The Old Studio System

Pre-Production, Production, & The Player

Reminder to watch Robert Altman's The Player in the The Screening Room and/or Lost in LaMancha on NetFlix; then try to identify as many professions or "roles" in the various phases of filmmaking, from pre-production (the primary "players" in the movie) through production (lots of cameos point to at least one group) and finally to post-production, if feasible.  To help you identify the various jobs, in addition to Chapter 11, read the Film Crew booklet by Kodak as well as So You Wanna Work in Movies? by DP Oliver Stapleton, BSC.

When you are finished, post your response in the Pre-Production, Production, and The Player discussion forum.

Reaction to Dziga Vertov's 1929 Man with the Camera

theYou should have read Chapter 2, focusing on the relationship between form and content (If you are looking to get ahead, we will start on production next Wednesday, so read Chapter 11).   To prepare for the week's discussion, recall Louis Giannetti's diagram below that I have previously mentioned in class:

Two of the earliest films in cinematic history help demonstrate the spectrum that film established almost from its origin--from the realistic to the fantastic, from a medium concerned with content versus one focused on form, from one that represents without interpretation to one that interprets without representation. The Lumière Brothers' Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (1895) does not contain any manipulation beyond placement of the camera, whereas Méliès A Trip to the Moon (1902) quickly demonstrates manipulation of the shot can alter perception. In both cases, it is relatively easy to see where they fall in the above spectrum.

The Lumière Brothers' Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (1895)


Méliès A Trip to the Moon (1902)


But what about Dziga Vertov's 1929 Man with the Camera? Where does it fit within the spectrum? After watching the film below (chose the soundtrack of your choice), prepare a response for discussion in class next Monday (and to avoid having to do a more formal post on line, remember that silence is deadly--no pun intended).

(better visuals but music less synchronized and not starting until the film's film starts @ 3:40; for a challenge, watch them together)

On a side note, consider that seven years later, this might have been Charlie Chaplin's cinematic reply to Vertov.  Though not necessarily a film about film, note that the cogs of the machine in the scene @ 13:30 look a lot like the cogs of a projector.