Component 2C: Realist and Expressive Essay

Early cinema throughout the 1910s and 1920s explored the contrasting methods that directors took in order to convey two distinctive filmmaking approaches, one portraying the realist and the other the expressive.

Expressionism is most identifiable in movements such as German expressionism and Soviet montage. Germany was at the forefront of expressive filmmaking due to the large infrastructure for film that remained after the war despite the economic problems crippling other sectors. German military supreme command took control and consolidated all major films studies in 1917 under one entity known as UFA which focused on nationalist films, forcing independent cinemas to produce unique films to get audiences’ attention such as ‘The Cabinet of Dr Caligari’ which has expressive wise-en-scene designed to give an artificial appearance with over-scaled furniture and dark-eyed makeup that reflected the inner psychology of characters. Soviet montage also came from a desire to utilise film as a political influence after the 1917 revolution, centralising the Russian film industry under one entity, Narkompos. Restricitions on imports meant a lack of raw film and filmmakers therefore began studying films, dissecting them and focusing on how the shots were edited to together with films such as ‘Battleship Potemkin’ representing this radical editorial thinking. Perhaps the most recognisable was the Kuleshov effect which focused on viewer response when presented with juxtaposing images.

Some opposed this new expressive nature of filmmaking such as the film critic Andre Bazin who, while not against editing as it forms a basis for a films structure, disagrees with the optical illusions it creates, adding meaning through juxtaposition rather than the content of an image which removes the freedom on the part of the spectator to select meaning for themselves. Bazin prefers the use of longer takes with less cuts in order to create a more realistic appearance, desiring the audience o make their own judgements about how long they should look at something and what they should be looking at. These beliefs are present in the cinema verite movement in France in the 1960s which focused its attention on the realistic day to day lives of people and capturing life in its realistic form.

Buster Keaton films utilise both expressive and realistic elements to create meaning throughout, using expressive aspects of filmmaking such as mine-en-scene and editing to convey meaning to the audience while references to the context of the time portray the realism of the films.

In the film ‘One Week’, both expressive and realist elements can be seen. The film portrays a week in the life of a recently married man as he attempts to build a house and settle down with his wife. Keaton attempts to carry a brick chimney up a ladder made from the front of his porch, extending to the top of the roof of his crooked house. The use of mundane items shown in an abstract manner reflects the expressive mise-en-scene present in German expressionism as carrying a chimney up a ladder is feasibly impossible as they are heavy objects, subverting the expectations of the audience which adds comedic effect to the scene. Keaton’s wife can later be seen washing in a bathtub as she begins to reach for a bar of soap, half standing and stopping mid-way as she acknowledges the camera looking at here. The fourth wall is then broken as a hand, presumably of the cameraman covers the lens as she reaches for the soap again and sits back down without flashing the audience. Initially the audience is given the impression that she is going to stand up but her acknowledgement of the camera breaks the illusion that the film is a realist representation of married life whilst creating humour for the audience. The film doesn’t neglect the use of realistic elements however, with references made to ideas such as superstition that draw on the beliefs of real life. The reaction from the women in the film at the umbrella being opened indoors and Keaton’s disposal of a horseshoe are representative of the long held belief in superstitions still presents in the 1920’s and the bad or good luck that comes from doing such things as a horseshoe is supposed to bring good luck when hung over a persons door. Keaton’s plays on these beliefs that would have been held by many in the audience and used them to give credence to the disastrous luck the couple are having.

Keaton’s film ‘The Scarecrow’ uses realistic editing throughout the film through the use of continuity editing which depicts the narrative in a linear way and allows the narrative to play out in real time, similar to the views of Bazin and without elements of Soviet montage. This narrative is also realistic with the idea of two men going after the same woman being a common theme throughout both 20th century film and literature as it connects with an audience as it’s highly likely they have experienced something similar for themselves in a male dominated society. The films mise-en-scene on the other hand contains more expressive elements. Keaton’s uses common household objects in atypical ways, placing them in unusual locations such as a salt shaker hanging above the table on a string and space for the table to attach to the wall. Presenting an abstract home designed to show he hasn’t compromised usability in a compact space. Both expressive and realist elements are sometimes used in cohesion in certain scenes. When a man attempts to chase Keaton, the car toppled backwards after he sits at the back due to him being over weight but despite being partially realistic, the emphasis of the man’s weight is used for comedic effect and is therefore an expressionist depiction of reality. Also, the horse that Keaton intends to escape on is given the appearance of a real horse as a fake one stands beside it, do when he is left on a stationary horse as a woman on the real one gallops away he is left in bewilderment. Both examples are used for comedic effect and emphasises a character’s personality and stupidity rather than being a realistic depiction of life.

