1906 and 1907

Hello once again! Today, as promised, I will be going through two years (1906 and 1907). Hopefully I won't kill myself in the process but it's all in good fun.

First up we have Humorous Phases of Funny Faces by J. Stuart Blackton, the artist behind The Enchanted Drawing, it's the first animated film devoted solely to the drawings on the page, or in the case the chalkboard.

I really enjoyed the animation in this. It's clear that there is still a LONG way to go until we get to Snow White but it's certainly well done. I enjoy the use of showing footage backwards making it look like smudges were turned into drawings. Good stuff! I even laughed a little bit at the beginning and of course every time Blackton's hand flashed the screen. I'm excited to watch more and more animation!

Next we have The Story of the Kelly Gang by Charles Tait.

...GO AUSTRAILIA!!!!!! This film was produced entirely in the land of kangaroos and was even banned in a number of places on the continent/country (signs of a good film yes?). Unfortunately this film was originally about an hour long and only about 15 minutes of it have survived. It would have been nice to see the rest of it but regardless I was pleased...for the most part. Before I talk about my seizures let's get into the stuff I liked. First of all...YAY LITTLE USE OF SETS!!!!!!! SO much of it was filmed in the natural environment instead of being fabricated in a studio (looking at you Melies) I was super happy about that. The story was also really well done. I was able to follow along pretty easily without straining myself. Now...I know this is because of damage but holy crap I felt epileptic in the second part...there were full minutes where all you can see is burnt or damaged film and I have no idea what goes on in those sequences! Very annoying. AND what the eff was up with that knight outfit Ned Kelly was wearing? I was expecting the Black Knight to come in after him... Anyways I really enjoyed the film and I'm super proud of Australia for putting out such high quality work.

Now we're into 1907 and to start us off we have Mr. Melies with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. 

Mark this a day in history folks because I absolutely hated every single piece of this film...a Melies film. The story was loosely based on the novel at best and the special effects were down right terrible! In past Melies films we've seen people breathing without protective gear on the sun and the moon which I can forgive because no one really knew what their atmospheres were like back in the early 20th century...BUT to let some dude just open up a hatch in his submarine without a diving suit is just downright STUPID!!! And don't say oh well it was a dream so it doesn't matter...BULL. SHIT. No...just no. I freaking hate dreams in movie and television and this is no exception (although Inception is). It's the biggest cop out in screenwriting and I don't care for it at all....AND omg and the freaking dancers...WHY?!?!?! just why??? I don't understand at all...they didn't even look like mermaids because they had FEET. Oh and then they like took the sailor away? Look I have no idea what happened all I know is that I am super disappointed in Melies.

And now we have the first incarnation of Ben Hur by Canadian director Sidney Olcott.

So there really isn't anything remarkable about this film except that this is the film that got the whole "get the rights to film something from previously written work" law. Also...karate CHOP! (check out what the guard does at around 5:25).

Now we have short comedy called First Prize for the Cello.

So I really wish I could congratulate the people who did this...but they are unknown. This was absolutely hilarious! Simple, to the point, and just plain funny this film really made me feel good about this project again. I was feeling like it was going to take a lot to get through the early years of cinema especially when we get to D.W Griffith (so scared). But this has reminded me that a lot of films were quite good. I also really appreciated the quality of the picture. Compared to Ben Hur it was like watching HD! And the lengths those people were going through to get the cellist the hell out of their neighborhood was priceless!! This is certainly going in my top movies of the decade list.

Unfortunately there were 6 more films made in 1907 but I can't get access to them anywhere! This is especially sad because the oldest pornographic film was on this list. If anyone can find the rest of the films on this list http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1907_in_film let me know and i'll make sure to watch them. Till next time!!