1. F ROM THE CINEMA OF ATTRACTIONS TO THE CINEMA OF NARRATIVE INTEGRATION, PART 2 Lecture 5

2. What constitutes, at the level of form, the cinema of narrative integration? The Case of Sherlock, Jr.

3. Cinema of attractions Exhibitionist Direct address Filming of events Emphasizes *theatrical display* displays its visibility affects the spectator like a rollercoaster A-psychological Narrative Cinema Voyeuristic Absorptive Affects the spectator like sleep or drugs suspenseful Psychological Gives the illusion of a coherent space (i.e. the illusion of realism)

4. How exactly is narrative absorption achieved? Suspense Psychologizing characters Producing the illusion of realism by creating realistic spaces

5. How exactly is narrative absorption achieved? Suspense – Stylistic technique: cross-cutting Psychologizing characters – Stylistic technique: close-ups Producing the illusion of realism by creating realistic spaces – Stylistic techniques: eyeline matches, continuity editing

6. Character psychology? Mary Janes Mishap

7. Character psychology?

8. Spatial Realism and Continuity Editing 1 From The Lonedale Operator

9. Spatial Realism and Continuity Editing 2 From The Lonedale Operator

10. Spatial Realism and Continuity Editing 3: the eyeline match: From The Lonedale Operator

11. Spatial Realism and Continuity Editing 4 From The Lonedale Operator

13. How and why did filmmaking practice shift from a cinema of attractions in the pre-1908 period to a cinema of narrative integration in the post- 1908 period?

14. In order to answer that question we need to understand the following:

15. Key terms Mode of representation – What are the predominant techniques used in the film texts themselves? Mode of production – How and by whom are films being produced? Mode of exhibition – How and where are films being exhibited? Mode of distribution – How the films are getting from the producer/manufacturer to the exhibiter Mode of appreciation – How are actual audiences interacting/enjoying/appreciating the films?

16. P RE -1908 MODE OF REPRESENTATION ( M. O. R ), MODE OF PRODUCTION ( M. O. P.), MODE OF DISTRIBUTION ( M. O. D.), MODE OF EXHIBITION ( M. O. E.), MODE OF APPRECIATION ( M. O. A.) 1896-1901: Self-Contained Producers – Mode of representation (M.O.R.) Cinema of attractions – Mode of production (M.O.P) Companies developed the technology and made the films, and sometimes assisted with the exhibition – Edison, Lumière, American Mutoscope (later Biograph), Pathé Frerès, Vitagraph – Mode of distribution (M.O.D) Companies rented out the technology (projectors), the films, and a person to help with the projection i.e. no distributors – Mode of exhibition (M.O.P.) *Vaudeville theaters* – One part of a show Theaters rented a complete service from the production companies Few theaters that only showed films – Mode of appreciation (M.O.A.) Illusions and novelty

17. P.B. Chases Polite Vaudeville Theater Program Bill Washington, D.C., Week of April 29 th, 1901

19. P.B. Chases Polite Vaudeville Theater Program Bill Washington, D.C., Week of September 21 st, 1908

20. Chases Theater (ca. 1912)

21. P RE -1908 MODE OF REPRESENTATION ( M. O. R ), MODE OF PRODUCTION ( M. O. P.), MODE OF DISTRIBUTION ( M. O. D.), MODE OF EXHIBITION ( M. O. E.), MODE OF APPRECIATION ( M. O. A.) 1902-1904: Independent Exhibitors – Mode of representation (M.O.R.) Cinema of attractions – Mode of production (M.O.P) Companies sold (rather than rented) the technology (projectors) and the films Projectors were easier to use (less need for a projectionist) – Mode of distribution (M.O.D) Direct exchange between production and exhibition i.e. no real distributors – Mode of exhibition (M.O.P.) Exhibitors bought projectors and films Increasing number of Vaudeville theaters incorporated films in playbills *Travelling entertainments* – Fairgrounds, parks, etc… Exhibitors played a curatorial role; each show was unique No standardization Few film-only theaters – Mode of appreciation (M.O.A.) Story films had become very popular – The Great Train Robbery (1903) was the most commercially successful in the pre-Griffith period Audiences were familiar with many of the stories and dramatized events – Jack and the Beanstalk, 1903

22. P RE -1908 MODE OF REPRESENTATION ( M. O. R ), MODE OF PRODUCTION ( M. O. P.), M ODE OF D ISTRIBUTION ( M. O. D.), MODE OF EXHIBITION ( M. O. E.), MODE OF APPRECIATION ( M. O. A.) 1904-1908: Film Exchanges and the Rise of the Nickelodeon – Mode of representation (M.O.R.) Cinema of attractions – Mode of production (M.O.P) American Mutoscope Biograph company emerges as the first company to shift to feature films Growing demand for films Power and control of industry passed from production to exchanges and exhibiters – Mode of distribution (M.O.D.) Companies usually sold the technology (projectors) and the films to EXCHANGES rather than exhibiters Emergence of a new intermediary: the film exchangeman (like a distributor) – Bought films from production companies and rented them to exhibitors – Mode of exhibition (M.O.P.) This helped propel the nickelodeon boom – huge increase in theaters (nickelodeons) whose prime attraction was films – CINEMA AS MASS ART Traveling exhibitors went out of business – Mode of appreciation (M.O.A.) Story films were most popular Stories were often familiar to the audience

24. Published in the Chicago Sunday Tribune, April 8 th, 1906 Title: Nickel Theatre Pays Well; Small Cost and Big Profit [At the shopping-district theater], they must gather 2,200 5 cent coins before profit begins. The house seats 399 people, and two shows an hour are given, except Saturday and Sundays when the crowds are largest and an extra performance is wedged into every sixty minutes. The hours are from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and during this time there is no cessation. It is the genuine continuous. The rush hours of the theaters day are from 12 to 2, and from 6 to 8 p.m., when the capacity of the house is taxed as a rule

25. Lubin Nickelodeon, Philadelphia, ca. 1907

27. Detroit, Michigan, 1909

28. Nickelodeon audiences From Views and Film Index (1906): They all do business. This is evident at any hour during the day and up to 12 oclock at night. Places are continually opening. East of the Bowery lies the great East Side section of New York, with its great tenements and the countless humanity living in it. The character of the people who use the Bowery as thoroughfare and who may be classed as transient is not of such a nature that they would attend these shows: therefore the logical conclusion, and what is now the established fact, is that these moving picture shows and arcades are supported by the residents of the vicinity, the great Italian settlement on the one side and the great Jewish settlement of the other.

29. Impact of the nickelodeon boom Cinema became a mass art Film reel (vs. projectors or complete service) became the industrys main commodity Feature film (half reel to one reel in length) became the industrys main product Demand for films increased New worries about films respectability

30. What explains the shift in the mode of representation around 1908? 1.Emergence of film as a mass art with the nickelodeon boom increased demand 2.Criticism of films whose storylines were unclear suggested the need for narrative efficiency in order to maintain profitability a)Familiar stories were limited b)broader, more diverse audience less familiar with once taken-for-granted cultural referents 3.Standardization of the industry evidenced in the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC) 4.Concerns of reformers about the class composition of nickelodeon audiences pushed the industry to try to appeal to a middle class public