The Magic of Movies

Who was Louis Le Prince? What was his contribution to cinema? After reading about him, what surprises you about reading this article? For cinema lovers it was the last few years of his life that granted his name in the history books.  Thomas Edison and the Lumière brothers dominated the headlines for inventing the equipment which made the moving image possible, Louis Le Prince preceded them by a number of years with a working model which captured motion outside his home in Roundhay, Leeds. However Le Prince's wide variety of achievements were not recognized after he went missing on his trip to Europe. The last person to see him was his brother, he was leaving New York to visit his family and friends before his grand showcase but before he could make it he was never seen or heard of again. He suddenly disappeared and his case has remained unsolved today, nobody knows where he went not even his remains were found. The one undisputed fact is that Le Prince was the first past the post ...

Let's explore more! Take a few minutes online to search out and find another early short silent film that you like that was made before 1910. Embed the video in your blog. Why do you like this next early silent film? What is so interesting about it? What are two common things that you noticed about the films you saw while searching for your video on YouTube?   The film I chose to view was the "The Great Train Robbery" (1903). This silent film had cool costumes, props, and it was famous for a reason. The film's popularity stemmed largely from Edwin Porter's innovations, significantly, his use of editing to cut together disparate shots into a narrative of shifting perspectives and locations. Although 11 minutes may seem like nothing today, this length marks a milestone in American filmmaking. It's success led future films lengths to become longer, this film also was shown all around America because of how good it is. Another one of the reasons The Great Train Ro...

Take a few minutes online to search out and find one early short silent film that you like that was made prior to 1910. Embed the video in your blog. Why do you like this early silent film? What is so interesting about it? What are two common things that you noticed about the films you saw while searching for your video on youtube? A Trip to the Moon, which was released in 1902, is significant to the history of cinema because it was one of the very first narrative films ever made and one of the very first films to make use of innovative filmmaking techniques such as time lapse photography, double exposure, etc. It was a pioneer of success in film, one of the first theatrical releases, it was a genuine work of art. It had many costumes, and make up effects they had so many cool sets. I got to see the process of the rocket ship being built it showed the journey of a group of men going to outer space, and having to prepare for their trip. They both were very static when I saw both videos ...

What was their major contribution to cinema? How was their device different than Edison's? the Lumière brothers have been regarded as the inventors of cinema the projection of moving photographic pictures on a screen. Their technique became the known basis for cinema, it was the first satisfactory for taking films, and projecting them on to a big looking screen. The Cinématographe was pretty compact unlike the Edison Kinetograph, it the Cinématographe was remarkably compact and, unlike the Edison Kinetograph, it did not rely on electrical power, which few premises had at that time. The Cinématographe could be taken anywhere, either to shoot film or to use as a projector need to use electrical power. The Cinématographe could be taken anywhere, either to shoot film or to use as a projector, it was practically portable. Clearly their device was quite different from each other but both had the same intentions. The Lumiere brothers did a better job, their's was more successful and c...

What qualities do these early films share? Why do you think the filmmakers shot these? How do they differ from modern movies? These early films were all portraying what a movie is. It's showing the audience a short scene with an actor/actress doing a certain movement, they're getting to see motion for a short amount of time. I think they shot these short films to entertain people and make a profit. People were clearly loving it, and the more they experimented with these short scenes they were also learning from it. They differ from modern movies because nowadays movies are over an hour long and there are MULTIPLE scenes! It's not a short 15 second clip that was formerly considered an entire movie. The standards have clearly changed thanks to the evolution of technology and new future discoveries that were made later on. 

What were Muybridge's contributions to motion pictures? What breakthroughs did he make? Why are they significant? What part of the story did you find the most interesting? Why? Muybridge's freeze-framed images of galloping horses made photography a medium about time and motion. People didnt believe the images when they first saw them."They thought they were fake because the horse looked so strange."- article. Muybridge displayed images like the ones in his galloping horse by projecting them through a brass and wood contraption he invented called a zoopraxiscope. He made a breakthrough by showing motion images. Muybridge traveled long distances to capture many images. I found him going long dostances to take photos was interesting because he went to places such as Yosemite Valley.

After reading this article and viewing the images that Marey captured, write a reflection on what you think Marey's motion studies contributed to the development of the motion picture.  What makes his work so interesting? His work was one of a kind, never been done before. The photos all had motion in them, these motion pictures essentially gave people a spark, an idea. "The style would influence Futurist painters like Giacomo Balla, demonstrated in his “Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash” (1912). And unlike Muybridge, Marey shot his photos with a gun." His work was very much influential, and helped develop filmmaking into what it is today.

What was a Diorama Theatre? Why do you think it was a precursor to cinema? It was a multimedia spectacle that took the mid-nineteenth century by storm. The first diorama was constructed in 1822, behind the Place du Château d’Eau. The diorama projection show has long been known as one of the great factors that evolved cinema into what it is now. While a panorama was portable the diorama needed it's own special room because of how it was constructed. I believe it is a precursor to cinema because it was sorta like a movie theater in a way. 

