Today I thought we'd take a change of pace from cartoons, and so instead I'm featuring one of the first films of all time: The Great Train Robbery. This short film, directed by Edwin Porter, was revolutionary for its time, making use of narrative editing. This style of editing allowed the audience to follow the story without the use of a general narration or title cards, paving the way for a new type of storytelling.
The Great Train Robbery also made use of color to heighten the tension and emotion of the shot. Although this was an innovative technique, it wasn't entirely new. Thomas Edison dyed the frames of his dancing girl video clips to enhance the flair and style of the subjects.
But enough idle chit-chat. On with the show.
Quite different, isn't it. Films of this style are actually what I'm being subjected to frequently now, as I'm currently at the beginning of my History of Cinema class.
Good day
T.H. Excellence
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4 comments:
The quality seems very good for a film made in 1903! The color is pretty amazing, must have been hand colored in there. We've come a long way in 100 years.
Sometimes I wish the old filmmakers of the day were still alive. What they could do with our technology would be amazing!
T.H. Excellence
I agree, I think they may have had a gift for story telling that was limited by the tools they had at hand.
Ah, yes, if only such story telling techniques were present today.
T.H. Excellence
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