IN APPRECIATION OF...
FILM
Story by Bret Schulte Illustration by Matt Haney
Make it more than just a Blockbuster night.
In an era of multimillion-dollar movie pro
ductions and a powerful handful of studios,
being told to view film as an art form might
make you choke on your popcorn.
“Film is an art, but it’s also a business,”
said Wheeler Winston Dixon, chairman of the
film studies department. “That’s the major
problem with it, and the films that would be
considered art don’t make it out to Nebraska
usually.”
Film as an art form is still controversial to
auiuc ptupic, sai u
Gwendolyn Foster, an assis
tant English professor and
Film Studies instructor.
“For some people the
idea of an art film is pretty
revolutionary,” she said.
“It’s not recognized as an art form because it is
so consumer driven. Once you get over that
obstacle people open their minds to the differ
ent tnmgs 111m can ao:
The power of film and its impact on our
society cannot be easily ignored. Films spawn
rapid changes in fashion, alter perceptions of
history and expose scandals and injustices.
The enormous success of “Titanic” has
regenerated interest in the tragic sinking and
has launched scores of documentaries and
interest in the subject, as well as piquing inter
est in other epic films.
While the success of “Titanic” is largely
financial, many directors continue to pursue
low-budget and avant-garde productions that
push the boundaries of plot and production.
Like any art form, film builds on a rich and
diverse history, one that is important to under
stand if you want to get the most out of a par
ticular work.
“I think the most important thing is a thor
ough grounding in film history,” Dixon said.
“You also have to look outside die canon. Look
outside the conventional limits and try to get
as much film history as you possibly can.”
Dixon said it is difficult to gain a true
understanding of the art living in Nebraska.
Film as a culture really only occurs in major
urban centers, a phenomenon that began in
France in the 1940s.
A decade later, the French New Wave, con
sisting of such modern greats as Jean
Luc Godard, developed the auteur theory,
which established the director as the pri
mary anistic iorce oenina a 111m proauction
while emphasizing a strong knowledge of film
history. t
Filmmakers around the world responded,
and the impact of the auteur theory is especial
ly apparent among modem directors.
“You need to go to a major (film center)
and immerse yourself in it for like three
months,” Dixon said. “All the major directors
of the time, Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith,
have done that. And you need to stay current.
“If you really want to get a true under
standing of cinema you can’t do it by renting
cassettes.”
Bom in the late 1890s, the initial film rev
olution was largely spearheaded for years by
French inventors and avant-garde artists.
The motherland of the motion picture cam
era also spawned French inventors and direc
tors like Alice Guy (who was incorporating
sound as early as 1898) who were soon joined
by young filmmakers in Germany, Sweden
and the United States.
Although people had been experimenting
with the idea of a motion picture camera for a
few years, it was a pair of French brothez$ r
August and Louis Lumi6re - who are credited
with the first motipp pictures in 1895. - igf'
Their famous short film of a train coming
to a nait in a rans aepot sent people screaming
from the parlor where it was shown.
Ever since, directors of all nationalities
and eras have used the breathtaking, lifelike
capabilities of film to impress, awe and edu
cate audiences.
“Many people go to films simply to be
entertained, but they also go to films because
they want to learn and experience things about
our lives that they can’t get anywhere else,”
said Dan Ladely, director of the Mary Riepma
Ross Theatre.
Filmmaking enjoyed a golden age in the
early half of the century when studios owned
famous directors and actors, and movies were
actually more like dreams. In 1946, more than .
85 percent of Americans went to the movies at
least once a week, Dixon said.
The advent of television in 1950 caused the
collapse of the studio system, creating a rift
between the older generation, which was com
fortable staying at home, and the younger,
which still enjoyed going to the theater.
Today the demographics remain pretty
much the same, with most studio releases
aimed at the 16-21 age group. *
Reproducing reality is a passion that a
group of young directors is currently pursuing
with 2eal.
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Linklater (“Slacker”), Kevin
Smith (“Clerks”) and
Roberto Rodriguez (“El
Mariachi”) have made a
name for theptjselves in
Hollywood by starting out
with small, low-budget inde- t
pendent films - a growing |
trend, according to Dixon.
me pro Diem is max xne small airecxors gex
:o-opted and they make huge big-budget films I
and then they get compromised,” he said.
Foster agreed.
“Hollywood sucks up the ideas of indepen
dent filmmakers and regurgitates them in a
more palatable consumer-driven form,” she
said.
Despite the struggle for free rein and cre
ative expression by directors, and the power of
big studios, films remain the most potent
medium of human expression today.
Of course, it is questionable if Hollywood
is reproducing reality.
So when you are searching for a film or
just looking for something new - don’t make it
a Blockbuster night. Make it much more.
I
"If you REALLY want to set a T R U E UNDERSTANDING of
cinema, you CAN'T BO IT by RENTING CASSETTES• ”
-Wheeler Winston Dixon
CHAIRMAN OF UNL FILM STUDIES DEPARTMENT
TINELINE
The complete history of the creation of the film medium is
much more complex, but this thumbnail sketch offers a brief
overview of major events and breakthroughs in film history.
1894 - Lumiere brothers invent the first motion picture camera.
1895 - Lumieres show first public viewing of a motion picture.
1898 -Alice Guy directs first film with sound.
1900 - Alice Guy produces hand-stencilled color films.
1900 - Georges Milies, a former stage musician, introduces
earliest special effects: fades, super-impositions, mattes, slow
motion, reverse motion.
