Introduction:
Key Film-makers: D.W. Griffith & Alice Guy-Blache
Transition between cinema of attraction from this to cinema that is distinct and separate medium, that concentrates primarily on the act of telling stories.
Edison company isn't the only emerging company in this time of American industry. WKL Dixon (Scotsman who invented the kinetoscope and decided the production on the Edison films) He left Edison behind and joined the American Mutoscope company (later renamed the Biograph Company). First company entirely devoted to only film productions.
Edison and Biograph quickly became arch rivals - by winning a key legal patent battle in 1902 and then diversifying quickly into story based feature films in 1905 Biograph came to dominate US film production.
The reason for this success was the embrace for story based format, which Edison rejected.
Mainly of the early movie stars were under Biograph, including Mary Pickford, Lionel Barrymore, Lillian Gish.
Mack Sennet - produced Keystone Kops films, ran his own successful studios. Honed his craft as a director of comedies at Biograph.
D.W. Griffith - joined Biograph in 1908, whilst he was there he helped establish many of the conventions of narrative cinema, as well as helping the company become a major success.
By 1913 when D.W. Griffith ended his 10 year contract at Biograph, he had directed over 450 films, between 1908-1913 (5 years) he directed 450 films. Many of the things he's best known for, he didn't initially create - he just narrows them together.
The Girl and Her Trust - Indicative , central character: a woman, women becoming more free and a part of modern life. A female who has been in trusted to do an important job, indication of change. Trust: be moral and brave and do the right thing. Somewhat feminist film, wants to show female agency. Tramps - often be shown as immigrants.
Perils of Pauline - serial film released in 2 parts every week, hugely successful - much more like television rather than film. Extended universe films that are dominant right now.
Alice Guy-Blache - born into a bourgeoise French family in 1873, claimed she was present at the Lumiere brothers first screening in 1895 - inspired by them. Alice was hired at the age of 22 as an assistant to be on Gourmont (one of the founders of the French film industry) she quickly became indispensable and began making her own films. She married a British man and moved to the US in 1907 where Guy set up her own company called Solax studios (based in New Jersey). Where she continued her prolific output.
Gender Politics: erasure and re-inscription:
- to write women back into film history
- set them alongside other figures
- in both America and France her record of achievements were erased
- Given credit to her male counterparts
Experiments With Form:
Cinema of the turn of he century largely consisted of a camera being left to run of a static scene with no editing whatsoever.
Experimenting with different ways of filmmaking - Phantom rides, fascination with moving through landscapes
Editing took some time to be discovered - First edit is assumed to be The Execution of Mary Queen Of Scots (1895) - splicing film and cutting it back together again. Editing usually done by women.
Grandma's Reading Glasses (1900) early use of close ups - motivated by prop of magnifying glass. Cutting in to the action.
Use of colour
Films that began to tell a new story telling by cutting through different action shots - Joining of discreet places.
Attack On A China Mountain - by James Williamson - influenced by George Albert Smith. Re-enactment of British vs Chinese Guerillas, complete reversal of the power dynamic. Colonial power exerting it's power on China. China fighting against that power.
An example of filmmakers piecing together an act in order to fill out the missing scenarios.
These were all available around as one of the complete actions in the early cinema of attractions period.
The Role Of Exhibition
The Magic Lantern - Key pre-cinematic technique - Film producers are doing the same with these but Exhibitors are finding people who can narrate them and bring story and order to them.
As a result complex narratives become possible, a non fiction film of newsworthy event - President McKinney reel: actual footage of the funeral and the prison of the assassin but then dramatic reconstruction of the assassination and execution. This reel would've had a narrator, someone talking the audience through it.
Story Arc - someone commits a crime or behaves in an immoral way and the film conveys a way in which that person is punished.
Gunning notes that actuality films outnumbered fictional films until 1906.
Blend of the factual and the documentary. Train robberies were in the new. Blache shoots in location
Distinct strand of non fiction filmmaking and alongside that there's a strand of storytelling.
Key Players
FRANCE, BRITAIN, USA, SCANDANAVIA & GERMANY
co-operation and friendly relations but within the competitive environments films are travelling fast, furious process movement of product, copying and stealing and duplicating products.
George Melies - Star Film Studios (France) he initially filmed static scenes with theatrical special effects. He was a famous magician before he was a filmmaker - brought this to his films. Double exposure, split screens, dissolves and fades. Ambitious editing, joining of reels to make longer films. Useful marker of change as he clearly is a massive figure in the cinema of attractions. in 1902 he produces his film Voyage To The Moon . Is adopting some of the storytelling techniques, but is primarily invested in the cinema of attractions cinema.
Edwin S. Porter - based with Edison, starts his career there but moves to Biograph. Makes The Great Train Robbery in 1903. - established with bringing in to play a realistic narrative, pulls into play the fascination with true crime. Focuses his energy onto that kind of filmmaking - reality oriented - brings together dramas and news events, western frontier - specifically American. Opening/Ending scene : outlaw shooting directly at audience, violence, exhibition interaction, the fact that this is separated out when great train robbery is given to visitors is an indication that the present of the two mode and the increasing distinction of the two mode cinema of the attractions is on it's way.
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