Post-War - Seminole Cinema: SEHS Film
IB Film 2: W62.1Seeing Film History Through ErasHere is a film retrospective spanning 121 years - 1895 through to 2015.How many films can you identify?Note that even though the visualization and presentation may have changed, the?themes have remained universal throughout the decades. simplest way to look at film history is to divide it into 2 major eras -?the silent era and the sound era.Motion pictures date back to around 1890, and for the first 40 years of existence they were, for all intents and purposes, silent.While remarkable leaps in inventiveness and technology allowed filmmakers to capture reality, they were unable to synchronize those pictures with sound. This generally was not considered to be a problem, as filmmakers were able to eloquently tell stories without having to rely on sound.Many films did have accompanying music.Some, like?Metropolis?(1927) or many of Charlie Chaplin's films, had scores written specifically for them, while other films would be scored by organ or piano players improvising as they watched the film along with the paying audience.Early film directors and actors believed that expression of body and face could communicate as much as the spoken word. Actors used large gestures in a melodramatic style many of them had learned while performing on the stage.This began to change when actors, directors, and especially audiences realized the large screen allowed for a more subtle style of acting.Charlie Chaplin as a Director realized this, and so did actresses such as Mary Pickford.This naturalistic approach to acting would eventually become the norm - smaller gestures and subtle expressions that could say as much as any grand gesture.An exception would include films that deliberately incorporated an expressionistic acting style -?Nosferatu?(1922) would be a good example of this.German Expressionism as a film movement would have long-lasting effects, reaching all the way to 1982's?Blade Runner.Historically speaking, there was massive industrialization and migration happening around the world. The automobile and airplane were invented, and there was an increase in free time that encouraged the development of popular entertainment like the movies.By 1929, sound in film was a reality, and the acting style would change again.Instead of relying on expression and gesture ( and title cards when more detail was required ), actors now had words.Dialogue, specifically scored music and sound effects, could all be added. Even the most reluctant Directors and studios had to accept that talkies were here to stay.It was a new era.Charlie Chaplin?Charlie Chaplin was openly disdainful of the new talkies, probably because he was worried his mainstay character - The Tramp - would not survive the transition to sound,.He claimed he would never make a talkie, saying he would"..as soon put make-up on marble statues..."Chaplin did continue to work in the sound era.The Classical Era of film, especially with reference to Hollywood, could be said to run from the advent of sound to the advent of television, roughly the 1930s to the 1950s.During this era, the world suffered the?Great Depression, and many people sought solace and escape in?movie theatres.World War II followed, which established the United States as the most dominant country in the world and by default, made the Hollywood film machine the most powerful and most influential for many years to follow.During this era, there were a number of significant film industry developments, including the rise and fall of the Studio System, the establishment of the Hays Code, and the development and / or refinement of several major Genres, including Gangster, Musical, Western, Noir, Horror, and Science Fiction.A major movement outside of Hollywood during this time was French Poetic Realism as seen in the films of Jean Vigo and Jean Renoir.Post-WarAfter World War II, a number of significant film movements developed around the world.One of the most important was Italian neo-Realism, a movement that came out of the devastated post-war Italian film industry.Left with little studio space or film stock, Italian filmmakers took to the street using non-professional actors and natural lighting to tell the stories of ordinary people.Some of the films were influenced by American Film Noir, but most of the films and filmmakers came right out the Italian World War II Resistance.Anti-Fascist writers urged filmmakers to go out into the street in order to capture the true face of Italy.Another important development was the advent of television.Filmmakers, fearing competition from the small screen, began to make epics that could only work on widescreens and in full Technicolor.The Transitional EraThe period from roughly 1960 to 1979, is considered a Transitional Era, falling between the major post-war developments and what can be called the Modern Era of film.During the transitional era, the old American production code was scrapped and the Motion Picture Association of America began to issue movie ratings.Hollywood struggled during the early part of this era, while many European films earned critical acclaim and success.Important movements during this time included the French New Wave, American Underground film, and Feminist film.There were a number of other New Wave movements internationally, including -New German Cinema ( Neuer Deutscher Film ) of the 1960s, directly influenced by the French New Wave.British New Wave, a film movement with an emphasis on conflict in 1960s working-class Britain - as seen in films like?The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner?(1962)Japanese New Wave running through the 50s, 60s, and 70s. This was started by young studio filmmakers looking to experiment with and explore ideas not often found in the more established Japanese film industry.The Modern EraFilm and filmmaking has changed significantly since the 1970s.Film production and distribution have become an even bigger business with the merging of many major movie studios.There is an increased emphasis on developing franchise films, and large-scale worldwide marketing is the norm.On the other end of the scale, the development of digital technology has not only changed the special effects and animation aspects of the movie business, but has allowed independent filmmakers more opportunities to film and distribute their work.In the last few decades there have been major developments in Asian and Indian cinema, in American independent film, Third World cinema, and in documentary filmmaking.A major factor influencing these developments and opportunities is the World Wide Web.With the web came an increased Internationalism through websites and blogs dedicated to viewings and discussions of films from all over the world.Filmmakers can use the web to promote and distribute their films.This increased availability and interest helps create support for film festivals and theatrical releases.Blade RunnerBlade Runner?(1982) by Ridley Scott comes out of the Modern era of film history.The special effects work in Blade Runner was state-of-the-art, considering it was pre-digital and included Matte paintings and Stop Motion models.The film fits the Modern commercial model in that it was a big budget film produced by a large international company - Warner Brothers - though it did not fair well at the box office in 1982.The film stood out because of the dystopian storyline and rich Production Design.Though it was critically condemned at the time by for being too much about style and not enough about substance, it has since generated much thoughtful discussion of the major themes and Direction.Many of the concepts in?Blade Runner?come out of concerns and issues of the 1980's.These include fears and hopes regarding genetic engineering, global warming and urban sprawl, globalization of cultures, hints of mass animal extinctions, and pollution.Blade Runner?has recently been re-issued in a Directors?Final Cut.?It is a testament to the quality and depth of Ridley Scott's film that it is still relevant and engaging today. ................
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