1903 - First Western is produced: “The Great Train Robbery,”
directed by Edwin S. Porter.
1909 - Early colorization of films using blues and greens,
called two-strip Technicolor.
1923 - Lee DeForest invents the vacuum tube, the television
picture tube and the process called Optical Sound in his garage, a
process which would eventually revolutionize the film industry.
1926 - Fritz Lang directs “Metropolis,” the first international
science fiction hit. Creates idea of dystopian science fiction lead
ing to films like “Blade Runner.”
1931 - Gangster film comes of age with “Public Enemy” and
“Scarface”
1933 - “King Kong” introduces large-scale special effects to
the screen.
1933 - Musicals become hits fueled by competition between
Warner Brothers and the Estaire-Rogers productions ofRKO studios.
1934 - First three-strip Technicolor film “La Cucaracha” - a
huge advancement in color quality.
1939 - “Gone With the Wind” and “Wizard of Oz” released,
both directed by Victor Fleming. Beginning of the modem motion
picture epic.
1940 - CinemaScope, first seen in Disney classic “Fantasia,”
reckons mine era or stereo sound.
1941 - Orson Welles creates “Citizen Kane,” introduces deep
focus photography.
1945 -Neo-Realist cinema starts in Italy, shot entirely on loca
tion using non-actors. American studios begin using real locations
in motion pictures.
1946 - Biggest audience ever. Eighty-five percent of the
American public went to movies weekly.
1946- Post-war disillusion creates Film Noir genre.
1950 - Three-strip Technicolor is replaced by Monopack
Eastman Kodak film.
1950 - Television is introduced. The motion picture industry
experiences enormous decline.
1950-Television opens, studio system collapses. Film stars are
now free agents.
1953 - Called Natural Vision at the time, 3-D films sweep cin
ema houses.
1959 - International cinema comes of age with the New Wave
in France. Takes Cannes by storm.
1960- Hitchcock directs “Psycho,” which contains die first use
of graphic violence on screen.
1965 - Black and white fades from general production use.
Last Academy Award is given to black-and-white film for “Who’s
Afraid ofVirginia Woolf?”
1969 - First X-rated movie (“Midnight Cowboy” directed by
John Schlesinger) wins an Oscar.
1977 - Dolby Stereo is introduced with “Star Wars,” along with
sequel films. The special effects raise production standards to new
heights.
1980 - VHS cassettes become omnipresent. Leads to collapse
of double features.
1980s - Digitization of motion pictures becomes pervasive.
Films are now downloaded onto disks and cut on computers. ‘Teen
WolfToo” is first movie cut on a computer.
- Third-World cinema is internationally recognized. More
women filmmakers return to the fold after being almost entirely
removed from the directing process for about 60 years.
- Black filmmakers Spike Lee, John Singleton and Julie Dash
introduce African-American films to mainstream culture.
1992 - First digital effects appear on screen with “Jurassic Park”
- the special-effects genius Phil Tippett revolutionizes film industry.
1997 - First fully realized digital special-effects movie is made.
‘Titanic” becomes first movie with every frame digitally enhanced
and/or processed.
DIRECTORS
The following are lists of 10 directors, from the United States
and abroad, whose contributions to the art of cinema have helped
advance the medium to higher artistic and technological heights.
It is not intended as a comprehensive list and admittedly
excludes many important contributors to the world of film.
Included is a film for which each director is most noted, as well
as the year it was made.
U.S. Directors:
D.W. Griffith: “The Birth of a Nation” (1915)
Orson Welles: “Citizen Kane” (1941)
Julie Dash: “Daughters of the Dust”
(1992)
Howard Hawks: “Scarface” 0
Alfred Hitchcock: “Psycho”
(1960)
Lois Weber: “The Blot” (1921)
John Huston: “The Maltese
Falcon” (1941)
Andy Warhol: “Vinyl” (1965)
Su Friedrich: “The Ties That Bind”
(1984)
Buster Keaton: “The General” (1927)
Foreign Directors:
Fritz Lang - Germany: “Metropolis”
(1926)
Louis Buhuel - Spain: “Un Chien Andalou
(1929)
Alice Guy (Blach6) - France: “Tarnished
Reputations” (1920)
Jean-Luc Godard - France: “Weekend” (1968)
Sergei Eisenstein - Russia: “Battleship
Potemkin” (1925)
TrinhT. Minh - Vietnam: “Reassemblage” (1982)
Agnes Varda - France: “Cleo From 5 to 7” (1961)
Jean Renoir - France: “Boudu Saved from
Drowning” (1932)
F. W. Murnau - Germany
(1924)
Carl Theodore
Passion of Joan
•
PRINTED MATTER
“The Film Encyclopedia” by Ephraim Katz is one of the
most comprehensive sources available, with information on
hundreds of films, directors and stars spanning the decades.
The best source for film information usually appears in
journals.
“The Village Voice” regularly offers the best contempo
rary film criticism available anywhere. Other industry maga
zines include “Cinema Journal,” “Film Criticism,” “The
Independent” and “Film Quarterly.” These publications
offer advice for filmmaking, carry industry information and
offer criticism on all types of films.
The Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com) is
the most comprehensive film database the World Wide Web
has to offer. You can search for information under name, title or
keyword. The database will almost certainly have something.
Another site to check out is MovieWeb
(http://movieweb. com/movie/movie.html),
which gives film tidbits and lets you search •' *
by year. The site carries mostly current
films.
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