1904 is lame...and so is 1905

Well...I'm a couple of days late...I know I know. So it turns out 1904 was a dud of a year because there is only one surviving film...by Melies of course. So after that we'll do all of 1905 (there are only 2) which will make us halfway done with the 1900s!! I would just like to say that i'm a truly happy camper. Let's get on with the show!!

Like I said 1904 only had one film and it's by our favorite french director Georges Melies...take a gander at the first part of An Impossible Voyage!

So...a couple of things about this piece. Melies has gotten really good at what he does but...at this point there should be something new. It's extremely possible that the technology doesn't exist to do anything new, I have no idea if it does or not, but i'm starting to get bored instead of being impressed. What I was impressed by was all of the moving parts. The large wheel, the piston/engine thingy, and the train/auto-van thing/submarine were all very well done. Now for my one major complaint (i'm not even upset about the story, which was weird as hell)...CAN YOU PLEASE MOVE IN CLOSER!! I don't understand why half the train or submarine is cut just to see the actors...Porter did it a year ago Melies why can't you?? This is probably my only criticism of Melies in general, he just doesn't move the camera closer. The only time he did this was in Gulliver's Travels back in 1902 and even then it could have been done a bit better. Now don't get me wrong I loved this WAY more than A Trip to the Moon but I would like a bit more variety from Georges.

Now we move on to 1905 with Cecil Hepworth's Baby's Toilet...

I honestly don't have words for how bored I was while watching this...For those of you who know me you know that I absolutely loathe babies and those of you who don't know me...I LOATHE babies. That is all.

Now for the last film of 1905 that I could find. Another Hepworth piece called Rescued by Rover. 

Yes I know the plot was about rescuing a baby...to you. To me it was about the bravery and intelligence of Rover! Especially since that mother was clearly batshit crazy (not talking about the possessive hobo). Who walks your baby...BEHIND YOU?!? I don't understand. The hobo, while poor and living in complete squalor, was still a more caring mother figure than that poor excuse for a biological mother. One way for me to hate you forever is to neglect your child. As a victim of negligence I absolutely refuse to accept any form of it in a positive way. That said I thought this was a well produced film with a variety of shots that include some close ups, wide and pans. Also I love that it was 70% outside! Good work Hepworth.

That's it for today...I know it's a short post but to make up for it I will do two years next time! Thanks for staying with me and I hope you'll continue to do so.

1903 Part 2

It's Friday!...Friday...we're gonna get down this Friday =D. Oh Rebecca Black how you permeate my life regardless of how many times you take your song off of youtube. Anyways today we finish up 1903 which includes a lot of Melies and the first film about Jesus...and so it begins!

First up is The Internal Boiling Pot by Mr. Melies...and it's only a minute long!

So Melies has found a pretty successful formula...hand tinted color, smoke, and ghosts. While I love Melies...he's certainly my favorite director of this era...I would love to see something new. He's becoming extremely predictable and eventually I'll start to get annoyed. I don't want to be annoyed by his rather fantastic style so let's hope things improve...or change at the very least!

Next up is Life of an American Fireman by Edwin S. Porter...where there was such potential...sigh just watch.

This could have been fantastic. I mean it could have been really great...and then they repeated footage. When they used the same freaking roll of the fire (wagons?) going to the house I almost threw my computer. COME ON! At this point you should be able to not repeat footage. And...AND! They rescue the mom and child...then cut to the same rescue just from the outside view which also didn't line up with the first rescue...UGH. I can't even comprehend how anyone thought this was a good idea. Oh wait! Porter works for that douche-nozzle Edison.

Moving on to another Melies piece The Magic Lantern  before I key-smash.

YAY!!! My film soul is significantly less fragmented because of this fantastic piece of cinema. So these clowns make this magic lantern which projects pictures and creates dancers? I love it!...no smoke, no color, and no ghosts but the special effects were still fantastic. I especially loved the huge wacky inflatable man that was actually some dude in a big costume but still! Anyways A+ for Georges.

