1

    MAYMESTER Study Guide for Film 2700 first test on Friday May 13, 2011 Prof. Kathy Fuller-Seeley

Approximately 40 multiple-choice questions

    Covers lectures from May 9-12

    Thompson/Bordwell Film History chapters 1 through part of 6

    Terms to remember: th19 century interest in inventions, urban spectacle, illusion of reality Persistence of vision – what makes motion pictures work

    optical tricks and toys – how do they work

    Eadward Muybridge

    Thomas Edison (did he invent film? What’s his role?)

    The Black Maria first film studio

    Cinema of Attractions (what is it? How different from narrative film?) Earliest Edison Co. 30-60 second films (their characteristics) Lumiere Brother’s first films (their characterisitics)

    George Melies and characteristics of his films

    A trip to the Moon (1902); Great Train Robbery (1903)

    Characteristics of Edwin S. Porter films at Edison (editing, more narrative, etc) Where films were first shown (vaudeville theaters, single viewer machines) Traveling Exhibitors like Bert and Fannie Cook (how did they assemble a program;

     where did they show their films? thNickelodeon Theaters; How different from 19 century entertainment (audiences, decoration, location, cost, types of films shown)

     How they push the film industry forward

    Growth of the film industry to use factory-like production methods Edison Co’s General Film Co Trust (group of producers tried to lock out all competitors)

Director D. W Griffith (why a controversy about him?)

    Characteristics of his Melodrama narratives

    The Lonedale Operator (1911) and The Lesser Evil (1911)

    Typical Griffith plots

    Acting style in Griffith films

    Rise of the “Independent” film studios (like Universal, Fox, Warners)

    Their competitive advantages (bigger use of movie stars,publicity, feature films, move to LA)

    Feature Films and Gender, Race and Ethnicity 1914-1918

     Griffith’s Birth of a Nation (1915) influence on both KKK and NAACP; its use and misuse of history

     Oscar Michaux’s Within our Gates (1920) (esp. good article on wikipedia)

    C.B. DeMille’s The Cheat 1915; Sessue Hayakawa,“yellow peril” film narratives

     Griffith’s Broken Blossoms and Intolerance (esp. mentioned in Textbook)

     Types of female film characters; spunky Mary Pickford, Theda Bara the sexy goth-like

    Vamp; the Perils of Pauline serial heroines; the innocent-in need of protection Gish sisters

    Comedy – a powerful narrative and political tool

    Principles of Silent comedy –assault on dignity, no pain, sympathize, identify with

     2

     character, silence creates fantasy; sight gags

    Slapstick comedy

    Mack Sennett’s Keystone Comedies -- Motion, speed, quick gags, kick in pants Charlie Chaplin

    The Little Tramp character

     How he gains our sympathy

    Chaplin’s sentimentality and his social conscience

     The Immigrant (1917) and The Rink (1917)

     Modern Times (1935)

    Buster Keaton

     Compare/contrast to Chaplin and slapstick comedy forms

     Not sentimental, “The Great Stone Face”, sympathy for small guy in Huge

     Universe; how does Keaton explore how “film” works? (space, time, special effects)

    Cops (1921), The Playhouse (1920), Sherlock Jr. (1924), The General (1926)and Steamboat Bill

    Jr.(1927)

Rise of Hollywood in 1910s-1920s

    Independents turn into the Major film studios

    Move to Hollywood – what were the benefits?

    8 major + 3 minor studios = become an oligopoly

    Each must turn out 52+ features every year

    Factory System and Vertical Integration

    Own the top 10-15% of theaters – picture palaces

    Squeeze the little theaters – block booking, must show studio films

    Role of the Studio Producer -- key in Hollywood studio

    vs. role of directors, writers, actors (much less control)

    Classical Hollywood film style (called invisible, pulls viewer into story and stars)

    [[WE MAY NOT GET FARTHER THAN THIS FOR FIRST TEST]] Hollywood in the 1920s

    Star System (benefits and drawbacks)

    Role of the Actor/Actress in Hollywood Studio system

    Creating a star/role of publicity and fan magazines (fan mags move from retelling

     movie stories to pictures and stories about the stars)

    Scandals (and resulting Hays Office/MPPDA industry org; (see textbook) Sex appeal and stars in 20s – Clara Bow in the film “It”

     social class and gender issues, stars and fans in 20s

Advice: if anything really confuses you, there is good information on most of these subjects in

    your textbook, on Google and through GSU Library online, the Schirmer Film Encyclopedia