The silent cinema. Birth of an art
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| The silent cinema. Birth of an art |
The pioneers of engineering
The Lumière brothers, Louis (1864-1948) and Auguste (1862-1954), made the first public cinematographic projection on December 28, 1895; it takes place in the "Salon Indien", in the basement of the Grand Café in Paris, in front of 33 paying spectators. The program then includes films of about a minute (the output of the Lumière factories in Lyon, the exit of the port, the baby lunch, the part of spread). If the arrival of a train station in La Ciotat triggers the first strong emotions, Sprinkler watered amuses the public, which is gradually becoming numerous.
During the year 1896, the Lumière brothers sent representatives, operators and projectionists to some twenty countries, where they made the cinematograph known while filming the famous places and monuments themselves. In the United States, the first paid cinematographic session, made with Thomas Edison's Vitascope, takes place in New York on April 23, 1896.
However, the first creator to truly realize the possibilities offered by cinema in the field of fiction is the illusionist Georges Méliès (1861-1938). Between 1896 and 1913, he directed nearly 500 films, for which he invented a number of rigs (the Voyage dans la Lune, 1902, To the conquest of the pole, 1912). For their part, the British George Albert Smith (1864-1959) and James Williamson (1855-1933) develop the division of scenes in shots.
The founding work of Griffith
The American director David Wark Griffith (1875-1948) is the first to make cinema an art in its own right: for this, he takes advantage of camera movements, natural settings as well as sets in studio with artificial light, montage and subtitle resources to make his films accessible to the general public. Above all, he becomes aware of the interest of feature film for cinema: if Judith of Bethulie (1914) is 45 minutes, the Birth of a nation (1915) will last 2 h 40 min and Intolerance (1916), 3 h 20 min. The visual language that Griffith discovers will feed the inspiration of filmmakers around the world for decades.
The beginnings of Hollywood
The primitive period ends with the transition from short film to feature film. This era is also that of the change in the ratio of forces between French production, until then economically dominant, and American production. It is also the moment when firms begin to settle in Hollywood, which will develop very quickly during the 1914-1918 war.
In its early days, American cinema is the subject of rivalries. Thomas Edison, in particular, is trying to eliminate competition by patenting Vitascope. The creation of the Motion Pictures Patents Company (MPPC) in 1908 temporarily put an end to this situation by guaranteeing its members - including Edison and the French Pathé and Méliès - a monopoly on the production and distribution of films. . But a group of independents ranks under the banner of Carl Laemmle (1867-1939), Adolph Zukor (1873-1976) and William Fox (1879-1952): they decide to produce their own films and their install in California, far from the MPPC studios - which will soon be declared illegal under antitrust law. Their choice is fixed on Hollywood, which is then a small city with strong sunshine.
During the First World War, film production in Europe was almost halted. That's when Hollywood becomes the film capital of the world. A series of mergers and acquisitions led to the founding of major studios (the majors), which will dominate the American film industry for about forty years. Following the path opened by filmmaker and producer Thomas Harper Ince (1882-1924), the studios add their power to the number of films produced, the choice of scenarios that flatter the taste of the public and advertising campaigns orchestrated around the stars of the screen, the stars.
The advent of the star system
Unlike the credits of today's movies, which list hundreds of names, those of early film films are succinct. All prefer a certain anonymity: the producers because they fear that the stardom does not force them to pay higher fees; the actors themselves, because they do not yet believe in the prestige of cinema. Carl Laemmle is one of the first to realize the importance of actors in the power of attraction of a film on the public: in 1910, he decides to reveal the name of one of the most famous actresses of the moment Florence Lawrence (1886-1938), known only under the nickname of Biograph Girl - from the name of the studio that employs it. The first big movie stars will be Mary Pickford (1893-1979) and Douglas Fairbanks (1883-1939).
Having become indispensable to the commercial success of the films, the actors are then shaped by the studios in the image of the heroes that the public is supposed to venerate. Magazines such as Photoplay maintain the myth of the star by exposing their readers to the lavish lifestyle of their favorite stars or by publishing revelations about their sentimental adventures. In the early 1920s, however, the Hollywood image was tarnished by a series of scandals and suspicious deaths that pushed producers to implement the "Hays Code" - named after its instigator, William H. Hays, former Minister of President Harding. This code sets out strict rules that scriptwriters and directors must follow to ensure that their films do not offend the good morals, religion, morals or fundamental values of the American nation. This code is neither more nor less than censorship.
The first successful genres
The serials (serials) are a huge success in the United States - as in France, where the first films of this type are produced - by conforming to a double imperative: simplicity and readability; the films that content the adventures of the heroine embodied by Pearl White (1889-1938) are the perfect examples.
