Movies in the Digital Age - Essay Example

MOVIES IN THE DIGITAL AGE Name Institution Affiliation Movies in the Digital Age Introduction It is no news that 3D technology has changed the world a great lot. The generation of computer accelerated graphics in digital form has taken film production to a whole new level. Continuity in landscape, utterly realistic recreations of past world wars, highly convincing shootout scenes and generation of masses is but a button or two away in this technology. Computers have done a lot to aid directors and movie producers evade the tormenting and rather rigorous activity of planning, staging scenes, finding the right background, weather and illusions to make movies interesting. With all these problems and challenges behind, movies have not only cut on budgets but increased in quality. Such is the reason the digital age has so many people smiling and satisfied. The question however lingers as to the extent of aspects of production such as originality, exaggeration and quality of content. Enter the pre-digital age. Around 1880, the first ever video camera is invented in a world where motion pictures do not yet exist. Films take between 30 seconds and 5 minutes and only a few production companies even dare venture into the business. Movies comprised few characters and included mostly slideshows with a few commentary interludes. Live shows, movie theatres and cinemas then became the ‘in thing’ in the 20th century. Working on a very high budget to produce rather cliché movies was not the envy of the directors. Such brought about the research and innovation in the industry from the development of animation movies to the now popular 3-Dimension technology. Not only has 3 D productions become so popularized, it has formed the ultimate viewing experience for film lovers. Movies (film) were founded in the late 19th century after the invention of the first video camera. Motion pictures (movies) were formerly exhibited in carnival novelties but later developed to become extremely powerful tools of entertainment and communication (Bordwell 74). Directing never used to be as complicated as most movies produced in the 19th century were silent. The depictions in the olden motion pictures were mostly imitations about realities in society. Movies gradually changed to develop more characters, message, theme, directors, production and setting. Movies were initially watched in theatres as this was considered to be a cheap and easy way to provide entertainment to the masses. In the field of visual arts, movies became unparalleled by the start of the 20th century. Developers worked hard to improve the video camera and other tools to use in the production of motion pictures. This was necessitated by the gathering crowds in the theatres that desired there to be for instance wide screens, better picture quality and an impeccable sound track. These production features marked the innovative era between 1896 and 1945. Technical difficulties in sound and picture synchronization formed the greatest challenge in the innovative era. There thus existed an era where films were produced without sound. Thomas Edison and William Dickson teamed up in the late half of the 19th century to come up with a way of integrating motion pictures to sound. They originally had the intention of creating a sound film system which grew its fame immensely in the first half of the 20th century. In 1927, the Jazz Singer was invented. Within the period dubbed the silent era, there were live musicals accompanying the silent films and at times commentary to help the viewer’s comprehend the actions by the actors. Narrators were replaced by intertitles (subtitles) which showcased words by the actors. Japan maintained her commentaries throughout the silent era period. Illustrated songs were another prominent feature of the silent era. The latter persisted from 1894 to the late 1930s. Live performance or sound recordings were paired with hand-colored glass slides projected through stereopticons and similar devices. Song narration was in such a way that it related with the narrative development. Song illustration was initially started to encourage sales as a marketing tool. The latter later formed the basis for music videos in the second half of the 20th century. With the narrated songs, sales went up to reach millions of music followers across the world. With the introduction of the film, illustrated songs became sound tracks to popular movies. The film industry grew rapidly within the first eleven years (MacDonald 25). From a pensive business, film became a well-established entertainment empire that is yet to collapse. The number of people involved in production also increased significantly. In 1895, most of the motion pictures produced had one director/ producer and comprised a singular scene. The situation changed in that by 1906 it was difficult to have few members in the production team. Film production companies slowly rose up around this time. It was a period of reconnaissance in the film industry especially with regard to production. Some of the companies involved in motion picture production included American Mutoscope, American Vitagraph, the Lumière and Léon Gaumont. Most of the producers were situated in the United States. The nature of films produced was almost similar and thus kept the companies popular. Another factor that significantly contributed to the development of production industries was the commercialization of movies. Edison is remembered for the first ever commercial film. The Lumière company; a French company sent its staff across the world to shoot films. These were later exhibited locally by the same cameramen (Allen 19). The videos were then taken to the company headquarters in Lyon, France for production of motion films that would be sold to interested parties. In so doing, by the year 1901, the company had about 1000 films. By 1898, Georges Méliès was the greatest fiction film producer in France. George Méliès was concerned with motion pictures that stretched reality to some point. He is famous for significant effects in movies and thus making them take longer while other movies took at most a minute. In 1900, Charles Pathé, began film production under the Pathé-Frères brand. Ferdinand Zecca was hired as the company producer/director. By 1905, Pathé was the greatest film company in the world in terms of profits made. The company continued to hold the fete until 1945 when the First World War broke out. Another company, Léon Gaumont began producing films in 1896, Alice Guy as the producer/director. In the United Kingdom, G.A. Smith, James Williamson and Robert W. Paul were some of the pioneer film production companies. Cecil Hepworth joined the film production industry in 1899. By early 1900, he was turning out 100 films a year. His company thus became the largest in Britain. Films were initially shown as a novelty and in distinctive venues. The core exhibition methods slowly changed as movies began becoming an item in the programs of outstanding theatres across the world. There were also tent theatres known as the travelling showman films. These took their fair around towns especially in the countryside (Landy 24). While most companies sold their films, there were a few companies which did not sell their movies. Some of these companies include; the American Mutoscope and Biography Company. These companies charged money for exhibition films in