HISTORY OF FILM IN AMERICA PART I

EADWEARD MUYBRIDGE 1878 Beginning of the history of Film Stop Motion Photography Horse series

THOMAS EDISON

NEWARK ATHLETE (1891) FAMOUS SNEEZE (1894) ANNABELLE MOORE (1895) WHAT HAPPENED ON 23 rd STREET (1901)

THOMAS EDISON First production studio: Black Maria Inventor of the Kinetoscope

LUMIERE BROTHERS (Auguste & Louis) Made their own projector First public projection of films December 28, 1895 First public projection of films December 28, 1895 Invented film camera called Cinematographe

A M E R C A

THOMAS EDISON Patents Vitascope MPPC (Motion Picture Patents Company)

Trip to the Moon (1902) Georges Méliès

A M E R C A

Edwin S. Porter First prominent American filmmaker First prominent American filmmaker Great Train Robbery (1903) Great Train Robbery (1903)

1905

1908 MPPC

NEW YORK LOS ANGLES THE SHIFT FROM EAST TO WEST

1912 1)Escape the MPPC (Edison’s trust) 2)More favorable climate 3)Variety of landscapes 4)Cheap land

D.W. Griffith First full length feature film Birth of a Nation (1915) Birth of a Nation (1915)

NEW YORK LOS ANGLES THE SHIFT FROM EAST TO WEST

1912 1)Escape the MPPC (Edison’s trust) 2)More favorable climate 3)Variety of landscapes 4)Cheap land

THE RISE OF THE STUDIOS Between 1912 and 1920 all major studios are created. United Artists Charlie Griffith and Charlie Chaplin Warner Brothers Paramount Fox Films Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) Columbia RKO

THE RISE OF THE STUDIOS

EXCEPTIONS

1917 MPPC

1915: Man Commits Robbery

1921: A.T. POFFENBERGER MOTION PICTURES AND CRIME

MPPDA 1922 Motion Picture Producers & Distributors What Caused It’s Creation: 1) 1915 court case of “movies made do it” 2) 1921 Dr. A.T. Poffenberger’s Motion Pictures & Crime 3) Fear of Government Control

MPPDA 1922 Motion Picture Producers & Distributors Purpose: 1) Keep the Government out of Hollywood 2) Represent American Film abroad

Erich von Stroheim Irving Thalberg VS

First Super-Jewel First million dollar movie First million dollar movie Made in 1922 by Universal Made in 1922 by Universal Erich von Stroheim vs. Irving Thalberg Erich von Stroheim vs. Irving Thalberg Directorial excess

Erich von Stroheim Director/Actor/Editor Foolish Wives (1922) Foolish Wives (1922) First million dollar budget

Irving Thalberg Producer / Re-editor Foolish Wives (1922) Foolish Wives (1922) Super-Jewel Brought about the current Hollywood model of pre-production. Brought about the current Hollywood model of pre-production. End of directorial excess

Irving Thalberg After Foolish Wives left for MGM. After Foolish Wives left for MGM. Purpose of movies it to make money Purpose of movies it to make money Business needs to Control: pre-production Business needs to Control: pre-production production post-production

MGM & Irving Thalberg

WB’s Problems: Only had small theaters Wanted to help in small towns Bottom of the major studios

WB partners with GE

The Jazz Singer (1927) WB WB partners with GE Sound-on-disc First ‘sound’ movie

IMPACTS OF SOUND Audiences want audio Silent actors out of work Camera filmed from inside a booth so voices could be recorded by a stationary microphone Camera filmed from inside a booth so voices could be recorded by a stationary microphone Dialogue based scripts Foreign countries film industries hurt Foreign countries film industries hurt

Sound On Disc “double system” Sound On Film “single system”

SOUND VOCABULARY: Rendered Sound False or made up sound Conceptual Resonance You see films differently based on the sound Diegetic Sound Sound where the source is part of the scene Non-Diegetic Sound Sound where the source is not part of the scene

1895 movies begin 1927 sound enters 32 years of silence

1927 Academy Awards

Stock Market Crash October 1929 Great Depression