Keaton’s ‘High Sign’ is also based on realistic premises but portrays them in an expressive manner so as the show different character traits without the use of sound. The film presents an ordinary person caught up in extraordinary events in an American society where gangs and violence are commonplace, typical of the time period and is represented by a gun range being a false front for the Blinking Buzzards gang while the possession of guns was legal in America, allowing for crimes such as robbery to occur frequently.

Mise-en-scene is often used expressively just like in German expressionism with Keaton taking out an absurdly large newspaper which continues to expand. This mise-en-scene is deliberately unrealistic to show how out of place he is this new town that he has been thrust into. While aiming at a row of bottle for target practice, he accidentally shoots ma standing beside them who leaps high into the air and proceeds to run rapidly away, clutching his behind to exaggerate the pain inflicted upon him for comedic effect and makes clear he is incapable of working for a gang. Also, the unique design of the house he attempts to protect shows an expressive method of manipulating mise-en-scene to express the ridiculousness of the events transpiring as he is far out of his depth. Both expressive and realistic cinematography are present as wide shots are used in the house as Keaton is chased while a long depth of field gives greater focus on everything happening simultaneously. The use of iris shots manipulates where the audiences focus should be such as on the death note given to the old man.

Finally, ‘Cops’, a film about a man aspiring to be a big businessman so that a woman can love him resulting in him becoming a criminal and chased by the police. The film has realist elements as it could be viewed as a social commentary on American society as the woman only desires him if he is rich and successful, showing marriage as a corrupt notion. This idea of money is prominent throughout the film and realistically depicts social tension present at the time. Expressive features are present in the film as seen through the opening shot when Keaton is shown through metal bars which gives the audience the impression that he is in prison, linking to the title of the film but instead he is standing behind the gates of the house of the woman he loves. The effect of this is that it manipulates the viewers perception through mise-en-scene in an expressive way similar to the manipulation present in German expressionism.

Keaton uses both expressive and realistic filmmaking techniques in order to have a varying affect on the viewer. Expressive elements provide audiences far greater meaning through comedic effect or as a narrative device while realistic elements allow for an audience to relate with what they are watching on screen.

Component 2C: Essay

To what extent can it be said that your chosen film movement represents an expressionist as opposed to a realist approach to filmmaking? Make detailed reference to examples from the silent film or films you have studied. [20]

Early cinema throughout the 1910s and 20s explored the contrasting methods that directors took in order to convey two filmmaking approaches, one that portrays the realist and the other the expressive.

German expressionism was at the forefront of expressive filmmaking during the early years of cinema due to the large infrastructure for film that remained after the economic problems had crippled other sectors because of the impact of the first world war. In 1917, German military supreme command took control and consolidated all major film studies under one entity known as UFA, focusing on nationalist films that would help Germany win the war. Due to UFAs restrictions, independent companies that survived were forced to produce something unique to grasp the audiences attention such as ‘The Cabinet of Dr Caligari’ which stood out because of its expressive use of mise-en-scene rather than realistic, designed to give an artificial appearance with over-scaled doors and dark-eyed makeup to achieve a creepy effect, reflecting how German expressionism used exaggerated mise-en-scene to reflect the inner psychology of the characters.

Soviet montage was another expressive development that came about in a similar fashion to how German expressionism had been developed. Cinema was a powerful tool for social and political influence for the new government after the 1917 revolution, meaning they took a great interest in film, centralising the Russian film industry under one entity known as Narkompos. Restricted imports and reduced manufacturing resulted in a lack of raw film stock which resulted in many filmmakers beginning to study films, dissecting them whilst focusing on the length of shots and how they were edited together that would result in the development of new soviet montage films, such as ‘Battleship Potemkin’ (S.M. Eisenstein).

Lev Kuleshov discovered what became known as the Kuleshov effect during his time working at a film school, where a shot of a person with no expression, cutting to different images and then back to the person resulted in different responses from the viewer. When it was intersected with a bowl of soup he was perceived to be feeling hungry, however when it altered to a shot of a woman on a couch, the viewer thought that the person was feeling desire. Soviet filmmakers believed this technique was the true power of cinema and was something that no other art form could do: juxtapose two images to crate a new meaning.

