Cinema History 1800s-Introduction of Sound
Test #1: Study Notes
Chapter 1
Cinephile: a lover of cinema
Filmography: a list of films
There are distinct types of explanation in film history:
1. Biographical History
2. Industrial/Economic Historybusiness procedures
3. Aesthetic Historyfilm art (form; style)
4. Technological History
5. Social/Cultural/Political
Types of Explanation:
1. Chronology
2. Influence
3. Trends/Generalization
4. Periods (by positing trends, historians generalize)
5. Significance
Methodological Individualism: all historical explanations must appeal to person-based causes sooner or later (ie) Warner Bros. adopted sound first
Holism/Methodological Collectivism: group-based causes
**Film Time Periods:
Early Cinema (-1919), Late Silent Era (1919-1929), Development of Sound Cinema (1926-1945), Post WWII (1946-1960s), Period From 1960s-1980s, Contemporary Era (1980s-Present)
Film: Sunset Boulevard (1950)
WEEK #2: EARLY CINEMA
Cinema has yet to be invented; we haven’t reached technological completion
We must attribute the invention to a group of scientists
Early cinema was based on spectacle and ‘wow factor’, there was no character development, narrative or story
Films were occupied with the act of looking
You could always find a beginning, middle and end of a film; you can still find structure within these shorts
BUT! More curious with the performative aspects than what more we can take away from the film
U.S becoming a colonialist power from the Spanish-American War of 1898
Progressivist movements emerging (womens rights, child labour)
The Invention of Cinema/Early Years (1880s-1904)
Dioramas, circuses, “freak shows”, amusement parks, music halls, drama troupes
=Inexpensive entertainment
Hauling entire theatre productions from town to town was expensive
Travelogues: Bring the sights of far-flung places to spectator’s hometowns
Preconditions for Motion Pictures
Phenakistoscope: spinning disc of figures gives allusion of movement (1832)
Zoetrope: A series of drawings on
Chapter 1
Cinephile: a lover of cinema
Filmography: a list of films
There are distinct types of explanation in film history:
1. Biographical History
2. Industrial/Economic Historybusiness procedures
3. Aesthetic Historyfilm art (form; style)
4. Technological History
5. Social/Cultural/Political
Types of Explanation:
1. Chronology
2. Influence
3. Trends/Generalization
4. Periods (by positing trends, historians generalize)
5. Significance
Methodological Individualism: all historical explanations must appeal to person-based causes sooner or later (ie) Warner Bros. adopted sound first
Holism/Methodological Collectivism: group-based causes
**Film Time Periods:
Early Cinema (-1919), Late Silent Era (1919-1929), Development of Sound Cinema (1926-1945), Post WWII (1946-1960s), Period From 1960s-1980s, Contemporary Era (1980s-Present)
Film: Sunset Boulevard (1950)
WEEK #2: EARLY CINEMA
Cinema has yet to be invented; we haven’t reached technological completion
We must attribute the invention to a group of scientists
Early cinema was based on spectacle and ‘wow factor’, there was no character development, narrative or story
Films were occupied with the act of looking
You could always find a beginning, middle and end of a film; you can still find structure within these shorts
BUT! More curious with the performative aspects than what more we can take away from the film
U.S becoming a colonialist power from the Spanish-American War of 1898
Progressivist movements emerging (womens rights, child labour)
The Invention of Cinema/Early Years (1880s-1904)
Dioramas, circuses, “freak shows”, amusement parks, music halls, drama troupes
=Inexpensive entertainment
Hauling entire theatre productions from town to town was expensive
Travelogues: Bring the sights of far-flung places to spectator’s hometowns
Preconditions for Motion Pictures
Phenakistoscope: spinning disc of figures gives allusion of movement (1832)
Zoetrope: A series of drawings on