The Story of Film : Episode 2

The Story of Film Episode 2 -The Hollywood Dream

1918-1928: The Triumph of American Film…

• Citizen Kane (1941) dir. Orson Welles
  • • Worked with light
    • using beams of lights
• The Thief of Bagdad (1924) dir. Raoul Walsh
  • • Shows the theme upfront
    • Does not cross the line
    • Scene to individual, who has more character
    • Audience not confused
    • Cut shots between the individual and the princess, to show what the individual is thinking and debating
    • Caused anticipation to see the princess
• Desire (1936) dir. Frank Borzage
• Gone with the Wind (1939) dir. Victor Fleming
• Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) dir. Mervyn LeRoy
  • • Making abstract movements in the film
• Singin’ in the Rain (1952) dir. Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen
  • • Shadows have light in them
• The Maltese Falcon (1941) dir. John Huston
  • • “Angels with darker faces”
• The Scarlet Empress (1934) dir. Josef von Sternberg
  • • Romantic, costumes on display
• The Cameraman (1928) dir. Edward Sedgwick and Buster Keaton
• One Week (1920) dir. Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton
  • • Greatest comical actor
    • Silent cinema
    • Understands that films are about looking and daredevils
• Sherlock Jr. (1924) (introduced in Episode 1) dir. Buster Keaton
• Three Ages (1923) dir. Buster Keaton and Edward F. Cline
• Buster Keaton Rides Again (1965) dir. John Spotton
  • • It was improvised
      • Used a train that was coming to show the actor moving it himself
• The General (1926) dir. Clyde Bruckman and Buster Keaton
  • • Repeated jokes, audience knows what is happening
• Divine Intervention (2002) dir. Elia Suleiman
  • • Filmed in dead-pan
    • Used unhappiness for comedy
• Limelight (1952) dir. Charlie Chaplin
  • • Body movement for comedy
• City Lights (1931) dir. Charlie Chaplin
  • • Improvised
    • believer in finding ideas within himself
• The Kid (1921) dir. Charlie Chaplin
  • • Humanized, passion towards the kid, created emotion
• Bad Timing (1980) dir. Nicolas Roeg
• The Great Dictator (1940) dir. Charlie Chaplin
  • • Improvising, used metaphors
    • Kicked balloon earth to show how it was his toy
• Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (1953) dir. Jacques Tati
  • • Inspired by Chaplin
• Toto in Color (1953) dir. Steno
• Awaara (1951) dir. Raj Kapoor
  • • Used Chaplin technique of stealing from the rich
• Sunset Boulevard (1950) dir. Billy Wilder
• Some Like It Hot (1959) dir. Billy Wilder
• Luke’s Movie Muddle (1916) dir. Hal Roach
  • • Too much like Chaplin
• Haunted Spooks (1920) dir. Alfred J. Goulding and Hal Roach
  • • Gave him glasses to make more nerdy look
• Never Weaken (1921) dir. Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor
• Safety Last! (1923) dir. Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor
• I Flunked, But… (1930) dir. Yasujirō Ozu

…And the First of its Rebels

• Nanook of the North (1922) dir. Robert Flaherty
  • • Realistic film
    • Used non-actors, an actual family
    • An up-close cut of the father
• The House Is Black (1963) dir. Forough Farrokhzad
• Sans Soleil (1983) dir. Chris Marker
  • • Filmed real places in Japan but filmed a fictional story
• The Not Dead (2007) dir. Brian Hill
  • • Made the veteran speak about his experiences than wrote them into poems to make the words more magical to the audience
• The Perfect Human (1967) (shown as part of The Five Obstructions) dir. Jørgen Leth
• The Five Obstructions (2003) dir. Lars von Trier and Jørgen Leth
• Blind Husbands (1919) dir. Erich von Stroheim
  • • Filmed square on, zoomed in
• The Lost Squadron (1932) dir. George Archainbaud and Paul Sloane
• Greed (1924) dir. Erich von Stroheim
  • • Shows her fear from an upward angle
• Stroheim in Vienna (1948)
• Queen Kelly (1929) (shown as part of Sunset Boulevard) dir. Erich von Stroheim
• The Crowd (1928) dir. King Vidor
  • • Tried to portray realism
    • Shot the actress in dramatic shot, no costumes, just her dispair
    • Ended with the same office scene where the camera zooms out of the characters to show a mass of people
• The Apartment (1960) dir. Billy Wilder
  • • The same desks to show a dramatic feel
    • It is said that having a realistic image on films went against what the studio believed in
• The Trial (1962) dir. Orson Welles
• Aelita: Queen of Mars (1924) dir. Yakov Protazanov
• Posle Smerti (1915) dir. Yevgeni Bauer
  • • Lighting when the door opens
    • A small source of light is upon the actor
    • Natural light when meeting the actress
    • The actor dreams of her, to show that the actress is put in bright light
    • To show life and death, the director used black and white coloring, as well as lighting
• The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer
  • • Only filmed in close-up, no makeup on the actress
      • Can see the tears on her eyelashes
    • There is no depth within the background and no dramatic lighting
• Ordet (1955) dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer
  • • A lady comes to life in a totally white room
• The President (1919) dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer
  • • Simplify images
    • Filmed in the mist to show paler images
• Vampyr (1932) dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer
  • • Shadows upon a white wall that move on their own
• Gertrud (1964) dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer
  • • Used the color white a lot, simplicity
    • Shot within a white film to show as though she was in heavy
• Dogville (2003) dir. Lars von Trier
  • • Opposite of romantical Hollywood film
• Vivre sa vie (1962) (introduced in Episode 1) dir. Jean-Luc Godard