FROM THE CINEMA OF ATTRACTIONS TO
THE CINEMA OF NARRATIVE INTEGRATION,
PART 1
Lecture 4
How and why did filmmaking practice
shift from a cinema of attractions in
the pre-1908 period to a cinema of
storytelling in the post-1908 period?
In order to answer that question we need to
understand the following:
a) What constitutes, at the level of form, the
cinema of attractions?
b) What constitutes, at the level of form, the
cinema of narrative integration?
c) What historical and economic factors explain the
shift ?
d) Why does the shift occur around 1908?
FORMAL INNOVATIONS 1: FROM 1895-1903
FROM THE SINGLE SHOTS TO MULTIPLE SHOTS,
FROM STILL CAMERA TO MOVING CAMERA
• Single shots
– Actualities, direct address, violate “the fourth wall”
• Ex: Lumière, Edison
• Moving camera (tracking and panning)
– The “phantom” ride films (tracking)
• Ex: Lumière: “Leaving Jerusalem” 1896
– Multi-shot “phantom” ride (tracking)
• Ex: G.A. Smith: “The Kiss in the Tunnel” 1899
– Panning
• Ex: Porter: “Life of an American Fireman” 1903
• Ex: Porter: “The Great Train Robbery” 1903
FORMAL INNOVATIONS 2:
• Multi-scene films
– Shot transitions
• Dissolve
– Ex: Méliès: “A Trip to the Moon” 1902
• Straight cut
– Ex: Williamson: “Stop, Thief!” 1901
• Vertical wipe
– Ex: G.A. Smith: “Mary Jane’s Mishap”
• Pull focus
– Dream transition
» Ex: G.A. Smith: “Let me Dream Again” 1900
– Scene Dissection
• Cut-in, masking, point of view shots
– Ex: G.A. Smith: “Granma’s Reading Glass” 1900
• Camera repositioning
– Ex: G.A. Smith: “The Sick Kitten” 1903
– Ex: G.A. Smith: “Mary Jane’s Mishap” 1903
FORMAL INNOVATIONS 3:
• Multi-scene films (cont.)
– Screen direction
• Ex: Méliès: “A Trip to the Moon” 1902
– Mental subjectivity (rendering interiority)
• Dreaming and visions
– Set within a set
» Ex: Zecca: “History of a Crime” 1901
– Photographic superimposition
» Ex: Porter: “Life of an American Fireman” 1903
» Ex: “Mary Jane’s Mishap” 1903
– Perceptual subjectivity (creating ‘sensual impact’)
• Ex: Hepworth: “How it feels to be run over” 1900
FORMAL INNOVATIONS 3: PERCEPTUAL SUBJECTIVITY:
HEPWORTH: “HOW IT FEELS TO BE RUN OVER”
FORMAL INNOVATIONS 4
• Multi-scene films (cont.)
– Tricks
• Stop motion substitution
– Ex: Méliès: “A trip to the moon”
– Ex: Hepworth: “Explosion of a motor car”
– Ex: Porter: “The Great Train Robbery”
• Ex: Williamson: “The Big Swallow”
Context for understanding trick films
• Issue of theatricality (see Tom Gunning 1991)
– Theatricality IS NOT THE SAME AS attractions
• Features of theatricality:
–
–
–
–
–
Invocation of the proscenium stage
Distance between camera and filmed action (i.e. long shots)
Frontality
Artificial sets
No scene dissection; each scene corresponds to a single shot
Theatricality
A Trip to the Moon, 1902
Theatricality
Nero. Or the Fall of Rome, 1909
Context for understanding trick films
• Issue of theatricality (see Tom Gunning 1991)
– Theatricality IS NOT THE SAME AS attractions or
“cinematic spectacle”
• Méliès case (see André Gaudreault 1987)
– narrative cinema does not begin with Méliès; he
should not be considered the “father” of narrative
cinema
– Méliès was not a theatrical filmmaker
– Méliès exemplifies the cinema of attractions
Méliès wrote in 1932:
“In this type of film (fantasy films, flights of
imagination, artistic, diabolical, fantastical or
magical films), the most important thing lies in
the ingeniousness and unexpectedness of the
tricks, in the picturesque nature of the décors, in
the artistic lay out of the characters and also in
the main ‘hook’ and the grand finale. Contrary to
what is usually done, my procedure for
constructing this sort of film consisted in coming
up with the details before the whole; the whole
being nothing other than the ‘scenario’” (quoted
in Gaudreault, 1987)
FORMAL INNOVATIONS 4: MÉLIÈS
FORMAL INNOVATIONS 4: MÉLIÈS
FORMAL INNOVATIONS 4: MÉLIÈS
FORMAL INNOVATIONS 4: TRICKS: HEPWORTH
“EXPLOSION OF A MOTOR CAR” 1900
FORMAL INNOVATIONS 4: TRICKS:
PORTER “THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY”
FORMAL INNOVATIONS 4: TRICKS
Formal innovation 5: Cross-cutting and storytelling
• Temporality and simple succession editing (e.g. chase
film)
• How to indicate the idea of “meanwhile” in film?
– Gaudreault argues there are four ways:
1. Simultaneous action occurring in the same field (requires a wide
shot)
2. Simultaneous action existing in the same frame
a)
Ex: opening shot “Life of an American Fireman”
3. Simultaneous actions presented in succession
a)
b)
c)
Ex: “Life of an American Fireman” (repeated action edits, a.k.a. temporal
overlap)
Ex: “Rescued by Rover”
Ex: “The Great Train Robbery”: cross-cutting or simultaneous action in
succession?
4. Cross-cutting of simultaneous action
Simultaneous action occurring in the same field
Nero. Or the Fall of Rome, 1909
Simultaneous action existing in the same frame
Simultaneous actions presented in succession
Simultaneous actions presented in succession
Simultaneous actions presented in succession
Simultaneous actions presented in succession