Film Lecture Exam 1

Aperture

The hole or opening which allows light to enter a camera.

Art-for-art's-sake

Art specifically produced with the intention of being art.
According to critic and theorist Northrop Frye, this is a body of work with no apparent cultural context or direction.

Northrop Frye's opinion on film criticism relating to "Art-for-art's-sake"

belief that without the critic's sense of cultural direction one has "art for art's sake", isolated works with no apparent cultural context, or "pop" art, "popular" works whose worth is determined solely by what is commercially successful. Frye believed that neither "pop art" nor "art for art's sake" set the artistic standards necessary for a desired cultural direction.
*the box office tells us whats popular, but thoughtful criticism identifies what is artistically and culturally significant.

Auteur Criticism

A type of criticism which considers the director as the
"author" of a film. Developed in France following World War II, the "auteur critics" claimed that a handful of Hollywood directors, which included John Ford and Alfred Hitchcock, produced films with such distinctive film styles that their entire body of work was deemed significant for study.
*"auteur" being the french word for author

Camera Obscura

Also known as a "pinhole camera". A box with a dark interior that has a pinhole or "aperture" in one of its walls. Light enters this aperture and projects an image on the target area opposite this hole.
*used by artists in the renaissance by tracing the reflected image
*in 1490 Leonardo da Vinci provided a detailed description of the object, a device that enabled artists to take advantage of the phenomenon Aristotle had observed by dissecting human eyes.

Classic Film

A film that is so powerful and articulate in the quality of its expression that it is capable of providing the observer with a unique viewing experience. A classic film has the power to move a viewer in a way that does not diminish with time or repeated screenings.

Daguerreotype

The first commercially successful photograph. It was patented in 1839 by the French physicist ,Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre.
*Pinhole cameras had been projecting images for centuries, but it wasn't until the 19th century that the photochemical processes (see "fixer") for making photographs was established

Fixer

Refers to the special chemicals used to make images permanent.
*It is part of the photochemical process of making photographs established in the early 19th century. A metal surface coated with light sensitive silver halide particles was placed in the target area of a camera which captured its image

Why did the "Daguerreotype" go out of style?

When Eadweard Muybridge was hired by Leland Stanford to settle a bet to confirm his belief that "all four of a horses hooves are off the ground at some point while galloping" he discovered that printing the image on a GLASS plate proved more versatile than METAL because images could be developed as negative for producing multiple pictures.

Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904)

A landscape photographer hired by Leland Stanford in 1872 to settle a bet to confirm his belief that "all four of a horses hooves are off the ground at some point while galloping" succeeded by setting up a row of cameras at a track and extracting the desired picture of the horse from a series of pictures taken of the horse in motion. This series was accomplished because 'the shutter of each camera was attached to a string that the horse tripped while running past.'
*invented the "zoopraxiscope"

Zoopraxiscope

Eadweard Muybridge printed his images on glass discs instead of paper in 1879 and transformed the phenakistiscope into a magic lantern device that projected moving images of his galloping horse on a large screen.

Documentary

A term coined in 1926 by the social scientist John Grierson, to describe Robert Flaherty's film Moana. This word is now used to define "nonfiction" film. One of the three principal categories for identifying motion pictures, the other being narrative and experimental. (See "non-fiction film")

*What are the 3 principle categories for by which moving pictures can be identified?

1. Documentary
2. Narrative
3. Experimental
(Duplicate-but important to know)

Experimental Film

One of the three principal categories by which moving
pictures can be identified. The terms "abstract" and "avant-garde" are also used to describe this category of film. These motion pictures experiment with the
unique cinematic effects that the medium can produce and tend to be nonnarrative. Animated films are sometimes placed in this category, particularly if
they are going for a particular visual effect rather than focusing upon a story.

Fiction Film

A narrative film that is "staged" for the camera. (See "narrative")

Film

A strip of transparent acetate with individual still images printed upon it called "frames".

Film Criticism

The process by which we assess our responses to the content and quality of a motion picture.

Film Study

The analysis of moving images from the invention of sequential imaging in the 19th century to the present.
*provides strategies that prompt viewers to think about WHAT is being conveyed, HOW the subject matter is being presented, and WHY.

Frame

An individual still image printed on transparent acetate film or, in the case of video, a rectangular "raster" of pixels. When projected at the rate of 10
or more frames per second (fps) these individual pictures give the illusion of "moving images". The frame is considered the most basic unit of a film

Gate

The area behind the lens and shutter where celluloid film is transported in a camera or projector.

