The Magic of Movies

Take a moment to write down 2 questions about the history of sound at the movies that you would like to learn about. What do you want to know about these aspects of sound history?  My first question is when did they start recording dialogue and what equipment was made/used to get the dialogue in. My second question is how is the mic not picking up the sound of white noise when outdoors. I'm also curious of when sound was first brought into a movie theater, and what the first film with dialogue was. 

In your own words, write an in-depth reflection on three ways that sound is important in television and film?  The first reason why sound is important in film is it keeps the viewer engaged, listening and attentive to detail. The second reason is it helps support emotion in whatever scene it may be. It helps put an emphasis to whatever the scenario is, it lets people resonate and appreciate a film more. Sound is a signal as well it can sometimes tell us or show whats going to happen next. 

What is frequency in audio? How is it measured?  It's the amount of completed cycles that fit in one second is what we call frequency. Higher frequencies can go up to twenty completed cycles per second. To put it simply, we divide frequency in two separate groups, low and high frequencies. Low frequencies are called bass and high frequencies are called treble. Sinewaves are electronically generated, you won't hear for example a dog barking pure sinewaves. The sinewave is the purest and simplest form and it's not found in nature. 

What do you find interesting about this video? How does seeing sound visualized help you understand what sound is? When they displayed the science behind sound I got to see a good example of how sound waves are shown and work. It was all a scientific and manual method, on how to see sound. When the guy clapped sound waves shot out from the clap. It's a audio and visual effect, which I find very fascinating. Seeing this helped me understand how sound works how you can see it. 

Take a few moments to reflect on what you have learned in this unit. The history of cinema is pretty vast, and we could only cover a short part of it. After watching this video, what do you notice about the evolution of filmmaking? How did it all begin? How far have we come? In your opinion, where are we headed? I noticed how the pictures changed, the quality, the frame-rates, etc. I learned a good amount of the history of film, inventions, innovations, famous stars, public figures. There were so many things that I didn't know about, and I didn't think Thomas Edison had such a large impact in film. I just knew him as the guy that created the light bulb and nothing more, nothing less. I learned about so many people that had made a great contribution to film as we know it. We've come so far in so little time, just within the first 20 years of film so many great things happened. In my opinion I think there will be many more new discoveries/innovations to come, because of how i...

How were asian actors and characters treated at the time in American films?  Which of these actors' stories could you relate to?  Explain why you found their achievements so significant. In the 1910's there was a Japanese immigrant Ssessue Hayakawa, he was the first and to this day only Asian-American to own a Hollywood studio. This achievement is so significant and incredible because no other Asian-American owns a Hollywood studio. Hayakawa was majoring in political economics at the University of Chicago, he dropped out eventually and fell in love with the stage after seeing a performance in a theater. Hayakawa became a regular player at the Japanese Playhouse in Little Tokyo, which is the theater where he was discovered by Hollywood film producer Thomas H. I honestly couldn't relate to this story because I myself am not Asian-American.

Why was Micheaux so important in film history? Was was so significant about his achievements considering the time period?  Oscar Micheaux He was a African American which immediately sets him apart from his filmmaking peers. He wrote, produced, directed and featured in 44 films in his timeline. his films tackled racial issues, such as D.W. Griffiths controversial film "Birth of a Nation. He originally started as a writer and wrote seven novels before pursuing filmmaking. According to NAACP, he was the first African American filmmaker. His films were the first to not stereotype African Americans, his films dealt with serious themes such as lynching, and interracial relationships. What was so significant about his achievements was that he was the first man in color in racist America making films at time period where it was 100 times more difficult to get into a competitive industry like film/entertainment. 

What are the roots of silent cinema in the Bay Area? How did it play an important role in early cinema history? What famous personalities made films here? Charlie Chaplin came to Niles, California and made 5 films there. He didn't really like Niles because of the weather, he preferred Los Angeles for the heat. Making these 5 films cemented him as a movie star, so in the end it was pretty worth it. A filmmaker was looking for the perfect more warm weather and filming locations for the westerns he was making which led him to Niles. Some people might say it was the first Hollywood but clearly Hollywood itself was more preferred and popular. 