Whilst both these expressive film techniques are used to create new meaning, some opposed the classical and expressive editing, mainly the film critic André Bazin. Although he isn’t against editing due to it’s basis of a films structure, he’s against the optical illusions it creates, adding meaning through juxtaposition rather than content of an image. Expressive editing invents meaning through this juxtaposition instead of the images themselves, removing the freedom on the part of the spectator to select for themselves. Bazin prefers that filmmakers use longer takes with less cuts to create a more realistic appearance, favouring that the audience make their own judgements about what they are watching, directing their own viewing process such as how long they should look at something and what they should be looking at initially.

These beliefs that Bazin had can be further seen in the French film movement in the 1960s known as Cinema verite that focused it’s attention on the realistic day to day lives, capturing life in it’s realistic form.

Buster Keaton films use both expressive and realist elements to create meaning throughout, utilising expressive aspects of mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and performance whilst further focusing on the expressive to covey meaning to the audience.

In Keatons 1920 film ‘One Week’, expressive elements of soviet montage and german expressionism are used in favour of realistic elements typically favoured by Bazin. The film portrays a week in the life of a recently married man as he attempts to build a house and settle down with his wife. Keaton attempts to carry a supposedly heavy brick chimney up a tall ladder reaching to the roof that he had taken from the front of the porch as he attempts to build his crooked house. In taking of the front of the porch to use as a ladder it shows an abstract use of a mundane item whilst carrying a chimney up a roof should be an impossible feat due to a traditional chimney being heavier and not nearly light enough to carry that applies comedic effect to the scene.

Keaton’s wife in the film washes in a bathtub after a milk bottle explodes in her face. As she reaches for a bar of soap besides the bath, half standing, stopping as she acknowledges the camera looking at her, engaging with the audience and breaking the fourth wall as a hand, presumably of the cameraman covers the lens as she reaches once gain for the soap and sits back down without being seen. This acts as a joke as it initially gives the audience the impression that she is going to stand up without clothes on, therefore breaking the illusion that the film is a realistic representation of married life whilst having dispiriting effect on the audience. The wide shot of the milk explosion in her face is very realistic however as during the 1920s, there were no tabs on milk bottles, meaning the user had to poke the cover off which caused the milk to spray everywhere after pressure inside the bottle is released, creating a mess that is present in the film.

Pathetic fallacy is something that could be considered as being elements of both the expressive and realistic categories as the weather is natural but the specific timing of the wether in cohesion with the disastrous events as their crooked house spins around in the wind and rain appears more expressive as it represents their futile situation as their guests leave, their house crumbles and they spend the night sleeping cold on their suitcase covered in mud. Should the decision have been made to withhold from using rain as a storytelling device, the audience wouldn’t have been capable of grasping the hopeless situation they find themselves in.

The film doesn’t however neglect to use realistic elements, using several references to superstition in the film such as the raction from the women in the house at the umbrella being open indoors and Keaton’s disposal of a horseshoe after him and his widfe have been launched from their own home, sitting drearily in the mud, perched on a suitcase. The act of opening an umbrella indoors is supposed to bring bad luck to its user whilst a horseshoe is supposed to bring good luck and fortune when hanging over a persons front door. The fact that he throws it away could signify hiss loss of hope that he and his wife will ever have a completed and settle down.

Another Keaton film that favours the expressive over the realistic is ‘The Scarecrow’. Editing throughout the film remains largely realistic as continuity editing depicts a narrative in a linear way that allows the story to play out in real time. Mise-en-scene on the other hand differs between the expressive in that it’s used for comedic effect whilst realistic features are representative of society in time in which they were made. Similar to the German expressionistic style of mise-en-scene, Keaton uses common household objects in atypical ways, placed in unusual areas such as the salt hanging above the table on string and space for the table on the wall with attached plates, presenting an abstract home with mise-en-scene designed to show he hasn’t compromised usability in a small space.

The idea of two men going after the same woman is a common theme that has branched throughout both 20th century literature and film, mainly because it connects with the audience as it was highly likely that some viewers would have experienced this for themselves as the 1920s was a very patriarchal male dominated society, making this is a film that both uses realistic and expressive elements to have an effect on the audience. The woman they both attempt to seduce briefly looks at the camera after running away from the scarecrow, engaging with the audience to convey her shock and confusion.