Why do you think we wouldn't have filmmaking without the invention of photography? Pick three of these innovations on this list and explain their historical importance and why you think it led to the invention of motion pictures. The first infamous invention was the camera obscura, translated as "dark chamber". Whenever sunlight passed through the “pinhole” of the camera obscura and into the chamber, it projected a hazy picture of the outside world onto a wall or screen. Many greats knew about this invention it is thought to be known about for a long long time, by figures such as Aristotle and Chinese philosopher Mozi mentioned it. The second invention that helped evolve us into where we are now are dry plates. In the 1800's it was hard to invent when you weren't a rich person with the knowledge of  any chemistry whatsoever. Dry plates offered much quicker exposures, allowing cameras to present more clear capture moving objects. The third invention I learned abou...

What was the Phantasmagoria? After reading this article, write a reflection on what elements of the Phantasmagoria became adopted into the development of movies. This invention was worked by Gaspard Robert   assumed the stage name of Robertson, a man interested in both spectacle and science at the end of the 18th century, when France had just experienced its brutal Revolution. Robertson was the pioneer of Phantasmagoria, the early spectacle of horror and mysticism. In 1793 with a scheme to use mirrors as a defense against the British navy, Robertson had attempted to convince the government but of course they were not thrilled with the idea and it had taken Robertson multiple attempts to convince them, so that wouldn't be the last time. His love of art and physics merged into phantasmagoria, its name roughly meaning a gathering of ghosts. He’d been inspired by Paul Philidor’s magic lantern shows. He built a magic lantern on wheels called the Fantoscope, and with it he could no...

What role does lighting play in the caves? How might these paintings have been used by primitive man? What are the two techniques that the early artists used to paint on the walls of the cave? Why do you think they painted with these images? They used fire as their light to light up the caves, the lighting was crucial to help progress and make a story. "Geneste believes that early artists used this small area of light as a story-telling device. “It is very important: the presence of the darkness, the spot of yellow light, and inside it one, two, three animals, no more,” Geneste says. “That’s a tool in a narrative structure,” he explains."   The two techniques used were juxtaposition of successive images and the second is called superimposition. Rather than appearing in sequence, variations of an image pile on top of one another in superimposition to lend a sense of motion. I think they painted with horses and deer images to show the infinite travel that they would do, and ...

After watching this video, what are some of the aspects of the history of film that stood out to you? What makes them seem significant? The first films to be made were all black and white, the frame-rate was slower, everything was picture by picture or tape. There was also no dialogue, no sound, just motion. At some point practical effects were now introduced, color to picture was made, no longer back and white, now there is sound, yet there is static. Animation was now more popular, of course that improved and evolved over time. There was now dolly shots, and the zolly shot invented during the JAWS era by Steven Spielberg. Montage's became more known and used, CGI effects were now being introduced into the film world, and the audience was interested. Now everything comes with a heavier price and film is now more advanced and no longer static, it's progressive,.

What are 3 key things that this article says are important about formatting an AV script? The first key thing I learned about the process of formatting an AV script is the margin/font. The margins should be one inch on the ends of the page. The  font should be Courier New 12 point, a serif, fixed-width font of 10 characters per inch. The second valuable thing I learned from this article was your columns and column labels. For your columns, the video column is on the left and audio column is on the right, this is a very important rule, and your shot description should be aligned horizontally with it's corresponding sound, dialogue, or music in the audio column. The third thing I learned about is the video column, the video column should have a description of the shots being incorporated for each scene. You need to include the shot size for example, CU, ECU, MS, etc. You also need the subject of the shot for example, CHAIR, CAR, PHOTO. Lastly, list your visual effects if you're u...

What are the four parts of an effective video script? What do each of these parts do for your final video? After you have the title of your video set the first thing you're gonna need to know is you need to build and create your structure for your video script. Number one is the hook, the hook of your video is the part where you say what your video is about in attempt to grab the viewers attention. You want your hook to be as short and interesting as possible. You don't want to bore them by running off on the hook and making it long. You only have 5-15 seconds to grab your viewers attention, before they click off and watch someone else's video. Keep it as short and interesting as possible. Number two is your introduction, the intro should consist of saying who you are and give any additional information related to your video or purpose. In your intro you're trying to let them know what's going on, and what the move is. Third is the body of your video. The content o...

What are three things to keep in mind when getting started with creating a PSA?  The general question is what do you want the world to know? Another thing I learned about creating a PSA is you want to be able to persuade your audience on whatever the favorable action may be. PSA's create awareness for the importance of a problem or issue to promote a behavioral change. When creating a PSA you need to have structure, the hook, introduction, body of the video, and a call to action. 

If you'll remember, at the beginning of the fall semester we blogged about your goals. Revisit those goals in your first entry of the Spring Semester. Look back at the goals that you set in the fall, did you achieve them? Why or why not? How can you make steps or corrections to achieve these goals? Where will you need to look to gather help or resources? To begin with my first goal it was to have a grade C or above and I ended the semester with a B. I achieved them by getting as much work done possible. Improve film editing, I didn't edit much projects after setting that goal but I learned a few new tools. I learned more about different famous directors, like Steven Spielberg as an example. Honing my skills I think they did get slightly better I have a clearer understanding and knowledge of equipment. I overall was able to succeed in the realistic goals I set for myself. Right now I still want to improve on each of these goals and achieve more than the previous semester, I'...