Task One- Editing in Early Cinema

Some of the most basic films have made a huge impact on the development of editing. I will be guiding you through the developments of editing, and how film makers were influenced by everyday life .At first, there was no plot or editing in the films, as each film only ran for the amount of time that there was still film strip in the camera, which often wasn't much longer than a minutes worth of film.

The first large influence in the film industry was Thomas Edison. Thomas ran a film laboratory where the Kinetoscope and the kinetographic camera were invented. He also developed the 35mm film strip, which mean't that films could run on for longer without interruption. The 35 mm film strip soon became the industry standard, and he eventually developed the projector so that he could play back his films. One of his most recognised inventions was the first long-lasting practical light bulb.

Another large influence in the film industry were 'The Lumiere Brothers', who worked along side Edison to produce short films that were a long static, locked-down shot. At this point in history any kind of moving image amused the audience, so films were very basic, but still enjoyable by the public. A well known film by the 'The Lumiere Brothers' is 'Sortie d'usine' which was released in 1895.

Editing was first used by G.A. Smith in 1899, When he created a film called 'The Kiss in the Tunnel' which put two separate pieces of film together to create one small movie. The film was inspired by the genre 'Phantom ride', which gave people a POV shot of what sitting at the front of a train would look like. Smith felt like the 'The Phantom ride" genre needed something extra which inspired G.A.Smith to use cross-cutting in his film. This film was also the beginning of narrative editing, which means creating a story. Another film he made was 'The Miller and the Sweep'.

"The Kiss in the Tunnel" (1899)

  

                                         

                                                           "The Miller and the Sweep"

George Meilies was another early film maker, who was inspired by the films of 'The Lumiere Brothers', but saw possibilities of a novelty, more than the motions itself. Meillies was also a magician, which may gave him the idea of manipulating his skills with the power of editing. This was demonstrated in 'The Vanishing Lady' which was a short film that was released 1896, which shows a lady disappearing during a magic trick. Although it is Rumoured that he discovered the art of stop motion by accent when his camera broke down for a brief second. He also never moved the camera for close-ups or long shots, which suggests that he wasn't really that skilled of a film maker. Due to the commercial growth of the industry, George was forced out of the business in 1913, which resulted in him dying in poverty. In the recent film 'Hugo', elements of his life were portrayed.

                                                           "The Vanishing Lady" (1896)


Edwin S.Porter became part of the film industry in the late 1890s when he joined Thomas Edison's film laboratory, where they worked together to make longer, and more interesting films. The very famous film, 'Life of an American Fireman' was among the first to have a plot, and include action, there was also a close-up of a hand pulling a fire alarm, which introduced close-ups to the film industry. Another one of his famous films 'The Great Train Robbery' which was released in 1903, resembles the types of films we see today with action, and a plot. It is also a lot longer than what the audience at the time was used to so this made the audience very exited about how much film was developing. Porter also discovered important aspects of motion picture language.

                                                       "Life of an American Fireman"

                                                        "The Great Train Robbery" (1903)


Charles Pathe was a french pioneer of film and recording industries. One of his most famous pieces called 'The Horse that bottled' was the first example of parallel editing, which is a technique that demonstrates cutting between two story lines. He also operated an equipment and production company called 'Pathe', even after his death the company is still active.

D.W.Griffin was a US film director, and one of the early supporters of editing, and how editing can be manipulated. Griffin used cross-cutting to show parallel action in different locations, and he was one of the first early directors to create what is known as a 'feature' length film, which means a film that is generally over 90 minutes long. One of his most remembered, yet most controversial films was 'The Birth of a Nation' Which was over 3 hours long. This shocked the public as films were barely over 15 minutes long at the time, so 3 hours with no sound made the film seem a lot longer.

                                                          "The Birth of a Nation" (1915)