It may be argued that many today rush forward into the future without a single glance into the rearview mirror. Yet, looking back helps us understand why things are as they are and provides a bases for thinking creatively about the future.
So it is with Cinema. To fully appreciate the challenging film language that a director such as Kar-Wai Wong uses to tell stories, it is valuable to understand the evolution of film as a form of literacy based in image and sound. Kar-wai is a rare filmmaker In that he has clearly enveloped himself In the history of film language. In other words, to look forward, he understand what has been.
This month's random links explores the Internet in search of film history sites that look at the evolution of cinema and how it came to be.
Language of Film
Film Language. When we talk about reading a film what we actually mean is looking at the film in great detail to see how it is put together. There are many different elements to consider when undertaking such an activity and it is usual to read an extract from a film rather than the whole film. Site covers the topics of film codes and signals, use of camera, lighting, sound, editing. (Source: Film Education UK)
The Language of Film and Video. A basic listing of film elements related to the concept of shot, camera movement, and basics of editing. (Source: English Online, NZ)
The Language Of Film. A short concise overview of the basic elements that make the language of film. (Source: MediaKnowAll.com)
History of Film
The Complete History of the Discovery of Cinematography. "An Illustrated Chronological History Of The Development Of Motion Pictures Covering 2,500 Years Leading To Cinematography In The 1800's... This is a retrospective history of the dawn of film, and a pre-history of cinema itself. The body of this text deals with the origin of motion pictures and the ancestors of cinema beginning from approximately nine hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ our Saviour, and culminating in the final decade of the nineteenth century." (Source: Paul Burns, film historian)
Earlycinema.com aims to provide an introduction to the first decade of motion pictures and the developments which helped shape cinema as we know it today. The site is by no means a complete account of the development of cinema, and concentrates on the major events in cinema's history encouraging further reading and research. (Source: Earlycinema.com)
Film History by Decade. Tim Dirks compressive site explores the history of motion pictures by decade beginning in 1902 and follows the evolution of the moving image into the new century. (Source: Tim Dirks - Filmsite.org)
Cinema: How Hollywood films are made. This site combines hands-on activities with history and information to explain how movies are made. "Join us as we explore the creative process of filmmaking, from the screenwriter's words to the editor's final cut. Write your own dialogue for a scene or put yourself in a producer's shoes by managing the production of a film." (Source: Annenberg Media - Learner.org)
Origins of American Animation. The development of early American animation is represented by this collection of 21 animated films and 2 fragments, which spans the years 1900 to 1921. The films include clay, puppet, and cut-out animation, as well as pen drawings. They point to a connection between newspaper comic strips and early animated films, as represented by Keeping Up With the Joneses, Krazy Kat, and The Katzenjammer Kids. As well as showing the development of animation, these films also reveal the social attitudes of early twentieth-century America. (Source: Library of Congress - USA)
Film Sound
An Introduction to Film Sound. Though we might think of film as an essentially visual experience, we really cannot afford to underestimate the importance of film sound. A meaningful sound track is often as complicated as the image on the screen. This site by Jane Knowles Marshall examines the three principal elements of sound: voice, music, sound effects. (Source: FilmSound.org).
Motion Picture Sound 1910 - 2000. A chronology of innovations in film sound by Steve Schoenherr of the University of San Diego department of history. (Source: University of San Diego)
Film Sound History. Includes a series of online articles about the evolution of sound in film. Also included are classic texts on sound in film and links to other articles and related material about sound film. (Source: Film Sound. org)
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