usually remained open from early morning to midnight.
The first nickelodeon, a small storefront theatre or dance hall converted to view films, was
opened in Pittsburgh by Harry Davis and John Harris in June of 1905, showing The Great
Train Robbery. Urban, foreign-born, working-class, immigrant audiences loved the cheap form
of entertainment and were the predominant cinema-goers. One-reel shorts, silent films,
melodramas, comedies, or novelty pieces were usually accompanied with piano playing, sing-along songs, illustrated lectures, other kinds of 'magic lantern' slide shows, skits, penny arcades,
or vaudeville-type acts. Standing-room only shows lasted between ten minutes and an hour. The
demand for more and more films increased the volume of films being produced and raised profits
for their producers.
But newspaper critics soon denounced their sensational programs (involving seduction, crime,
sex and infidelity) as morally objectionable and as the cause of social unrest and criminal
behaviour - and they called for censorship. They also criticized the unsanitary and unsafe
conditions in the often makeshift nickelodeons. By the early 20th century, nickelodeons were
being transformed into more lavishmovie palaces (see more below) in metropolitan areas. By1908, there were approximately 8,000 neighbourhood theatres.
UK Cinema Screens
In the UK we can see a steady increase in the number of cinema screens (see table below). This
increase implies the popularity of the new medium of film and tells us that films were in
demand.
Year Number of screens
1912 4000
1913 Not available
1914 3170
1915 3300
1916 3450
1917 3600
1918 3750
1919 3925
1920 39411921 4100
1922 4125
1923 4150
http://www.filmsite.org/grea.htmlhttp://www.filmsite.org/grea.htmlhttp://www.filmsite.org/grea.htmlhttp://www.filmsite.org/grea.html
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!e 4t"$io 4ystem The studio system was a big part of the
success of Classic Hollywood. It was a
system that made sure that the biggest
studios in Hollywood were in total control
of the movies they made and that the
movies would be distributed.
The biggest studios at that time were
divided in two groups. ‘The Big Five’: MGM,
Paramount, Warner Bros., RKO and Fox
and ‘The Little Three’: Universal, Colombia
and United Artists. Historically the term
‘studio system’ refers to the dominance of these major studios in producing, distributing and
exhibiting films. The term is often applied to the ‘Golden Age of Hollywood’ (late 1920s to the
early 1960s), however, many of the studios’ beginnings came around much earlier.
Find out the following about at least three of the studios:
THE MAIN PLAYERS
Who set the studio up? Include a mini biography (where they came from, when
they were born, how they got into the film
business etc…)
THE STUDIO’S HISTORY
When the studio was founded, whether or
not it started off with the same company
name, how the studio expanded and what
early successes/failures they encountered.
HOW THE STUDIO WORKED
Where were they based? Who did they
employ? How did they produce, distributeand exhibit their films?
THE STUDIO TODAY Investigate how the studio has fared over
the years. Do they still exist? Have they
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been
the y
the fi
Beginnings:Hungarian-born Adolph Zukor was an early investor in nickelodeons. He saw a market for
making films for the middle classes. Cinema was largely seen as working class entertainment in
the early 20th century and Zukor saw an opportunity. Working with partners Daniel and Charles
Frohman, he planned to make feature length films starring
famous theatre actors of the time (this would appeal to the
theatre going middle classes). This ambition led to the founding
of ‘Famous Players Film Company’ in 1912. By mid-1913, the
company had produced five films.
During this time another producer, Jesse L Lasky, opened Lasky
Feature Play Company. Lasky hired Cecil B. De Mille as a director
who made ‘The Squaw Man’ – Hollywood’s first ever feature film.
In 1914 both Zukor and Lasky released their films throughParamount Pictures Corporation –
a company formed by cinema owner, W.W. Hodkinson. Paramount was the first successful
nation-wide distributor.
Vertical Integration:In 1916, Zukor merged his company with Lasky’s and Paramount. Lasky and Zukor
bought out Hodkinson and now had a film studio which could not only produce their
own films but also distribute them nationwide and exhibit them in cinemas they owned.
This move made Paramount Pictures (or Famous Players-Lasky Corporation as it was
then known) one of the most dominant studios in the USA.
This dominance of the exhibition market was only challenged by ‘First National’ – amerger of 26 of the biggest first-run cinema chains in the US. They controlled over 600
cinemas with more than 200 being first-run houses. This power
prompted Zukor to invest $10 million in building his own chain
of first run cinemas.
Zukor believed in the power and pull of stars so he signed many
of the leading early stars such as Mary Pickford, Douglas
Fairbanks, Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino. Paramount
had many of these important stars exclusively on their booksand this created demand for Paramount’s films.
THE FACTS:
• Founded in 1912 as Famous Players Film
Company by Hungarian born Adolph Zukor
• Paramount Pictures was a start-up company
founded in 1914 and Zukor (along with
another producer – Jesse L. Lasky) released
his film through this company.• In 1916, Zukor merged his Famous Players
with the Lasky company and Paramount
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Block Booking:
The demand for Paramount’s films meant that Zukor could introduce something referred
to as ‘block booking’. This meant that when an exhibitor (not owned by Paramount)
wanted to show a particular star’s film made by Paramount, they had to buy about
another 20 productions by Paramount to show in their cinema. In some extreme cases,
cinemas were made to buy a year’s worth of other Paramount productions. This system
gave Paramount an edge on the market. Block booking meant the studio (and other
studios who started to employ this method) could make a lot of low budget (and usually
low quality) films and be sure that they would be seen nationwide. Studio owned cinema
chains were exempt from block booking! This practice didn’t last forever – a legal case
was mounted in 1940 to stop the monopolization of the movie industry.
Paramount’s cinema chain (Publix Theatres Corporation) acquired the Balaban and Katzchain in 1926. Balaban and Katz had developed the ‘Wonder Theater’ concept in 1918
Chicago. These cinemas were luxurious and looked spectacular. Publix went on to
expand on this concept by building more.
The 30s and Beyond:
Zukor and Paramount did not fare so well in America’s great depression. Zukor was
expanding the company beyond its means which led to the company going intoreceivership (when a company in financial difficulty is held by a receiver – a person
responsible for the future of the company). Zukor was kept on but not as the president –
he became chairman of the board. Paramount-Publix went bankrupt in 1935 but Zukor
reorganized the company as Paramount Pictures, Inc and brought them out of
bankruptcy in 1936.
Paramount Pictures is still in existence today and continues to distribute commercially
successful films such as Transformers, the Mission: Impossible series, the Star Trek
films and the Paranormal Activity franchise.
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E(am)le G"estions 2or >early%inema/
Discuss how one of the major American film studios established itself within the
film industry. You should refer to production, distribution and exhibition. [30]
How important were technological factors in enabling the production, distribution
and exhibition of the early films of the Lumiere brothers? [30]
Choose two films that were noted as significant in early cinema history. Explain
why the two films you have chosen are significant. [30]
Why did the American film industry eventually base itself in Hollywood? [30]