201 MIDTERM PREP

Cinema of Attractions

Tom Gunning's term for early films emphasizing spectacle and direct audience engagement over storytelling.

Black Maria

Edison's first film studio; rotated toward sunlight and produced short films for Kinetoscopes.

Bioskop

Early film projector developed by the Skladanowsky brothers; used for paid screenings in Europe.

Cinématographe

Lumière brothers' portable camera, film printer and projector in one.

Kinetograph

Motion-picture camera developed by Edison's team to record films.

Kinetoscope

Edison's peephole device allowing one person to watch short films.

Latham Loop

Slack film loop that prevented tearing and allowed longer films.

W.K.L. Dickson

Edison's assistant; helped develop the Kinetograph and Kinetoscope and later founded Biograph.

Lumière Brothers

Invented the Cinématographe; held a public paid screening in 1895; known for actualities.

Étienne-Jules Marey

Used a chronophotographic gun to record movement, capturing 12 images per second.

Eadweard Muybridge

Used multiple cameras to photograph a galloping horse; proved all four hooves leave the ground.

Georges Méliès

Pioneered fantasy storytelling, stop-motion effects and transitions; A Trip to the Moon (1902).

Dream Palaces

Large, luxurious theaters replacing Nickelodeons; featured orchestras. Strand Theatre (1914).

Block Booking

Studios required theaters to buy packages of popular and unpopular films together.

Cross-Cutting

Editing between simultaneous actions; pioneered by Brighton School filmmakers.

Italian Superspectacle

Epic Italian films featuring elaborate sets and huge casts; Cabiria (1914).

Alice Guy-Blaché

First female film director; pioneered narrative filmmaking and founded Solax Studios.

D.W. Griffith

Advanced editing for suspense and emotion; The Lonedale Operator (1911).

The Birth of a Nation (1915)

Griffith's influential but deeply racist epic that glorified the KKK.

Thomas Ince

Pioneered organized studio production using production units and continuity scripts.

Edwin S. Porter

Advanced narrative editing; The Great Train Robbery (1903), famous for its gunshot at the audience.

Lilian St. Cyr

Early Native American actress and filmmaker; worked with James Young Deer and advocated for representation.

Lois Weber

Female filmmaker known for social problem films about women's issues and poverty; Shoes (1916).

Brighton School

English filmmakers who pioneered close-ups and cross-cutting.

Motion Picture Patents Company (The Trust)

Edison-led monopoly controlling film patents, licensing and distribution.

Société Film d'Art

French company using famous theater actors and writers to make film a respected art form.

Agitki

Short Soviet propaganda films/newsreels promoting Bolshevik ideas, often shown on traveling tours.

Dialectical Montage

Eisenstein's theory that opposing shots collide to create new meaning.

Five Methods of Montage

Eisenstein's editing methods: Metric, Rhythmic, Tonal, Overtonal, Intellectual.

Kino-glaz (Cine-Eye)

Vertov's belief that the camera captures reality better than the human eye; favored documentary footage.

Kuleshov Effect

Same face + different images = different perceived emotions; editing creates meaning.

Leninist Film Proportion

Proposed ratio of propaganda/information to entertainment films; Vertov proposed 4:1.

Narkompros

Soviet government organization controlling education and film; helped establish VGIK film school.

Sergei Eisenstein

Soviet montage filmmaker known for Strike and Battleship Potemkin (1925).

Esfir Shub

Pioneered compilation films, re-editing existing footage for political meaning; The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty (1927).

Dziga Vertov

Rejected fiction for documentaries; developed Kino-glaz and Kino-Pravda; Man with a Movie Camera (1929).

Autorenfilm

German films based on famous writers' works to make cinema more respected.

Parufamet Agreement

Paramount and MGM loaned money to Germany's UFA for access to German theaters.

Schüfftan Process

Mirror technique combining miniatures with live-action sets; Metropolis (1927).

Big 5 Agreement

Five studios agreed to adopt the same sound technology to avoid incompatible systems.

Midnight Rambles

Late-night screenings of Black films for Black audiences during segregation.

Blimp

Soundproof camera covering that reduced camera noise during sound recording.

Race Films

Films made primarily for Black audiences, often with Black casts, during segregation.

Oscar Micheaux

Major Black filmmaker whose films explored racism; survived the transition to sound.

Vertical Integration

Studios controlled production, distribution and exhibition, contributing to Hollywood's oligopoly.

Big Five Studios

MGM, Paramount, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox and RKO; dominated Hollywood through vertical integration.

MGM

Wealthiest studio; major stars, musicals and lavish films; Louis B. Mayer.

Paramount

Largest theater chain; European talent and director-focused filmmaking; Adolph Zukor.

Warner Bros.

Working-class stories, crime films, social issues and pioneering sound; Jack L. Warner.

20th Century Fox

Shirley Temple films and John Ford westerns; Darryl F. Zanuck.

RKO

Financially unstable; Astaire-Rogers musicals, Orson Welles and B movies.

Dorothy Arzner

One of the few female directors of the studio era; worked at Paramount.

Kinetograph vs. Kinetoscope vs. Cinématographe

Kinetograph records films; Kinetoscope allows individual viewing; Cinématographe records, prints and projects.

Muybridge vs. Marey

Muybridge used multiple cameras to photograph a horse; Marey used one camera to capture successive stages of movement.

Kuleshov vs. Eisenstein vs. Vertov

Kuleshov showed editing changes meaning; Eisenstein used opposing shots to create ideas; Vertov used cameras and documentaries to reveal reality.

Block Booking vs. Vertical Integration

Block booking forced theaters to buy film packages; vertical integration gave studios control over production, distribution and exhibition.

Alice Guy-Blaché vs. Lois Weber vs. Dorothy Arzner

Guy-Blaché pioneered female-directed narrative filmmaking; Weber made social problem films; Arzner directed during Hollywood's studio era.