When a man attempts to chase Keaton and the framers daughter, the car topples backwards when he sits at the back because he is a large man and despite being partially realistic, its an expressive depiction of what would happen in reality to emphasise the man weight. Also, the horse that Keaton intends to escape on is given the appearance of a real horse as two horses stand beside each other, one real and one fake, so when the woman gallops away on her horse he left behind on a stationary horse, leaving him in bewilderment. Both these are used for comedic effect too emphasise a characters personality or their stupidity rather than portraying a realistic depiction of life. This realistic depiction can nevertheless be further seen in the film by the use of different object such as alcohol and a cigarette. A hidden bottle of alcohol contained within the scarecrows jacket is relevant to 1920s America due to the prohibition era that banned the sale of alcohol until 1933 whilst the lighting of a cigarette after Keatons chase with a supposedly rabid dog would have been a common sight as tobacco was widely available and seen as fashionable habit as there was less awareness about the dangers it could cause.

Keaton’s High Sign is based on more realistic premises whilst portraying them in an expressive manner so as to show different character traits possessed by different characters without the use of sound. The film presents an ordinary person getting caught up in extraordinary events in an American society where gangs were commonplace during the time period, hiding away behind a false front such as the “Blinking Buzzards” behind a gun range whilst the carrying of firearms was legal in America which resulted in crimes such as robbery common as it was easy to obtain a gun and commit a crime without being caught.

Mise-en-scene is expressive in that the newspaper Keaton starts to read is absurdly large as he continues to open it multiple times as it keeps expanding, acting as a comedic tool for the audience. The mise-en-scene is deliberately unrealistic to show how out of place he is in this new town that he has been throw into. Whilst aiming at a row of bottles on a wall for target practice, he accidentally shoots a man standing beside them who leaps high into the air and proceeds to run rapidly away, clutching his behind to exaggerate the pain inflicted upon him. Keaton’s shooting at one target and hitting another target when aiming at the bottles and his shooting from behind his back and under his legs later at the gun range causes destruction all around him as he us a careless and inexperienced gunman, showing the audience that he is quite incapable of working for a gang or preventing the killing of someone. The unique design of the house of the man he attempts to protect against the gang is an expressive method of manipulating mise-en-scene to express the rudiculousness of the event as he is far out of his depth. It’s also unrealistic that all the rooms in the house can be seen at the same time as he is chased from one room to another when running away from the gang.

The cinematography in the film is comprised of both the expressive and the realist. Wide shots are typically used in the houss as they chase each other whilst a long depth of field is traditionally used throughout the majority of scenes to give a greater focus on everything that’s happening rather than just one specific thing. There are however occasions when Keaton uses expressive cinematography to direct the audiences attention on something specific. Iris shots manipulate where the audiences focus should be such as the death note given to the old man he attempts to protect.

To conclude, whilst there are elements if expressive film techniques and realistic depictions of life, Keaton favours the use of expressive cinema as it provides far greater meaning for the audience through comedic effect or as a narrative device.

The High Sign (Keaton, 1921)

Expressive

• Iris shots are used to manipulate what the audience should focus on such as the death note 1

• The newspaper is absurdly large as he continues to open it up multiple times, acting as a comedic tool whilst he also replaces a gun with a banana . The mise-en-scene is deliberately unrealistic to show how out of place he is in this new town he had been thrown into 2

• Whilst aiming at some bottles for target practice, he accidentally shoots a man who reacts in an over exaggerated manner, leaping high into the air and running rapidly away clutching his injured behind in an overly paced way to show the pain he is in 2

• His shooting at one target and hitting another when aiming at the bottles and later shooting from behind his back and under his legs causes injury and destruction around him as he is careless and inexperienced 2

• Painting a hook on a wall to hang your hat is an inventive way of manipulating the setting in which he is placed 2

• The design of the house of the man who is about to be killed with its unique use of trap doors and moving beds that extend into another room is an expressive method of using mise-en-scene. Its also unrealistic that all the rooms in the house can be seen at the same time as he moves from one room to another when running away from the gang 2

Realist

• An ordinary person getting caught up in extraordinary events 3

• Gangs in America were commonplace during the 1920s, hiding away behind false front such as the gun range that hides the ‘Blinking Buzzards’ 3

• Carrying a firearm during the 1920s was legal in America which made crimes such as robbery common as it was easy to obtain a gun without being caught 3

