Week 2

This week we studied about film history and the director from the era 1900-1905. The following research generally summarizes

Segundo De Chomon (Spain)
Segundo de Chomon was a very skilled director regarding the creation of special effects, camera technique, and various film techniques and methods.
one of the famous camera technique he developed is still practiced widely and it is known as  Dolly.
It is a wheeled cart on which the camera is adjusted in order to capture smooth motion perspectives.
Through my studies, though dolly gives a unique perspective it also has some limitations. It seems to look best when the dolly seems to be rolling along a smooth surface. For best results, the dolly tracks are basically laid down either in tracks or in a temporary flat surface such as plywood that the dolly can roll along.





















Electric Hotel (1905): This was the breakthrough for the film during this period where stop-frame animation or visual representation was used.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9reDgU4VpI

This video is about 6:46 minutes long and it is mostly in Blackwhite. We can see various objects moving from one place to another without human touch or adjustment. objects like shoe brush and shoe polish seem to be self-polishing human shoes. Another shot is a comb, combing a lady's hair plating itself in the same background without any camera cuts. 

Alice Guy (France)

Active in the 19th Century, First female filmmaker, Alice was the pioneer for introducing narrative fiction films(a film that shows a fictional or fictionalized story which tends to convince the audience as the happening are real in the film). Mostly Camera movements, lightning, and cinematographic elements seem to be very important for this type of movie genre. 

Cinematograph: The first reliable method to project motion pictures shes used film to tell stories. 

Close-ups, hand-tinted color, and synchronized sound are some of her film techniques.  

The Cabbage Patch Fairy (1896) : This movie demonstrates a folk tale regarding the origin of the babies in an interesting way. A lady surrounded by many huge cabbages sings and places babies on the front floor. ladies expression is very cheerful and her hand's gesture is very subtle.

Alice was a filmmaker of rare sensitivity with a remarkable poetic eye. She has shot beautiful and artistic shots. Her stories in the film are groundbreaking and innovative.

Edwin Stanton Porter (USA)(born April 21,1870, Pennsylvania, U.S. -died April 30 1941,NewYork.
He is an American film director who used dramatic editings such as piecing together scenes shot at different times and places. Most of his technical innovations include,
A close up of the fire alarm being activated, the use of medium and wide shots, dissolves editing techniques between scenes to suggest the passage of time.
Some of his important shorts such as Life of an American Fireman(1903) and The Great Train Robbery.

Winsor Mccay (USA):
Mccay was an American newspaper cartoonist and a pioneer of animated films. He began to work as a poster and billboard artist for Chicago Company at the age of 21. He has created two successful comic strips namely Little Sammy Sneeze and Dream of the Rarebit Fiend.


Dream of the Rarebit Friend by Winsor McCay.



Little Nemo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seOGEwx0NfQ
This short video shows the full animation for numerous characters especially clowns. we can see some the animation principles highly used in these characters such as character turn around, walk cycle, dance and jump scenes, storyboard animation and some stretch effects have been used and looked very organic. I'm highly fascinated by his work and I wonder how he did these effects during that period.


















Cecil M. Hepworth ( England)

A longest surviving British pioneer filmmaker Cecil was a very ambitious producer, director, writer, scenic photographer. His film making career began in 1899. He was a filmmaker with a unique visual style.
Some of his technique involves smooth cutting of the film's chase sequence which was unparalleled at the time along with the naturalism of the film. 

:  This short silent drama film basically shos a dog who leads its master to his kidnapped baby. Actually, the dog belonged to himself who was stared in. film. Piano music is the main source of melodic background music for this kind of silent film.

Reference:

Hencar Productions. (2019). Camera Dolly & Jib | Video Production Services | Hencar Productions. [online] Available at: http://hencar.com/processes/production/dolly-and-jib/ [Accessed 26 May 2019].

Encyclopedia Britannica. (2019). Edwin S. Porter | American director. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edwin-S-Porter [Accessed 26 May 2019].