Origin: Fantasia was one of the most popular animated films ever made by Walt Disney. The film consisted of eight various clips with classical music in the background played by Leopold Stokowski. However Walt Disney had the idea to have unrelated clips all in one movie. This was the first time something like this had been attempted. The film was inspired by the poem, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice written by Goethe. This film eventually became a sort of concert-movie combination. Purpose: The movie, Fantasia was created as an animated movie to entertain people of all ages. The reason for this very storyline being created was due to the fact that Mickey Mouse had been declining in popularity and needed a boost. Walt Disney wanted to create a magical pattern between the music and events in the film. He played the scenes to classical music to give audiences a new experience. He was attempting to change the film industry. Value: The 1940-1950 was a time of war and technological advancements. WWII took place for much of the decade and even afterwards its affects were seen in the lives of those in America. The movie, Fantasia was even affected since due to the war, many people didn't go to the movies and this greatly affected the gross of the film. Walt Disney recognized this time as one of sadness and hardship and sought to create a movie to help people take their minds off of the devastating war. This film was the best representation of this time, because it showed the impacts of the war and described the progression in animated films. Limitations: This film showed many of the attitudes and views of the time. However it contained come limitations in what it could express. The film didn't show the outcomes or events during the war. It also didn't show the views of the Americans towards the war. Other Famous Movies:
Origin: City Lights was known as Charlie Chaplin's greatest film. Charlie Chaplin produced, directed, edited, made music, and created the screenplay for this film. He also acted in the film as its main character, "The Tramp". "The Tramp" first appeared in 1914 and was depicted as a man with baggy pants, a tight coat, a cane, large shoes, and a small hat. This movie was created as a silent film and came out in the U.S. in 1931. It was inspired by Frank Capra's previous film, The Strong Man, which came out in 1926. City Lights focused on the life of a lower class citizen and love. Purpose: City Lights was made as a comedy and love film meant to entertain audiences. Charlie Chaplin was famous for his humor in films. He was one of the first men to begin created comical movies. The movie also focused on classes and how the lower-class was treated in society. City Lights was also one of the few silent movies of the time, since sound had come out. Chaplin didn't like sound films and prefered silent films. Value: 1930-1940 was a time of development in film and social unrest. Sound films were being produced at this time, but Chaplin was one of the last directors to keep making silent films. He felt that the acting was lost when people began speaking instead of acting out words. People were also seperated between rich and poor. By Chaplin playing a poor individual one can see how the lower class was being treated. Also this made films more attractive towards the lower class rather than just the high class. This is the best representation of this time, because it marks the end of the silent film era and tells of the views of the time period. Limitations: Although this film portrayed many views of the time, it contained some limits. The piece didn't allow for one to be able to see how the society might have actually been. Since the film was intended for humor, it is hard to tell which aspects of life were true. The rich perspective isn't shown very well in the film. Additionally, the film showed a biased opinion towards social divisions. Other Famous Movies:
Origin: Metropolis was the pioneer work for science fiction films. It was directed by Fritz Lang and written by him and his wife. This movie was accompanied with music and subtitles since it was a silent film. The movie came out in 1927 in Germany. It was well accepted by the audiences and was the most expensive film produced at the time. Lang was inspired to make Metropolis after he visited New York, the city of the future. The movie explored the idea of the future and the division of the upper and worker class. Purpose: This movie was the first feature length science fiction film created. It explored the treatment of the working class vs the rich, upper class. Lang intended to express his feelings about the division of classes in Germany. He sought to inform people on where this treatment of the working class was going towards. He also used it to go against machines replacing workers in industry. Another aspect of this film was the future of the human race. Metropolis was one of the first films to explore the future and what it might bring. Lang created the standard for all science fiction films to live up to. Value: 1920-1930 was a time of restoration of Germany and improvement in film sets. After WWI, Germany had changed its government and views on how the country should be run. The economy had been greatly harmed from the war and workers began losing jobs. This film allows one to tell the difference between the upper and worker class(also for U.S.A.). Additionally the film demonstrated new techniques for creating sets. It used mirrors to places actors in miniature sets. This influenced people to try and create complex sets for their films. This is the best representation of this time period, because it demonstrated the events of the time and advancements. Limitations: This piece contains a significant amount of value, but contains some missing factors. This film focusses on the worker class, but doesn't include other classes. Also it only included the problems between the upper and worker class. Lang placed many of his views of the future in this movie, when others may have strongly disagreed with him.
