Jaakko Seppälä. Early American Cinema & European Cinemas in the 1910s

Transcription

1 Jaakko Seppälä Early American Cinema & European Cinemas in the 1910s

2 Early American Cinema The United States was the biggest market for films The Edison Company hoped to control the whole American film market Lawsuits (patent and copyright infringements) American Mutoscope Company (1896) American Vitagraph (1897) A patent case victory in March 1902 allowed American Mutoscope and Biograph to use its camera and 35 mm format without an Edison license Soon the struggle cononued

3 Edwin Stanton Porter The Edison Company hired Porter in 1900 and he began filmmaking in 1901 Porter soon became the most influenoal American filmmaker of the pre era Porter drew on techniques used by European filmmakers (Méliès and The Brighton School) Life of an American Fireman (1903), The Great Train Robbery (1903), The Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906) Showing the same acoon from two different vantage points (overlapping acoon) was the norm

4 Trip to the Moon (Méliès, 1902) Shots one and two show the same action from two different vantage points. This is overlapping action. Porter copied this manner of telling a story in shots and used it, for example, in Life of an American Fireman (1903).

5 Edwin Stanton Porter ( )

6 The MoOon Picture Patents Company Due to patent struggles American companies missed their chances to expand producoon in the early 1900s 1907 court decision ruled that the Biograph camera did not infringe Edison s patent In 1908 The Edison Company and American Mutoscope and Biograph formed the MPPC This new company was to control all compeotors and charge license fees The MPPC set the stage for control over the enore American market by an oligopoly

7 The Independents Stand Firm Many producers, distributors and exhibitors refused to pay fees to the MPPC Independent film theatres provided a market for unlicensed producers and distributors The MPPC hires detecoves to gather evidence against the independents In 1912 it was ruled that the patents were invalid In 1915 the MPPC was ordered to dissolve on the basis of the Sherman AnOtrust Act Meanwhile the independents had organised

8 The MPPC The Edison Company Biograph Company Vitagraph Company of America Selig Polyscope Company The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company Lubin Manufacturing Company Kalem Company NaOonal Independent Moving Picture Alliance Independent MoHon Picture CorporaHon Thanhouser Film CorporaHon Solax Film Company New York MoHon Picture Company

9 David Wark Griffith D. W. Griffith is known as the most important filmmaker of the American cinema In 1907 he gave up his unsuccessful theatrical career He wrote scenarios and acted in films unol Biograph Company made him a film director in 1908 Before 1913 he had made over 400 films for the company D. W. Griffith understood how different film techniques could be used to create a coherent style Made feature films as an independent producer & director Major developer of cross cueng and realisoc acong

10 D. W. Griffith ( ) Fairbanks, Pickford, Chaplin and Griffith

11 Hollywood In 1909 American producoon centres were New York, New Jersey, Chicago and Philadelphia In East poor weather could hamper producoon The Selig company made films in California in 1908 In early 1910s major producers moved to California Dry weather permijed filmmaking outdoors also into winter months California offered a variety of landscapes The head offices of the studios stayed in West

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13 Danish Cinema Ole Olsen founded Nordisk Films Kompagni in 1906 In 1910 it was one of the biggest producoon companies in the world The internaoonal reputaoon of Danish cinema was based on good acong and high producoon values Typical themes: sexuality and desire Danish films are noteworthy for psychological realism, lighong techniques, camera- posiooning and set design Asta Nielsen began her career in The Abyss (1910) Uniquely cinemaoc acong

14 Asta Nielsen ( )

15 Pre- RevoluOonary Russia Drankov produced Stenka Rasin in 1908 Early Russian cinema was dependent on non- cinemaoc culture (influenced by Film d Art producoons) In the early 1910s Russian filmmakers were influenced by Danish melodramas and Italian diva films Russian style: slow pace of acong, melancholy mood, morbid endings, upper middle class interiors Russian themes: mad love, infidelity, crime, class conflicts Yevgeny Bauer was the most important filmmaker Vast Art Nouveau seengs, tracking shots, tragic endings

16 Yevgeny Bauer ( )