You were asked on January 26 (see HOMEWORK on previous posts) to read a film script from IMSDB.com. Today, please spend the class period reviewing this film script.
A film review should have the following parts to it:
1. Gather facts about your movie. The script you chose probably was already made into a film and distributed by a production company. In other words, it's a movie that we can see since it exists. Go to IMDB.com and gather some information about who directed the film, who has the writing credits, who acted in the film, etc. You'll need this sort of info for your introduction.
2. Start off an introduction to your review with a clever statement or hook. Grab our attention and explain why you chose to read the script you did. Ex. "I was ten years old when my parents took me to see Star Wars. It changed my life..." then add those details from #1 above. Who made the movie, when was it made, who directed it, who starred in it? etc.
3. In the second paragraph summarize the film script's plot. What is its premise--what happens in the beginning, the middle, and the end of the film? Hit just the highlights and big events. You don't have to go into the minutia of minor characters, unless you're trying to make a point.
4. In the next paragraph analyze the writing of the movie. This is your chance to discuss the WRITING. What did you notice about the author's style? How was reading this script different from reading a play? What did you learn from reading this script about writing films?
5. Use examples to support your statements/opinions.
6. Conclude your review in a thoughtful way. Who might like reading this script? Why is this film a good one to read? Have you changed your mind about its relevance? What did you learn about writing, the film industry, character development, plotting, setting, imagery, etc.? How might the reading of this script help you choose scripts in the future?
Here are some sample film reviews at
Script Magazine. Before you write your review, check out one of these and read it to help you with the form.
Today in class you should write your review and turn it in for class credit. The review is due at the end of class today, so don't waste your time! Chop-chop. Get writing!
If you finish early, please look at the following material and view these films. Take notes in your notebook on Birt Acres, R.W. Paul, Cecil Hepworth and the Pathe Frere Company. We'll discuss these guys along with Edwin S. Porter and George Melies next class.
France and the U.S. were quick to jump on the possibilities of film projection. But quick on their heels was Britain. These three countries have a long and respected reputation when it comes to film making. They were there at the beginning.
Birt Acres & R.W. Paul
Birt Acres was born in the USA in 1854, orphaned at the age of fourteen during the American civil war and was taken in by his aunt. Around 1872 Acres was sent to Paris to complete his education at the Sorbonne. Acres returned to the United States four years later to lead the life of a Frontiersman and it during a period of eight or nine years became quite wealthy. Around 1885 he moved to England. He set up a studio in the seaside resort of Devon for the production of painted portraits and photography. In 1894 Acres was introduced to electrical engineer, Robert W. Paul. At this time Paul was in the process of manufacturing copies of Edison’s Kinetoscope and was anxious to construct a camera with which to produce films to show on his machines.
The pair worked together and Acres used the camera to make the first successful film in Britain - Incident at Clovelly Cottage in 1895. It was at this point where the two entered into partnership with a ten year business agreement. This agreement lasted only six weeks before splitting. During their brief partnership, the two shot films. It is widely believed that Paul was angry because Acres had patented his own Kinetic camera in his own name - almost identical to the one they had developed together. The resulting projector became known as the Kinetic Lantern, Kineopticon and the Cinematoscope.
As for
Paul, he invented
the Theatrograph projector and shot the first "news" films. Paul also made various “Actuality” films, and a short comedy - “The Soldier’s Courtship.” He is, also, curiously, responsible for the first Scrooge film. In 1898 Paul began construction on Britain’s first film studios in Muswell Hill, North London and during that summer produced over eighty short dramatic films. Paul’s production company peaked during 1900 and 1905 but he gradually became disenchanted with the business. He returned to his previous occupation, concentrating on electrical engineering.