Burlesque comedies, borrowing elements from the clown numbers of the traditional circus, are also among the most popular films. The "King of Comedy" is Mack Sennett (1880-1960). He reveals himself the talent of dozens of comedians, some of whom will acquire international fame: this is the case of Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977), creator of the character of Charlot and, as director, of several of the great chefs. cinematographic art (the Gold Rush, 1925, the Circus, 1928, the Enlightenment of the City, 1931, the Modern Times, 1936).
Stan Laurel (1890-1965) and Oliver Hardy (1892-1957), whose duet was formed in 1927, rivaled Charlie Chaplin's popularity. Buster Keaton's comic (1895-1966) is admirably built and timed, so that the gags are linked, he says, "with the same precision as the wheels of a watch." Harold Lloyd (1893-1971) satirizes the modern world.
The exceptions of Mille and von Stroheim
The hindrances to the freedom of creation imposed by the studios, then by the code Hays leave to the film-makers a small margin of maneuver to find their style. Two of them, however, try to defend their independence with tenacity: Cecil Blount De Mille (1881-1959) and Erich von Stroheim (1885-1957).
Cecil B. De Mille becomes a master of the blockbuster, where violence and eroticism are unveiled; but the filmmaker takes care, at the end of his films, to stigmatize vice and to exalt virtue so that, for censorship, morality is saved. He succeeds in all genres: the western (the Indian Husband, 1914), the melodrama (Forfaiture, 1915), the comedy (the Admirable Crichton, 1919), the biblical epic (The Ten Commandments, the first version, 1923), the historical film (The King of Kings, 1927).
Von Stroheim is the filmmaker of all excesses, aesthetic and financial. He explores daring subjects, which serve him to make a cruel satire of society (blind husbands or the law of the mountains, 1919, women's folly, 1922), and, taking no account of filming deadlines, he carries out with the Raptors (1925) an epic whose first version, lasting nearly nine hours, will undergo large cuts.
The first successful genres
The serials (serials) are a huge success in the United States - as in France, where the first films of this type are produced - by conforming to a double imperative: simplicity and readability; the films that content the adventures of the heroine embodied by Pearl White (1889-1938) are the perfect examples.
Burlesque comedies, borrowing elements from the clown numbers of the traditional circus, are also among the most popular films. The "King of Comedy" is Mack Sennett (1880-1960). He reveals himself the talent of dozens of comedians, some of whom will acquire international fame: this is the case of Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977), creator of the character of Charlot and, as director, of several of the great chefs. cinematographic art (the Gold Rush, 1925, the Circus, 1928, the Enlightenment of the City, 1931, the Modern Times, 1936).
Stan Laurel (1890-1965) and Oliver Hardy (1892-1957), whose duet was formed in 1927, rivaled Charlie Chaplin's popularity. Buster Keaton's comic (1895-1966) is admirably built and timed, so that the gags are linked, he says, "with the same precision as the wheels of a watch." Harold Lloyd (1893-1971) satirizes the modern world.
The exceptions of Mille and von Stroheim
The hindrances to the freedom of creation imposed by the studios, then by the code Hays leave to the film-makers a small margin of maneuver to find their style. Two of them, however, try to defend their independence with tenacity: Cecil Blount De Mille (1881-1959) and Erich von Stroheim (1885-1957).
Cecil B. De Mille becomes a master of the blockbuster, where violence and eroticism are unveiled; but the filmmaker takes care, at the end of his films, to stigmatize vice and to exalt virtue so that, for censorship, morality is saved. He succeeds in all genres: the western (the Indian Husband, 1914), the melodrama (Forfaiture, 1915), the comedy (the Admirable Crichton, 1919), the biblical epic (The Ten Commandments, the first version, 1923), the historical film (The King of Kings, 1927).
Von Stroheim is the filmmaker of all excesses, aesthetic and financial. He explores daring subjects, which serve him to make a cruel satire of society (blind husbands or the law of the mountains, 1919, women's folly, 1922), and, taking no account of filming deadlines, he carries out with the Raptors (1925) an epic whose first version, lasting nearly nine hours, will undergo large cuts.
Having become indispensable to the commercial success of the films, the actors are then shaped by the studios in the image of the heroes that the public is supposed to venerate. Magazines such as Photoplay maintain the myth of the star by exposing their readers to the lavish lifestyle of their favorite stars or by publishing revelations about their sentimental adventures. In the early 1920s, however, the Hollywood image was tarnished by a series of scandals and suspicious deaths that pushed producers to implement the "Hays Code" - named after its instigator, William H. Hays, former Minister of President Harding. This code sets out strict rules that scriptwriters and directors must follow to ensure that their films do not offend the good morals, religion, morals or fundamental values of the American nation. This code is neither more nor less than censorship.