If you had to summarize and explain the events that led from the film industry's transfer from New Jersey to Los Angeles, how would you explain it? What was Thomas Edison's role in this transition? What role did patents and Nickelodeons play in this dispute?  The Hollywood move, was made because of Edison's rule's/law. He had a group of filmmakers that could only make films, so if you weren't in that group then you didn't qualify or were valid to be a filmmaker and make films. All the potential filmmakers wanted to make films so they realized that they could make films somewhere else far, far away from New Jersey and Edison's company. They chose Los Angeles, Hollywood. Thomas unintentionally made Hollywood happen, people were also tired of the cheap Nickelodeon tents that had a messy environment making films an unenjoyable experience. 

What is the Latham loop? How did it change cinema? The latham loop is a modern invention that helped prevent celluloid from tearing/helped make modern cinema as we know it. In the late 19th century filmmakers had a problem and didn't have a solution to fixing film that would last them more than a few seconds without tearing up. Although film was short and spectacle during this period of time, people were over it the initial shock was gone, they wanted more. Edison came through in this period of time modifying all other creators works, such as Eadweard Muybridge, and the Lumiere brothers. Eventually came the Lathams they had invented the Latham loop, it was a way of pulling the sprockets of the film strips gently to prevent it from tearing. This invention enabled films to run longer, beating Edison as their competition. This invention changed cinema from shorts to film features. Now we see film/videos for long duration's thanks to innovations, they helped begin the development o...

After delving deeper into the context of D.W. Griffith's life and career, what are your reflections on his contributions to film? How do you believe Griffith's influence should be perceived and evaluated in the context of 21st-century cinema? D.W. was born January 22nd, 1875 he was raised as a Methodist and educated by his older sister Mattie Griffith. After his father passed away, Griffith left high school to support his family by working in markets and bookstores. The economy of the South had been  changed after the Civil War and currency became essential due to the abolitionist movement. Not long after D.W. Griffith took tours in theaters and was an actor, he was learning the arts, trying to become a playwright. Every company rejected him until the Edison company took him in. The 1915 3 hour silent film Birth of A Nation was released, this changed the film industry forever. It was the first film to be accompanied by a musical score. It was also a visual game-changer that em...

What was Porter's contribution to cinema? What was so significant about his work? Through his innovative use of dissolves, gradual transitions and cross-cutting, Porter pioneered the use of continuity editing that was mostly easily assimilated by the audience. Porter was particularly skilled in taking ideas already in existence and developing them; reworking themes or techniques. Porter is also known as the filmmaker to birth the Western genre. He made "The Great Train Robbery", this film was the first western and it was his magnum opus he didn't really make anything after that, yet he made history. He showed camera movement/new techniques never seen before. His work is so significant because he achieved many unknown new discovered things.

What were Melies' contributions to cinema? Why is his work so significant? George had made plenty of contributions to the cinematic universe here are some of the things he did that made it the history books. George's "A Trip To The Moon" (1902) is considered the first ever science fiction film made. George Melies a man in love with the art of illusion and magic tricks was one of the first to ever use and make special effects to trick the eye into believing things you see on motion picture, he used many camera tricks. A fun fact about "A Trip To The Moon" is the film is about 825 feet of film one of the longest first films made and released. Many highly praise the French Filmmaker calling him many great things he's well respected in the film industry, he was known as the "Alchemist of Light", "the first great film magician", and even D.W. Griffith said "I owe him everything". Prior to George Melies's film career he was a ...

What is this music video about? Why did the band and the filmmakers choose these images? Why are they significant? What do you think they are paying homage or emulating? This music video was obviously inspired by the early 1900's film "A Trip To The Moon" George Melies. I think they chose this concept to show their audience the style of the 1900's and to also send a message about believing/having high hopes. I believe this music video is paying more homage than emulating George Melies's work. They're showing an accurate fan made work of the Moon that George Melies designed and made. The music videos also showed us some parts of the silent film such as the rocket ship being built. 

What is your opinion regarding this new trend in restoring, colorizing, and raising the frame rate to 60fps? Does it help make people interested in the past? Is it unethical? Is it lying to the viewer? What do you feel when you watch them? This new trend of restoring old historic films and colorizing it and raising the frame rate to 60 fps is certainly something new, yet intriguing. I do think it helps bring more attention and interest into the past and what it was like and what it looked like back then. I wouldn't say it's unethical to showcase these new series of restored videos in fact I think it's a really cool idea and concept. It makes people think "oh wow so this is what the 1900's looked like in color!" Obviously the 1900's didn't have colored photographs or videos/films, so we don't know what colors what. We also don't know why the films move at a certain specific pace. Now with obviously innovated technology so much of these black and...