Silent cinema in Europe

When researching for silent movie assignment I watched recommended films and went back to my favourite silent films from when I was younger.  I have looked into filmmaking history of Europe. I have learnt that due to the World War Europe was left behind in the filmmaking industry. According to Brodwell and Thompson distribution in Europe was disturbed and films were imported from Hollywood. After the war two first significant movies were made in Europe like “The cabinet of Dr Caligari” and “The Passion of Joan of Arc”.  I have also watched silent Metropolis and Dracula. The first one – inspired by art deco style and modern architecture of New York, has pioneering visual effects in it. I found it interesting that among the effects used are miniatures of the city, a camera on the swing and most particularly the Schüfftan process,

in which mirrors are used to create the illusion that actors are occupying miniature sets. This new technique was seen again just two years later in Alfred Hitchcock’s film Blackmail. (Mok, Michel (May 1930). "New Ideas Sweep Movie Studios". Popular Science (Popular Science Publishing) 116 (5).

The second film, for which made me think how much silent movie inspired the modern version. Murnau prepared carefully; there were sketches that were to correspond exactly to each filmed scene, and he used a metronome to control the pace of the acting. There are also some special effects. Stop-motion animation is used in the carriage ride and other scenes to represent some sort of demonic speed, a pretty “creepy” effect. In that same scene he inverts the negative (switching the darks and lights).

Watching both films consciously  after years I have realised that European filmmaker holds the shots for much longer then American ones however, in Europe filmmakers are using more experimental and innovative filming techniques.

I think in early cinema editing does have much influence on the outcome of the movie. What still creates the film is as story, mise an scene, lighting which creates the mood and evokes emotions, among with special effects. In my opinion at the moment in early cinema editing determinants the speed of events. It does help to introduce characters and relationships between them. Editing also gives or withholds information.

After watching recommended movies, I start using more dynamic cuts. So far I really liked long shots telling the story but after watching first silent movies I start to realise how quickly the audience can get bored and how important it is to keep pace of the movie. History shows that filmmakers were going for different solutions to attract the audience . I like long slow shots of performance itself. Reading about history make me realise that this type of shots bore the audience. (evidence ?) So it is not just about my preferences and what I like to watch but also about the audience and I have to find the compromise in between or something else.

How did it influence my learning and my editing skills

In my spare time I have looked into some other films: Birth of the Nation, “Intolerance”, “The cabinet of dr Caligari” and “Passion of Joan of Arc”. At the time I thought I cannot learn anything from black and white films. I thought about watching them as a waste of time. Iwasn’t looking forward to watch over two hours silent movie. I made myself to do so. At the time I had negative attitude towards those movies. But then I explained to myself that it is good for my learning outcome and slowly I start getting into those films. For me all three movies have significant similarities. I think those movies are well planned and filmed. All look epic with their spectacular amount of extras or impressive set design or experimental approach and dramatic acting. I have noticed that those films are full of metaphors and transitions. Eg. Griffith’s editig makes personal scenes and formal epic battle scenes related one to another. For example Griffith cuts away to two cats fighting. It is a metaphor to large battle which the movie s about.

Looking at the Birth of a Nation I have realised that from editor’s perspective film reveals characters and portrays black actors straight in first scenes. The film is full of propaganda such as portraying KKK as the brave, protective power. That makes me believe that filmmakers of that time would do anything to attract the audience. They would go with the voice of the time, using propaganda tools to promote hatred just for the publicity.

I started to incorporate those thoughts into my research assignment. As the more advanced shots were introduced, film’s visuals began to develop and as Thompson have noticed: motion picture grew in scope and sophistication” (Thompson, 2013, p.2).

How the Pioneers of modern editing inspire my filming decisions

Inspired by lectures I conducted my research about pioneers of modern editing. I found that Edwin S. Porter used fast pace and continuity for more innovative editing. An expert on film editing, film historian, Ken Dancyger (2007) wrote, “the camera recorded an event, an act, or an incident”. Most early films were a single shot (Dancyger, 2007). Furthermore, he states that editing becomes more purposeful after the work of Edwin S. Poter. Porter, an American filmmaker noticed that if he organised shots in his films differently, that could make his films more vibrant. He begun to see the shot as a thing that you need to use to put the film together. This is the birth of film grammar. I realised how similar it is to my comparison of single shot to a jigsaw.

When watching his film “The great train robbery” I followed the visual continuity and the fast pace introduced by the lecturer. Inspired by Porters’ work I noticed the parallel editing in the movie and realised how important this would be for my editing experience. I incorporated it in my silent movie project about an employee being late for work, using second character and location when the boss was waiting in the office. I felt like this second setting brings depth into this simple story. It also gave space for the viewer to process information, and helped to establish the relationship between the characters of the dedicated employee and difficult boss.

Inspired by Porter, whilst planning my Silent Movie I decided to use use action sequences, typical of Western genres (Dancyger, 2007). I was looking for a dramatic story because as Dancyger states, “the moment of survival is central to the action sequence”. At that stage my colleague Patrick came up with an idea of a bicycle chase or race. We agreed on exaggerating an everyday activity into “a critical life and death moment” (Dancyger, 2007) essential for the action sequence of an employee being late for work. I have decided that the whole film will depend on movement. So when there is no movement in the shot I use camera movement. Following Porters’ action continuity I carefully planned shots so the same sort of action would move from one scene to another. Porter also added all sort of transitions including vertical wipes. Personally those wipes and transitions don’t work for me and I feel like they make the film look cheap or try to cover over something (mostly mistakes).  

I have learnt that early filmmakers had to use their creativity to attract a declining audience (Dancyger, 2007). Likewise, in their editing a variety of techniques were used. This was achieved through a composition of different shots, continuity and parallel editing. Reading Dancyger I understood that the art of editing appears when shots take meaning to the next level of excitement, insight, shock or the epiphany of discovery. It is important that a new shot introduces new information.

(Dancyger, 2007). Technique of Film and Video Editing : History, Theory, and Practice). 

DW Griffith called “The father of modern film editing” – took filmmaking to the new level. ‘Griffith demonstrated that a scene could be fragmented into long shots, medium shots and close shots to allow the audience to move gradually into the emotional heart of the scene’. Dancyger

That made me think that I should incorporate a lot more close ups of faces. However, I didn’t want to use them from the first place. I thought those are not much important for the story. Instead, I focused on excitation expressed by movement within shots and shots itself and “variation in the length of shots” (Dancyger)

Griffith also introduce in his editing dramatic time to replace real time. I start to understand how important the continuity is but also I start to link it with dramatic time. I have remembered from the lecture that we don’t have to tell the story using real time – as real life is boring and slow. We are looking for the exciting bits, and the boring bots we can tell very quickly using important shots, which introduce new information. And then using continuity we can leave space, a pause for viewer’s idea of what just had happened. Eg. Telling the story about someone driving the kids to school in the morning, we don’t have to fill the whole event from the moment of leaving home, through the driving in the car, to the school doors. This story can be illustrated using dramatic time and can be told by maximum of three shots: mum picking the car keys up, getting into the car  and parking in front of school.

Looking into those bios of pioneers it is hard not to think if it was about the invention, the art or the business. Researching for all above made me think what is more important when editing – thinking about money or artistic side of the industry. Do I edit the things to look nice and sweet for Commercial purpose or am I trying to be objective and show what's truthful. Should I manipulate the story to keep audience interested ? Where are the boundaries. Are there any?

Also I start thinking about how important team work is and how one filmmaker influence another one

Things are changing, editing is evolving quickly. – medium which changes constantly moving forward with every movie

All above help me shaping my research assignment.