Next is of course another Melies piece titled Le Melomane 

HAHAHA this was amazingly weird. So Melies stars in this rather interesting piece...where he becomes the music notes. I thoroughly loved  the end where the note/heads flew out towards the camera. Not much else to say.

And now for one of the first stories to franchise on every medium possible Uncle Tom's Cabin by Edwin S. Porter...let's hope I don't key-smash.

Okay so thank goodness for titles because it would have been ridiculously difficult to follow along without them. Thankfully Porter did a pretty good job at telling this story. The end was a little confusing with Abe Lincoln and such...I'm going to assume it's a nod to the "future" showing that Lincoln would free the slaves? I don't know...it was just strange. It's not like Porter was truly progressive everyone was in blackface (i'm pretty sure). But I don't blame him it's the 1900s not 78 or something. Fun side note...take a look at the actor who plays uncle tom ( a good view is between 7:20 and 7:40) and then look at this picture of Mickey from Mellerdrammer (a Disney version of Uncle Tom's Cabin):

That would be Mickey the right as Uncle Tom...white gloves, nappy hair, big lips, and blackface. Did I just blow your mind a little bit? Trust me I absolutely love Disney but you can't deny this fantastic little piece of racism...this and Song of the South (which we will get to in about a year or so). 

Now for the longest piece to date...and it's about Jesus Vie et Passion du Christ by Lucien Nonguet and Ferdinand Zecca. 

So I just gave you the end because the actual film runs at about 44 minutes. A few things about this film ...when Jesus was "born" (or wished which is what it looked like) I totally started singing Circle of Life from The Lion King... I'm pretty sure curtains with rods didn't exist during biblical times...Why was Egypt just as destroyed as it would have been in the 1900s or today?!...So despite popular illustrations of him Jesus was a hefty guy...WHY is every other scene colored some random primary color??!?!?!?...And you couldn't do a better superimposed effect for Jesus walking on water...you did the same thing a few scenes later with having the ghost effect... LOLZ homo. 

And last but not least another Porter film titled What Happened in the Tunnel 

When I read the title of this film I figured it would be at the very least interesting. Basically I laughed way too hard at this. Kudos to Porter for the train effect with the background moving behind them. I totally adore this film.

And that's it for 1903! Sunday we start 1904 which will also be split into two parts. Have an awesome weekend!  

1903 Part 1

Hey gang! Today I will be starting the year of 1903...which will be split into two parts. Super exciting yeah? Speaking of...my birthday is less than 24 hours away! I'm really excited...almost more excited than the fact that Edison stopped making films.

First up we have our first incarnation of Alice in Wonderland...oy.

Ok so I know the film was badly damaged with it being over 100 years old and all but GEEZ. The quality was absolutely terrible! A Trip to the Moon was better than that and you guys know how much I didn't like that. Special effects were pretty awful and if I hadn't known the story/if there hadn't been titles between scenes I would have been so flipping confused. It just wasn't executed well at all. Something I did like was all the kids as the cards...I totally laughed harder than I should have.

Now the most horrible thing you will ever see...another film by Thomas Edison.

TOLD YOU! ...poor Topsy =( =( =(. This elephant died because Edison wanted to one up Tesla...UGH WHAT A JERK! wsljkfdnvwp9e8rgbqergvnq;aowibAIUGREH[Q....not a fan -_-

Next up we see Mr. Melies again with Fairyland: A Kingdom of Fairies 

 

A few things about this piece: color again...nice, first evidence of a montage? yes!, special effects...nice as usual. Now for things I hated: the story...It was super difficult to follow and i'm pretty sure I still have it wrong. There was something about some bad guy and a princess? Then there were mermaids and they were breathing under water...it was some crazyness going on. Also I'm starting to get really tired of the theatrical sets...they were really good in this film but I'm just absolutely sick of them. I know things won't change for awhile but UGH.

