Film Studies Midterm Exam Review Sheet
Pioneers & Early Filmmaking
Early Devices (Including how they work!)
Magic Lantern
Fantascope
Zoetrope
Kinetescope
Daguerreotypes
Eadweard Muybridge & Contributions
George Eastman & Contributions
“The Black Maria”
Lumiere Brothers vs. Thomas Edison/William Dickson
George Méliès
Contributions to Filmmaking
Biography
Innovations/Camera Techniques in Le Voyage Dans La Lune (1902)
Innovations in Edwin Porter’s The Great Train Robbery (1903)
D.W. Griffin’s Birth of a Nation (1915) Intention vs. Reception
F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922)
Innovations
Exploration of Xenophobia
Symbolism
Silent Film Era
Characteristics
Early Stars & Contributions
Talkies & The Golden Age of Filmmaking (1922-1940)
Walt Disney’s Contributions
“Steamboat Willie” (1928)
“Flowers & Trees” (1933)
Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs (1939)
Dumbo (1941)
Other Early Animation
Betty Boop
Popeye the Sailorman
Bugs Bunny (Warner Brothers)
Marion Cooper’s King Kong (1933)
Psychoanalysis (id, ego, superego)
Character Analysis (Ann Darrow, Jack Driscoll, Carl Denham, & Kong)
Innovative Camera Techniques
Conflicts (man vs. himself/man/society/nature/supernatural/god)
Comparison to Jackson’s King Kong (2005)
The Wizard of Oz
Symbolism to Money
Allegory of late 19th century & early 20th century American Politics/Economics
“Who’s on First” Routine (Abbott & Constello, 1945)
Marx Brothers & A Night at the Opera (1933)
WWII Era Filmmaking & Postwar Era (1940s)
Characteristics of Film Noire
Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane (1941)
Reception over the Years
Character Development
Kane’s Biography
Narrative Structure
Innovative Camera Techniques/Contributions
Symbolism & Motifs
Explanation about “Rosebud”
The Story of G.I. Joe (Wellman, 1945) vs. Saving Private Ryan (Spielberg, 1998)
Effect of WWII on Postwar Filmmaking
Birth of Science Fiction: The Day the Earth Stood Still (Wise, 1951)
Lure of the East: Seven Samurai (Kurosawa, 1954)
Red Scare/Communism
Obsession with War & Documentary Filmmaking
Economic Hardship: It’s a Wonderful Life (Capra, 1946)
Classical Period (1950s to early 1960s)
Classic Western Filmmaking
Characteristics
“Cowboy Commandments”
Magnificent Seven (Sturges, 1960) vs. Seven Samurai (Kurosawa, 1954)
High Noon (Zinneman, 1952)
Character Development
Conflicts (man vs. man/woman,/society/himself)
Real Time Filmmaking
Plot Development
Movie Renaissance
Effect of Television on Film Industry
Drive-in Movie Theaters
Cinerama vs. Vista Vision
Aromarama/Smell-o-Vision
Broadway goes Hollywood
Alfred Hitchcock’s Biography & Characteristics of his Films
Rear Window (1953)
Jeff’s Neighbors
Jeff & Lisa’s Relationship
Plot Development
Camera Techniques
Psycho (1960)
Symbolism & Motifs
Norman Bates Characterization
Censorship/Sensitivity Issues
Norman vs. Mother