From trains leaving the station to maidens tied to trains-or, changes in the use of narrative in early America cinema
Although it may be difficult to conceive of in our modern era, asfilm has taken its place alongside the long-accepted artistic mediums ofpainting and sculpture as an 'art form,' during the early era of silentfilm this was far from the case. At the beginning of the 20th century,film had the status more of a modern technological curiosity or 'freakshow' rather than the status of art. The earliest works of film of thevery end of the 19th century encouraged the viewer to simply marvel at the'moving picture' before his or her eyes, almost regardless of its content.Quite often these early clips of film had no narrative to speak of. Thepurpose of such shorts was to simply show the nature (and the limits) ofthe medium and to capture, however imperfectly, dancers, actors, and othernoteworthy individuals of the day in motion, much like a moving newspaper. This changed with the Lumiere Brother's early efforts at cinema. Thebrothers showed such novelties as a train that caused audiences to screamin 1895. By simply moving the camera, film became more than a simplecatalogue of moving life. The images of the film, because of the placementof the camera used by the brothers, were designed to elici
Griffith, however, is usually considered to have introduced whatis considered a truly complex narrative into the medium of film. The audience became involvedin the narrative texture of the film, however broad and schematic, ratherthan an observer, as in the early efforts of the Lumeries. One of the key aspects of this film from an artisticperspective, however, is how the filmed medium of 'real life' in terms ofthe physical life of the buildings and the life of real fireman, seems muchmore fluid and alive and 'true,' rather than the rather melodramaticrelationships and reactions of the fictional characters within thebuildings. However, the film's sensational reaction did little to elicit awidespread public belief in the artistic possibilities of the new medium. " This was a written racist book written legitimizing Klan. (Lumiere Brothers Films History, 2004) However, gradually film began to take on a narrative, and byextension, a more artistic component similar to plays and novels. As earlyas 1903, the film "Life of an American Fireman" combined stock footage ofactual fires, firemen and fire engines with dramatized scenes that thedirector Edwin Porter shot in a staged fashion like a play. " There isan uncertainty in how to take the verbal medium of theatrical characterevolution, dialogue, and story, and transmute it to a visual medium, thatof silent film. Keaton's character, unlikeprevious comedic heroes, has a clear character that elicits the emotivesympathy of the audience because of the narrative the story is located in. Ironically, comedy proved to be more successful in embracing the newmedium, as the physical vaudevillian intensity of the Keystone Cops wastransposed to film.
Common topics in this essay:
Birth Nation,
Edwin Porter,
,
Lumiere Brother's,
Kops Keaton,
Keystone Cops,
Pig Alley,
DW Griffith,
Films History,
American Fireman,
silent film,
civil war,
character development,
sympathy audience,
griffith's film,
birth nation,
'real life',
filmed medium,
film narrative,
lumiere brothers,
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Acceptance Essays