• Wide shots are typically used in the rooms in the house as they chase each other 1

• Long depth of field is traditionally used throughout the majority of scenes to focus on everything that’s happening 1

The Scarecrow (Keaton, 1920)

Expressive

• The exaggerated mise-en-scene through the use of common household objects placed in unusual areas and being used in abstract ways such as the salt hanging above the table on strings ready to pour and the space for the table on the wall to make it easier to wash
• The car topples backwards when a large man sits at the back of it and despite being partially realistic, its an expressive depiction of what would actually happen to emphasise the mans weight for comedic effect
• The woman they are both attempting to seduce briefly looks at the camera after running away from the scarecrow as she engages with the audience to convey her shock and confusion
• His athleticism as he crosses over the river on his hands is unnecessary but is used for entertainment as it provides a joke as he tries to prevent getting wet despite doing so anyway
• The horse is given the appearance that its real as there are two horses next to each other so when the woman rushes off he is left behind on a fake horse located on a stand, leaving him in bewilderment

Realist

• The idea of two men going after the same girl is a common theme often used in both 20th century literature and film as it could connect with the audience because it was highly likely that some had experienced this for themselves as they were living in a male dominated society
• Continuity editing depicts a narrative in a linear way that lets the story play out in time
• When the dog chases Buster, he runs away in panic and fear as he believes he is about to be bitten by a rabid dog which was easily contractible during that period of time as there were less vaccination and animal control programmes set up before the 1940’s
• The scarecrows jacket contains inside it a hidden bottle of alcohol as this was the prohibition era which didn’t end until 1933
• Keaton lights a cigarette after his chase with the supposedly rabid dog which would have been a common activity as tobacco was widely available and seen as a fashionable habit as there was less awareness about the dangers it could cause

André Bazin: The Realist and The Expressive

André Bazin was a film critic, theorist, philosopher and humanist who wrote a series of essays between the years 1944 and 1958 outlining his theories.

Bazin opposes classical and expressive editing on the following counts. The geographically and psychologically logical cutting within a scene does not add anything to the intent of a scene, only adding emphasis. If the scene has only one simple meaning why insult the audience’s intelligence with needless and obvious close-ups? If the scene is complex why presuppose only one meaning? Expressive editing invents meaning through juxtaposition of the images and not through the images themselves, whilst removing the freedom on the part of the spectator to select for themselves.

Bazin is not against editing which forms the basis of film structure, but is against optical illusions (and expressive editing that adds meaning through the juxtaposition rather than content of each image). Bazin employs a simple aesthetic criteria for deciding when to edit: anytime two or more objects/subjects are necessary to the construction of meaning in a scene, depth of field is preferable over editing.

He splits directors into two groups: one which bases integrity in the images (Jean Renoir) and another in the reality (Sergei Eisenstein). Imagists can either fall into the category of working with plastics such as lighting or those that work with editing. Realists on the other hand choose not to distort time and instead attempt to depict true reality.

Bazin prefers that filmmakers use longer takes with less cuts so it appears more realistic and a deeper depth of field. He also prefers the audience to make their own judgements about what they are watching with the freedom to direct their own viewing process including what to look at, how long they should look at it and what they should look at first. His opinion on film is that it isn’t art, rather reality and that montage is misleading and falsifies what the audience are watching.

One Week (Keaton, 1920)

In ‘One Week’, both expressive and realist elements are used to create narrative meaning throughout the film in order to move the story forwards.

Expressive

• Buster carries a supposedly brick chimney up a tall ladder that he had taken off the front of his porch as attempts to build his crooked house which should be an impossible feat as a traditional chimney would have been heavy and not nearly light enough to carry.
• Buster’s wife is in a bathtub where she is washing herself to get clean after the mil explosion in her face. She reaches for a bar of soap located next to the bathtub which is just out of reach so she begins to reach for it, half-standing, before stopping and acknowledging the camera, engaging with the audience and breaking the fourth wall before the hand of presumably the cameraman covers the lens as she once again reaches for the soap and moving away once the wife has sat back down, acting as a joke as it initially gives the audience the impression that she is going to stand up without clothes, therefore breaking the illusion whilst having an effect on the audience.
• The spinning around of the house as he attempts to get back in is unrealistic in the windy circumstances and presents how hopeless the husband is as his feeble attempts to get back into the house repeatedly fail and his poor craftsmanship leads to the destruction of their American dream
• Pathetic fallacy could be considered under both categories as weather is natural, but the specific timing of the weather in cohesion with the disastrous events around them makes it seem more expressive than realist when the rain and wind, representing their futile situation as their guests leave, their house falls apart around them and they spend the night sleeping cold on their suitcase covered in mud.
• At the climax of the film, when the house gets stuck on tracks with an approaching train. The husband and wife both attempt to move the house before diving out the way which passes by on the other side of the track, completely missing the house leaving them in a relieved state before another train hits it head on. The camera angle means that from the audiences perspective, the train is about to hit and by doing this, it creates suspense as the audience anticipate the house will be destroyed and then shock when it misses and is then hit in the opposite direction, sending the house crumbling to the ground

