Film Class
This afternoon I had my first Film and Society lecture. I have no doubt that I will enjoy this course, seeing as it's one of my main areas of interest. We are basically covering movies from 1939 (no Gone with the Wind, though, unfortunately) until 1964 (we end the course with Dr.Strangelove). I was actually hoping it would start even further back, with Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton, but I will have to make due with war-time films. ;)
Today, at the end of lecture, though, he did show us a film that was over one hundred years old. I'm sure many of you have heard of Edwin S. Porter's The Great Train Robbery. It's a twelve minute film from 1903, that is, obviously, in black and white, although some of the parts in the movie are hand painted with colour. That is definately the oldest film I'd ever watched. It was charming in the way it was so dated, what with all the overacting and effects. But it's incredible to see how far film has come in just over one hundred years. It has that famous final scene where one of the outlaws shoots his gun straight at the camera. I always knew that scene because they used it in the opening of Tombstone (I love that movie!).
Hurray for old-school Hollywood! :)
Today, at the end of lecture, though, he did show us a film that was over one hundred years old. I'm sure many of you have heard of Edwin S. Porter's The Great Train Robbery. It's a twelve minute film from 1903, that is, obviously, in black and white, although some of the parts in the movie are hand painted with colour. That is definately the oldest film I'd ever watched. It was charming in the way it was so dated, what with all the overacting and effects. But it's incredible to see how far film has come in just over one hundred years. It has that famous final scene where one of the outlaws shoots his gun straight at the camera. I always knew that scene because they used it in the opening of Tombstone (I love that movie!).
Hurray for old-school Hollywood! :)