Genre

A group of films with a similar type of narrative or share some other principal component in common. Examples of film genres include westerns, horror movies, musicals, gangster, and science fiction motion pictures.

Magic Lantern

An early form of slide projector invented in the 17th century that was illuminated by an oil lamp or candle.
*more used for amusement rather than science or functionality. It was used as a children's toy and by showmen as a portal to the spirit world (look at "Phantasmagoria")

*Phantasmagoria

A special type of theater opened in the 18th century in France to showcase the "magic lanterns" ability to create ghost like effects. Each slide was a component in a developing narrative and was usually accompanied by live commentary and music.

Narrative Film

Along with "documentary" and "experimental", one of three broad categories for classifying films. Narrative films are structured around a
story. (See "fiction film")

Non-fiction Film

An alternative description for identifying "documentary" films. The non-fiction film is concerned with recording events or processes with the camera rather than relying on using fictional narratives or film effects to structure a movie's content. (See "documentary")

Optics

A branch of physics that studies the behavior and properties of light.

How is an image formed?

-a lens needs to both "refract" or "bend" the light reflected by the object
-project these light rays on a "target area" located being the lens of a camera or the back of ones eye
*a lens can project an image externally as well
(figure 1.2 essay 1)

Pinhole Camera

(See camera obscura)

Pop Art

Popular art whose worth is determined by commercial success.

Shutter

A mechanism located behind the lens of a camera or projector that opens and closes, thereby enabling an individual frame of celluloid film to be
exposed to light. The intermittent opening and closing of the shutter gives still images the illusion of being "moving pictures".

Thaumatrope

A popular toy that first appeared in 1820, consists of a card with two different images on either surface and a string on both sides.
*Figure 1.6 and 1.7 in essay 1: the two pictures of the vase and the rose seem to merge when the string is pulled

Flipbook

A popular toy that was patented under the name "kineograph" or "moving picture" in 1868, it was a paper toy with multiple pictures (instead of only 2 like the Thaumatrope) each containing a phase of particular motion that recreate an action as the pages are flipped.
*Figure 1.8 essay 1, look up video on youtube for better understanding

Zoetrope

A popular toy in the 19th century with images printed on a horizontal strip of paper and viewed by looking through slits of a revolving drum. The space between these openings enables the images to be observed individually while creating the illusion they are in continuous motion.
*Figure 1.9 essay 1, look up video on youtube for better understanding

Phenakistiscope

A popular toy in the 19th century, like the zoetrope, it uses incisions to give the impression that images are moving. These pictures are printed around the circumference of a disk and are separated from one another by a slit. This device is mounted on a handle and spun in front of a mirror. The viewer gets the impression of seeing a series of simultaneously identical moving images by looking though these gaps.
*Figure 1.10 essay 1, look up video on youtube for better understanding

What 2 "toys" discussed require the viewer to look though the slits to perceive the illusion of moving images?

The zoetrope and the phenakistiscope. The space between these slots provides the physical separation of the individual phases of an action that both allows a viewer to see each picture individually and enables ones mind to link these images together to create the appearance of continuous motion.

What is one reason motion pictures have been so successful in conveying information for over one hundred years?

The medium of communication, which we categorically identify as "film" even though most of these images no longer are presented on acetate. It is still very accessible.

In what 4 ways is film used?

1. Entertainment
2. Propaganda
3. Information (current and historical)
4. Artistic expression

In what 4 ways does film study benefit audiences? (Why study moving images?)

1. It enables audiences to develop a greater appreciation of the viewing experience (related to aesthetics and classics)
2. It enables viewers to better understand information that moving images convey. (relates to film documenting historical events)
3. It can make viewers more aware of how moving images are used to disseminate propaganda. (ex. marketing professionals and politicians)

What do we look for when we want to know the "language" of the film? (Other ways this medium conveys information that most people overlook)

Camerawork, editing, how we perceive movement (still rather than moving images)

Asthetics

is the branch of philosophy relating to the study of art, beauty, and taste. Films that maintain an esthetic impact on an audience over the passage of time are referred to as "classics."

Experiencing pleasure during the viewing of a film pertains to the ______ of cinema as an art form.

Asthetics

How else is film used to convey information?

Besides providing current information, moving images have bee used to document cultures, important events and changes in social behavior since 1895. Exploring what film can reveal about this history should allow us to better comprehend the past and make comparisons with what we experience today.

