The General and The Gold Rush

Watch Chaplin's The Gold Rush and compare and contrast it with Keaton's The General. Think about everything you've learned thus far in terms of reading film. Discuss open/closed framing, kinesis, narrative, etc. Refer to your textbook if you need assistance with the vocabulary. Use at least one quote from the article I gave you in class and one quote from Roger Ebert's Great Movies Essay on The General in your response.

Both films are available here:

The Gold Rush
The General

And for those of you who really liked The General, check out his fantastic film The Cameraman.

Early Films

Read about Edison, Lumiere Brothers, Melies, and Porter at EarlyCinema.com.

Watch at least 3 films from Edison, Lumiere Brothers, and Melies (at least one from each) on your own. Go to the Internet Archive, select "Moving Images" from the drop down menu and search for each director. All of the Edison films can be found at the Library of Congress and can be accessed here. Please be sure to tell me the name of the film and who made it and answer the following questions:

• Do you notice anything particular about the film’s presentation of cinematic space—what you see on the screen? How does this differ from films you watch today?
• What does the filmmaker compel you to see? What is left to your imagination? What is left out altogether?

Getting to Know You...

What are your expectations for this class and for yourself in this class? What do you think of when you hear the word movie? What is your favorite movie? Why?