The first successful genres
The serials (serials) are a huge success in the United States - as in France, where the first films of this type are produced - by conforming to a double imperative: simplicity and readability; the films that content the adventures of the heroine embodied by Pearl White (1889-1938) are the perfect examples.
Burlesque comedies, borrowing elements from the clown numbers of the traditional circus, are also among the most popular films. The "King of Comedy" is Mack Sennett (1880-1960). He reveals himself the talent of dozens of comedians, some of whom will acquire international fame: this is the case of Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977), creator of the character of Charlot and, as director, of several of the great chefs. cinematographic art (the Gold Rush, 1925, the Circus, 1928, the Enlightenment of the City, 1931, the Modern Times, 1936).
Stan Laurel (1890-1965) and Oliver Hardy (1892-1957), whose duet was formed in 1927, rivaled Charlie Chaplin's popularity. Buster Keaton's comic (1895-1966) is admirably built and timed, so that the gags are linked, he says, "with the same precision as the wheels of a watch." Harold Lloyd (1893-1971) satirizes the modern world.
The exceptions of Mille and von Stroheim
The hindrances to the freedom of creation imposed by the studios, then by the code Hays leave to the film-makers a small margin of maneuver to find their style. Two of them, however, try to defend their independence with tenacity: Cecil Blount De Mille (1881-1959) and Erich von Stroheim (1885-1957).
Cecil B. De Mille becomes a master of the blockbuster, where violence and eroticism are unveiled; but the filmmaker takes care, at the end of his films, to stigmatize vice and to exalt virtue so that, for censorship, morality is saved. He succeeds in all genres: the western (the Indian Husband, 1914), the melodrama (Forfaiture, 1915), the comedy (the Admirable Crichton, 1919), the biblical epic (The Ten Commandments, the first version, 1923), the historical film (The King of Kings, 1927).
Von Stroheim is the filmmaker of all excesses, aesthetic and financial. He explores daring subjects, which serve him to make a cruel satire of society (blind husbands or the law of the mountains, 1919, women's folly, 1922), and, taking no account of filming deadlines, he carries out with the Raptors (1925) an epic whose first version, lasting nearly nine hours, will undergo large cuts.
The first successful genres
The serials (serials) are a huge success in the United States - as in France, where the first films of this type are produced - by conforming to a double imperative: simplicity and readability; the films that content the adventures of the heroine embodied by Pearl White (1889-1938) are the perfect examples.
Burlesque comedies, borrowing elements from the clown numbers of the traditional circus, are also among the most popular films. The "King of Comedy" is Mack Sennett (1880-1960). He reveals himself the talent of dozens of comedians, some of whom will acquire international fame: this is the case of Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977), creator of the character of Charlot and, as director, of several of the great chefs. cinematographic art (the Gold Rush, 1925, the Circus, 1928, the Enlightenment of the City, 1931, the Modern Times, 1936).
Stan Laurel (1890-1965) and Oliver Hardy (1892-1957), whose duet was formed in 1927, rivaled Charlie Chaplin's popularity. Buster Keaton's comic (1895-1966) is admirably built and timed, so that the gags are linked, he says, "with the same precision as the wheels of a watch." Harold Lloyd (1893-1971) satirizes the modern world.
The exceptions of Mille and von Stroheim
The hindrances to the freedom of creation imposed by the studios, then by the code Hays leave to the film-makers a small margin of maneuver to find their style. Two of them, however, try to defend their independence with tenacity: Cecil Blount De Mille (1881-1959) and Erich von Stroheim (1885-1957).
Cecil B. De Mille becomes a master of the blockbuster, where violence and eroticism are unveiled; but the filmmaker takes care, at the end of his films, to stigmatize vice and to exalt virtue so that, for censorship, morality is saved. He succeeds in all genres: the western (the Indian Husband, 1914), the melodrama (Forfaiture, 1915), the comedy (the Admirable Crichton, 1919), the biblical epic (The Ten Commandments, the first version, 1923), the historical film (The King of Kings, 1927).
Von Stroheim is the filmmaker of all excesses, aesthetic and financial. He explores daring subjects, which serve him to make a cruel satire of society (blind husbands or the law of the mountains, 1919, women's folly, 1922), and, taking no account of filming deadlines, he carries out with the Raptors (1925) an epic whose first version, lasting nearly nine hours, will undergo large cuts.
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