Film Theory And Practice

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This is the first known photograph of a human.  This is Paris in 1838.  There are two people visible, a man having his shoes polished and a bootblack who is more indistinct.  This photo is reversed to show the view as Daguerre would have seen it, as all daguerreotypes are backwards.  




This is the Boulevard de Temple, and in 1838 was known as the Boulevard of Crime because of all the penny dreadful type theaters.  Much of it was destroyed when Baron Haussmann did his thing.  Some have thought the man was standing at a water pump but this apparently is a bootblack at work.





Close examination shows other people.  Two women and a pram.





Child and dog across the street.




Childs face in window.  I got all this off of Mashable, written and curated by Amanda Uren and Chris Wild.





Aujourde' hui.  I started with this picture because I wish to talk about what film has meant to me.  In a way, this was the first motion recorded, as this was an 8 minute exposure.  Of course, this is nonsensical but I believe I do have a point.  
My mom took film classes when I was a kid so I was always reading her textbooks.  I grew up as a pre-teen talking about Maya Deren and the Lumieres to extremely disinterested people.  Of course, one could not get movies on demand like now so many of these films I never saw.  I was extremely interested in Kenneth Anger because he was famous for 8 millimeter films shot when he was 14.  This showed how much power movies had even in the hands of a child.  His work is hard to find and only rarely can I find a complete film.





This movie is spoken of in the same reverence as Citizen Kane. I read a lot about this one although it is very short-




Talley Beatty in A Study In Choreography For Camera, Maya Deren. 

https://youtu.be/YSY0TA-ttMA.  Another very famous movie, Meshes of the Afternoon.




And I have never tired of reading about this one.  Un Chien Andalou,  Buneul. (and Dali)!
I have always been amazed how how very cheap and simple movies are raved about by critics and scholars, like this one which I have read about since the age of nine and just saw the other day-





Sins of the Fleshapoids, Mike Kuchar, 1965.  Filmed in his apartment bedroom one night after work.
 





And, of course, Potemkin.  Eisenstein.  And yes, it is a fantastic movie.  All of these films inspired and captivated, even the very cheap ones.  Image is more important than words in film.  But image has to advance the idea, the story.  That is the most important thing of all.  To do that a film, a book, a painting must entertain.  Without captivation there is no retention.  





Triumph of the Will.  Reifenstahl.  Evil but extremely watchable.  Speaking of image and evil:




Deliverance.  1972, John Boorman.  The first real horror movie I ever saw.  Man is a wolf to man.




Mr. Deeds goes to Town.  Capra.  Pure Hollywood bullshit.  Outstanding entertainment.




Well, that's all I got to say about all this.  Be seeing you!


(I forgot about this guy.  He started it all)-





Niepce.

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