History of film

Year 9 -10 transition work

1. GCSE Film Studies
The History of the
Film Industry

2. Aims and Objectives

The WJEC Eduqas specification in GCSE Film Studies is designed to draw on learners' enthusiasm
for film and introduce them to a wide variety of cinematic experiences through films which have
been important in the development of film and film technology.

Learners will develop their knowledge of US mainstream film by studying one film from the 1950s
and one film from the later 70s and 80s, thus looking at two stages in Hollywood's development.

In addition, they will be studying more recent films – a US independent film as well as films from
Europe, including the UK, South Africa and Australia.

Key developments in film and film technology

All films will be studied in relation to key developments in film and film technology – both to
provide a context for their study of film and to understand how their chosen films reflect key
developments in the history of film and film technology. Learners will be required to gain a
knowledge of:

the first moving images and silent film
the rise of Hollywood and the development of sound
the introduction of colour film
the emergence of widescreen technology and 3D film
the development of portable cameras and Steadicam technology
the role of computer-generated imagery in film.

3. Timeline of key developments in film and film technology

You need to know the following events and this booklet helps you to learn and
understand this timeline.

1895 First moving images (Lumière brothers)

1895 – 1927 Development of silent cinema from early short films to full-length feature
films, during which period the foundations of filmmaking were established
– e.g. cinematography, the principles of lighting and continuity editing
and an extensive range of mise-en-scène, including location shooting

1920s Gradual emergence of a vertically integrated Hollywood film industry,
established by 1930 into five major studios (Paramount, Warner Bros,
Loew's/MGM, Fox [Twentieth Century Fox in 1935] and Radio Keith
Orpheum [RKO]) and three minor studios (Columbia, Universal and
United Artists) – the so-called Big 5 and Little 3

1927 Alan Crosland's, The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson - the first feature film
with a soundtrack

1935 Rouben Mamoulian's Becky Sharp, the Technicolor Corporation's first
feature length, 'three strip' colour film

1948 Paramount court case which prevented studios from owning all phases of
the production, distribution and exhibition process ('vertical integration')
which led, in the 1950s, to the emergence of independent film production
and agents producing films for the Hollywood studios to distribute and
exhibit

1950s Emergence of widescreen and 3D technologies as a response to the
growth of television and the corresponding decline in cinema
attendance
late 1950s Although not the first examples, lightweight, portable cameras were
produced suitable for hand-held use (which had an immediate impact on
documentary filmmaking and were used by a new generation of directors
in France – French 'new wave' directors)

1970s Steadicam technology developed by cinematographer Garrett
Brown (a stabilising device for hand-held cameras to keep image
'steady' whilst retaining fluid movement). First introduced, 1975

1990s More widespread use of computer-generated imagery, most
significantly onwards pioneered by Industrial Light and Magic in the 1970s,
resulted in a move away from filmed 'special effects' to visual effects created
digitally in post-production to the computer generated imaging of characters in
films

4. Genre
Task 1: What do you already know?
What is a genre? Write a definition and list all the different genres that you know.











What films fall into each genre? Find an example of a film for each genre.











Challenge task: Can you explain the common features of each genre?
For example, horror films always use conventions such as darkness, isolated locations, blood, stormy
weather, supernatural, etc.

5. Task 2: What do you think?

Films, as we know them and recognise them today, were born in 1895.
Can you name all of the major inventions that needed to happen to films before you get to the
kind of films you find in the cinema today?
 e.g. Cameras
 film projectors
 audio sound recording

6. Answers: Cameras, film projectors, audio sound recording, sound effects, technicolour, digital
film, CGI (computer-generated imagery), computers, 3D, widescreen.

Let’s start with modern day film making – 1990s +

Task 3
1. Watch the first 7 minutes of this BBC Click programme.
BBC Click: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmKFUffO5G4

2. Also watch this clip on What 15 Movies From 2019 Looked Like Behind
The Scenes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3djdugD0b0


Notice how modern film production is very reliant on technology: green
screen, cameras, computers. What we see on screen is very different to what is
on the set. Films today use a lot of computers to develop scenes during post-
production and this can turn a swimming pool into an ocean!

