Film history in four pages or less.
James Keller Survey of 20th Century Culture Prof. P. Davis Film History in Four Pages or Less Film has become a major part of Western culture. The process in which it has evolved is just as important. Film is one of the widest used forms of communication of the twentieth century. Its origins actually began in the early nineteenth century in 1824 with the invention of the 'thaumatrope'. The thaumatrope was a toy that used the idea of 'persistence of vision'. 'Persistence of vision' can be best described as an optical illusion. The concept dictates that if one sees a series of pictures of an object in the stages of its movement, by viewing those pictures consecutively at a speed of 16fps (frames per second) the object will appear to move. The 'thaumatrope' was a two-sided disk with a picture on each side. There are strings on either side of the disk and one would essentially spin the display a new image. For instance, a picture of a bird would be on one side and a birdcage on the other. One would hold taught the strings and spin the disk and one would see a bird in a cage. Then, in 1831, electromagnetic induction, which is used for powering various mechanisms such as film-projector motors, was discovered. The following year, the fantascope was created. It is a shallow, hollowed object with a series of sketches of a horse galloping, a juggler, dancer, etc.
Film language How M Night Shyamalan create suspense and tension in Signs and The Village?Films are made by directors and stars actors and actress
Film language How M Night Shyamalan create suspense and tension in Signs and The Village? Films are made by directors and stars actors and actress, we watch films because it makes us laugh or scared it is enjoying watching different types of film. In films they are a lot of different genres. For example comedy makes us laugh or smile and action has a lot if fighting, violence, guns and generic conventions. M. Night Shyamalan was born in India he had very early passion for filmmaking when given a Super-8 camera by age 8, modelling his career, even at that young age, to hero Steven Spielberg. His first film, 'Praying with Anger' was based somewhat on his own trip back to visit the India of his birth. This critical success was achieved as Shyamalan raised all the necessary funds in this project which he starred in, directed, produced. "Wide Awake." And he was the director of the film Signs and the village Director of films creates the genre by picking specific film language. For example, a director might use close-up to zoom in something funny in a comedy, while a director might use sound effect of gun to add to his action genre. This is called film language and consists of use of camera, Lightning, Colour, Sound, Mise- en-scene and Scene editing. The film Signs is about family living on a farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields, which suggests something
Film Narrtive and Film Form Analysis on Gridiron Gang
This essay was critically analyzed on the aspect of narrative and couple aspect of form based on the film, "Gridiron Gang". A narrative is a form of message that tells in particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events and presented in writing form, drama, cinema, radio programs and television programs. A narrative are often build together in a linear fashion way, giving the audience better understanding on the reason why it happens, the cost and effects and also the behaviour of the characters in the story. This particular film that I would be analyzing is based on a true story, "Gridiron Gang" and was directed by Phil Joanou and was written by Jeff Maguire based on the documentary film which also known as Gridiron Gang (Levy 2008). This particular film was released at the following year of 2006. The first original documentary film of Gridiron Gang was made by a filmmaker, Lee Stanley (Levy 2008). The plot of this film has given a standard cinematic iconography which portrait a message how a world would prefer that a young offender would not darken their pristine public school doorways and facilities. The entire film is mostly based on only one perspective view of the story which is through the eyes of Sean Porter, the main character of the film, this format is also known as Film Noir. The director tries to tell the whole film in a different point of view, which is
Film representations of the Vietnam War have been marked by distortion and evasion. Discuss with close reference to at least two movies.
Film representations of the Vietnam War have been marked by distortion and evasion. Discuss with close reference to at least two movies. - Louis Gandolfo There was an explosion of Vietnam movies in Hollywood from 1978 to 1989 depicting the Vietnam experience. All these movies shared a common trait in that they all tried to give the viewer a taste of Vietnam. However the film industry and history as a social order are two separate and oppositional forces. Hollywood especially, with its need to present a pleasurable experience to a large audience, finds itself in a difficult position. Filmmakers who want to recreate an historical experience are bound by the need to ensure mass appeal, so the need for distortion and evasion of the truth is maybe a necessity. A lot of the Hollywood movies concerning Vietnam do not portray the Vietnam War in sense of the truth, so how does the viewer know they are receiving the facts? With a number directors and producers coming from many angles, each director has a different angle and opinion of what happened. Many of the directors have tried to go for ratings and revenue by exaggerating the more dramatic points of Vietnam for the film while others have tried to stick to the truth. By exaggerating the film it becomes distorted and evasive and has provided biased information to the viewer. Many Vietnam films dealt with different aspects of
What were the strengths and limitations of the BBC during the period 1922-1939?
What were the strengths and limitations of the BBC during the period 1922-1939? The BBC, one of the largest and most effective broadcasting corporations in the present world, has proved a powerful force in the 20th century, providing education, entertainment and information, and fascinating millions of listeners and viewers at home and abroad. However, the establishment and early growth of every novelty is never smooth, neither is the BBC. From 1922, the time that the BBC was originally formed, to the end of the 1930s, the BBC had gone through many changes and struggle, In the following of this paper, I am going to show those changes and the strengths and limitations of the BBC during the period between its emergence and the late 1930s, in terms of the organisation of the BBC (internal) and the contemporary political and social environment (external). Strengths and limitations 'inside' the BBC First of all, I will introduce a little background of why and how the BBC was accepted and established. According to Seaton, the First World War stimulated the development of 'wireless telegraphy' which was widely used merely for military purpose. With the beginnings of the 'wireless' (the older name for radio) in the early 1920s, many of manufacturers had individually sought broadcasting permits from the Post Office, at that time the government overseeing public communications, and
Discuss the idea of the film narrator/narration in relation to verbal to visual issues.
