Video presentation - plan

During this five minute video I will discuss moving image examples which I have analysed and work which I have produced which is inspired by early film pioneers. I will also discuss the development and principles of editing and continuity through early examples of work from the Lumiere brothers  and George Melies.


The Development of editing

Auguste and Louis also famously known as The Lumiere Brothers are considered pioneers of early cinema. Their first film was of a group of workers walking out of their family factory in Lyon, France. This shot lasted for over a minute and it only consisted of one static shot which was recorded on a tripod. They were known for introducing long shots without any cuts and sticking to the same angle.

Examples of the Lumiere Brothers work in modern TV/Film

There are many modern television shows and films which use techniques inspired by the Lumiere brothers.

A good example would be the 1992 film Hard Boiled. This film has a very famous action sequence in a hospital. This scene has a long tracking shot which lasts for two minutes and forty seconds without any cutaways. In this shot it could be said that the director was inspired by the very early work of the Lumiere brothers. This type of long take which the Lumiere brothers used was very successful for the time as it was engaging for audiences because they had nothing like it to compare it to. So to see this in fairly recent film history is a rarity which is enjoyed by audiences because not only is it a classic technique but it also makes the film different from others and thus subverts the stereotype.

Whereas conventionally in modern films directors choose to use fast cuts so to engage the audience and keep the narrative flowing at an exciting pace. In modern film and TV long whole takes are rarely used, this is because we as an audience have adapted to different styles and we often react a lot better to fast cutting techniques. A director who is well known for using short fast cuts is Edgar Wright. He famously uses extreme fast cuts in his films. Some of which being in his acclaimed hit Shaun Of The Dead, as you can see here. Wright uses a vast amount of fast cuts in a short space of time so to bring about a sort of rushed but exhilarating feel to his films.

The Lumiere brothers did the exact opposite of this by using long cuts to show the perspective of the scene. This worked brilliantly at the time because it was all anyone had seen. Their use of long cuts also showed the difference between what is real and what isn't.

Many documentaries also use this technique to show the larger scale of life. Famously David Attenborough's nature based documentaries use long takes so to show the larger scale of the world as well as portraying the cinematography. The use of these long takes without any cuts also gives a more leisurely style to it. This is something which the Lumiere brothers tried to do with their first films.

George Melies

As well as looking at the work of the Lumiere brothers I also looked at the early work of film pioneer George Melies also known as the father of special effects. He is accredited for creating the fade in and fade out effect in movies and by mistake he discovered how to create stop motion creations. He also learnt how to render thick visual effects. One of Melies' most famous films was 'A Trip To The Moon' which also starred himself. The short film was a silent and it lasted for 13 minutes. Due to technology at the time it was filmed in black and white. So Melies took it upon himself to colour the film the visuals in , this took place in the post production. Without Melies cinema would not have progressed as far as to what it is now. The discovery of transitions like fade in and fade out might not have been so used or discovered and he has been a massive inspiration to many filmmakers. Especially to Martin Scorsese who even made a film about him in 2012 called Hugo.

It is fair to say that watching back now the special effects may look rather poor but at the time they were a big deal and nothing like that had ever been seen before. Films like Avatar and Lord Of The Rings were all thanks to the great Melies who helped to carve the way for special effects and make them as great as they are now. Special effects are great for the film industry because they can boost a films potential and add money to the corporation as well as being able to help advance the narrative along the way.

As well as the introduction of special effects Melies has also helped to break the gap between producer and consumer making us all prosumers. Meaning that anyone anywhere can make their own film without a budget or good equipment. This is exactly the case for Aardman animation company who started their own production team creating stop motion creations. Their most famous being of course Wallace And Gromit. So without Melies it is fair to say that the development of stop motion would not be as it is now, as well as the inspiration of Aardman animation company who were of course inspired by the very George Melies. This and the work of the Lumiere brothers and many other pioneers of cinema helped to create the diverse industry we have now!