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