Chapter 12

Historical Changes in Film Art: Conventions and Choices, Tradition

and Trends

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Film Art and Film History

• This chapter examines some of the ways in which film art has been treated in particular historical contexts by looking at film movements and other relevant factors.

• Shows how certain possibilities of film form and style were explored within a few typical and well-known historical periods.

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Early Cinema (1893–1903)

• The technology involved in creating motion pictures was achieved by the early 1890s.

• The first films were very simple and usually showed scenic places and noteworthy events.

• Films circulated freely between countries and influenced foreign filmmakers.

• Narrative form was the dominant type of commercial filmmaking.

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The Development of the Classical Hollywood Cinema (1908–1927)

• Edison tried to run other American filmmakers out of business, but it didn’t work.

• Edwin S. Porter, D. W. Griffith, and Cecil B. De Mille were filmmakers who refined narrative and stylistic technique, making it the predominant form.

• By the 1920s the continuity system was the standardized style directors used.

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German Expressionism (1919–1926)

• The German government began backing it’s nation’s film industry after WWI, which caused its growth and spread of influence.

• Expressionism in film began with The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and was set apart by its stylized mise-en-scene.

• The movement disappeared by 1927 but influenced many American filmmakers, even today.

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French Impressionism and (1918–1929)

• Young French directors after WWI saw film as art and thought cinema should express feelings.

• Narration has lots of psychological depth, manipulating plot time and subjectivity.

• Rhythmic editing and subjective shots emphasize the character’s inner feelings.

• Not commercially successful and ceased by 1929, but was very influential to certain filmmakers, styles and genres.

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Surrealism (1918–1930)

• Filmmakers worked outside the filmmaking system and made films that shocked and perplexed most audiences.

• Seek to bring the unconscious to film and are anti-narrative.

• An eclectic movement that lost unity after 1930, but individual filmmakers continued to work for many years.

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Soviet Montage (1924–1930)

• Russians saw film as a powerful tool for education and propaganda.

• Sergei Eisenstein, Vsevolod Pudovkin, Dziga Vertov, and Alexander Dovzhenko created the classic Montage style which championed the powers of editing to create new meaning.

• By the 1930s, the Russian government criticized experimentation.

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The Classical Hollywood Cinemaafter the Coming of Sound (1926–1950)• After technical problems were overcome,

sound was a powerful addition to continuity editing.

• Studios each developed their own style.• The musical emerges.• Color film changes lighting technique, offers

different stock options, and alters depth of field.

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Italian Neorealism (1942–1951)

• A reaction to Italian cinema under Mussolini.• Goal is revealing contemporary social

conditions.• Often uses location filming and available light. • Photography seems documentary-like. • Loose narrative style lacks omniscient

knowledge of events.• As Italy prospered, the movement ended.

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The French New Wave (1959–1964)

• Revolves around the auteur theory.• Films have a casual look that involves location

shooting, a moving camera, and available light.• Sense of humor is pervasive.• Causal connections are loose and the narrative

often ends ambiguously.• It is difficult to say when this movement

formally ended.

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The New Hollywood and Independent Filmmaking, 1970s–1980s• A reaction to the failing industry in the 1960s,

young film school graduates offer a fresh perspective.

• Films tend to have personal, self-conscious messages and capitalize on films of the past.

• In the 1980s, more young filmmakers begin winning recognition.

• Stylistically, most films continued classical Hollywood traditions, although there is some experimentation.

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Hollywood and Independents, to Be Continued

• Animated features play a bigger role.• Storytelling experiments are a hallmark.• 2000s see network and cable using narrative

style.• Tentpole movies continue to provide most of

the industry’s profits.

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Hong Kong Cinema, 1980s–1990s• There is a long tradition of martial arts films and

by the 1980s, kung-fu was incorporated into Hollywood-like action-adventure films.

• Causal structure is loose so that action sequences can be inserted easily.

• Plots can end abruptly and there is constant movement on the screen.

• Stylistically, slow motion, color design, and mood lighting are trademarks.

• Innovations in style and storytelling are influential to the rest of the world.

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