Films and film-making
The cinema is an invention without
a future.
Louis Lumiere
The ‘birth’ of cinema
The Lumiere brothers invented
a portable motion-picture
camera, film processing unit
and projector called the
Cinematographe.
On Dec 28th 1895, their first
film was screened to a paying
audience in Paris.
It was 10 mins long and the
action consisted of workers
leaving the Lumiere factory.
Early ‘moving’ pictures
Films and film-making
No art passes our conscience in the way
film does, and goes directly to our
feelings, deep down into the dark rooms
of our souls.
Ingmar Bergman
Films and film-making
Q: Why do people make films?
Film-making
Film-making is a chance to live
many lifetimes
Robert Altman
Films….
Entertain, amuse
 Inspire, motivate
 Inform, educate, raise questions and issues
 Shock, disturb and provoke
 Predict the future and recollect the past
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Films and reality….
Reflect and comment on reality
 Direct or influence reality
 Suspend reality
 Transcend reality
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Film Genres
Film Genres
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Action/Adventure
Comedy
Crime/Gangster
Drama
Epic/Historical
Horror
Musical
Science Fiction
War
Western
Film sub-genres
The sub-classes within each genre include:
 ‘Chick-flicks’
 Disaster films
 Fantasy films
 Road movies
 Romance
 Slasher films
 Sports films
 Teen films
 Thriller/suspense
Famous Directors
Stanley Kubrick (2001-A Space Odyssey; The Shining)
 Akira Kurosawa (Seven Samurai; Dreams; Kagemusha)
 Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho; Rear Window; The Birds; Vertigo)
 Woody Allen (Annie Hall; Hannah and her Sisters; Match
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Point)
Oliver Stone (Born on the 4th of July; Platoon; U-Turn)
 George Lucas (Star Wars episodes; American Graffiti)
 Steven Spielberg (E.T; Indiana Trilogy; Saving Private
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Ryan; Schindler’s List)
Famous Directors cont..
 Tim
Burton (Corpse Bride; Batman; Edward Scissorhands)
 Martin Scorcese (Taxi Driver; Gangs of New York)
 Brian de Palma (Scarface; Carlito’s Way; The
Untouchables)
 Francis
Ford Coppola (The Godfather trilogy; The
Outsiders; Apocalypse Now; Dracula)
 Quentin
Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs; Pulp Fiction; Jackie
Brown, Kill Bill)
 George
Miller (Mad Max trilogy; The Witches of Eastwick;
Babe-pig in the city)
Famous Directors cont..
James Cameron (Terminator trilogy; True Lies; Aliens; Titanic)
 Ridley Scott (Alien; Blade Runner; Gladiator)
 Peter Weir (Gallipoli; The Truman Show; Master & Commander)
 Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings trilogy; King Kong)
 Lasse Halstrom (What’s Eating Gilbert Grape; Chocolat; Cider
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House Rules)
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M Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense; Unbreakable;
Signs; The Village)
Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Ice Storm)
 John Woo (Face Off; Broken Arrow; MI2)
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Film-makers talking about films…
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A film is-or should be-more like music than
like fiction. It should be a progression of
moods and feelings.
Stanley Kubrick
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I steal from every movie ever made.
Quentin Tarantino
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I like a film to have a beginning, middle and
an end, but not necessarily in that order.
Jean-Luc Goddard
Film-makers talking about films…
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I always start with the image. I get an image
in my head and I start wanting to get it
moving, to build a story around it and then
make a film out of it. I think the idea of
making a dynamic film is a primal urge for
filmmakers. That's why action films are so
popular: because film can get across the sense
of speed.
Tom Twyker (director of Run Lola Run)
From idea to the screen
The film-maker tells the story through
images and sound
 The film-maker’s vision is inspired through
story elements and then brought to the
screen by production elements.
 The combination of production and story
elements engages the audience by creating
meaning and emotion.
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Mainstream films…
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Mainstream films have occupied Hollywood, but
you can get bored very easily. It can be very
repetitive, and I think now we want something fresh
and something inspiring and different, daring.
The mainstream film is very expensive to make and
it scares people. It's made for the worldwide
audience, you have to please so many people, and
the business men start running the movies rather
than artists.
Ang Lee
Art-house films
Art film is a film genre with a loose narrative,
often experimental, presented as a serious artistic
work. Some films that can fall into this category
are foreign-language films, independent and non
mainstream films, as well as documentaries and
short films.
 The producers of art films seek a niche audience
rather than mass appeal and usually present their
work at specialty theatres and film festivals in
large urban areas.
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Classical Hollywood & Art-House Films
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Classical Hollywood films use familiar images, verbal
expressions, archetypal characters and symbols to convey
the story to the audience. This is designed to help the viewer
to clearly and quickly understand the events of the story.
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Art films reject this as unrealistic, they portray events that
do not always have a clear meaning and purpose, but may
be vague or mysterious. They do not always clearly explain
how plot elements, character and events fit together.
The Hollywood Blockbuster
I hope we do see the end of the blockbuster movie, since most
of them are bad.
 I have to agree that recent blockbusters films do not live up
to the hype, and last year seems to have been very bad for
recycling old film ideas/remakes
 Today's movies are so flat, unimaginative, and BORING.
They're written and directed by idiots with no talent. James
Cameron is a perfect example. All his movies are too long,
filled with bad acting and dialogue. But guaranteed to
gross half a billion or more, because the people are all cattle.
 I would be content not to see any movie that cost more than
$70 million for the rest of my life. Preferably, not more
than $30 m!
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The Hollywood Blockbuster…
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There are times when I don't want to be mentally challenged
by a movie. Flashy CGI, cool stunts, mediocre acting and
paper-thin plot is just what I want.
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Blockbusters are like any other genre of film - they can be
great or downright terrible! Plus, the most successful ones
become shared cultural experiences - just about everyone I
know in my age group is familiar with films such as Jaws,
Raiders of the Lost Ark, the original Star Wars trilogy,
and various other "blockbuster" films of that era.
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I'd be really sad to see blockbusters go - the best ones are a
lot of fun and are good to watch over and over again.
The Hollywood Blockbuster…
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Sometimes I don't know which are more annoying - people
who don't even bother watching anything which sounds
remotely "challenging", or people who act like they're better
then everyone else because they watch foreign and indie
flicks and put down Hollywood blockbusters...
http://www.hackingnetflix.com/2006/01/the_end_of_the_.html#comment-12549524
References
www.imdb.com Internet Movie Database
 www.cinema.com All about recent films
 www.filmsite.org/directors.html Most
influential film directors
 www.cinema-sites.com Index of film and
television resources
 www.zeroland.co.nz/film_movies.html
Directory of film-related websites
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Cindy’s faves and recommended
films…
Alien movies
Star Wars movies
 Lord of The Rings trilogy
 Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
 Stand By Me
 The Breakfast Club
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Run Lola Run
Donnie Darko
Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon
Pleasantville
To Kill a Mockingbird
Rebel Without a Cause
La Haine