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Literature and the Movies: Part 1 The Silent Era 1895-1930
Literature and the Movies: Part 2 The Early Sound Era 1930-1940
The cinema is both an art and an industry, a strange mix of culture and technology. During the early silent decades, Edison’s invention had developed from a mechanical curiosity to a major international industry and became, as D W Griffith boasted, the only new art form created since antiquity. To burnish the high culture credentials of the new art form, works of literature were adapted to the silver screen. Cinema embraced the works of great writers, adapting them into some of the most celebrated films in the history of cinema.
Audience curiosity was captured by such adaptations with say the magic elixir of Shakespeare, Dickens or Wilde and cinema on offer to all social classes and groups with varying literacy and language levels. Some writers have argued how cinema in those early decades also operated in a reverse cycle with cinema having considerable impact on literary culture. The literary canon was within reach of audiences around the world via such adaptations.
F Scott Fitzgerald wrote that he was the spark that lit up the revolution of the Jazz Age and the silent era actress, Colleen Moore, was the torch. The interplay between the artforms continues.
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130th Birthday Anniversary Tribute: 1895 - 2025
In the race for the invention of cinema, brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière were the official creators of the process. In 1895 they patented a device, which could take pictures, print positives and project them onto a screen.
The advent of film as an artistic medium is not clearly defined. There were earlier cinematographic screenings by others, however, the commercial, public screening of ten Lumière brothers' short films in Paris on 28 December 1895, can be regarded as the breakthrough of projected cinematographic motion pictures. The earliest films were in black and white, under a minute long, without recorded sound, and consisted of a single shot from a steady camera. The first decade saw film move from a novelty, to an established mass entertainment industry, with film production companies and studios established throughout the world. Conventions toward a general cinematic language developed, with film editing, camera movements and other cinematic techniques contributing specific roles in the narrative of films.
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William Shakespeare (1564-1616): 460th Anniversary Tribute
Shakespeare on the Screen across the 19th, 20th and 21st Centuries
Overview and survey of Shakespeare on Screen. From the silent cinema to contemporary filmmakers, the timeless power of Shakespeare’s rich treasures has shaped and transformed the narrative and visual content of cinema. He remains the most frequently adapted author in the history of film.
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Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977): Birth of the Tramp
Two Anniversaries to celebrate!
Two Anniversaries to celebrate: 135 years since his birth and 110 years since he started his stellar career in films. Overview of his early years in film 1914-1917. In 1914 the Tramp was born. At the Keystone Studios with baggy pants, ill-fitting jacket and a small bowler hat, he launched a brilliant career as actor, writer, producer and director. He changed the course of filmmaking forever.
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The Movies Begin!
An overview of the first 30 years of cinema. Technology, stars, studios, mass entertainment and the audience.
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Film literacy – for lovers of classic cinema.
In 130 years of cinema history, leisure hours for many around the world have been enriched by the enchantment and entertainment movies can bring. The superb skills on the silver screen and behind it in the film making process have powered the strength of this mass entertainment artform.
Increased film literacy awareness equips audiences with a deeper awareness of the skills and techniques depicted on the screen. In turn the viewer can appreciate the artistic choices made by directors and their teams and the impact on reel storytelling.
Around the world, across the centuries and within genres of film, let us delve further.
“We have to treat all these moving images coming at us as a language, to understand what we’re seeing and sort it all out.” Martin Scorsese
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World War 1 and cinema
An overview of the film legacy of the Great War, the first global conflict to be portrayed in film. Its significance was immense and remains relevant to the 21st century. At its end, the conflict was viewed as “the war to end all wars”. Key films, are examined, including documentaries, fiction features and propaganda.
Click the poppy below to access John McCrae’s magnificent poem In Flanders Fields.
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Planning is underway for a roll-out of short and weekend courses that explore the development of cinema. The purpose of the courses is to make learning about movies as pleasurable as it is watching them.
The courses will span over one hundred years of film history and will introduce the talents behind and in front of the camera. All major achievements of the silent and sound periods will be examined.
The inimitable Serge Bromberg wrote, “Well, searching for films is like…..[being] a treasure hunter. You never know what treasure you’ll find. You want to go for more. You know there are more treasures to be found out there. That’s step number one. Then, step number two: you realize that the most important [thing] is not film hunting. The most important [thing] is audience hunting. Because a film only exists in the moment it is shown to someone.”
In a film course the role of the audience should be remembered and respected.
Please register your interest in updates about the courses at info@ozsilentfilmfestival.com.au.