George Cooper Stevens was born in Oakland California on December 18, 1904. His parents were Landers Stevens and Georgia Cooper who at the time had their own theatrical company called Ye Liberty Playhouse based out of Oakland. In 1922 his parents decided to make a change and move their family to Glendale California, leaving behind their company of live theater to find work in the movie industry. After moving, his parents were able to find little parts in low budget films getting their feet wet in the movie industry. George was inspired at a young age and growing up in a family where theater was there lively hood he left behind his education to pursue a career in film. George at age 17 got a job as an assistant cameraman at the Hal Roach studios. After two years of learning and shooting low budget western films he became a director of photography. After some time Stevens had his first credited film at Roach Studios called Roughest Africa (1923) (Hopwood, 2014). Later on in life he took all the knowledge he had learned and spent over a year editing his film Shane. His films were popular and in the late 1930’s as he became his own producer/ director. He had also enlisted in the army and with his own 16mm camera filmed many famous events such as the Normandy Landings, the liberation of Paris and of the liberation of Nazi extermination camp Dachau. It was said that the post war films he made when he returned had a “somber and deeply personal tone” (Hopwood, 2014) and many think this was a result of the terrible things he saw while overseas.
Stevens was famous for “shooting from an underdeveloped screenplay that was ever in flux, finding the film as he shot it and later edited it.” (Hopwood, 2014) He preferred to take his time and jus...
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.../producer. He didn’t over look the little things and I feel like this makes his films feel more alive almost as if you were there experiencing the action with the characters. We also see the use of extreme long shots where Shane is riding into the distance. As he gets smaller we see the wide-open desert terrain grow larger. We also see some use of low-key lighting when he gets into a shoot out with two men. I believe at the time George Stevens was one of the best director/producers in his era and his films will stay known for years to come.
Works Cited
Cronin, P. (2005, July 13). George Stevens - About George Stevens | American Masters | PBS. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/george-stevens/about-george-stevens/710/
IMDb (2014, March 1). George Stevens - IMDb. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0828419/?ref_=tt_ov_dr
In 1982, the journalist Chuck Ross, in an experiment for Film Comment, mailed the script of Casablanca to 217 agencies under a different title and under a different authorship name. Although many rejected it for external reasons, eighty-one agencies read it and of those, fifty-three did not recognize it as the classic. But here’s the cherry on top: forty-one agencies criticized the iconic, Oscar-winning script with harsh words. One wrote, “Story line is thin. Too much
I thought Sling Blade was written and filmed well. It did get slow in parts, but overall it kept my attention. I picked up on minute details that on a regular basis I wouldn’t have. This paper made me see the underlying aspects such as the music, lighting, and script. It made me pay attention to what the characters were saying and how they were relating. I now look at film in a new light. I don’t just watch the surface. I dig deeper and watch for everything.
While many men returning from war never want to reiterate their experiences, Steven’s father seemed to be an exception. Steven said of his father, “ he intoxicated me with bedtime stories about the war. His stories were like the war movies I was watching on television, all worthy of cameo appearances by John Wayne” (Stein 1). It is no wonder that at the age of twelve Steven’s first film, Fighter Squad, was filmed on a WWII fighter plane (Corliss 79). However, when Steven was unable to find certain props or realistic backdrops, he simulated dogfights and plane crashes by editing in footage from a WWII documentary. Only a year later, in 1960, he featured the war family Jeep in his second film, Escape to Nowhere, which was an action picture in which GIs invaded a Nazi hideout in the Libyan Desert. Since his family had moved to Arizona in 1960, the Arizona desert near his house would easily replicate the simulation of the Libyan Desert. It is clear that Steven’s love and knowledge of visual effects began many years before his creation of a mechanical great white shark in 1975. There have been many incidents throughout Steven's childhood that have made it into his films.
Thaddeus Stevens was a congressman from Pennsylvania who was a member of the House of Representatives during of the time of the Civil War and Reconstruction. He was the leader of a radical wing of the Republican Party called the Radical Republicans. Stevens was one of the most powerful members of the House of Representatives who focused much of his political life on civil rights. He believed in equality for all men whether they were rich or poor, no matter what color their skin. Stevens was instrumental in drafting the 14th Amendment to the Constitution which was meant to protect the civil right of all Americans regardless of their race or gender. He was nicknamed the “Great Commoner” because he championed the plight of the everyday man. Stevens also advocated very harsh policies toward the southern states during the time of Reconstruction. Even though many of his ideas were controversial, he was regarded as a very important national figure during and immediately following the Civil War.