Discuss the idea of the film narrator/narration in relation to verbal to visual issues. I will be looking at the different notions of the 'narrator' in relation to both verbal and visual texts then I will be discussing the importance of montage and mise-en-scene in the construction of a film, otherwise the 'narration' of a film. I will also examine concepts of the film narrator in relation to the verbal to visual process put forward by theorists and film scholars and use examples from the texts The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley (1984), The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (1992) and Emma by Jane Austen (1816). I will also touch upon 'focalization' within the context of the narrator. Before I discuss the concept of film narrator, I will briefly touch on the narrator of the literary text so as to realise the fundamental differences between them. In a verbal text, the narrator will fall into one of three basic types; the speaker who uses his own voice, one who assumes the voice/voices of other persons, and not speak in his own voice and one who uses a mixture of his own and other persons voices. (Cuddon, 1998: 535) The distinction between the three are very important, where all are evidently still narrators, the speaker who uses his own voice or the first-person narrator is 'active in the plot' whereby the speaker who do not use his voice, the third-person narrator is
Examine the opening five minutes of 'High Noon', 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid', and 'Unforgiven'. Discuss what each of the directors seek to achieve in these sequences and how they locate their film within the genre.
Examine the opening five minutes of 'High Noon', 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid', and 'Unforgiven'. Discuss what each of the directors seek to achieve in these sequences and how they locate their film within the genre. The three films 'High Noon', 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid', and 'Unforgiven' are all classic films that are located in the Western genre. Principally these Westerns are set between the period 1860 to 1900 and often located to the west of the Missouri and the Mississippi. The production of these three films span through a period of 40 years from 1952 to 1992 showing a change and progression in the style of filming. From examining the opening five minutes of each of the three films and with great reference to the key concepts I shall be able to establish what notions build a Western and analyse how effectively they are used within each of the three films. High Noon directed by Fred Zinnemann was produced in 1952 and tells the story of Miller, a renowned villain who was sentenced in the town of Hadleyville to a lifetime imprisonment in Texas. Much to the town's distress Miller is released and back with a vengeance and together with a group of other villains they return to Hadleyville to seek revenge on the town's sheriff. This is a story about the final triumph of good over evil yet also touches upon other subjects like testing friendships and the
Media - 'Die Another Day'.
GSCE Media Coursework Die Another Day In the making of the film Die Another Day the creators needed to produce a piece of work that would carry on appealing to many of the audience. They needed to create a film that would be entertaining for the younger generation as new followers of Bond films, while still keeping the same basic formula that had appealed to the older audience for many years. These films have been in the cinemas for forty years and are the longest running film series ever, so this shows the original class of Bond film must work very well. Today each time a Bond film comes out there are increasing box office receipts, partly due to the popularity of the Brosnan Bond films. Nevertheless, the producers thought that the twentieth Bond film needed a change. Either the film style needed changing or an extra dimension needed to be added. They decided to try to keep what they saw as the superior quality of the series of films but to attempt to add more dynamic action and dare-devil stunts to their winning formula. They felt a need to create more tension and excitement. Several special filming techniques help to create tension and excitement. For example a wide variety of shots make the audience feel that they have a good overall view of the ice-lake chase because the camera is constantly cutting, letting the audience know exactly what's happening from every
Kenneth Branagh's Dead Again - film review
Kenneth Branagh's Dead Again revisits genre conventions from an earlier time to entertain a 1990's audience with high suspense of a kind different from current fashion. It tells a story using typical elements of film noir, influenced in particular by the style of Alfred Hitchcock. It dabbles interestingly - if not always convincingly - in these elements, and in Californian American life and culture, achieving a freshness and novelty that made it a surprise minor success, particularly in the USA. The narrative structure of the film is quite complex. It weaves a complicated web, in some ways similar to Alfred Hitchcock's great classic Vertigo (1958). Dead Again is a return to the psychological suspense thriller genre of the 40s and 50s in which Alfred Hitchcock was pre-eminently the master (films like Notorious, Strangers on a Train, Rear Window and Psycho ). In several instances it pays tribute to Hitchcock's skills and strives for the mood to be found in Film Noir. The story takes on classical narrative form in the way both the Roman/Margaret and Mike/Grace stories develop. Mike Church, a Los Angeles private detective, is asked by Brother Timothy of St. Audrey's School (where he himself grew up) to help investigate the identity of a mute amnesia victim who was found in the school grounds. So it is that Mike meets Grace, the other main 1990's character. Newspaper photographs
"'Contemporary Media Are Characterised By Increasing Convergence.' Discuss."
Essay Title - "'Contemporary Media Are Characterised By Increasing Convergence.' Discuss." In today's modern society, the collective media are increasingly combining their resources to enable their content to be consumed through various means. This constantly increasing convergence has provoked limitless discussion, which has brought to light numerous benefits and drawbacks, and has become the essential characteristic of today's "New Media". This term, "New Media" can be quite indistinct. As more and more technologies are developed, that which was once new media subsequently becomes outdated and is no longer considered to be a contemporary form of communication. But, generally, when referring to new media, we refer primarily to the Internet, particularly the World Wide Web, and to developing digital technology. Digitalisation has become the basis of almost every form of contemporary media. This is a major transformation from traditional media, which used various analogue systems and were therefore, for the most part, incompatible. Now, the majority of media operates using the binary code of the digital system, and so the content of television, radio, the Internet, etc., can be easily amalgamated into larger, closely linked services. The reality television programme, "Big Brother", has been running for four years and is a useful example of the ever-increasing