How is film used for propaganda?

Marketing specialists produce commercials with messages designed to persuade us to buy products or behave in a particular fashion. Politicians and special interest groups use motion pictures to try and convince us to follow certain patterns of thought.

Who is categorized as a "film consumer"?

Everyone who watches a motion picture, from the specialized film critic to the casual moviegoer.

What are examples of devices that convey information through moving images?

Film, television, videotapes, DVDs, and cell phones
*They all use a flash series of still images to create the illusion of continuous motion
***these devices do NOT use a photochemical process, but instead translate light rays into electronic signals

Are the images really moving?

No, it is an illusion of continuous motion. In reality it is a flash series of still images but our brain perceives these static images as being in motion.
*this idea ties in with optics and there are two theories behind why this happens- "persistence of vision" and "phi phenomenon" but neither are 100% satisfactory

In what 3 ways do we perceive film?

1. Physiologically (relates to film and frames)
2. Intellectually
3. Emotionally

Do we understand how our brains perceive these static pictures as being in "motion"?

No, but we have two recognized theories
1. Persistence of vision
2. Phi Phenomenon

Persistence of vision

Occurs when the retina of the eye retains a picture/image, thereby obscuring our awareness of the shutter. The problem- why is the image so sharp, why does it not fade?

Phi Phenomenon

Is a characteristic of the brain which allows us to be conscious of information that is of interest and ignore that which is unimportant. During this process our mind isolates a pattern from these flashing images that it deems important, eliminates unwanted information such as the existence of a shutter, and ends up interpreting the images in terms of being in motion.
*The problem- no way to prove it.
*This phenomenon was used in numerous 19th century toys and "flip" books

List one experiment that was used to test this, what was the result?

Tony Conrad's "The Flicker" 1965. It was made to explore how viewers physiologically react to black and white frames. 1 in 15,000 passed out from an epileptic seizure. Known as "photosensitive epilepsy."
*hundreds of kids were hospitalized in Japan after an episode of Pokemon for the same thing unintentionally

Etienne Jules Marey

Used Eadweard Muybridge's method of shooting a series of images, but improved it by adapting a rifle to accomplish the same task in 1882. This "photographic gun" allowed him to take 12 pictures a second on revolving glass plates of a bird in flight using a single technological device.
*he did this by redesigning the chamber of a modified rifle to accommodate photo sensitive glass instead of bullets to "shoot" his subject

Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931)

He is often cited as the man who invented the motion picture.
In 1888, was inspired by Maubridge and Marey to invent a motion picture technology utilizing some e type of peepshow apparatus that could be used with his "phonograph" that was manufactured for penny arcades. By 1918 he severed his involvement with motion pictures all together (perhaps in fear that some may get to see his movies for free). This refusal to explore beyond the penny arcade allowed his competitors to use his prototypes and receive credit for pioneering motion picture projection.
*also invented the Kinetograph, kinetophone, and phonograph

Penny Arcade

Where a patron would put money in individual machines and listen to different recordings.

Kinetograph or Kinetographic camera

A device designed to show moving pictures that was so heavy and ungainly it had to be operated in a movie parlor (the "Black Maria") The prototype was made by Edison's assistant WLK Dickson.
*Edison lost interest with this invention and never made movies with it

Kinetoscope

A peepshow device for viewing the movies shot in the "Kinetograph" (aka movie camera), both prototypes were produced by WLK Dickson, Edison's assistant
*Edison was granted patents on both

Early Edison Films

The early Edison movies were shot by W.K.L. Dickson using the large and bulky Kinetograph camera in the world's first movie studio, a building covered in tarpaper called the "Black Maria." Edison's Kinetoscope was a peephole projector that allowed one person to view a movie at a time.

The Black Maria

Arguable the worlds first movie parlor and is located in West Orange, New Jersey. It was given its nickname because it resembles a police wagon used to transport prisoners. It was mounted on a circular railroads tracks enabling the filmmakers to turn the building so that the open hinged roof could always expose film to the sun.

When was the first Kinetoscope Parlor opened?

It was opened in New York City on April 14, 1894.
*The movies purchased from Edison were usually short segments of vaudeville acts or boxing films that had been shot in the Black Maria. Screening time for these subjects was under a minute.