theatres. "The Nickelodeon" was the first ever permanent successful theatre that showed only films. The theatre was opened in Pittsburgh, California in 1905 (Winston 78). This was films took at least five minutes long. This would take production to several minutes at time spanning to an hour in order to keep the audiences entertained that long. There would be a program that would showcase similar movies each day till the customers got bored with the film. Only then would the management change the program. This was so since there were not so many films worth that much patience. In about a year after the first Nickelodeon, there sprung up many other such theatres across America by the production companies. The world was soon to imitate the Americans as such progress was also made in other European countries. Animation was arguably developed in 1899. The first such animation comprised a British appeal to its citizens to send matches to the British soldiers fighting the Boer War (Chapman 105). There was a long stint of time before a similar production was reincarnated. The follow-up, dabbed “Fun in a Bakery Shop” was done by Edwin Stanton in 1902. Stanton later animated the words in the films How Jones Lost His Roll, and The Whole Dam Family and the Dam Dog. His style of animation, still used today, is known as “single frame animation.” In 1906, Vitagraph took animation to the next level. The company is believed to have done cartoon animation where drawings of people moved between several different poses (Gomery 191). This happened for most of the movie and comprised cut-outs of figures showing one frame at a time. Just as, Porter moved his letters, the company was able to produce cartoon motion pictures. Vitagraph thus formed the basis for the standard animated cartoons that are produced to date. In some of the pictures, cartoons seemed to move themselves within the frames. The breakthrough in the production of full-length movies came in 1897 during the production of the film showcasing the life of Jesus Christ. This was made in France. The film was followed by the Passion of Christ a year later. This film was shot in the Czech Republic (Rosenstone 106). The movie was filmed by Americans for exhibition outside Germany-affiliated nations. It was presented in scenes rather than a whole motion picture from start to end. It included live choral numbers, to lengthen the production time to about one and a half hours. Conclusion Film production is a profession that has spanned over a century. From the production of one-minute long pictures to the current one and a half to two and a half hour films, movies have come a long way. It is of immense importance to note that the period between 1896 and the end of the Second World War marked all the extensive innovations, developments and contributions to the film industry. It is due to this renaissance period that the current motion pictures can continue to be produced. The concept of Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) is an invention that saw the diverse changes in the film industry. Whether 2 Dimension or 3 Dimension films, the incorporation of computer generated imagery into film production has seen many once conceived ideas become a reality (fictional reality) in film. Productions such as Avatar, Underworld Trilogy and Spartacus could not have been actualized without this technology. In its actual sense, it involves recreations of non-existent but once existing scenarios. Recreations of war such as the World Wars and the Nazi documentaries on Discovery channel and National Geographic have been possible due to this technology. In a nutshell therefore, a film involving thousands of soldiers, cannons, rockets and missiles could be shot in a ware house with a few beaten down cars and scrap metal. In the Harry Porter series, the visual creations of magic characterized by gushing fires, incredible creatures and earth movements have been a characteristic of the digital age. It is indeed no surprise that the films had to wait for the digital age before production. Since her first book, J.K Rowling produced her first film a decade later. Architectural scenes and anatomic models that depict changes in biological structure cannot be well visualized devoid of special effects and computer projections. It is becoming a widely accepted fact that computerized screening is stealing the show in the film industry. Editing requires software, so does the visual effects and the soundtracks. From camera positioning to production, there has to be computerized endeavors in the event that a movie duly captures the attention of modern critics and viewers. This common use of software has been so popular; it has changed cartoon production, live television shows as well as news production. There are however concerns about these productions, mostly with the thematic concerns of people. The use of visual effects is often coupled with exaggerated scenes and visually damning productions. To mention but the least, camera effects such as blasts and obliteration of buildings create the wrong impression of reality to young minds that form the obvious audience for these productions. Children take time to learn some of the fighting techniques that are accelerated at supersonic speeds. It becomes often impossible to distinguish reality from fiction by these delinquents, who believe in these motion pictures entirely. Worse comes to worst when such visually impressed productions are reality shows. Production of reality shows such as wrestling (WWE) and Smack Down has seen the disclaimer (Do Not Try This at Home) introduced to reduce on casualties on viewers, especially to underage teenagers. The extent of these effects may be mild or trivial; nonetheless, it cannot be overlooked. There is the aspect of originality that may worry these film producers. Assuming similar soundtracks and concepts may be duplicated for different movies yet altered in a way that hardly reveals these similarities; the fact that technology can be used to conceal these facts is rather displeasing and unfortunate. The thus constant use of these themes, techniques or methods becomes cliché. It is however non-important to the aspect of originality parse but definitely of concern to concerned bodies such as the International Standards Organization and other film regulatory bodies. References Bordwell, D (1998). On the History of Film Style. New York: Grove Press, Print Allen, R. And Gomery, D (1985). Film History: Theory and Practice. New York: Grove Press, Print Landy, M (2001). Historical Film. Illinois: Tyndale House, 2001. Print Rosenstone, R (1998). Visions of the Past: The Challenge of Film to our Idea of History. New Jersey: Springer Press, 1998. Print Gomery, D., and Pafort, C (2011). Movie History: A Survey. Illinois: Helm Publishers, Print Foster G (2008). A Short History of Film. Bloomington: AuthorHouse, Print Rosenstone, R (2006). A History on Film/Film on History. New York: Guilford press, Print Rosenstone, R (1994). Revisioning History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Print MacDonald, S (2002). Cinema 16: Documents towards History Of Film Society. California: Wide Angle Books, Print. Sklar, R (2001).Film: An International History of the Medium, New York. Haven Publishers, Print. Chapman, J (2005). Past and Present: National Identity and the British Historical Film (Cinema and Society) New York: Rosen publishers, Print. Read More