Cinema Paradiso

The golden legacy of Hollywood birthed such a strong approach to narrative and visual storytelling that it went on to become one of the most dominant styles of filmmaking worldwide. Hollywood’s foundation, however, was contaminated with a strain of racism from the beginning with one of its initial major films, D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation. With the discriminatory portrayal of African Americans, this Hollywood product would become a significant influence of discussion and mindset for…

America as a dominant and thriving country. As much of Europe was in distress during World War One, the United States’ decision to stay neutral until the brink of the war (in 1917) allowed room for the American film industry to creatively expand cinema through propaganda films, short films, and newsreels. The idea of transferring propaganda posters onto the screen was an important move in order to integrate, “the fabric of American life by proving entertainment, information,…

“The Birth of a Nation” by D.W. Griffith was the first blockbuster film in American history. It was an amazing feat of cinema and nailed its place in history. However, while “The Birth of a Nation” boasts these achievements it is without question one of the most racist movies of all time. This movie not only show glorifies the Ku Klux Klan as heroes of America, but also shows the misrepresentation of black people and the role that black people will have in films. Looking back at the time the…

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…

Recently, there has been a dramatic increase in the portrayal of lesbian women, relationships and communities prominent within media culture. Yet increasingly so, the same types of lesbian women and relationships are repeatedly shown. Certain systems and structures of power have regulated the way gayness and lesbianism are viewed and thus seen while media has the tendency to naturalize these stereotypes and assumptions. As the prominence of lesbians’ figures in media has risen, it seems that the…

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.…