Kinetophone

A specially modified kinetoscope that can be seen and heard. Loud enough for a peephole show, but not an auditorium.
*Edison lost interest with this invention and never made movies with it

WIlliam Kennedy Laurie Dickson (WLK Dickson)

Edison's assistant that Improved moving pictures by suggesting they be shot on flexible celluloid film stock rather than rigid glass. He was able to produce a workable prototype movie camera in 1891, called the "Kinetograph" and a peepshow device for viewing these movies - the "Kinetoscope".

Why was WKL Dickson unsuccessful in creating "talkies" that could be shown in auditoriums?

Combining phonograph and motion picture technology was complicated and the resulting apparatus demanded more maintenance than was needed to show the films as silents. Though loud enough when exhibited in this peepshow format, limitations in the current technology prevented the sound for these early talkies from being properly amplified when projected in an auditorium.

George Eastman 1889

Shooting sequential images on flexible celluloid film stock was marketed and mass produced by this guy in 1889. Although celluloid roll film was invented by Hannibal Goodwin and used by others before, he was the first to become commercially successful. Though intended for still cameras it provided a basis for motion picture film stock.

Celluloid film

Proved easier to work with in a workable motion picture camera because its flexible, unlike the rigid glass plates before.

Louis and Auguste Lumiere

Invented the Cinematograph in 1885. They were also pioneers in manufacturing non-fiction films from a distant land by taking snapshots of people and places that were part of their world. These films were made for their novelty, sometimes staged, sometimes not. By 1895 the Lumière brothers recognized that George Eastman's celluloid film stock could be used in place of glass for magic lantern slides, and that the magic lantern itself could be converted into a movie projector. Motion picture exhibition was expanding beyond the small screen of Edison's peepshow Kinetoscope.
-"home movies" showed workers leaving the Lumière factory, a train coming into a station, a baby being fed, and simple jokes staged for the camera.
-the shot short "documentaries" all over the world, in order to keep international audiences attention

Cinematograph

This device was much more compact than Edison's Kinetograph, so it was portable and could be brought into the field rather than only shot in a studio. This allowed greater variety in types of films that could be made. The quality was sharp and did NOT have a flicker associated with the early sequential imaging toys.
*with a few minor adjustments it could also function as a projector

Important terms for the photographic process (5 total)

1. Shot
2. Gate
3. Aperture
4. Shutter
5. *Claw

Important terms for the photographic process: "shot"

Movies are "shot" by transporting unexposed celliod film through a camera "gate"

Important terms for the photographic process: "gate"

When a frame stops in front of the "gate"...
the "shutter" allows light to enter the "aperture" and properly expose that small area of film stock for a fraction of a second. Then, when the "claw" grabs the frame again the shutter will have covered the "aperture" and the film is transported through the "gate" in darkness. Any movement is captured as a series of only exposed frames.
*Figure 1.31 in essay 1: located between A and B surrounding the dark square (located between the film and the lens)

Important terms for the photographic process: "Aperture"

A hole, comparable to the pinhole in the camera obscura, which allows light to enter the camera.
*Figure 1.31 in essay 1: the dark square

Important terms for the photographic process: "Shutter"

Controls the amount of light coming through a cameras "aperture." Opening the "shutter" allows light, reflected off whatever is in front of the camera, to come through both the lens and the "aperture" to imprint an image of that subject on the film. Keeping the "shutter" closed prevents the film from being incorrectly exposed by unwanted light.
*Figure 1.31 in essay 1: Identified as "A" the jagged outlined metal half circle that revolves

Important terms for the photographic process: "claw"

During the transporting of the film a "claw" catches a sprocket hole and pulls the film down the vertical path (in the figure the jagged path labeled "B") The revolving "shutter" in front of the "aperture" prevents the film from being exposed to light while the "claw" is moving the film.
*Figure 1.31 in essay 1: labeled "C"

How does an electronic camera work?

It scans its subject and translates this visual information into a series of horizontal lines.

What is the basic individual unit of these "moving images"?
filmed or electronically rendered

a "frame"
*at least 10 frames per second is required to create the illusion of moving, anything less has a flicker

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Critics felt that the HFR (higher frame rate) of 48 frames per second didn't work well because the increased realism was a distraction. It makes it more difficult for our minds to process and looks more like television than traditional film.
*These reactions underscore how technology and audience expectation affect our viewing experience of "moving" images

Non-fiction motion pictures

Is a misnomer when applied to documentary films because of the implication that something which is not fictional is true. The motion picture can both document and alter its subject matter, so what looks to be accurate can be distorted.

List 2 films where the assumption that documentaries tell the truth is subject to question.

