Frank Capra is a leading figure in the world of cinema and filming. He has experimented with the shift from the silent age to sound. He has influenced many people with his artistic talent and has contributed his work to the film industry. As of today his films are monumental and include many aspects of life that people can relate towards. But his existence is essential in which his films have made major impacts on a wide range of people.
With his popularity rising, Frank Capra utilized his movie techniques to create films that dealt with the Great Depression and films that could empathize with the American people. Capra tried to instill his own ideas into his films that successfully swayed his viewers with thematic issues of faith and patriotism. His movies displayed many aspects of the American Dream, that can be traced back to his origins as a poor boy, to his future as a famous film director. This in part influenced the public as they watched as dreams do come true in his captivating motion pictures. People of today still remember Capra by rewatching his famous films such as the...
Films are necessary in our time period because the human eye can articulate the message intended through sight allowing visual imagination to occur. In the book, world 2 by Max Brooks, he creates a character by the name Roy Elliot who was a former movie director. Roy Elliot manages to make a movie titled “Victory at Avalon: The Battle of the Five Colleges” and some how it goes viral. Similarly, Frank Capra’s film, “Why we Fight” expresses a sense of understanding the meaning of wars. Films do not inevitably portray truth because they display what the film director views as important and beneficial for people to know.
The overall appeal of the cinema to the masses was particularly evident during the interwar era. Audiences worldwide wanted to watch the variety of films, particularly American produced films, and they always went back. The visibly attractive and glamorous Hollywood movies often depicted the success of the underdog over unjust authority. Values of cash over culture were often a theme in the early American films and societies with restricted social mobility, such as those in Europe, could dream of such a triumph. The working class and unemployed could fantasise about wealth, fame and freedom which America as a country was portrayed as offering.
To fully understand the relationship between a filmmaker and a composer, it is helpful to take a closer look at the filmmaker’s position towards music in film in general; these can of course differ substantially from one director to another. It seems, one must think, that the complete narrative and emotive potential of film music is not yet fully recognized and appreciated in many film produc...
The Great Depression is when the film industry boomed with new types of movies like: gangster films and musicals. They were both born in the Great Depression. Most films show the hardships of the time period. Some of the films display this very well for example Modern Times staring Charlie Chaplin. One of the more well-known gangster films was The Public Enemy.. These films have very different views of the time period but still have things in common. This paper will compare Modern Times and The Public Enemy.
Due to the impressionable essence of the audience, the film’s message has a responsibility as it will leave an impact on the viewership. The film Stagecoach (1939) was a Western film which essentially spoke to generations of men seeking a model of manhood grounded in bravery, moral violence, and independence; whereas with the women characters, they represented civilization and domestication” (Dr Nance week 3). The reception of the audience was positive; the film thrived in society as it came out at a time where the Great Depression saw a time of family breakdown and disillusionment of the American Dream (Dr Nance week 3). Essentially, the dark aspects and the gendered representations resonated with the audience as it was relevant to their own lives. The impact of this film, however, can come from the desensitization to violence in society. Another example can be from the film King Kong and the representation of the ‘damsel in distress’ trope of a woman needing to be saved. Although it generated an overall popular response, the detrimental effects comes from the domestic imbalance and influence it had on
Classic film noir originated after World War II. This is the time where post World War II pessimism, anxiety, and suspicion was taking the world by storm. Many films that were released in the U.S. Between 1939s and 1940s were considered propaganda films that were designed for entertainment during the Depression and World War II. During the 1930s many German and Europeans immigrated to the U.S. and helped the American film industry with powerf...