And now for the most famous piece from this year...Thomas Edison's The Great Train Robbery.

For the first time I don't absolutely detest Edison's work...The problem is this is one of the only things (film wise) he's remembered for. The film had a good story which was easy to follow, a chase scene, a dance number and half of the film was shot outside and not in a studio! All in all I thought this was a great example of relatively good film making and I hope Edison's work continues on this path (although I doubt it when he also released Topsy in the same year =( ).

That's it for today! Next post will be on Friday because I have 4 finals on Thursday and won't have time to watch anything. Have a great week!  

1902...just moseying along

Hey everyone...I know i'm late...again. My life has been super hectic the past couple of weeks (summer session ends next week) and I've been getting ready for my birthday (which is on Tuesday!!!) so I apologize for my tardiness. But i'm here now and that's all that matters...right...RIGHT! Now we start 1902!

First off we have another film by Georges Melies (my favorite director by far as of right now). Barbe-Bleue is about a fairy tale with a guy who has a beard...that is blue. Let's watch!

soooooooo guy is looking for a wife...finds one...she finds the bodies of his other dead wifes...some chick turns into a key (which was extremely impressive by the way), guys beats wife up, then...dead wives save her?...the end?? Because this film is 9 minutes long and I have no idea what the Bluebeard fairy tale is about it was ridiculously hard to figure out. The problem with Melies work is that he only has one type of shot...so it's really hard to see what's going on (plus I have horrid eyesight). I do applaud him for his use of special effects mainly the key and all of the ghost stuff. For his time he truly was an innovator and I'm glad that I'm seeing his work.

Next is another Melies piece that only exemplifies is special effects genius, The Man With The Rubber Head.

wow...just wow. I'm floored by his use of the camera and just straight up genius. What else can I say about him? ...he's SUPERMEGAFOXYAWESOMEHOT! (hey there Starkids lol)

Now for an extremely famous film...A Trip To The Moon by none other than Georges Melies! It's even narrated in English!!

So I know this is like super famous and basically started the sci-fi genre...BUT...this is by far my least favorite work by Melies. I really feel like he worked too much on the sets rather than doing more (or better in a lot of cases) special effects. The stars...really? You couldn't have done a shot with just the faces without showing the actors open up the fake star to put their head in?? This is the same guy that turned a woman into a key but he couldn't do a simple shot...that he's done before!! UGH...he went down a couple of notches in my book. Certainly not as obnoxious as freaking Edison but good god I was not a fan of this. Although I do like the shoot a bullet filled with people through the sky and land on the moon in an instant theory of flight. Oh how astronomy has grown since 1902.

And last but not least we have ANOTHER Melies film (man this guy was working hard 4 films released in a year!) Le Voyage de Gulliver a Lilliput et chez les geants or Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giant. 

Another hand tinted piece by my main guy...who got his groove back may I add. The effects were great, the story was pretty good, and we even got to see skin color at the end! Also Melies used a shot that was close enough to where I could see the actor's faces!! Significantly better than A Trip to the Moon I'm a huge fan of this first incarnation of the Gulliver story, sans Jack Black thankfully. 

Thus ends our Melies run year of 1902. I really enjoyed this year with our last film being my favorite. Come back on Sunday (I promise) as I start 1903 (which will have to be split into two posts). Thanks for reading/watching!   

1901...The Unproductive Era

Well hello there...fancy seeing you here...in my thoughts. Anywho today we're going into 1901 where not much happened. There were 7 films made in 1901...one of which is President McKinley's inauguration and 3 others I wasn't able to find. So I'm doing 4 films today (just so the posts are easy to keep up with in the future).

First up we have Fire! by James Williamson. It's just shy of 5 minutes long and is one of the first films to use multiple shots to tell a narrative. Take a look!

Favorites: shots used, fire effects, fireman who just left the hose running while he rescued the dude

Dislikes: they had two horse drawn carriages going to the fire but only used one...fail. 

