Edwin S. Porter

Edwin S. Porter was definitely an originator in the medium of film. Even though his works were done in the earlier days of film and there was not new technology available on an almost daily basis, he still managed to push the limits of film. Some of the techniques that Porter used were camera movement, telling a story in several scenes, and special effects. Porter even used animation in some of his films. He also used outdoor scenes with these special effects which made his films even more innovative.

One of the films that Porter is best known for is The Great Train Robbery (1903) which utilized several of the techniques that he used that were not common during the time period. In this film, Porter utilized multiple scene story-telling, outdoor shots, color, and special effects. The one technique that Porter used that very few people used was the close-up. Close-ups were rarely used, even by Porter and they were generally a single frame that may even appear out of place. The best example of a close-up is the last shot of The Great Train Robbery which shows a cowboy with a gun. Porter may actually be credited with starting the entire “western” genre in film because of his 1903 work.

The Birth of Film

The birth of film cannot be traced to any one particular event or discovery in history. The text does say however, that “the first seeds were planted as early as 1646. A German Jesuit named Athanasius Kircher was hard at work devising an instrument he called Magia Catoptrica“. (1) The translation for Magia Catoptrica is “the Magic Lantern” which makes pretty good sense to me. It is thought that the idea had previously been “invented”, but it had never made it from paper to a working model.

Some may say that this invention is the birth of film, but I would have to disagree.  The birth of film may have started with this invention, but there are other aspects that were included in the birth of film.  Once film was available as a medium it was opened artists up to an entirely different way of creating that was extremely revolutionary.

The first films were generally series photography, which simply means that they were several still frames that were run together quickly.  Even though these films were pictures run together, they were quite creative.  The first series photography films really opened the whole medium up to the world which led to even more innovation.

Character Change

In class, we discussed the idea of character change, which simply means that a character is different at the end of the film than they were at the beginning. Character change is most often associated with some positive change that a character makes, which causes everything to turn out right and leaves us with a happy ending. Character change can also refer to a negative change that character goes through, such as a generally good person becoming a villain in a superhero film such as Spiderman.

One film that really sticks out in my head is the film American History X (1998) which follows the lives of two brothers and their family. The oldest brother, Derek, is a skinhead who goes to prison for murder. While in prison, he realizes how wrong he has been and changes his view of the world. During this time his younger brother Danny becomes a skinhead in order to follow in Derek’s footsteps. After several incidents, Derek and Danny are both no longer skinheads or believers in such hatred. Most people would think that this dramatic character change would lead to a happy ending, but that is not what you get. Instead, Danny is shot and killed by a black student that he had previously attacked. As Derek runs in to find Danny dead, the film comes to a close. It is not a happy ending, but it definitely shows character change.

Corrigan Ch. 3 Blog 2

After discussing a few aspects of film last week, I have decided to write about point of view and how important it is to the direction of a film. Point of view is a term that film shares with literary and visual arts, much like other terms such as narrative. According to the text, “In the broadest sense, it refers to the position from which something is seen and, by implication, the way that point of view determines what you see.” (46) If a house on the corner is what you need to see, then that is what you will see and you will see it from a certain person’s eyes depending on the story line that is being shown. There are however some instances in which there seems to be no individual point of view, but rather a broad, almost more accurate point of view that is necessary to communicate a certain point. One of these instances that the text discusses is the point of view of battle scenes in the film Gone with the Wind (1939) in which there seems to be a very broad point of view that shows the battle in a more accurate and unbiased light. The use of point of view is vital to film and depending on the plot and story line is one of the most effective tools that there is in film.

Corrigan Ch. 3

While reading chapter three of Corrigan’s A Short Guide To Writing About Film, I found several of the points that were made to be interesting. For instance, the text states that “although the movies are one of the youngest of the arts, they have absorbed the structures and forms of many older arts” (39), which shows that film draws inspiration and technique from more traditional art forms. Film draws the ideas of plot, characters, narrative, and point of view from literary and visual arts and I feel that this shows why film is every-changing because of the freedoms that are available in the medium of film.

Corrigan discusses the impact that the frame can have on the audience by speaking of how the actions and objects that are present in the frame can change the feeling or tone of the film for the audience. One example that I have recently viewed is Rob Zombie’s version of Halloween, which is shot in a very real manner. This effect is achieved by strange camera angles and positions and also there seems to be just enough editing to maintain the quality of the film.

Movies will continue to change the world of art by pushing all of the traditional concepts to their limits and then going beyond. At the same time, film will continue to draw upon the more traditional art forms in order maintain the level of artistry that is necessary for success.

Turning Points In Film History: Foreword & Intro.

While reading the foreword of Turning Points In Film History I realized that practically everything that was being said by Joe Bob Briggs was absolutely true. Film is constantly changing and it seems that some of the most moving and inspired works of cinema may be forgotten because they simply cannot capture the attention of the average person today as well as a special-effects packed film can. Briggs also discusses the fact that since film was invented in the United States, it has, with few exceptions, “found its highest expression in America”. (Briggs)

The introduction continues this idea as well and states that “most significant events in the history of American film have ultimately affected world cinema in one way or another” (Rausch), but I feel that American film has recently been affected by world cinema in a big way. In recent years there has been a movement in American cinema of remaking foreign films and releasing them in the United States. One of the best examples that comes to mind is The Ring (2002) which was a remake of the Japanese film Ringu (1998). There have been other American films that have been remakes of foreign films and in my opinion, that shows that world cinema has began to affect American cinema and how Americans perceive cinema as well.

I agree completely with Rausch and Briggs, but I also feel that the way in which world cinema has affected American cinema should be spoken of more. The fact is; American cinema has, and will continue to affect world cinema, but it will continue to draw inspiration from world cinema as well.

Opinion and Evaluation

When reading Corrigan’s text, his feelings of how opinion and evaluation influence how we write about film are clear and it is easy to grasp the concept that he is explaining. Everyone has their likes and dislikes when it comes to film, and their opinions on film are usually at the forefront of any writing or conversation, but evaluation of the film is also very important for one to consider when writing about film; otherwise you just sound like a movie reviewer.

One example that Corrigan brings up in his text is the way that people look at and discuss literary adaptations. Some people want nothing to do with literary adaptations unless they are completely true to the literary work and one example of film that has been brought under scrutiny recently is Beowulf (2007). Most people found the film to be quite bothersome because it is only loosely based on the literary work that it is based on with the film-makers taking artistic liberties and adding things and changing characters and so on. I simply look at the film for what it is; a literary adaptation that is trying to draw in a larger crowd than just those who have read the work.

It is alright to express your opinion about any work of film, but if you are going to write about it then you must also evaluate the film without allowing your opinions to control what you are attempting to communicate in your writing.

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