The 1930s was the beginning of the great film industry we have today. The 1930s (and some of the 1940s) was dubbed “The Golden Age of Hollywood”. This was the decade color and sound were introduced to film industry. Because of the Great Depression many families did not have any money and therefore wanted a cheap source of entertainment. Movies not only included a full length movie, but a cartoon, a newsreel and second movie called a “B-film”. This second film was not as good of quality as the main movie (A-film) and had lower quality. These films were allowed to experiment more with their topics than “A-films”. The prestigious films were expected to be about a topics that were popular and would then produce higher profits. The first drive-in
...Depression, artists and authors took inspiration from their daily lives. Creating art that focused on the despair and chaos of the depression, many representations of social issues can be seen in the different types of art. Although the thirties was a weary time for most, this did not stop it from having some fun. The popular music at the time included the ‘big band sound’. Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Jimmy Dorsey and Benny Goodman were popular crooners, to name a few. In cinema, “King Kong” was released (one of the original horror/adventure films). It was a huge hit because of the special effects included in the movie. Filmed in colour, “The Wizard of Oz” was another popular movie at the time, and is now a classic. There were good things in the 1930’s, such as culture, music and art, but the Depression brought the social conditions plummeting down (overall).
"I saw the novel...was becoming subordinated to a mechanical...art...I had a hunch that the talkies would make even the best selling novelist as archaic as silent pictures." (Mizener 165) F. Scott Fitzgerald was keenly aware of the shift in the public's interest from novels to movies. This change made Hollywood stand alone for Fitzgerald as the sole means for expressing his talent and for gaining appropriate recognition, as well as the new way to make money. For F. Scott Fitzgerald, the combination of celebrity and financial benefits made Hollywood an alluring scene.
Hollywood in the 30’s and 40’s was the golden-age of a new era of filmmaking. The films of that period went beyond the silent films being produced in the past. Diagetic sounds like dialogue and more advanced filmic techniques would push cinema to a new mode of filmmaking, that being classicism. The classical Hollywood structure was being developed in the past with silent films but it came to full fruition in the 30’s, where many filmmakers would produce feature-length films with fully developed storylines and the use of glamorous lighting and larger-than life characterizations to give audiences a more cinematic experience. Genre films like: the gangster, comedy, western, horror, and other various genres of the era, provided large revenue for studios and the creative means for filmmakers to manipulate the mise-en-scene to make each genre films slightly different from the rest. Classicism would provide audiences with clear-cut characterizations, simple storylines, non-intrusive directing, and simple but entertaining conclusions that neatly wrap up the story.
In the article “The Thematic Paradigm” exerted from his book, A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, Robert Ray provides a description of the two types of heroes depicted in American film: the outlaw hero and the official hero. Although the outlaw hero is more risky and lonely, he cherishes liberty and sovereignty. The official hero on the other hand, generally poses the role of an average ordinary person, claiming an image of a “civilized person.” While the outlaw hero creates an image of a rough-cut person likely to commit a crime, the official hero has a legend perception. In this essay, I will reflect on Ray’s work, along with demonstrating where I observe ideologies and themes.
In conclusion, the character of Dalton Trumbo, the theme, and the perseverance shown in the movie contributed to the enjoyment of the movie. It’s extremely difficult to find a history based movie that wasn’t dry and boring, and you were able to pull off a well done and entertaining movie about the past. Being as it may, I’m unfamiliar with Hollywood in general, just that it exists and a numerous number of famous people live and work there. This movie gave me a new perspective on Hollywood and it’s
Alfred Hitchcock’s unique sense of filmmaking and directing has allowed him to become a very famous and well known film maker of his time. He uses similar recurring themes, elements, and techniques in many of his films to engage the viewers in more than just the film, but the meaning and focus behind the story.
For someone who completed just three big feature films in his brief career, the effect of James Dean on popular culture is truly remarkable. It is not just the films themselves, but the persona and the magnetism that James Dean exhibited that attracts such fascination and admiration. James Dean's performances hint at so much more. His reaction to the world around him seems to sum up how so many young people around the world relate to their lives.
With the discovery of techniques such as continuous editing, multiple camera angles, montage editing, and more, silent filmmaking developed from simple minute-long films to some of the most beautiful, awe-inspiring films that have ever been created—in only a few decades. In Visions of Light, someone alluded that if the invention of sound had come along a mere ten years later, visual storytelling would be years ahead of what it is today. This statement rings true. When looking at the immense amount of progress that was made during the silent era of films, one must consider where the art of film has been, where it is, and where it is