A hundred years old movie

by Natalia Nowak and Dagmara Blacha
Gimnazjum nr 2 im. św. Walentego w Bieruniu
 

The history of radio had been explored during our first mobility in Spain. The works, which were exhibited in Ferrol, are available on the blog.

History of radio



This time another medium is in the spotlight – a movie. We would like to remind you some of the milestones. As you may presume, it is not without a reason that we are going to focus on the film – there is the 100th anniversary of one of them.

Since the dawn of mankind, humans have been trying to prolong their existence by the cave paintings, sculptures or portraits. Nevertheless, the first photography, taken in 19th century, occured to be a turning point. Later, the first film was created. December 28th 1895 is believed to be a symbolic date of the beginning of cinematography. On that day, brothers Lumière were screening their documents – each of movies wasn’t longer than a minute as that was the capacity of tape. “Arrival of a train at la Ciotat” came as a real bombshell. During the first projections, when the train was arriving at the station, the viewers were running away and yelling with fear.

Though Lumière brothers’ films are thought to be the foundation of the cinema, their films were just still images presented in motion. It was only when the film editing, camera movements, different plans, and later also the background music were added - the film ceased to be just a moving photography. Exactly 100 years ago (some people claim 101 years ago) the first film production was presented; it was ‘The birth of a Nation” by an American director David Wark Griffith.

At that time, films were silent; boards with dialogues were used instead of sound. But soon filmmakers realized that the connection of image with sound would make higher impression on the audience. “The Jazz Singer” (1927) was an authentic breakthrough – for the first time people could hear the actor’s voice.

 The Jazz Singer (1927)

By watching the old movies we have become more conscious of the incredible pace of technical growth. Although the old films aren’t compelling for us, we appreciate the work of the first filmmakers and constructors. Thanks to them, we are able to use films in our project –simply by using our mobile phones.

 Links:
https://nai.edu.pl/files/courses/196/modul_II/dokumenty/poczatki_filmu.pdf
http://www.historiasztuki.com.pl/strony/015-00-01-FILM-TECHNIKA.html