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emergence of the film industry
emergence of the film industry
us film industry then and now
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David Wark Griffith revolutionized both the film industry and filmmaking itself and is undoubtedly the “single most important individual in the development of film as an art” (Drew). He built the film industry up from the ground, “reshaped the very language of film”(Drew), and shook the country with his film The Birth of a Nation which fueled the rise of one of the largest and most influential domestic terrorist organizations ever (Niderost). D.W. Griffith and his films have transformed the way films are made and have greatly impacted the film industry not only in the United States but throughout the world.
The early days of filmmaking were drastically different than today. Films were just skeletons of what they could be. Companies like Edison produced large numbers of bare bones short films purely for money. These short films showed little character and plot development and often followed the same generic structure (Everson 32). Any suspense in the movie was often given away by the title, which said what was going to happen before it happened (Everson 33). When Griffith stumbled upon the industry, it was barely advancing at all- much like himself.
After a failed career as a stage actor and writer, David Wark Griffith turned to the cinema in hopes of becoming more successful (Everson 42). The first film Lawrence Griffith (as he now called himself) acted in was the 1907 film Rescued From an Eagle’s Nest, a story about a couple whose baby is taken by an eagle. The film was made by Edison and, like most films at the time, was very simple in terms of camerawork and plot (Blum 9). Griffith continued his acting career by working for Biograph for about a year. Then, in June of 1908, Biograph director Wallace McCutcheon ...
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...f the sound film, Griffith could not keep up. He relied solely on his reputation and fame to earn him an audience, but that no longer worked (Everson 177). Audiences wanted to see different things than what he was producing, and he simply could not change. With the exception of one or two films, and a few more that he helped with, Griffith was no longer a crucial part of the film industry.
But even though Griffith was no longer making films, he had done his part. He had successfully expanded the audience for cinema, introduced the feature film to America, and created one of the first blockbusters ever. The techniques he used to make his films so great such as the wide shot, close up, and quick cut are still key components of modern films. It is Griffith's legacy that makes him " “single most important individual in the development of film as an art” (Drew).
During this decade, the film industry went through massive changes that would completely change what movies were or stood for. After the Great War, more people began considering movies as a form of entertainment. This increased attention caused change in the industry, allowing the experience of the movie goer to massively change for the better. Many new genres, ideas and technologies emerged in the 1920s that would later dominate the industry. The 1920s saw massive changes happening in the movie industry that would help it to get one step closer to what it is today.
In the silent-era of film insert titles were important in explaining the narrative to the primitive viewer not well-versed in film, especially in films where the audience were not familiar with the story unlike ‘Porters The Night before Christmas‘(Musser, 1990, pp258). Griffith used insert titles which ‘changed around 1905 into summaries of the action’ (Burch, 1990, pp221) As the film had a ‘self-sufficient narrative’ (Burch, 1990, pp221) that ran for over three hours, with poor camera quality to recognise characters. But they were ‘systematically anticipating t...
Director D.W. Griffith used the creation of this movie to experiment with various new methods, bringing the movie to life by using both by using new, complex camera angles and editing techniques. [2]
With the loss of its centralized structure, the film industry produced filmmakers with radical new ideas. The unique nature of these films was a product of the loss of unified identity.
Beginning the mid 1920s, Hollywood’s ostensibly all-powerful film studios controlled the American film industry, creating a period of film history now recognized as “Classical Hollywood”. Distinguished by a practical, workmanlike, “invisible” method of filmmaking- whose purpose was to demand as little attention to the camera as possible, Classical Hollywood cinema supported undeviating storylines (with the occasional flashback being an exception), an observance of a the three act structure, frontality, and visibly identified goals for the “hero” to work toward and well-defined conflict/story resolution, most commonly illustrated with the employment of the “happy ending”. Studios understood precisely what an audience desired, and accommodated their wants and needs, resulting in films that were generally all the same, starring similar (sometimes the same) actors, crafted in a similar manner. It became the principal style throughout the western world against which all other styles were judged. While there have been some deviations and experiments with the format in the past 50 plus ye...
That’s the very meaning of Griffith’s practicality, the formation of a filmic style that accompaniments to this very day, in many different ways. The changes and alterations, and that reflect the creator’s sureness that cinematic symbols, ...
Frank Capra, a leading figure in the film industry, had created many remarkable masterpieces from the era of the Great Depression all the way through the Second Great War. Not only did he face the innovating changes of movie life, such as the change from silent to sound film-making, he had has made a great impact on the lives of Americans.
John Ford was an American motion-picture director. Winner of four Academy Awards, and is known as one of America’s great film directors. He began his career in the film industry around 1913. According to Ellis, Ford’s style is evident in both the themes he is drawn toward and the visual treatment of those themes, in his direction of the camera and in what’s in front of it. Although he began his career in the silent film area and continued to work fruitfully for decades after the thirties, Ford reached creative maturity in the thirties. Ford, unlike other directors continued to do some of his finest work after the nineteen thirties. Nevertheless, he shaped his art into personal and full expression during those precedent-setting years. (Pg.200)
The silent era in film occurred between 1895 through 1929. It had a a major impact on film history, cinematically and musically. In silent films, the dialogue was seen through muted gestures, mime, and title cards from the beginning of the film to the end. The pioneers of the silent era were directors such as, D. W. Griffith, Robert Wiene and Edwin S. Porter. These groundbreaking directors brought films like first horror movie and the first action and western movie. Due to lack of color, the silent films were either black and white or dyed by various shades and hues to signal a mood or represent a time of day. Now, we begin to enter towards the sound era and opposed to the silent era, synchronized sounds were introduced to movies. The classic movie, The Jazz Singer, which was directed by Alan Crosland, was the first feature length film to have synchronized dialogue. This was not only another major impact in film history, but it also played a major part in film technology and where film is right now.
During the 1920s, when people craved entertainment, Jack Warner, one of the Warner brothers, faced many hardships throughout his life. He still excelled to make an impact on the film industry and build a successful filming empire.
With the discovery of techniques such as continuous editing, multiple camera angles, montage editing, and more, silent filmmaking developed from simple minute-long films to some of the most beautiful, awe-inspiring films that have ever been created—in only a few decades. In Visions of Light, someone alluded that if the invention of sound had come along a mere ten years later, visual storytelling would be years ahead of what it is today. This statement rings true. When looking at the immense amount of progress that was made during the silent era of films, one must consider where the art of film has been, where it is, and where it is
The American film industry’s early attempts at the narrative Western were limited and in the early years were produced mainly in the east. During this early time in the film industry the...
According to historians like Neil Burch, the primitive period of the film industry, at the turn of the 20th century was making films that appealed to their audiences due to the simple story. A non-fiction narrative, single shots a burgeoning sense
movie is directed by D.W. Griffith and is based on the story of the origins of the
D.W. Griffith contributed the following editing styles and techniques to film. Griffith used crosscutting techniques and combined it with shorter and more rapid shots, Griffith also used parallel editing to enhance the suspens...