Bay Area Silent Roots

What are the roots of silent cinema in the Bay Area? How did it play an important role in early cinema history? What famous personalities made films here?

    The heart and birth of American filmmaking is often accredited to Los Angeles; however, the Bay Area also has a major role in the roots of silent cinema. Niles, now a neighborhood in Fremont, had been the home of Essany Film Manufacturing Company. It was a great location at the time because of the sunny weather and easy access to nearby railroads that led to both San Francisco and Chicago, some of the biggest locations for the exhibition of movies. This town and company played an important role in early cinema as it created one of the most well known silent film stars and producers today—Charlie Chaplin. During his time signed under the Essany Film Manufacturing Co., his role in the making of five films solidified his place as a movie star—having allowed him to transition from a minor supporting actor to a full out filmmaker, paving the way for him to create some of the most well known silent films. 

The Patent Wars

If you had to summarize and explain the events that led from the film industry's transfer from New Jersey to Los Angeles, how would you explain it? What was Thomas Edison's role in this transition? What role did patents and Nickelodeons play in this dispute?

    The events that led to the film industry's transfer from New Jersey to Los Angeles all had to do with the Patent Wars and the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC). Thomas Edison was notorious for patenting technology, suing other companies for infringement and buying the patents of people who've gone bankrupt because of his lawsuits. This is exactly what he was doing during the early years of the film industry in America. Eventually, he and some of the largest film companies in America banded together to form the MPPC, using monopolistic strategies to control the industry and make profits using licenses and lawsuits. However, there were already far too many Nickelodeons (early movie theaters) for them to prosecute and many more to come with the large interest in movies as affordable entertainments for the working class and immigrants. Eventually, a German immigrant by the name of Carl Laemmle created the Independent Motion Picture Company (IMP) and eventually Universal Pictures. The IMP, with many other independent companies like modern day Paramount and 20th Century Fox, had migrated west to be as far as possible from the MPPC (located in New Jersey). They wound up in Los Angeles where they began to make movies. Nickelodeons and audiences loved these movies because they were better, longer, and more creative than what the MPPC produced. That's because the MPPC viewed movies as a novelty and were trying to stabilize the profits from films, meaning that they had no reason to innovate and the quality ultimately suffered. Thus, the increasing popularity of the independent 'illegal' films, made them wealthy and powerful enough to where  even the MPPC couldn't afford all the lawsuits that they were filing against the IMP. Eventually, the MPPC failed and was ruled as a monopoly and dismantled, leaving the biggest studios out in LA to thrive.

The Latham Loop

What is the Latham loop? How did it change cinema?

    The Latham loop is an integral part of every filmmaking camera. It is a method of pulling the film through the threading device in a way that eases the tension and prevents the film from tearing whilst running through the camera. This was incredibly important for the future of cinema as it gave people the ability to shoot much longer films as, prior to this, people had only made short clips such as Edison's and he Lumière brothers' early films. As such, feature length films such as The Birth of a Nation. Furthermore, the patent for the Latham loop was part of the conflict between Dickson and Edison and another aspect of filmmaking cameras that they could sue others for using without permission when they formed the MPPC.

D.W. Griffith Problematic Pioneer

After delving deeper into the context of D.W. Griffith's life and career, what are your reflections on his contributions to film? How do you believe Griffith's influence should be perceived and evaluated in the context of 21st-century cinema?

    Looking back at D.W. Griffith's contributions to film, we can see how the techniques that he's developed have become staples and key filmmaking techniques that are still commonly used to this day. However, one can't simply just appreciate his contributions without acknowledging the bad that came with him. His masterpiece Birth of a Nation, while highly advanced with major contributions like new editing techniques, close ups, and the ability to share an idea through film, was extremely racist. D.W. Griffith was a white supremacist and had created the film to criticize reconstruction and idealize the K.K.K. Thus, you need to acknowledge this when complimenting his work.

George Méliès

What were Méliès' contributions to cinema? Why is his work so significant?

    Some of George Méliès' contributions to cinema include creating the first European film studio—which was made with glass walls and ceilings—and being a key player in the development of narrative story and visual effects. He experimented greatly with filmmaking as a medium, finding creative ways to produce incredibly unique visual effects. His films were the first to include visual effects and it used editing to create illusions and tricks. For instance, he figured out how to make it look like someone vanished or changed into something different by stopping the camera and rolling it again after changing what it's filming. Is work was so significant because of the experimentation he did. Some of his works had the earliest examples of superimposition, split screen, editing within a scene, dissolving, double exposure and reverse shots. His masterpiece A Trip to the Moon is considered the first ever science fiction film and his films were one of the earliest fiction narratives on film, helping to pave the way for future filmmakers like D.W. Griffith.

Tonight, Tonight

 

What is this music video about? Why did the band and the filmmakers choose these images? Why are they significant? What do you think they are paying homage or emulating?

    This music video is about a couple who goes on an adventure through space; the two get captured by aliens on the moon before fleeing and landing in the ocean where they see mermaids who save them. The band and filmmakers chose these images because they reinforce the major themes and concept of the song, showing how the couple never gave up and kept fighting to the end. These images are significant because they are some of the most iconic images in film history, having been a part of A Trip to the Moon by George Méliès. They are paying homage to and emulating the works of George Méliès. Some of the images that are referenced are primarily from A Trip to the Moon and Under the Seas. This includes the locations of the moon and sea and the creatures that they encounter such as the aliens and the octopus. Additionally, they have the band dressed in similar outfits to the star people from A Trip to the Moon, and the included the iconic rocket hitting the Man in the Moon's eye scene.

Early Films in 60FPS

What is your opinion regarding this new trend in restoring, colorizing, and raising the frame rate to 60fps? Does it help make people interested in the past? Is it unethical? Is it lying to the viewer? What do you feel when you watch them?

    Although I don't like it too much, I can appreciate the effort and the attempt to understand what it may have been like to live in the past. When we see old media from history, we often see it distantly, almost as though they're just part of stories and not reality. However, by taking them and putting them to more modern standards, it can make people understand and relate to the content better. Photographs and footage of the past already capture what life was like, but by altering it to fit with modern technology, it can immerse the viewer better into the scene. I feel that this is beneficial to do as the average joe likely wouldn't try and understand the people in the original pieces of media but may understand it if it feels like it was made with modern capabilities. I don't think it's unethical so long as the original is credited and the alterations are made clear with the preface that it may not be accurate. As long as it does those things and doesn't try to advertise itself as something it's not, then it won't be lying to the viewer. When I watch them, I don't particularly enjoy it, besides the appreciation of what it can do and of the work that went into it. I like history already and this film class has given me a greater appreciation for film so seeing the change to 60fps feels a bit uncomfortable to watch because of how uncanny the footage looks.