Meanwhile,
Acres gave the first public performance of his projector at the Royal Photographic Society in 1896 - five weeks
before the screening of Lumière’s Cinématographe and Paul’s Theatograph. Acres formed his own company - the Northern Photographic Works which specialized in coating, perforating and processing film. In 1898 he unveiled the
Birtac - the first 'sub-standard gauge' cine camera and projector, instead of normal 35mm film the camera used narrower width film - typically 17.5 mm. Unfortunately for Acres, within weeks, a rival 17.5 mm camera/projector was announced -
the Biokam by the Warwick Trading Company. The Biokam benefitted from its heavy backing and cheapness - half the price of the Birtac. Regardless of this, Birt Acres invented the first amateur cine camera and remained in the film business until his death in 1918.
Cecil Hepworth
Cecil Hepworth (1874 –1953):
How it Feels to Be Run Over (1900)
Explosion of a Motor Car (1900)
Alice in Wonderland (1903) by Cecil Hepworth
• Hepworth was an English film director, producer and screenwriter, he was among the founders of the British film industry and continued making films into the 1920s.
• His father was a famous magic lantern showman.
• He became involved in the early stages of British filmmaking, working for both Birt Acres and Charles Urban, and wrote the first British book on the subject in 1897.
• With his cousin Monty Wicks he set up the production company Hepworth and Co. — later renamed the Hepworth Manufacturing Company, then Hepworth Picture Plays.
• In 1899 they built a small film studio in Walton-on-Thames. The company produced about three films a week, sometimes with Hepworth directing.
•
Rescued by Rover (1905) was a huge success at the box office, starring a collie in the title role. The film is now regarded as an important development in film grammar, with shots being effectively combined to emphasise the action. Hepworth was also one of the first to recognize the potential of film stars, both animal and human, with several recurring characters appearing in his films.
• The company continued making popular films into the 1920s.
• The company went public to fund a large studio development but lost money and closed.
• Tragically, all of Hepworth's original film negatives were melted down.
Pathe Freres Company
Charles Pathé (1863-1957), French motion-picture magnate, who, in the early 20th century, was the first to create a system for mass-producing motion pictures. It is thanks to The Pathe Frere Co. that films were shared and distributed around the world. Now, a film made in New York could be seen as far away as Japan. This is the start of a world-wide cinema (and a lucrative business venture...) Check out information about Pathe and some of his company's films:
Aladdin & the Magic Lamp (1907)
The Policeman's Little Run (1907) directed by Ferdinand Zecca
Slippery Jim (1910) directed by Ferdinand Zecca
Onesime Horloger (Onesime, Clock-Maker) (1912)
• Pathé began his career as an importer and merchant of the
phonograph in France.
• He extended the business to include projectors and films, creating the company Pathé Frères in 1896.
• By 1901 he concentrated on film production, together with French director and producer
Ferdinand Zecca.
• Pathé made films rapidly and reinvested the profits back into the business to improve the technical quality of his films.
• By 1905 the company was employing numerous production teams of scriptwriters, set builders, cameramen, directors, and actors, making short films in an assembly-line process.
• Pathe Company opened in New York in 1904 as a subsidiary of Pathe Freres (Bros.) in France and boasted a catalogue of 12,000 titles.
• In 1909, Pathe was asked to join Edison in forming the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC) to try to shut out smaller studios.
• In 1911,
Pathe Weekly was issued. This is
the first US newsreel.
• WWI took its toll on the company. Pathe ceased production in the US in 1914.
• In 1915, the Pathe Freres temporarily moved its headquarters to New York and changed its name to Pathe Exchange, Inc.
• In 1923, Pathe Exchange sold for 26 million Francs and came under the control of Merrill Lynch.
• In 1926, Joe Kennedy (father of John F. Kennedy) becomes president of the company, and a director.
• In 1930, Pathe Exchange merges with PDC, K-A-O and DeMille to become
RKO
Hollywood has never been that original compared to early filmmakers. Here's a few films that keep getting made over and over again. Other films of the early 20th century:
HOMEWORK: Please take notes on the Brits and the Pathe Frere Co. Watch the films posted here and keep this information in your journal! Whatever you did not complete in the lab today, please complete as homework.