Realist

• The wide shot showing the sudden explosion of milk in the wife’s face is very realistic as during the 1920s there were no tabs on milk bottles, meaning the user had to poke the cover off, causing the milk to spray everywhere and create a mess as scene in the film
• There are several references to superstition in the film – the reaction from the women in the house at the umbrella being open indoors is supposed to bring bad luck to its user and his disposal of the horse shoe after he has been launched out of his house and he and his wife sit drearily in the mud with their suitcase. A horseshoe is supposed to bring good luck and fortune when hung over a persons front door. His throwing away of the object could signify his loss of hope that his house is going to be a success.

Buster Keaton: Silent Clown

‘Buster’ Keaton was born in Kansas on October 4th 1895 to his parents Joe and Myra, Vaudevillian comedians that gave Keaton an exciting upbringing that would later inspire his comedic antics. He had already started acting alongside his parents at the age of four, where it was normal for ‘Buster’ to be thrown around the stage and towards hecklers in the audience.

A chance encounter with film star and director Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle started his career when he was invited to be in his upcoming film The Butcher Boy (1917) that helped to launcher his film career. Keaton’s short films soon became too limiting and after multiple popular films such as One Week (1920) and Cops (1922), he made the transition to feature films, with his first being Three Ages (1923). The most renowned of Keaton’s comedies in Sherlock Jr. (1924) which used special effects that received mixed reviews as critics and audiences alike had never seen anything like it before. His Civil War film The General (1926) was the largest and most expensive sequence ever seen at the time, where a bridge collapses causing an oncoming train to fall into the river. Despite its shocking and never before seen drama, audiences didn’t respond well to the film, disliking the loss of comedy for over the top drama.

After a few more silent features such as Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928), Keaton had his contract sold to MGM, sending his career, legacy, and personal life into a downward spiral. His first film with MGM was The Cameraman (1928), which is regarded as one of his best silent comedies, but the release signified the loss of control Keaton would incur, never again regaining his film -making independence.

His first appearance in a film with sound was the film The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929), though despite it’s popularity, MGM increasingly reduced his creative control over his films and by 1932, his marriage to Natalie Talmadge had dissolved when she sued him for divorce, resulting in the loss of his home, the bulk of his assets, and contact with his children. They were disallowed from speaking about their father or seeing him but rekindled their relationship with him when they came of age. His hardships in his professional and private life had been slowly taking their toll and culminated his own dependence on alcohol by the early 1930’s causing him to be fired by MGM in 1933, leaving him an alcoholic.

Silent Cinema: Stars and Studios in the States

The invention of film in 1895 by the Lumiere brothers in France created opportunities over the world to produce new and exciting entertainment for everybody to enjoy.

In America, reels with 8 – 12 mins of film were projected on to a large screen with some narrative films using a standard of ‘2 reeler’ films that were between 16 – 24 mins in length. The first cinemas were introduced after WW1 but were very different from the cinemas of the 21st century, lacking sound and colour with a mere 12fps compared to the traditional 24fps audiences have grown used to as commonplace in films today. Film became viewed as popular entertainment for everybody to have fun with the majority being comedy and romance films. The beginning of the studio system began during the 1910 – 1920s, where 6 different studios continually produced a wide variety of films in competition with each other. The popularity of these films brought about a star system in America as the country is capitalist, with the most popular actors of the time being paid an increased amount of money to star in a studios film as a specific name on a film would make someone want to see a film and therefore bring in more money for the studio. Glamorous women in film became known as ‘Pin – up girls’ whilst some standout names of the early era of Hollywood being, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Laurel and Hardy who were popular due to there bravery and athleticism admired in actors of the age.

Creating Meaning: German Expressionism and Soviet Montage