Cinema of the United States

In Cléo de 5 à 7, Varda follows more closely to the filmmaking techniques that are used by most classic Hollywood cinema. The only major difference, other than the context of the film, would be Varda’s use of temporality by having a film set in a two hour time period and of trying to keep the action of the film almost in the exact lifetime of two hours. It takes the idea of Classical Hollywood continuity to an extreme. Another difference is that Cléo takes on more French political issues such as…

Isaiah Isaacson During the early 1900’s, the relatively new concept of film was emerging as one of the most popular forms of entertainment. As more and more improvements were made to the motion picture camera filmmakers were able to begin exploring the realm of creative possibilities they could achieve. Two notable films that that did this are Dziga Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera, and Sergei Eisenstein's Strike. Both films are known for their groundbreaking use of montage and the powerful…

The studio system in the Golden Age of Hollywood was a method of film production and distribution between the 1920’s and 60’s. Large motion picture studios wanted to maximize their profit and minimize the risks of going bankrupt. They turned to producing movies on their own film making lots and they were especially skillful in handling employees, and contracts. The use of long-term contracts was very effective in keeping costs lower than they otherwise would have been; and it helped studios…

Scotland's Superman Few words are more abused in Hollywood than historical and epic. While historical is such a broad term that can refer to anything in the past, epic is often the colloquial of anything that’s awesome. However, when the words combine they form a favored genre of moviegoers. According to FilmSite.org, “A historical epic is defined as film that takes a historical, mythic, heroic figure, and adds an extravagant setting accompanied by lavish costumes and a grand musical score.”…

essential to the integrity of the cinematic experience, to the extent that one could argue that ‘the silent film never existed’ (Melinda Szaloky 2002). In fact, most silent movies were accompanied by a piano and some also had a narrator. As early cinema developed, so did the proficiency of sound, reaching an always higher level of sophistication, so that in 1927 Fox Film Corporation was able to produce Sunrise: A Song of two Humans (F.W. Murnau),…

type of relationship may vary greatly. Generally we expect a cause-and-effect relationship: one event has the effect of causing another event, which causes another, and so on. Narratives also require narration, or communication. Classical Hollywood Cinema or the Classical Hollywood Narrative, are terms used in film history, which delegate both a visual and a sound style for making motion pictures.…

With Dunkirk Christopher Nolan has reached new heights of filmmaking and he seems to have employed a whole new set of techniques. Gone is the dialogue and one-liners that we associate with Hollywood. No famous Hollywood stars (with a couple of exceptions) are present either. Speaking of stars, the director focuses on the anonymity of a few people, without revealing their names most of the time. And if you expect to watch a war film like Saving Private Ryan you will be disappointed. According to…

Silent movies were a great source of entertainment during the early 1900s, but when sound was added the film industry was revolutionized. It only took two years after The Jazz Singer, the first film with spoken lines, for the silent film era to end. It showed the viewers that there was no reason for silent movies. Big names in silent film making, like Charlie Chaplin, thought “talkies” ruined the film industry. Sound changed the way we watch movies for the better. Sound helps its viewers follow…

The film Les 400 Coups is autobiographical, through the character of Antoine Doinel, Truffaut recounts the struggles of his upbringing as a troubled young adolescent in Paris. Les 400 Coups (a French expression meaning to “raise hell”) shows the result of neglectful, or entirely absent, parenting as it is of youth delinquency. Antoine is certainly not blameless, many of his actions are dictated by necessity. He is a victim of circumstance. There is no doubt as to where our sympathies lie or…

The most electrifyingly opportune motion picture playing in New York was made in 1965. Gillo Pontecorvo's The Battle of Algiers is well known, however for quite a while it's been accessible just in washed-out prints with ineffectively interpreted, white-on-white subtitles. The recently deciphered and subtitled 35-millimeter print at Film Forum is probably the form that was secretly screened in August for military work force by the Pentagon as a field manual for battling terrorism. Previous…