What does sound look like>

What do you find interesting about this video? How does seeing sound visualized help you understand what sound is?

I found it interesting that sound can be visualize, and that the technique to do this is a relatively simple technique. Before I viewed the video, I assumed that visualizing sound meant looking at sound waves. However, the video depicted a technique that allowed the audience to see where and how fast the sound was traveling. Seeing visualized sound helped me understand that sound travels in a circular path that expands and weakens as it travels. Although I understood that concept previously, it made me rethink how audio should be captured for a video.

Sound at the Movies

Take a moment to reflect over your experience of sound at the movies. What are 2 things things that you notice about the sound in modern hollywood movies? What is the first film that made you think about the sound of the film? What interested you? The sound effects? The sound track? The dialog? Why?

Modern Hollywood movies design sound so that the sound is heard from the right direction. For example, if a certain crash was seen on the right side of the screen, the sound would also come from the right side of the theater. In addition, sound in the movies are created after the production as folly audio. The folly artists use different tracks in order to imitate the sound that could have been on screen. Frozen was the first film that mad me think about the sound of film. Because it is an animated film, they had to create all of the audio in post. I was interested especially in how they created the wind noise that was used in the snow mountain scene. I am also interested in the quiet audio that was used to enhance the reality of the film.

Revisiting Georges Melies

Write a paragraph response summarizing his (Georges Melies) accomplishments in cinema history.

George Melies was the first one to use visual effects abundantly. For example, he cut between scenes that are locked off with tripod with one scene including and object and the other without. By cutting between these two scenes, Melies created the illusion of a disappearing object. In addition, he created the Trip To the Moon which was a relatively long film for the time. It had a specific storyline and it was hand colored nicely. This iconic film lasted for generations, and it was even featured in a music video decades later.

History of Film

Take a few moments to reflect on what you have learned in this unit. The history of cinema is pretty vast, and we could only cover a short part of it. After watching this video, what do you notice about the evolution of filmmaking? How did it all begin? How far have we come? In your opinion, where are we headed?

Films evolved in little steps. It began with a curiosity of how to make still images seem as though they are moving images in the zoetrope. This technology eventually evolves to capturing real life and then onto capturing audio along with it. In the modern era, we have the technology of CGI, sound effects, and nonlinear editing. Unrealistic situations have become easier to portray through these technological innovations which have been accumulated over the years. In my opinion, cinema is headed towards using different methods of projection such as VR headsets. Different techniques of storytelling must be developed in order to extend the possibilities of the new technology.

Silent Film in the Bay Area

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?

Filmmaking in the bay area started in the East Bay hamlet of Niles. Niles became known as the center of the nascent movie industry in the early 1900s. Here, actors such as the silent-film cowboy star Gilbert M. “Broncho Billy” Anderson and Charlie Chaplin created famous films. The Bay Area also had screening of silent films and film festivals such as the Broncho Billy Silent Film Festival. Geoffrey Bell was also an important figure for Bay Area filmmaking through his 1984 book, The Golden Gate and the Silver Screen. Even before the film studios and screenings, the Bay Area was a birthplace for motion pictures because Eadweard Muybridge conducted his experiment with the horse in the area.

Asian Americans in Silent Film

How were asian actors and characters treated at the time in american films? Which of these actors stories could you relate to? Explain why you found their achievements so significant.

American films were determined to keep Asian Americans from becoming stars by keeping them in limited roles. The roles were often stereotypical and reflected their asian background. These films had little to no concern regarding their true ethnic culture. I can relate to Hayakawa's story with the difficulty of seeing asian representation in Hollywood. It is very rare to see asian lead actors in a film, and even if there were, the film would not be a big budget production that becomes seen by everyone. Hayakawa's achievements were so great because he was able to become a high paid actor despite his ethnic background and the racism in the time period.

Mabel Normand

What was Mabel famous for? What were three significant events or films that she made? What was her downfall? What surprises you about her?

Mabel was most famous for her slapstick comedy. In Mabel’s Dramatic Career, she played the object of desire who was pursued by a "rube." This was typical film style she was casted for. In Barney Oldfield’s Race for a Life, was also a typical role for her, playing as a melodramatic helpless victim where she created the stereotype of being tied to a railroad track. In Tillie’s Punctured Romance, she collaborated with Charlie Chaplin in a physical comedy where played an equal position with him. The Fatty Arbuke's rape trial marked Normand's downfall. She was later troubled by drug and alcohol scandals which added to her already poor reputation. I was surprised of her path of going from a comical actress to a director even though she was such a popular comedian.

Moving West

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 Nickleodeons play in this dispute?

Thomas Edison was living in New Jersey, where he controlled a film trust. He was dedicated to creating revenue out of all of film production through his patents. Edison made sure to enforce his patents through hiring "mob-affiliated thugs" and suing them at any given chance. The independants who wanted to avoid this patent moved into the far west where they were not able to be caught because it was far from New Jersey and judges were less sympathetic to Edison's patents. Nickelodeons were very profitable at the time, and many filmmakers were determined to profit from the industry without Edison's intervention.