George Walton Lucas Jr. was born in the sleepy suburbs of Modesto, California on May 14th, 1944. He was the only son out of four children. His parents made a decent living selling office supplies and maintaining a walnut far (Biography.com 1 of 2). Lucas was a somewhat difficult child during his adolescent years. He barely made passing grades in school and had a very stubborn personality. Early in his life, Lucas developed a passion for race cars and racing. His early dream was to become a race car driver. But shortly after graduating high school, Lucas experienced a near fatal car crash that left him in the hospital for three whole months (World Biography 1 of 6). This event changed his outlook on life and set him down the path that created the George Lucas we know today. After recovering from the accident Lucas wanted to attend film school but his parents refused to support him on his decision and he instead began studying social sciences at nearby Modesto Junior College (World Biography 1 of 6). There he started to gain a more grounded interest in photography and film. This is interesting because even though Lucas' parents discouraged his artistic side, he still pursued his interests anyway. After a near fatal car accident, one would think that the victim's parents would be more accepting of their child's
Films of this era are criticized for substituting violence and special effects for "substance". Many believe that creating a movie script is a juvenile form of writing, a shrub to the oak of a novel. Upon reading both the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and viewing the film produced by Roland Joffe, one notices the tremendous effort put into both. This essay will explore the many differences and similarities between the book and movie.
Authors of short stories, like Carter, have the freedom to write as much or as little as they want, in any manner they please. The genre of short stories is so vast and diverse that authors are allowed to write in different styles, lengths, and descriptiveness. However, the general public has specific expectations of films that producers, directors, writers, and actors must fulfill in order to create a successful film. In order for the audience to enjoy the film, Dan Rush couldn’t limit it to the ideas presented in Carver’s short story, he had to expand the details of the plot and provide more information to the audience. By providing more information and detail, this makes the film a more enjoyable and immersing experience for the audience.
Shelton Jackson Lee was born in Atlanta, Georgia March 20, 1957. Born to teacher Jacqueline Carroll and jazz musician William James Edward Lee, Shelton grew up in Brooklyn, New York where he was provided with a rich cultural upbringing that included plays, movies, and music (Gale 1). At a young age, Lee was nicknamed “Spike” by his mother who noticed his rough nature and the nickname stuck well into his adult life. He attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia where he gained an interest in film and then graduated with a Bachelors degree in Mass Communication. Lee went on to attend New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where he created his first student film and graduated in 1982 with a Master of Fine Arts in Film and Television. Being one of the few black students to attend Tisch School of the Arts, the aspiring filmmaker’s first year at New York University was a particularly difficult one. Lee’s experiences, race, and upbringing have all led him to create controversial films to provide audiences with an insight into racial issues.
An example in the film that highlights the demise of the studio system is when Joe pitches a script idea to a producer of Paramount. Joe is quick to say that the film only needs one main character, has many outdoor locations and can be made ‘for under a million dollars’ (Joe Gillis, Sunset Boulevard, 1950), which highlights the idea of saving money on a s...
When deciding what movie to do for this particular paper I faced a few issues. I knew what the requirements were, but I wanted something different and something I could have fun watching and writing as well. So, after looking around and pondering movies for weeks I finally decided on a perfect choice The 60’s directed by Mark Piznarski?
In this essay the following will be discussed; the change from the age of classical Hollywood film making to the new Hollywood era, the influence of European film making in American films from Martin Scorsese and how the film Taxi Driver shows the innovative and fresh techniques of this ‘New Hollywood Cinema’.
Ondaatje, M. (2004). The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Born on 30th of July 1970 in London United Kingdom to a British father and American mother. Because of that he has both British and American citizenship and has been living in both London and Chicago since his childhood. He found his passion for filmmaking at early ages and at age 7 he made his first short film with his father’s camera. Eventually just like most directors he did not attend film universities, instead he went on to study English literature in London, his hometown. One of his early short films which is probably his best also, is ‘Doodlebug’ which he made in
The development of editing - Editing - actor, film, voice, cinema, scene, story. 2014. The development of editing - Editing - actor, film, voice, cinema, scene, story. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Criticism-Ideology/Editing-THE-DEVELOPMENT-OF-EDITING.html#ixzz2sNiIEQqt. [Accessed 10 February 2014].
“Entertainment has to come hand in hand with a little bit of medicine, some people go to the movies to be reminded that everything’s okay. I don’t make those kinds of movies. That, to me, is a lie. Everything’s not okay.” - David Fincher. David Fincher is the director that I am choosing to homage for a number of reasons. I personally find his movies to be some of the deepest, most well made, and beautiful films in recent memory. However it is Fincher’s take on story telling and filmmaking in general that causes me to admire his films so much. This quote exemplifies that, and is something that I whole-heartedly agree with. I am and have always been extremely opinionated and open about my views on the world and I believe that artists have a responsibility to do what they can with their art to help improve the culture that they are helping to create. In this paper I will try to outline exactly how Fincher creates the masterpieces that he does and what I can take from that and apply to my films.