I think this is a great example of how to tell a story through film. Early filmmakers had the extremely difficult tasking of not having words. They had to tell the story through their shots and this is a pretty good way of doing just that. 

Next we have President Mckinley's inauguration... 

Again Edison directed this documentary and it certainly didn't surprise me. It was boring as hell and because there is no sound or subtitles or something I have no idea what's going on. The only thing I could tell was that it was an important guy speaking and there was a parade...it tells me nothing of what was actually going on. I really wish Edison would stop experimenting and do an actual story (I know hes dead and all of his films have been produced but I want a time machine so I can smack him for being dumb). 

Now on to more American documentaries....Star Theatre by F.S. Armitage

What I love about this film is that it does something that Edisoon completely fails to do...tell me what's going on. There is an establishing shot of the star theatre...then the demolish it...then an ending shot of it completely demolished and people walking normally. Beginning, middle, and end. While it wasn't the most riveting or entertaining film I've watched it certainly did it's job and I appreciate that. 

And now the last film of the day Scrooge, or Marley's Ghost by Walter Booth. 

Favorites: super imposing for all ghost effects, acting, titles

Dislikes: set...looked like they took it straight from a stage production. 

Another British flick which I think is really well done and I wish more of the footage survived (we only have about half of the original). I really really really enjoyed the ghost effects. They were positively superb for their time! 

Well thats all I have to say. Join me on thursday when we go into 1902!

The 20th Century! : 1900

Why hello there! Today is the start of something fantastic...the 20th century!! We have 5 films to get through today so let's get started shall we?...we shall! 


First up is As Seen Through A Telescope by George Albert Smith. It took some digging to find a video but I did and it's an interesting piece...

There are 3 shots in this film (which is more than a lot of the pieces we've seen up until now) and is classified as a comedy. It's kind of extremely boring in my opinion...L'Arroseur Arrose was infinitely funnier than this. I don't know maybe i'm just tired but I didn't see the humor in this at all (post a comment if you feel differently). All in all it wasn't too terrible and is certainly a nice film to start the century on. 


Next we have Sir Edison doing what he does best...showing absolutely nothing. This time in The Enchanted Drawing a guy draws a picture and then some supplemental accessories (which were also drawn on) are taken and put back on the drawing and depending on the action the picture reacts...mkay. 

 It's probably because i've grown up with CGI and 3D but I certainly wasn't impressed. Although I think someone in the 1900s would have completely flipped their shit during or after watching this short piece. I also wonder when animation burst on to the scene because there are some major animation elements in the tricks used to simulate the enchantment. You should go find the answer and let me know! (I'll wait......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................you find it?...No?...........LOOK AGAIN!.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................assuming you've tried harder leave the answer somewhere on this page and I will reward you with love and admiration =D.) 


Now that we have enlightened ourselves let's move on to the next film...the birth of Michael Bay (also known as Explosion of a Motor Car). 

So a couple of things...why the heck was the cop just flinging body parts around...not cool man!! And speaking of that...if there was an actual 'splosion why weren't the clothes of the poor car riders slightly tattered (at the very least)?? After that the piece was certainly interesting and should be applauded in it's use of editing and other special effects. We need more of this...you know just shit being blown up. Screw stories, plots, and character development! It's all about the 'SPLOSIONS!!

Moving along through this year we have another Smith piece, Grandma's Reading Glass...

sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo I don't understand why it was so important for this Smith guy to put a black piece of paper with a whole in it over the camera lens. Like...the proportions are all wrong and there is no peripheral vision which is just dumb...not a fan. 

Ok so this next piece is the first cinematic incarnation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes character. Let's watch! 

...so Holmes gets robbed by Nightcrawler??...

That's it for today...I know it's a bit short but my life is a little busy right now as I finish up summer session (2 more weeks!) and get ready for my 21st birthday!! (about a week and a half away). Next time we'll get into 1901 and slowly but surely we're going to have some more plot! (such excitement). See you on Sunday! 

