Film Studies
 Craig Benzine
 “It’s a universal language that lets us tells stories about our collective hopes and fears, to
make sense of the world around us and the people around us.”
 “The term ‘Film’ was first used to describe a specific technology – a thin, flexible material
coated in light-sensitive emulsion that retains an image after it’s exposed to light.
 The Phil Phenomenon is an optical illusion that lets you see a series of image in rapid
succession as continuous motion.
 Film is a unique artistic medium that can take on different meanings depending on when,
where, and with whom you’re watching it.
 “Is the medium causing the problem, or reflecting the problem”
 Peter Mark Roget –
 Persistence of vision - Persistence of vision is a type of optical illusion where the human eye
continues to briefly see an image after it has disappeared from view. It is utilised in
animation to give the impression of motion.
 Max Wertheimer - Phil Phenomenon
 Joseph Nicephore Niepce – Took the first known camera photograph. He called it ‘View from the
window at Le Gras’
 Louis Daguerre – Shorten the time for exposer for photograph to a couple of minutes.
Dahuerreotype process.
 George Eastman – Invented the method to take pictures on paper, Eastman Kodak company
 Etienne-Jules Marey – Invented chronophotographic gun, motion studies of birds in flight and
human athletes in action.
 W.K.L.Dickson and Thomas Edison – Invent Kinetograph – world’s first motion picture film
camera. And Kinetoscope to watch the film one person at a time
 “Film is an illusion but it’s an illusion that’s carefully crafted by people who want to show a
specific point of view.”
 Citizen Kane, Grand Illusion, Black girl
 The Lumiere Brothers – Invented Cinematographe, writing with movement. On December 28th
1895, the world’s first commercial movie screening takes place at the Grand Café in Paris, it was
a series of 10 short film. The train arrives at La Ciota station, one of the short films.
 Oskar Messter – The film pioneer
 Woodville Latham
 Georges Melies
 Pioneered first double exposure led to [Split screen, Matting] accidently found editing.
 “He could manipulate time. He could manipulate space. And he could harness the fact all
films presents an illusion. To push his own illusions even further.”
 A trip to the Moon
 Alice Guy-Blache – First female film maker
 Edwin S Porter
 First movie that used parallel action was Life of an American Fireman
 The great train robbery
 D.W Griffith
 Birth of a Nation – Paved the way for feature-length films to become the gold standard. It
was not only financially successful but in terms of its massive scope mixed with its detailed
attention to character, emotions, and story. Birth of a nation is also a deeply racist film. It













offers an extremely sympathetic view of white southern former slaveholders under
Reconstruction.
Germany Expressionism
Film D’art movement
Weimar Period
The cabinet of Dr. Caligari – Written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer, this film was thematically
based on their experiences as soldiers in World War I and their distrust of authoritarian
leadership.
 Used Mise-en-scene. Refers to the arrangement of things that appear in front of the camera.
All the physical stuff in a shot: the sets, props, costumes, makeup, actors and their blocking,
and lighting.
 Heart of German expressionism, distorted mise-en-scene
VGIK or State Institute of Cinematography, worlds first school to study cinema. In Russia
 Soviet Montage [ Montage comes from French word meaning “assembling” or “editing” or
“montage”]
Socialist Realism
Charlie Chaplin
1926 Don Juan [ First try, had bgm and one dialogue]
Jazz Singer first sound film
Citizen Kane
Italian neo-realism
French new wave
New Hollywood cinema