cinematography

The Kinetoscope and Edison’s Wrong Way to Invent the Cinema

The Kinetoscope and Edison’s Wrong Way to Invent the Cinema

On April 14, 1894, chief engineer William K. L. Dickson in the team of Thomas Alva Edison, presents the newly invented Kinetoscope, an early motion picture exhibition device designed for films to be viewed by one individual at a time through a peephole viewer window at the top of the device. Merely a Fairground Attraction Ok, according to Edison, the cinema would never have become the silver screen you know, but would have…
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Eadweard Muybridge and the Photography of Motion

Eadweard Muybridge and the Photography of Motion

On April 9, 1830, English photographer Eadweard James Muybridge was born. Muybridge is best known for his pioneering work on animal locomotion in 1877 and 1878, which used multiple cameras to capture motion in stop-motion photographs, and his zoopraxiscope, a device for projecting motion pictures that pre-dated the flexible perforated film strip used in cinematography. Eadweard Muybridge Background Eadweard Muybridge was born as Edward Muggeridge in in Kingston upon Thames. He emigrated to the…
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Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau and the Expressionism in German Cinema

Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau and the Expressionism in German Cinema

On December 28, 1888, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau was born. He was one of the most influential German film directors of the silent era, and a prominent figure in the expressionist movement in German cinema during the 1920s. Murnau‘s best known work was his 1922 film Nosferatu, an adaptation of Bram Stoker‘s Dracula.[6] Becoming Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau was actually born as Friedrich Wilhelm Pumpe in Bielefeld, Germany. He grew up in…
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Max Reinhardt – From Bourgeois Theatre to Metropolitan Culture

Max Reinhardt – From Bourgeois Theatre to Metropolitan Culture

On Sep. 9, 1873, Austrian-born theatre and film director, intendant, and theatrical producer Max Reinhardt was born. Through the dramaturgically motivated use of the revolving stage, sculptural decorations, the work with fixed side towers and staircases as possibilities for performing, the circular horizon with its depth dimension, the indirect lighting, the play on podiums projecting into the auditorium, and on the arena stage, the mass direction or the chamber play concept, Reinhardt…
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John Huston – Hollywood Titan, Rebel, and Renaissance Man

John Huston – Hollywood Titan, Rebel, and Renaissance Man

On August 5, 1906, American film director, screenwriter, and actor John Huston was born. Huston has been referred to as “a titan”, “a rebel”, and a “renaissance man” in the Hollywood film industry. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics. During his 46-year career, Huston received 15 Oscar nominations, winning twice, and directed both his father, Walter Huston, and…
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Breaking New Grounds in Cinematography – Stanley Kubrick

Breaking New Grounds in Cinematography – Stanley Kubrick

On July 26, 1928, American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, and editor Stanley Kubrick was born. He is regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. His films, typically adaptations of novels or short stories, are noted for their unique cinematography, attention to details to achieve realism and an inspired use of music scores. Clockwork Orange, 2001, Full Metal Jacket, Lolita, The Shining, ‘I’m Spartacus’ or Dr. Strangelove – they all…
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Peter Lorre – A Stranger in Paradise

Peter Lorre – A Stranger in Paradise

On June 26, 1904, Hungarian-born American character actor of Jewish descent Peter Lorre was born. He went down in film history in 1931 with his portrayal of the uncanny child murderer in Fritz Lang‘s classic M.[1] After his emigration he worked as a successful character actor of often shady characters in Hollywood, among others in The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, and Arsenic and Old Lace. “You know I can get away with murder.…
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Fred Zinnemann – From High Noon to The Day of the Jackal

Fred Zinnemann – From High Noon to The Day of the Jackal

On April 29, 1907, Austrian-born American film director Alfred “Fred” Zinnemann was born. Fred Zinnemann won four Academy Awards for directing films in various genres, including thrillers, westerns, film noir and play adaptations. He was among the first directors to insist on using authentic locations and for mixing stars with civilians to give his films more realism. “I’m not in pictures to promote my private personality. I’m in it for the joy…
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Plumbing the Nature of American Myth-Making – Hollywood Director John Ford

Plumbing the Nature of American Myth-Making – Hollywood Director John Ford

On February 1, 1894, American film director John Ford was born. John Ford is renowned both for Westerns such as Stagecoach (1939), The Searchers (1956), and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), as well as adaptations of classic 20th-century American novels such as John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath (1940). Until today his four Academy Awards for Best Director remain a record. “I don’t give ’em a lot of film to play with. In fact,…
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Ernst Lubitsch and the ‘Lubitsch Touch’

Ernst Lubitsch and the ‘Lubitsch Touch’

On January 28, 1892, German American actor, screenwriter, producer and film director Ernst Lubitsch was born. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood‘s most elegant and sophisticated director. “I let the audience use their imaginations. Can I help it if they misconstrue my suggestions?” – Ernst Lubitsch, as quoted in [8] Early German Years Ernst Lubitsch was born in Berlin and was apprenticed as a merchant. However, the…
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