Showing an assortment of appeals in cinema of attractions was also a clever way for
early film makers to display the range and technical capabilities of cinema as a new
form of media. (Gunning 1993)
The perceived audience for cinema of attractions had been shaped by the
innovations and popular culture of the time. By the time early cinema began,
innovations in technology and the popularity of visual toys, along with an increase in
communications and marketing and the popularisation of variety act performances
helped form the culture in which cinema of attractions was a style of entertainment
appropriate to appeal to the audiences of the time. (Cavendish 2008, pp. 1001-1008)
The industrial era saw the invention of technologies that paved the road for cinema,
and aided its rapid popularisation and success. The invention of electric light,
recorded sound, projection, photography and the motion picture camera each played
a part in the ultimate creation of cinema. (Cavendish 2008, pp. 1001-1008) The
popularity and fascination that the population had with moving images had been
established through the widespread sales of visual toys such as photographic magic
lanterns and the zoetrope. (Enticknap 2005, pp. 7-10) These visual toys helped to
provide the technological basis for cinema, as well as giving inventors an objective
with which to aspire to the invention of cinema, as the recognition and popularisation
of moving images as entertainment and novelty was already well established.
(Enticknap 2005, pp. 7-10)
Along with the technologies used in cinema, the industrial era saw the creation of
communications technologies such as the telegraph, telephone and improvements
on the printing press (Cavendish 2008, pp. 1118,1182) which, combined with the
advancement of advertising to involve illustrations, colour and even photography; the
increased use of branding; and the widespread use of magazines and magazine
advertising which also occurred in the industrial era; helped the establishment of
mass-marketing and eye-grabbing advertising as a highly successful way of
proliferating popular culture. (Fox 1997, pp. 66-68) Advertising abounded, from
electrified flashing signs all over the cities to full-paged colour ads, and by the end of
the nineteenth century it became common for prevalent magazines to use almost as
many pages for advertising as for editorial purposes. (Tungate 2007, pp. 29-31) The
widespread use of eye-grabbing advertising meant that the audience for cinema of
attractions were a people used to having their attention drawn by images and
display. (Fox 1997, pp. 66-68) The use of spectacle and display in cinema of
attractions fit well into an era where popular culture involved ubiquitous
exhibitionism.
Ostentatious advertising is not the only source to be credited for the culture of
prominent exhibitionism at the time of cinema of attractions. Increased wages and
leisure time towards the end of the nineteenth century meant that the population had
the means by which to seek pleasure and entertainment. This entertainment
commonly took the form of live performance. (Halle & Margaret 2003, p. 17)
Theatre had long been popular, but in the era leading up to the beginning of cinema,
shows that leaned heavily on the use of spectacle and exhibitionism were widely
popular. (Lewis 2007, pp. 7-12) These shows usually came in the format of variety-
acts, with minstrel shows, burlesque, vaudeville and musical comedy all becoming
popular offshoots of theatre. (Lewis 2007, pp. 7-12) These forms of entertainment
sought to create a wide range of strong reactions in the audience; using anything
from comedy to dance and song, to stunts and tricks, to nudity and even vulgarity in
order to draw out an audience response. (Lewis 2007, pp. 7-12) A showman invited
the audiences in, and the performances drew out audience involvement by eliciting
reactions using variety and exhibitionism. (Lewis 2007, pp. 7-12) The perceived
audience at the time of early cinema was the audience among whom this type of
entertainment was popular.
The variety and theatricalism common to the popular entertainment at the time of
early cinema informed the variety and exhibitionism used in cinema of attractions. A
cinema showman, a device also used commonly with the other forms of popular
entertainment, allowed a direct address of the audience, luring them in and inviting
them to take part in the show and novelty that cinema had to offer. (Gunning 1993)
Tom Gunning says about cinema of attractions, “by its reference to the curiosity-
arousing devices of the fairground, the term denoted early cinemas fascination with
novelty and its foregrounding of the act of display”. (Gunning 1993) The fascination
with novelty and arousing of curiosity which formed part of the style of cinema of
attractions also combined with more pronounced audience reaction, according to
Stephen Bottomore. (Bottomore 1999) Bottomore uses the term ‘the Train Effect’ to
describe the “anxious or panicky reaction to films” when images of approaching
trains or cavalry, or any fast approaching image would alarm the audience. This was
due to the fact that the audiences were not accustomed to having images come at
them and failed to realise that the fast-moving images were not in fact able to come
out from the screen. This caused a genuine fear that Bottomore suggests did
occasionally cause an audience to alarm, to the point of panic. (Bottomore 1999)
Bottomore explains that while frightening, these images were also among those
which most impressed the first cinema audiences. (Bottomore 1999, p. 178) Jennifer
Bean describes this phenomenon as ‘trauma thrills’, in which the spectacle of a film
can result in a reaction of astonishment, shock or hysteria in an audience, which,
causing a sudden bodily response and a rush of adrenalin is ultimately deemed
thrilling and pleasurable by the audience; who then seek more of the same style of
entertainment, in order to recreate the bodily response. Bean suggests that
“Cinema’s historic affair with speed, shock and irrational mechanistic power” has
been assimilated with ‘cinema of attractions’. (Bean 2004)
Andre Gaudreault suggests that, when considering the audience reaction the audio-
visual element of early cinema must be taken into account. While the term ‘silent film’
is often used for the films of early cinema due to the lack of pre-recorded sound
accompanying the images, Gaudreault explains that these early cinema shows were
in fact nearly always audio-visual, adding sound through the use of live music, timed
sound-effects, a commentator or lecturer and sometimes actors performing dialogue
behind the cinema screen. (Gaudreault 1990, pp. 274-275) Being live rather than
pre-recorded, the audio element of the cinema of attractions was “a unique
performance, actualised anew for each spectacle, worked in a completely different
way”. (Gaudreault 1990, p. 275) According to Gaudreault, these live, unique audio
additions to the imagery of the film helped to form a sense of presentness with the
audience, addressing them directly and involving them in the immediacy of the entire
production. (Gaudreault 1990, pp. 274-275) Tom Gunning explains that cinema of
attractions did not place the audience in the position of a neutral voyeur. The cinema
showman invited the audience to participate. The exhibitionism of the imagery used
combined with the live audio performance inspired captivation and awe. And all of
these elements combined to showcase the technological capabilities of cinema as a
new media. Gunning says it was the “technological means of representation that
constituted the initial fascination of cinema”. (Gunning 1993)
The technological, industrial and cultural developments leading up to the late
nineteenth century and the beginning of cinema, informed the style of cinema early
film makers used, referred to as cinema of attractions. Taking into account the
widespread use of eye-grabbing media and the popularity of theatricalism and
exhibitionism in live theatre; and with the purpose of showcasing the technological
capabilities of film as a new form of media; filmmakers used the style now known as
cinema of attractions to address the perceived audience in early cinema. Providing
an audio-visual spectacular appealed to the culture of the audiences of the time, and
derived audience reaction which helped the widespread popularity and success of
cinema as a new form of entertainment.
Bibliography
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