Films Watched Today
- As Seen Through A Telescope (George Smith)
- The Enchanted Drawing (Thomas Edison)
- Explosion of a Motor Car (Cecil Hepworth)
- Grandma's Reading Glass (George Smith)
- Sherlock Holmes Baffled (Arthur Marvin)

The 1890s Part 2

Hello again friends! Today's post is going to be a little long because we have to get through 8 films so not all of the videos will be posted like before. But today we will finish the 1890s and Thursday we will start on the almost 200 films that occupy the 1900s (it'll be as hectic as an elephant on acid). 


OK so our first film, L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat, is an extremely famous piece of 50 seconds ...well i'll just let you see it. 

This little bit of film scared the begezzus out of people when it was first shown. Imagine what it felt like when you first saw a 3D movie...and that's how these people felt. Honestly I don't blame them...trains can be scary! Anyways...I like the film quality in this and I'm excited for more of the Lumiere Bros. 


Next up is another short film, Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory at about 46 seconds, by Louis Lumiere. It shows workers coming out Lumiere's factory and there are three different versions. Not much to say except there were A LOT of women working in Lumiere's factory...like I think I saw 10 men total...weird. 


Moving on! We have the first evidence of comedy and plot! The last contribution from Lumiere in this decade called L'Arroseur Arrosé or The Sprinkler Sprinkled is about a guy just trying to do his job and then he gets pranked... 

So I lol'd hardcore at this because the gardener totally got pwned. I'm so glad we got to some plot before the 1900s although we haven't seen the magical mystical minute yet...


Now we get to meet the magician/director Georges Melies who enters into the realm of minutes!! (such excitement). Le Manoir Du Diable (The Devil's House) is 3 minutes long and is considered the first horror film, although it wasn't meant to do that.

Since we've journeyed into the wonderful land of plot a few things about this film...I love the bat. Also the first use of editing wasn't too bad, considering, and I can see where it is construed as both an entertaining film and a horror film. At the end I learned that the moral of the story is to always battle evil with a cross...woot!


Next we have the kiss seen 'round the world. The Kiss is 47 seconds of them talking really close to each other and then they kiss...and it was controversial. Of course Americans have to blow things out of proportion by writing debasing newspaper articles and calling the police to stop the viewing of the film...shocking. My main issue with this is that they are talking but no sound is coming out and they don't have subtitles or something...like WHAT ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT?!...I want to know. 


And now...my childhood is explained. 

SO THAT'S where the Cabbage Patch Kids come from...it all makes sense now! Film historians say that La Fee aux Choux (The Cabbage Fairy) is the first fictional film...and while it was made before Le Manoir Du Diable it certainly doesn't have the same amount of plot and really doesn't make any sense...all that happens is some cabbage fairy finds some babies. At least Melies' piece had a beginning, middle, and end. 


And then there was Tommy...Tommy Edison I mean. This guy is just...UGH. He filmed 4 girls pillow fighting...WHY? When the French were creating plots and significantly better cinematography...we filmed a pillow fight and a kiss. We are so freaking obsessed with women and sex it's not even funny! I'm not even going to post a link because it's so dumb. I'm dubbing this the official DERP of the decade. 


Finally we have the pride of this decade. A nearly 10 minute long piece by our favorite guy Georges Melies. Jeanne D'Arc is truly remarkable because not only is it a real story but it is the first use of color in film. Now don't go all Wizard of Oz on me because every frame was hand tinted and not everything is colored. If you would like to take a look here it is: (NOTE: the music in this is obviously put in by the youtuber so disregard it). 

Favorites: Color, editing, transitions, the use of the same footage to simulate a shit ton of people during the army march. Dislikes: random things that weren't tinted (like one of the alter boys robes when all the others were)...if you're gonna hand tint every frame you might as well be thorough. 


