In Component 1b there are 17 key facts to learn. These are about the developments in film and film technology.
During the 19th century, many people around the world were attempting to capture a moving image. In 1895, in France the Lumière Brothers were the first to successfully record a moving image. They built a machine (similar to a modern movie camera) and then a second machine which played them (similar to a modern projector). They created a few short films; one of their most famous films being a train arriving into a station.
In the years 1895-1927, in America film changed from the ‘cinema of attractions’ to narrative cinema. These films had a plot and told a story, they also went from short films to full length feature films. The foundations of film were established (cinematography, location shooting, mis-en-scene, principles of lightning and continuity editing)
In European countries, films were an art form, similar to an opera or ballet whereas in America in the 1920s, film became a commercial industry. They adopted a vertically integrated system, where all aspects of film were controlled by studios, including the writing of the script and the cinemas which showed the films. This system was centred around 8 studios known as the big five and the little three:
Paramount
Warner Brothers
MGM
20th Century Fox
RKO
And
Columbia
Universal
United Artists
During this time, films were silent. However in 1927, The Jazz Singer, directed by Alan Crosland, starring Al Jolson was the first film with synchronised sound. The way that this problem was overcome was having a loose part of the film and then the sound placed before the picture. This meant that the sound and the picture was shown at the same time.
Films were also only in black and white, but this problem was harder to fix as it was chemical. In 1935, Becky Sharp, which was directed by Rouben Mamoulien became the first feature length, colour film. It used the ‘three strip’ colour technique to make the film. They recorded it three times then overlaid them: once in red, once in green and once in yellow.
The US government became concerned with the amount of power that the eight main studios had and thought it was unfair that they would only show their own films in the cinemas as this meant smaller studio could not show their films. So in 1948, there was the Paramount Court Case which limited the power they had. It was illegal for studios own all the theatres that showed exclusively their own films. As a result, independent filmmaking became possible. This affected the main studios and made them less powerful.
In the 1950s, television became affordable and was a common appliance in most houses. This meant that significantly less people were going to the cinemas. In order to combat this, the film studios began filming in wide screen as it could not be played on a television. This drove people back into the cinemas and increased their profit. The studios also began to show 3D films to compete against television.
In the late 1950s, small, light-weight, portable, handheld cameras were used to make films. This lead to an increase in documentaries as it had a smaller audience and budget which suited the cheaper equipment. It also lead to the French wave.
In 1975, Garrett Brow (a cinematographer) invented the Steadicam. This new camera allowed fluid camera movement and was portable.
During the 1990s, computer generated imagery (better known as CGI) had improved to the point that it could seamlessly and effortlessly be used in high quality productions. At the front of this was Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), a company run by George Lucas. Film moved away from special effects on camera to CGI (special effects in post production).
In 1995, the release of Toy Story, directed by John Lasseter meant that Disney was not the only extremely successful animation studio.
During the 2000s, technology developed so much that everyday people had access to their own camera, a mobile phone. This meant that anybody could become a film maker.
In 2007, Netflix became the first legal streaming service. Therefore, people could watch a variety of films in one place.
During the 2010s, multiple feature length films were shot entirely on iPhones. Two important films were Tangerine (Sean Baker, 2015) and Unsane (Steven Soderberg, 2018).
In 2017, streaming and downloading sites became incredibly popular and overtook DVD sales for the first time. They then increased by 23% in one year.
In 2018, Avengers Infinity War (Joe Russo / Anthony Russo, 2018) became the first Hollywood film to be filmed entirely with IMAX cameras. These were analogue cameras which had 7mm film on its side in order to create a larger image. This helped to combat home viewing of films.