I was recently given the opportunity to audit our Introduction to Film class this summer, which began this week. By taking the class, I am hoping to gain insight into the beginning of film and the exploration of different film genres and techniques. As this was the first week of our class, we began with very early film—specifically, film created by Georges Melies, the Lumiere brothers, and Thomas Edison. Two of these films were also on my list of films to watch: A Trip to the Moon [IMC DVD 791.4309 M194 2002] and The Great Train Robbery [IMC DVD 791.4309 G786 2002].

Georges Melies, one of the earliest filmmakers, was known as the magician of film, astounding his audience through spectacular special effects. His films are surrounded in fantasy, and this is best shown through his film A Trip to the Moon, where a group of academics decide to shoot themselves in a rocket onto the moon. There, they discover a native race who they must fight off in order to return back to Earth. Since color film was not yet possible, early filmmakers would sometimes hand-paint the film itself in order to add color—exactly what was done with this film (finally restored in 2011). In addition to the special effects, this film was also remarkable because of the presence of a full storyline, which added length to the film itself. Before then, the Lumiere brothers had created much shorter films, which focused on every day activities. Melies was the first to establish a distinct plot and to incorporate unconventional aspects within it.

Our second film, The Great Train Robbery, was directed by Edwin S. Porter shortly after Melies’s A Trip to the Moon. Porter’s film portrayed a then common occurrence of trains being robbed, but created it into a fiction. There are distinct characters and plotline, and the audience can easily follow between various cutaways. However, what makes this film iconic is one scene in the movie, where the bandit chief points his gun directly at the audience and shoots. By doing this, Porter breaks the fourth wall, and to the audience it would have been terrifying. Movie theater managers had the option to show this scene at either the beginning or the end of the film, and many learned to show it last as a result.  

This was a great way to start the class, and put down the foundation for future film interpretation. Next week we will be covering the Western, a genre that I have very little experience with. Stay tuned and follow along at https://letterboxd.com/peterstanley/list/1001-movies-you-must-see-before-you-die/ .