Catching the Light

(Reading: Birth of Cinema)

Camera Obscura

Daguerreotypes, (silver-plate copper emulsion)

Silver nitrate

Celluloid (George Eastman)

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The  Lumières

• August (1862-1954) and Louis (1864-1948) Lumière
• Cinématograph Lumière
• First Film Show:
  • December 25^th 1895
  • Salon Indien in the Grand Café in Paris

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George Méliès

• »French Illusionist (1861-1938)
• The father of narrative film
• Producer / director / writer / designer / cameraman / actor
• His Star Film company made between 1896 and 1906 more than 500 movies (only 140 survive)
• Impressive range of subjects:
  • Fantasies (Cinderella, 1899)
  • Historical reconstructions (Benvenuto Cellini, 1904)
  • Docudramas (The Dreyfus Affair, 1899)
  • Science-fiction adventures (A trip to the Moon, 1902)

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A Trip to the Moon

The Terrible Turkish Executioner

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German Expressionism

• Expressionism: Style of art in which the intention is not to create beauty or to reproduce any subject accurately, but to explore all the aspects of life and the human soul.
• Precursors:
  • Caravaggio
  • Rembrandt
  • Goya

Caravaggio

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Rembrandt

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Goya

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Contemporary Expressionism – Edvard Munch

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Abstract Expressionism

German Expressionism

• Light versus Shadow
• Exploration of the dark sides of the human soul
• Oppressive interiors
• Supernatural, mystic, or uncanny elements
• Evil individuals with the power to control the will of people (premonition of Adolph Hitler)

Films

• Stellan Rye (The Student of Prague, 1913)
• Paul Wegener ( The Golem, 1915)
• Robert Wiene (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, 1919)
• Fritz Lang (Destiny, 1921; Mabuse, The Gambler, 1922)
• Friedrich W. Murnau (Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror, 1922)

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The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

(Reading: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari)

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Nosferatu

(reading: Nosferatu)

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Surrealism

• André Breton (1924)
• Strongly influenced by Sigmund Freud’s Theories.
• Sub-Conscious governs our life.
• It emphasizes the importance of dreams, dreamy landscapes and other sub-conscious symbolism.

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French and Spanish Surrealism

(Reading: Un Chien Andalou)

• René Clair (The Crazy Ray, 1923; Entre’acte, 1924)
• Jacques Feyder (L’Atlantide, 1921)
• Jean Cocteau (The Blood of a Poet, 1930)
• Jean Vigo (A Propos de Nice)
• Luis Buñuel (Un chien andalou, 1928; L’Age d’or, 1930)

Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí: A Chien Andalou

(A higher definition copy, unfortunately with ads)

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(Lower definition copy – no ads)

Readings:

Literature

• Parkinson, David:
  • “History of Film”. Thames and Hudson, 1995
• Thompson, Kristin and Bordwell, David:
  • “Film History: An Introduction”. McGraw-Hill, 2002.