New Jersey the Film Capital?!

Why was New Jersey the capital of film at the time? Why did the industry move West?

New Jersey's capital of film at the time started when the the nickelodeons became popular. New Jersey housed one of the "most powerful man" and had plenty of acting talent. The kinetoscope--the first movie camera--was invented in New Jersey by Thomas Edison. Here, he built the first movie studio, bought his patents, and formed the Edison trust in which he attempted to monopolized the entire industry. Edison's film company, Fort Lee, had an easy access to the actors near Broadway. The industry moved West in order to avoid the "watchful eyes of Edison's hired detectives" who attacked filmmakers who did not pay the patents. These filmmakers found that it was better out in the West also because they had constant sunshine to work with.

Nickelodeon to Movie Palace

What were nickelodeons like? What was the first movie palace? What influenced the transition to the movie palace? Why do you think the movie places became so important?

Nickelodeons were simple theaters with a sheet for screen, a couple benches, and an admission ticket booth. Entrepreneurs did not bother to make complicated film theaters because they were afraid that the motion pictures will turn out to be a passing fancy. The first movie palace was the Regent. The transition into a movie palace was done as a result of the filmmaker's effort to appeal to the upper class. Movie palaces became very important because the audience for film spread from just the lower and middle class to the upper class as well. By incorporating an audience that has extra money to spend, the filmmakers will be able to generate more profit out of a film, thus allowing them to create feature films. 

The Latham Loop

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

The invention of the Latham loop was essential to create longer films. Previously, short films that lasted seconds were not a problem because the length was what made films unique at the time. However, as the audience became less astonished with simple, short length films, the necessity to extend the filming time came up as an issue. To solve this problem, the Lathams invented a new mechanism known as the Latham loop which allowed longer scenes to be filmed. This mechanism became increasingly popular especially because it was a loophole in Edison's patent aggression. 

DW Griffith

What effect did the film have on the US society at the time? How did the white audience react? How did the african american audience react? How did Griffith respond to the publics reaction to his film? Write about three of the innovations that Griffith pioneered with the film.

Dw Griffith's film, The Birth of a Nation, caused racial discrimination to increase, thus resulting in the empowerment of the KKK. Immediately following the film's release, the KKK's membership peaked. Through the film, the audience was persuaded that African Americans were a threat to their society and the KKK was the hero who fought the "source of evil." The film was outraged by the African American community because of its "'racist' and 'vicious' portrayal of blacks, its proclamation of miscegenation, its pro-Klan stance, and its endorsement of slavery." Riots broke out in opposition to the obvious portrayal of racism. To this criticism, Griffith claimed that he wasn't racist at the time, and only accommodated by cutting out the most brutal parts. In the film, Griffith explored its own original music score written for an orchestra, different shot angles, and the vignettes. Previously, music was improvised on the spot by a musician, camera was only shot at eye level, and the vignette was a special effect that was yet to be popularized.

Edwin S. Porter

What was Porters contribution to cinema? What was so significant about his work?

Porter introduced the narrative form into cinema using continuity editing, gradual transitions, and cross cutting. Porter was a master of reworking themes and techniques. For example in Jack and the Beanstalk, he reworked the already established theme of fairy tale films by implementing his cinematic and narrative elements. He understood the importance of cross cutting and allowing the audience to interpret the spatial relationships between the shots. Furthermore, he made even more cinematic breakthroughs by highlighting the heroism of firefighters. His firefighter film, American Firemen, was one of the first uses of cross cutting. This was a technique was highly innovative for the time. In his most important work, The Great Train Robbery, Porter utilized temporal repetition to create an effective narrative progression.

George Melies

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

Melies is the first creator of a science fiction film. He left countless iconic scenes such as the rocket running into the eye of the Man and the Moon ans introduced revolutionary camera illusions known as special effects. He was the first filmmaker to use production sketches and storyboards, experiment with double exposure, split screen ,dissolve, superimposition, and reverse shots. His most famous piece, A Trip to the Moon, implemented an ambitious plot for early cinema. Furthermore, he experimented with various genres such as documentaries and comedies which further increased his contribution to the modern film industry.

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 to or emulating?

The music video is about a couple traveling to outer space in where they defeat alien forces. Once the couples escapes the aliens, they plunge into the ocean where they are greeted by a god who presents them with a performance by mermaids. The band and the filmmaker chose these images because it accurately depicts the adventurous theme of the song. The lyrics that sing about the changes in life and the urgency of now reflect the exotic adventures of the couple. These aspects are significant because the visuals have a clear storyline and directly reflect the theme of the song. I believe they are emulating a dream-like scene where anything and everything is possible. This is an ideal world full of adventure and change.