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Origin: Broken Blossoms was a tragic dramatic film masterpiece. It was directed by D. W. Griffith, who was seen as the master of feature films. Broken Blossoms came out in 1919 in the United States. This film was played as a silent film and was accompanied with music. It used controlled studio environments to create a more intimate setteing for the audience. The film was inspired by Thomas Burke's novel Limehouse Nights. The movie was surrounded by a lot of controversy since it explored a relationship between an American girl and Chinese man. It explored racism towards Chinese immigrants and the idea of inter-racial marriage. Purpose:Since it was one of the first films on racism, Broken Blossoms sparked many mixed feelings by viewers. It ventured towards the thought of inter-marriage. This developed the content which directors placed in their films.Griffith wanted to bring awareness to the unjustice going on in the U.S. This was also one of the first feature length films created for audiences. The film was theatrical-based and was filmed in only 2 sets. This was done to focus on space and time. It inspired directors that followed to attempt to make controversial films that would focus around these problems. Value:1910-1920 was a time where racism and mistreatment of other races was widely present. However, some people disagreed with this attitude towards other people and tried to convince people to end the injustice. For this purpose, Broken Blossoms was made. The film was surrounded around the romance between a white female and Chinese male. This was seen as uncommon at the time and was unlike most other movies of the time. Another added value is that this film began to challenge directors to lengthen films for a better experience. This is the best representation of this time period, because it shows the thoughts of the time and improvement in film.
Limitations: The film allows one to see some thoughts of the time, however it has its limits. The piece doesn't allow one to see how many people were still racist and how other races were being treated. During the time period many people were openly racist and immigrants like the Chinese were viewed as inferior to white Americans. This piece was one of the first major films to dive into the issue of racism. The voices of the American public and Chinese immigrants were included, but other races weren't given thier input.
Origin: Le Voyage Dans La Lune ("A Trip to the Moon") was the first science fiction film to be viewed on screen. It was created by French director and magician George Melies. This was the greatest of 500 films made by Melies. Due to there being no audio at the time, this was a silent film and was accompanied by music played by an artist at the theater. The movie originally came out in 1902 in France. However, it was pirated and sold under other directors' names and sold in many different countries. Melies was inspired by Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon (1865). The movie explored the idea of space and journeying towards the moon at a time when that was thought impossible. Purpose: Being the first science fiction film of the time, Le Voyage Dans La Lune attracted a lot of attention from movie-goers. It began to explore the idea of the unknown and reaching towards space. This changed the types of films that people began to produce. Additionally this was a film which George Melies not only directed, but also played the main role, designed sets and costumes, photographed, and produced. Melies used his experience as a magician to incorporate special effects into the film, such as aliens turning to smoke and chairs turning into telescopes. This was also one of the first satire films intended to make fun of the scientific community. It inspired directors that followed to make films similar to this and started the science fiction genre. Value: 1900-1910 was a time of discovery and research of space. People began to talk about journeying into space and how it was possible. La Voyage Dans La Lune was, as said previously, a satire and was made to ridicule the various scientists claiming that space travel was possible. The men in the film are launched into space through a cannon without any gear or oxygen. This is meant to represent how space travel is simply a fiction. Another added value is that this film began to challenge directors to add visual effects to their movies. This is the best representation of this time period, because it shows the thoughts of the time and development in film. Limitations: However useful this piece is, it has it limits. The piece doesn't allow one to decipher how many people disagreed with the thought of travel into space. During the time period some people thought of space travel theories as insane, while others thought it was groundbreaking. This piece was seen as average in meaning, but new in terms of effects and plot. The voices of the general people are not seen in the film; only the Melies is able to say what he wants. Another Famous Movie:
