The Evolution of the Film Industry

A detailed Summary of The Evolution of the Film Industry

The progress of the film industry was remarkably fast in the first quarter of this century. I have chosen two films namely The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Greed (1924) for comparison and contrast to show how much the industry had evolved within the short span of nine years. These two films are chosen for the short time span between them. This short time span will enable us to evaluate the development of the film industry in terms of the psychological build-up of the plot and the characters, cinematic qualities and the gradual acceptance of ironies in the films on the part of the American audience.

D.W Griffith's The Birth of a Nation and Erich Von Stroheim's Greed are both films adapted from novels written by Thomas Dixon and Frank Norris respectively. However one of the differences between these two films lies in the human characters portrayed. In The Birth of a Nation, the characters are portrayed as either wholly good or evil. One could easily distinguish between the heroes and villains in the film. For example, the hero in the film, Ben Stoneman is portrayed as courageous, loving and righteous as opposed to the villains Lynch (the false reformer) and Gus (the black soldier), who are

Von Stroheim's usage of German Expression, as well as low to high shot, gives the film a sophisticated sense compared to the style of Griffith's. In the scene when the couple (McTeague and Trina) upon returning from a show, was told that Trina had won a lottery prize. In this scene, Von Stroheim positioned his actors and his camera in such a way that the screen was filled. In addition, he also used lighting to cast shadows on the characters and making the atmosphere an entrapping one. The sophisticated use of lighting and different camera angles is crucial in creating a scene's atmosphere. This is a development in the film industry in enhancing the visual and sensual impact on the audience. Motifs are also employed to further these impacts.

Another difference between the two films is the existence of irony. In The Birth of a Nation one can never expect evil to triumph over good. Yet in Greed, time and again we experience life's irony. Just to list a few examples, while Trina was being murdered, there were policemen outside her place and they were not aware of what was happening. The banner with the words "Merry Christmas" was hanging on the walls while the murder took place. Another example is in the Death Valley scene in which Marcus shot the donkey and the water pouch, wasting away his hope for survival. The existence of these ironies in the film allowed the audience to ponder the fact that their lives are filled with ironies as well. This is a breakthrough in film history as it was customary of the filmmakers to make their endings a happy one. Von Stroheim had proven that American audience were ready to make that switch of the "... And they lived happily ever after" kind of ending to one that is tragic or with a twist. This development led others to portray realism, allowing for twisted or tragic endings.

In addition to that, Von Stroheim also showed the psychological development of his characters. T

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Approximate Word count = 1294
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

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