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France: Poetic Realism, The Popular Front, and the Occupation (1930-1945) m-16

France: Poetic Realism, The Popular Front, and the Occupation (1930-1945) France Occupation – Study Sheet   TERMS/PEOPLE Poetic Realism - Many of the best-remembered French films of the 1930s belong to a group that has been termed Poetic Realism. This was not a unified movement, like French Impressionism or Soviet Montage; it was, rather, a looser tendency. Poetic Realism films often center on characters living on the margins of society, either as unemployed members of the working class or as criminals. After a life of disappointment, these shabby figures find a last chance at intense, ideal love. After a brief period they are disappointed again, and the films end with the disillusionment or deaths of the central characters. The overall tone is one of nostalgia and melancholy. La Petite Lise . Poetic Realism blossomed in the mid-1930s, and its leading filmmakers were Julien Duvivier, Marcel Carné, and Jean Renoir.   FILMS Le Million  (René Clair, 1931) lotto ticket coat – p

Cinema and the State: The USSR, Germany, and Italy (1930-1945) m-15

Cinema and the State: The USSR, Germany, and Italy (1930-1945) TERMS/PEOPLE   Adolf Hitler In 1933, the Fascistic Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (“National Socialist German Workers’ Party,” known as the Nazis) gained parliamentary control, and Adolf Hitler became chancellor. The Nazis became the only legal political party, and Hitler ruled as a dictator. Benito Mussolini : Mussolini (Italian: [beˈniːto mussoˈliːni];[1] 29 July 1883 – 28 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the Fascist coup d'état in 1922 until his deposition in 1943, and Duce ("Leader") of Italian Fascism from the establishment of the Italian Fasces of Combat in 1919 until his execution in 1945 during the Italian Civil War. As dictator of Italy and founder of the fascist movement, Mussolini inspired other far right rulers such as Adolf Hitler, Francisco Franco, and António de Oliveira

Other Studio Systems: Britain, Japan, India, China - m 14

Other Studio Systems: Britain, Japan, India, China TERMS/PEOPLE Alexander Korda was a Hungarian-born British film producer and director and screenwriter, who founded his own film production studios and film distribution company Several producers had received extensive investments and loans but had few profitable films. As a result, many sources of funding dried up, and responsible production firms suffered along with opportunists. Alexander Korda’s policy of big-budget films had been only partially justified. Korda was active in the British film industry, and soon became one of its leading figures. He was the founder of London Films and, post-war, the owner of British Lion Films, a film distribution company. Korda produced many outstanding classics of the British film industry Alfred Hitchcock British International Pictures The two main firms, Gaumont-British and British International Pictures (BIP) had been formed during the silent era but now expanded significantly. BIP’s ne

The Hollywood Studio System (1930-1945) - Module 13

The Hollywood Studio System (1930-1945) TERMS/PEOPLE   Deep-space compositions keep all planes in focus. Fades/Dissolves/Wipes (Transitional Techniques) Traveling mattes were commonly used to make wipes, where a line passes across the screen, removing one shot gradually as the next appears. In 1933, wipes became fashionable as a way of replacing fades or dissolves (two other transitional techniques) when RKO optical-printer expert Linwood Dunn created elaborate transitions, moving in fan, sawtooth, and other shapes, in Melody Cruise and Flying Down to Rio. In the following clip, a wipe with a zigzag edge provides a transition from one shot to another in Flying Down to Rio.   Genre (Musical/Screwball Comedy/Horror/Social Problem Film/Gangster Film/Film Noir/War Film The Musical The Screwball Comedy The Horror Film UA The Social Problem Film warner bros - fury The Gangster Film Film Noir The War Film Matte Painting :By blocking off a part of a frame with a mat

The Introduction of Sound - module 12

 The Introduction of Sound Academy Ratio Incidentally, during the early years of sound, the track occupied part of the left of the rectangular frame used just for the image in the silent era. Thus, many early sound films had square images. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences soon recommended putting black strips at the top and bottom of the image to re-create a rectangular frame; this Academy ratio (or Academy aperture) remained standard until the advent of widescreen ratios in the 1950s.   Blimps Technicians worked quickly to solve such problems. Studios soon built padded metal blimps that silenced the camera but were far less awkward to use than booths.   Microphone Booms Next came microphone booms, poles that moved the microphone overhead to follow moving sources or swing from actor to actor. Perhaps most important, from 1931 on it became increasingly possible to record more than one track of sound for a scene and to mix them into a single final track.  

International Trends of the 1920s - module 11

 International Trends of the 1920s    Film Europe 1920s Major alternatives to the classical filmmaking style of Hollywood arose in the years after World War I: French Impressionism, German Expressionism, and Soviet Montage. These three movements occurred within the context of a general reaction against the domination of international markets by Hollywood films. Directly after World War I, nations competed against each other as well as against Hollywood, hoping to prosper in the international film market. The German government fostered the growth of its film industry by continuing the wartime ban on imported films. In France, despite many efforts, adverse conditions kept production low. For a few years, Italy continued to produce many films but could not regain its strong pre-1914 position. Other countries sought to establish even a small amount of steady production. Erich Pommer, head of the powerful German company Ufa, concluded a pact with Louis Aubert, a major Parisian distr