7. Now let’s travel back in time to the 1890s…

The first recorded moving images came from two French brothers whose experimentation with
photography, combined with seeing Edison’s ‘Kinetoscope’.
The brothers were:
Auguste and Louis Lumière

They were French inventors of photographic equipment and
they devised an early motion-picture camera and projector
called the Cinématographe.
(“cinema” is derived from this name).


The year was 1895.


Task 4
Watch this clip to see their first film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nj0vEO4Q6s
Watch this 10 minute clip on the Lumiere brothers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFkSjdaqbyE

8. Task 5 – summary
Make notes on the Lumiere Brothers by finishing the sentences.

The year was...


The inventors were named…



They invented a camera called…




It created…






Challenge task: Do some research on the Lumiere brothers. List 5 more facts about them.

9. 1895-1927, Developing Silents

During the early life of cinema, silent films were the only option - increasingly accompanied by a
live musician/musicians. This period saw basic film language established - the principles of
continuity editing, lighting, mise-en-scène and the rise of the ‘feature length’ film (1 hour+).

Task 6

Watch this clip of an early silent film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgQpI-jpJao

Watch this 9 minute clip on The Silent Era:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROOV9tucra0&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtN-Bd-
H_TGq72CN50Fpv_JX&index=10


Notice how this film is different to the Lumiere brothers’ early films.

This has:

 A set
 A plot
 A range of characters
 Costumes
 Lighting techniques are emerging
 BUT NO SOUND









Language
alert
Continuity refers to action moving through multiple locations without interruptions. So one long piece of film that is not
edited. (Continuous)
Continuity editing is when film is edited but doesn’t look it. The editing is so good you don’t notice it.
Mise en scene – this is a French term that means ‘placed in the scene’ and refers to props, locations and any detail in a scene
that adds to the audience’s understanding of what’s happening in the film.

10. 1920s, The Studio System

American cinema rose to prominence in the 1920s with the advent of the ‘Studio System’. Most of
these studios still, sort of, exist today! They turned film making into an industrial
process and created the idea of Hollywood.
There were 5 main studios in 1930:
• Paramount
• Warner Brothers
• Loew’s/MGM
• Fox (20th Century Fox)
• Radio Keith Orpheum
And three minor studios:
• Columbia
• Universal
• United Artists

They were called the Big 5 and the Little 3.

11. Task 7
Answer the questions below based on your reading.

During which years were silent films developed?



Name two examples of basic film language that were also developed during this time.



What does the term mise en scene mean?



Name the ‘Big 6’ studios that began to grow in power during the 1930s.



Name the ‘Little 3’ minor studios that began during the 1930s.



What is continuity editing? Can you think of a modern film that uses it?

12. The introduction of sound and colour – 1927, 1935
1927, The Jazz Singer

 The Jazz Singer (1927) starred musical star Al Jolson.
 It was the first feature film to have a synchronised soundtrack, including synchronised
speech and singing.
 This was the birth of the ‘talkies’ – film where the speech was synced to match the mouth
movement.
 The Jazz Singer contains musical sequences using live sound recording. The moviegoers were
electrified when the silent actions were interrupted periodically for a song sequence with
real singing and sound. Jolson's dynamic voice, physical mannerisms, and charisma held the
audience spellbound.

Task 8
Watch a clip of The Jazz Singer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22NQuPrwbHA

13. 1935, Becky Sharp

In 1935 the release of Becky Sharp (Robert
Mamoulian) heralded the feature length use of the
‘three strip’ technicolour process for colouring film
and opened to gates to many competing colour
technologies.

Task 9
Watch this clip from Becky Sharp:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7Zezn-S6UQ



What is three-strip technicolour?
Technicolor is a colour film printing process invented in 1916. It was the most widely used colour
process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952 and celebrated for its saturated levels of colour. It was used
most commonly for filming musicals such as The Wizard of Oz and Singin' in the Rain and used for
Disney’s animated classics such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Fantasia.
"Technicolor" is the trademark for a series of colour motion picture processes pioneered by
Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation (a subsidiary of Technicolor, Inc.), now a division of
Technicolor SA. The process involved capturing the individual colour components red, green and
blue on three individual black and white negatives.

