History in the Gaps Reading

The reading mentions tons of filmmakers I'm sure we will get to know better as the class progresses. It was interesting to see that as early as the 1920's people were pushing boundaries in film with politics and other controversial issues. Some things never change, these films like independent films of today did not get the exposure because even at that time money was more important than the message. I would much rather watch independent films because they usually have so much more to say and are more interesting than the main stream movies. The main stream movies of today are usually so predicitible. The reading mentioned one artist Florey who managed to get his work seen by incorporating some of the main stream ideas of film making with his independent ideas and it seemed to bring him more success.
These early films not only opened new doors as to what we saw but how we saw it, new techniques in filming also made these films avant-garde and with each era came different progressions and ideas about film making. Its funny how the various film makers over time argued as to what was considred avant-garde and how some film makers were written about in history and others ignored.
I'm looking forward to seeing some of the work of these artists we read about.

Viewing of the first films in class.

I enjoyed the first class, it was interesting to see how the pioneers of the first films discovered various ways to make moving pictures. One of the most interesting things about the films they made was what they chose to film. Some of the more everyday things like The Kiss, The Woman Walking and the Serpentine Dance were expected but I found it a little weird that most of the films were a little controversial. You had nudity, drinking, gambling, cockfighting, a woman spanking her child and such. An interesting mix!
It was also fun to learn how the people who first viewed the films acted. Jumping out of the way of the train or running outside to see if he went thru the wall. It's hard to imagine when we have been exposed to TV since we were born how we would react to something like the first moving pictures. It's interesting that the first films were all shot from one spot, I guess when you get used to doing photography a certain way it takes awhile to discover and try out new techniques. It's suprising some viewed film as a fad, I would think they would of thought of the recreational and educational things film could bring for instance filming the ocean to show people who have never saw it or showing machinery used in factories to workers so they could see how it worked. I would think the brain would be exploding with ideas of things to film!