SVCTE Film/ Video Production

What are Alice's contributions to cinema history? Why are her accomplishments so incredible during this time period? What makes her such a significant figure? Blanche, being the first female filmmaker, contributed to cinema history by experimenting with different kinds of special effects like double exposure, masking techniques, and running film backwards. She also experimented with hand coloring black and white film. Her accomplishments are more unique compared to other filmmakers at the time because she was the first female filmmaker. At the time, women were expected to be working at home rather than independently creating their own content like Blanche. 

Who was Louis Le Prince? What was his contribution to cinema? After reading about him, what surprises you about reading this article? Louis Le Prince was a French inventor who created the Le Prince Single-lens Cine Camera which is thought to be one of the first motion pictures ever captured. Unfortunately, he was not able to market his invention very efficiently, resulting in Edison and the Lumiere Brothers taking credit for the success and spread of motion pictures years later after Le Prince. What surprised me the most was his disappearance and how not many people know about Le Prince.

Why do you like this early silent film? What is so interesting about it? What are two common things that you noticed about the films you saw while searching for your video on youtube? Le Voyage Dans la Lun (A Trip to the Moon) In this early silent film, I noticed a few little tricks they used to make things seem real. Like the back drops in the first three minutes was painted rather than building an actual elaborate setting like that. The rocket that the characters were "building" was also just a flat board with a half built rocket painted on. There were more like that but what interested me the most were the costumes. The moon alien costumes were very elaborate and well thought out. They looked as though they were almost real.

What qualities do these early films share? Why do you think the filmmakers shot these? How do they differ from modern movies? All of the films shown are little moments in time. They don't have a full length plot with a climax or anything. Filmmakers may have shot these because they wanted to preserve history not just as a frozen photo but as a moving picture to show the detail of how something was done or what they did. They differ from modern movies because they were small clips and some of them were repeated over and over. Since they were on film and they were not in color, filmmakers were able to color on the film strips to give them color. Modern film is already in color and they are digital rather than on film. 

What were Muybridge's contributions to motion pictures? What breakthroughs did he make? Why are they significant? What part of the story did you find the most interesting? Why? Muybridge contributed to motion pictures by taking sequential photographs of people/ things moving. His photography helped scientists because it showed the break down of motion and it helped settle things like the horse running and other anatomical theories. Some of his story made me think that Muybridge was actually not that great of a person but his photography techniques inspired a lot of people to create better things so authors are trying give him some sort of credit in history and they portray him as some sort of sad, struggling artist who created great things out of his "misery". 

After reading this article and viewing the images that Marey captured, write a reflection on what you think Marey's motion studies contributed to the development of the motion picture. What makes his work so interesting? Marey's photography contributed to the development of motion picture because of his technique if taking "multiple successive images, usually on the same print"(Meier). Marey used a photographic gun which was able to shoot 12 frames per second which influenced the invention of motion pictures. His photos were able to show stills of movement in an order which showed kinetic motion and it helped later inventors to create motion pictures. 

Why do you think we wouldn't have filmmaking without the invention of photography? Pick three of these innovations on this list and explain their historical importance and why you think it led to the invention of motion pictures. We would not have filmmaking without the invention of photography because without being able to capture a still moment in time, we would not be able to capture a moving moment in time. The Camera Obscura was not exactly a frozen moment in time but this was the starter for the creation of the cameras that come after this. The Daguerreotype was evidence of lots of progress in cameras. It was able to capture a frozen moment in time rather than have a live view of the subject. Flexible roll film made photography become extremely popular and accessible to the public and I think this was a huge component to the invention of motion pictures.

What was the Phantasmagoria? After reading this article, write a reflection on what elements of the Phantasmagoria became adopted into the development of movies. The Phantasmagoria was a show put on by Étienne-Gaspard Robert. With his love of art and physics, he set up a performance that used magic lanterns, ventriloquism, and glass harmonicas to set the terrifying mood for the audience. Robert/ Robertson/s use of "bringing back the dead" influenced the horror genre and how lights were used to their advantage.

What role does lighting play in the caves? How might these paintings been used by primitive man? What are the two techniques that the early artists used to paint on the walls of the cave? Why do you think they painted with these images? The early artists used lighting to show their stories that they drew out on the walls of the cave. These paintings were used to entertain and/or preserve history. The two techniques early artists used to paint on the walls of the cave were juxtaposition of successive images and superimposition. Juxtaposition of successive images were basically multiple drawings of the same subject but in each separate drawing, the subject has a slight difference. The final product is similar to a flip book spread out on a wall. Superimposition is like juxtaposition of successive images but the images are layer on top of each other. I think they painted these images to document what their lives were like. 

Pick one that interests you then embed it into your blog. What makes this PSA so engaging? Why does it stand out to you? "I learned it from watching you" This PSA had a plot twist that not a lot of people would have expected. It got me interested when the father would not even let his son explain himself. From that, I inferred that something about this PSA was not the same as other anti-drug PSA's like the the frying egg one or the seven minute film on how a guy got into drugs. It was short and had a good shocking factor that kept me interested. 

What was the creators approach to seat belt safety in these ads that was so different from previous efforts? What was the effect of the crash test dummy PSA's on society? Instead of using the common PSA that shocked people, the creators decided to use humor to appeal to viewers. While giving the viewers a glimpse of the possible outcomes of not using a seatbelt, they added jokes to keep the viewers engaged. Before the crash test dummy characters were created, it was not the norm to buckle seat belts which led to many deaths that could have been prevented. With the creation of these two characters, more people were influenced to use their seat belts. 

What does the Ad Council do? What is its mission? Do you recognize any of their campaigns growing up? Which ones? Why do you feel they were effective? At first the Ad Council was made to promote the sale of war bonds. Now, it is used to raise awareness to change people's attitudes on social issues. I recognize Smokey Bear by FCB-West and American Red Cross from history textbooks and school promotions. Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign is something that I saw growing up in school too. I think it was effective because it was created when Michelle Obama was First Lady and she used her fame to promote a sensitive topic like child obesity. I have also heard of "Just say no" that Nancy Reagan created for the war against drugs. I also think this was effective because she used her fame as a platform like Michelle Obama. Though this topic was not as sensitive, I think many people took action with it because they felt some sort of relation to it. ...

Where did public service announcements begin? What was their main purpose? How have they evolved throughout the decades? The PSA was created when the United States joined WWII drafting propaganda. Tag lines like "Loose lips sink ships" were used to get people to donate and contribute to military operations. Now, a PSA is for getting people to contribute to other causes like anti-drugs, drunk driving, and seat belts. 

How is a public service announcement different from a commercial? Why are they not seen as often compared to in the past? Public service announcements, compared to commercials, are mainly for getting a point across. PSA's are not often broadcasted due to limited time. They are often seen on unpopular stations because they have more time to fill so the PSA's are able to fill that time.