Cinema pioneers: 5 defining moments of cinema pre 1930's

Les frères Lumières - L’arroseur arrosé (1895)

“L'Arroseur arosé" (in English known as The Waterer Watered) is a silent black and white short film by French directors Lumière Brothers in 1895. They are well-known for being pioneers in early film-making with the help of their invention of the Cinématographe in 1895. This film is 49s long and its scene takes place on a single set. The story-line is very simple but effective with a practical joke. The film introduces what is now known as “slapstick” (“a type of physical comedy characterized by broad humour, absurd situations, and vigorous, usually violent action”, Britannica.com) with the gardener disciplining the boy. This film is innovative as it can be considered as one of the first to include comedy.

Georges Méliès  - Le Voyage dans la Lune (1902)

French filmmaker Georges Méliès directed A trip to the Moon in 1902. This silent film, introduced the science fiction genre. It lasts 10 minutes which at the time was considered extremely long. The film depicts a meeting of astronomers that decide, after a long discussion, to take a trip to the moon. Six of them agree to go and the second part of the film focuses on the discovery of the life on the Moon. By telling a story this film displays an early understanding and use of narrative film technique. Méliès was also among the first director to use changing sets and costumes (1.49s). Most of all, the film shows an early and innovative use of special effects such as the landing of the spaceship on the eye of the Moon (4.46s).

Edwin Porter – The Great Train Robbery (1903)

The Great Train Robbery is a silent black and white film by Edwin Porter. It was based on an 1896 story by Scott Marble. It is one the first narrative films and also announced the beginning of the Western film genre. It features, as the title implies, bandits holding up train passengers and robbing them before escaping. This film used the innovative technique of parallel editing: showing separate events happening at the same time but in different places (the bandits running away with their loot / the telegraph operator trying to escape/ and the dance hall). The film ends with an emotive close-up, the chief bandit pointing and shooting his gun directly into the camera and therefore, the audience.

Sergei Eisenstein - Battleship Potemkin (1925)

Russian film Battleship Potemkin by Eisenstein relates a violent mutiny that occurred in 1905. The sailors of the battleship Potemkin rebelled against the brutality of their Tsarist officers. Although Eisenstein does not picture a literal and faithful version of history, it is inspired by real events. The clip shows the famous “Odessa steps sequence” where soldiers shoot rioters and innocent on the steps. The film’s strength relies on Eisenstein’s innovative use of montage which is particularly illustrated in this clip. Eisenstein manipulates the viewer’s perception by making the running of the steps last much longer than it would in reality. He also alternates images of events happening to individuals to provoke an emotional impact on views such as the runaway of a baby carriage (6.43s).

Alan Crosland - The jazz singer (1927)  

Films such as Don Juan (1926) introduced sound in cinema but the influence of The Jazz Singer (1927), cannot be underestimated. This American musical film was indeed widely accepted as the first feature-length sound movie with synchronized dialogue sequences. It was directed by Alan Crosland and produced by Warner Bros who had previously invested in a Vitaphone sound system for Don Juan. Al Jolson performs six songs in the film, which is based on The Day of Atonement, a play by Samson Raphaelson. This clip shows the well-known scene of Jakie (Al Jolson) singing “Blue skies” to his mother. It also shows the limits of the sound with the sudden break between the synchronized dialogue and song with the inter-titles (1.02s).  

References

Earlycinema.com (1867) EarlyCinema.com. [online] Available at: http://www.earlycinema.com/timeline/index.html [Accessed on 15 February 2013].

Encyclopedia Britannica (n.d.) slapstick - Britannica Online Encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/548077/slapstick [Accessed on 28 February 2013].

Filmsite.org (1903) The Great Train Robbery (1903). [online] Available at: http://www.filmsite.org/grea.html  [Accessed on 02 Mar 2013]

Rgucinemasociety.blogspot.co.uk (n.d.) Cinema and Society. [online] Available at: http://rgucinemasociety.blogspot.co.uk/  [Accessed on 01 March 2013].  

Rottentomatoes.com (n.d.) Movies | Movie Trailers | Reviews - Rotten Tomatoes. [online] Available at: http://www.rottentomatoes.com [Accessed on 01 Mar 2013].