So that's it for this decade and century. On Thursday we will start the 1900s and I'll see how much I can get through but you can guarantee it'll take us through July...my goal is to be done with the 1920s by December 31 but that is 1,133 films (assuming I can get access to all of them) and will be crazy. So stay with me and let me know if I've missed a film...I want to make sure I get all that I can (seeing as it is a journey to see every movie possible). Thanks for reading and I'll see ya on Thursday!   


Films Watched Today:

• L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat (Auguste and Louis Lumière 1895)
• Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory (Louis Lumière 1895)
• L'Arroseur Arrosé (Louis Lumière 1895)
• Le Manoir du diable (Georges Méliès 1896)
• The Kiss (William Heise 1896)
• La Fée aux Choux (Alice Guy Blaché 1896)
• New Pillow Fight (Edison 1897)
• Jeanne d'Arc (1899 film) (Georges Méliès 1899)

1890s Part 1

Hello there fellow cinema travelers! Today we are venturing into the 1890s...where things aren't much better than the 1880s as far as cinematic quality. In this decade we get the first use of sound in film and we tiptoe into the world of minutes (such excitement)!!

First up is the last remaining frames of Wordsworth Donisthorpe's London's Trafalgar Square

Nothing to crazy...it's a lot like Le Prince's work (those crazy kids and their experimenting).

ONWARD! Next up is the first film filmed in the United States (so just now I really wish I lived in Finland...that alliteration would have been fantastic!...don't judge)

It doesn't surprise me that it was made in America. It was creepy, crappy, and I wanted to throw money at it to make it go away. The Monkeyshines films (there were 3) were the first attempt at camera work by the Edison company (he probably should have just sticked with light bulbs).

Next up is my main man William Dickson in Dickson's Greeting, the first publicly shown film. Filmed in Edison's Black Maria studios using the kinetograph it is certainly the highest quality of film we have seen to date. Let's take a gander.

Now we have another Dickson film. It's three blacksmith's starring in Blacksmith Scene...it's absolutely riveting.

A slight step down  as far as quality mainly because Dickson's Greeting was filmed in a studio and had lighting capabilities. Other than that not much else to report (I'm just itching to get to the last film for today because it's super fantabulous). 

So in Dickson's next experiment, Fred Ott's Sneeze, Fred Ott sneezes...I swear these guys are naming geniuses.

I wish I could smack them because they were doing so well as far as quality and then...this. I guess I'll forgive them because they're dead or whatever and I guess they made the technologies that started the film industry...damn overachievers.

Now this Dickson guy decides to get into some exploitation! I was wondering when we would see some blatant race material and here it is...The Buffalo Dance.

I'm sure these Sioux Indians got paid...hopefully. My favorite part is when the one guy keeps looking back at the camera to make sure he's doing what the boss wants...I have a feeling this took a few takes.

AND NOW! The moment you have all been waiting for...The first use of sound in film!! "Now wait just a minute I thought the first film with syncopated sound throughout was Don Juan by Warner Bros in 1925?" Well...yes that's true...but this is the first time that sound and film were recorded and put together as a presentation. Is it truly syncopated? Let's find out.

Now the quality is of course...not very good, and it's hard to see what the violinist is doing, but at the very end you can see him playing after the music has stopped...showing that this, of course, is not syncopated. It wasn't until Don Juan that sound became a viable option in cinema. That is not to say The Dickson Experimental Sound Film wasn't influential it just didn't stop silent films from being made.

That's it for today. Come back on Sunday to continue through the 1890s...we'll get to see horror, comedy, and the magical mystical minute!

Films Watched Today:

London's Trafalgar Square (Wordsworth Donisthorpe and W. C. Crofts 1890)

Monkeyshines (William Dickson and William Heise 1890)

Dickson Greeting (William Dickson 1891)

Blacksmith Scene (William Dickson 1893)

Fred Ott's Sneeze (William Dickson 1894)

Buffalo Dance (William Dickson 1894)

Dickson Experimental Sound Film (William Dickson 1895)

all information came from Wikipedia