Training Film For People example essay topic

Michael PahiosCinema Professor SterrittMonday, October 04, 2004 Films that were enjoyed and disliked The DVD The Movies Begin by Kino video is a testament to the early beginnings of film history. The series outlines man's earliest attempts to create visual representations of the world around them, with great success. There are many short films on the disc that range from real events to staged minute long "stories". There are some films that are enjoyable on levels of artistic creativity, while others lack motivation and are tedious (despite their short length). The film that sticks out most in terms of creativity is Georges Melies' A Trip To The Moon (1902). This film chronicles the short but adventure filled flight of men to the moon.

They make a large steel vessel, and travel to the moon where they encounter hostile alien beings. The film gave early audiences the fantasy of what was at the time impossible. This was primarily because of the use of special effects and a creative set design. This happened to be the result of Melies' work as a magician.

He also made use of editing to aid in his visual interpretation, making the audience believe that the aliens mysteriously evaporated after being hit with an umbrella. Melies also created a structure that was comprehensible. A simple venture into space; aliens and danger; escape to earth. This seemed to represent the three-act structure comparable to today's films. All these elements created a landscape most audiences had never envisioned. Another short film that warrants mention for simple creativity yet has underlying political tones is Ferdinand Zecca's The Golden Beetle (1907).

This film uses special effects as its main draw, showing a man enticed, then killed by a beautiful woman (beetle). Color tints on the film gave it an unusual look, as the woman appears to have an aura of gold around her body. The film's climax sees the demise of the man in a fiery death. This was most probably the result of the cultural attitudes toward women during this period. The film suggests that a woman could be mysterious and alluring, yet simultaneously destructive and overwhelming.

One film that was pioneering in its technical attributes was the Lumiere brothers' film Leaving Jerusalem By Railway (1896). This was a short film where the camera was at the rear of a train as it pulled away. This was revolutionary for the period because it took the camera away from the common stationary position somewhat, creating a tracking shot. The camera moves away from the station, showing more of the landscape and suggesting in a subtle way that things fade away, the same as life itself. The films that are lacking in creativity or technicality seemed to focus on just having a subject to shoot. There was nothing in the frame that could hold an audience's attention for more than half a minute.

One example is Edison's The Kiss (1896). Two unattractive people exchange smooches for several seconds. The mere fact that the people themselves are unattractive is the main flaw, and their moments of intimacy do not fare any better. The audience essentially has to watch entertainment that is more mechanical in nature than it is artistic.

Another film is the Lumiere brothers' Carmax: Drawing Out the Coke (1896). This film shows a brick of coke being cooled down with water by a factory worker. As simple as the film is, it feels monotonous in a way because many people during this period were factory workers. A film like this today would be viewed as a training film for people to learn to cross the street. There was no originality, and audiences were subjected to the rigors of their daily lives for a few seconds.

Another film that started out with a good story but yielded little payoff was Edison's Seminary Girls (1897). The film shows mischievous activity among playful schoolgirls, who are interrupted by their angry schoolmaster. The film goes downhill upon the interruption, as they try to hide in places where only cartoon characters would be successful. Because of the lack of camera movement, most of the action relies on the audience's eyes scouring the screen in different directions. This leads one to sometimes focus on action that may not be even relevant to the important characters; in this case the schoolmaster and the girl "hiding" under the bed.