14. 1948, The Paramount Case

This famous court case prevented the studios from owning the full chain of production,
distribution and exhibition. This led to the emergence of independent production
companies, or ‘indies’.
This case stopped studios from monopolising the filming industry and was seen by some as
the event that ruined the ‘Golden Age’ of the Hollywood film studios.

Task 10
Watch this clip on the Paramount Case: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4mmAj67yjM
Below write any questions you have about this case.
Do you understand what happened in the case? Were there any words that you didn’t
understand?

15. Task 11
Complete the gaps in the timeline below

16. Post-War film Industry - 1948+

1950s, Widescreen/3D vs TV
After World War II, an improved form of black-and-white TV
broadcasting became popular in the United States and Britain, and
television sets became commonplace in homes, businesses, and
institutions. One consequence of this was that audiences changed
their habits and reduced the amount of time they spent at
cinemas.
To entice audiences back, studios had to develop technology to
make the cinema experience more appealing than watching TV at
home.
In the 1950s film producers continued to develop new ways of
expanding the viewing experience in response to the rise of
television ownership. 3D and Widescreen presentations became
popular. Widescreen was also known as Superscope.


Task 12
Watch this film trailer from 1953 that promotes a 3D film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vl1exNDg4o




How would 3D and widescreen films appeal to audiences? How do they improve the cinema
experience?

17. Late 1950s, Handheld Revolution

Until the late 1950s, cameras were all static and often stood
on tripods meaning that film makers couldn’t walk around
with the actors or action.



In the late 1950s, the continued developments in camera
technology allowed for smaller and smaller cameras to
become available to film-makers. The French ‘new wave’ and
documentary makers used this to their advantage.





One downside of this was that some camera work could be
jumpy and so inventors continued to explore how to make
a moving camera that created a smooth shot.
Task 13
Watch this clip on Brilliant Moments of Camera Movement:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2c3JZ6X3f8

Research and list 5 camera movements that directors use to add meaning to their films.

For example, tracking shot…

18. 1970s, The Steadicam

In the 1970s, Steadicam technology, pioneered by Garrett
Brown, allowed the camera to roam whilst maintaining a
fluid and smooth movement.

Task 14
Read this article on Garrett Brown and the invention of the Steadicam and answer the
questions: https://photobite.uk/story-steadicam-interview-garrett-brown/

What year was the Steadicam invented?


What was it originally named?


Name four films that were enhanced by Garrett’s invention of the Steadicam.

19. Which brings up back to where we started…

1990s, The Rise of the Machines

The 1990s saw an explosion in the use of computer
generated imagery, pioneered by Industrial Light and
Magic back in the late 1970s and 1980s. Filmed, practical,
special effects took a backseat to post-production
computer generated imagery.

Task 15
Watch this clip of early CGI from 1985:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOsxXi-tu_U
Then watch a few minutes of this clip of Top 10 best CGI from this decade:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwbXYySYwbc

It’s come a long way!

Explain what each of these terms mean:

GCI –

Green Screen –

Chroma key –

Special effects –

Post-production –

20. Test your knowledge
Use the following tasks to test and revise your knowledge.
Name the year
1. First moving images (Lumière brothers) [1]

2. Development of silent cinema from early short films to full-length feature films [1]

3. Gradual emergence of a vertically integrated Hollywood film industry, established by 1930
into five major studios [1]


4. Alan Crosland's, The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson - the first feature film with a soundtrack
[1]

5. Rouben Mamoulian's Becky Sharp, the Technicolor Corporation's first feature length,
'three strip' colour film [1]


6. Paramount court case which prevented studios from owning all phases of the production,
distribution and exhibition process [1]


7. Emergence of widescreen and 3D technologies [1]

8. Lightweight, portable cameras were produced suitable for hand-held use [1]

9. Steadicam technology developed by cinematographer Garrett Brown [1]

10. More widespread use of computer-generated imagery, most significantly pioneered by
Industrial Light and Magic [1]

21. Make your own Timeline
Cut out the events below, match them with their image and glue them on to paper to create
your own timeline. Remember to put them in the correct chronological order.