1. Nanook of a North
2. Forrest Gump
*this is why documentaries are closely associated with propaganda

What were most movies made prior to 1908?

Documentaries, after 1908 they are mostly narratives designed to engage the audience emotionally.

Northrop Frye

Formulated a "scientific schema" for justifying the standards of criticism. The science of film allows us to use film history, the study of the motion picture from its origins to present, to put films in both a critical and historical context.

What are the 3 general categories of film?

1. Narrative
2. Documentary
3. Experimental
*The better we understand these 3 types and how the motion picture is used as a medium of communication, the better we understand the message

Narrative films

are fictional motion pictures that tell a story

Documentary films

or non-fiction films, record or document actual events

Experimental films

also referred to as abstract or avant-garde film, is a type of motion picture that usually is not dependent upon a story or the recording of an actual event, but instead often explores the properties of the film medium itself or is intent upon creating some abstract visual effect.
*these films can test the mediums ability to manipulate time and space, animate cartoons, create environments and visual contexts that do not really exist, or investigate how the viewer responds to various visual stimuli and effects.

In what more specific way do historians and critics categorize movies?

by "genre," which is usually based on narrative
ex. western, horror, gangster, musical, and science fiction
*gives the viewer a general sense of what the movie is about before they go to see it

Classics

Pictures that set the standard for moving images of their type. These films maintain an aesthetic impact on an audience over the passage of time.
*the differences between these and average movies enable critics to devise conceptual frameworks for critiquing films. Usually by comparing the aesthetics of the two in a given category.

Sergei Eisenstein

A great film director and theorist that believed we experience "ecstasy" when particularly touched or moved by a cinematic encounter.

"Chaplin": What is the significance of the title?

The name Chaplin is iconic, like Lebron, it doesn't need the full name to give meaning.

"Chaplin": What was the first and last shot of the movie?

First shot: The iconic image of Charlie Chaplin in black and white in a door frame as "the Tramp"
Last shot: The iconic image of Charlie Chaplin in black and white walking off as "the Tramp"

"Chaplin": What conflicts are established and how are they resolved at the end, if at all?

-He grew up poor with only a mother to look after him, he grows up to play "the tramp" as sort of an autobiography as well as the film involving the jewish boy who is taken from his father
-His mother was unable to support him, in the end he got rich and took care of her by buying her a house on the ocean
-poverty to wealth, but stayed tight with money
-Problem with liking younger women was resolved with Una Oniell in the end
-Hoover accused him of being a communist and he was deported, he was proved innocent (they said he was too cheap) resolved after WW2
-After the drama with Carol Ann and the country hating him for taking a stand in Hollywood, he was welcomed back as a hero in the Academy Awards Ceremony

"Chaplin": Why was this film made?

The producer, Richard Attenborough, wanted to honor Charlie Chaplin because he admired him. He wanted to educate viewers on some of the history of filmmaking and the important role this character played.
*Chaplin wanted to be more than an entertainer, but an artist

"Chaplin": How is the medium being used to convey information and cinematic effects?

-Attenbrorough used Robert Downey Jr as Chaplin because at the time he wasn't a major star but had the same kind of reputation as the character, a mixed up partier
-He cast Chaplins mother as the real Chaplins granddaughter
-He used the same actress as his first and last love
-The transitions of the scenes in the movie mimic that of early films
-Colors in the movie change from time period to time period

When we viewed actual Charlie Chaplin films, what techniques stood out?

His transitions from negative to positive and back and breaking into multiples of himself. (The film involving the piano)

What is the goal of "mass communication"?

to use one or more of the mass media to communicate with a mass audience.
*Film is considered one of the "mass media"

When dealing with any aspect of the communication process one must consider the- (3 parts)

1. Transmitter
2. Receiver
3. Medium of Communication

Transmitter:

Source of the message that will be conveyed to the receiver in the communication process.
*In our case is a filmmaker

Receiver:

That which receives communication from a transmitter, through a medium, during the communication process.
*In our case are the people who view the motion picture

Medium of communication:

The medium that a transmitter uses to communicate information to the receiver. Film, music, sculpture, television, radio, and newspapers are examples of mass media that are used for purposes of "mass communication."
*In our case is film

Fidelity

A reference to how accurately the original message of the transmitter is reproduced at the time it is perceived by the receiver.

How does every movie begin?

As someone's idea

What are the 5 phases of the production process?

1. Pre-production
2. Production
3. Post-production
4. Distribution
5. Exibition
*All 5 must happen before an audience can see it