Something Out of Nothing: Or, the Essence of Cinema

Sync-sound filmmaking equipment, only recently invented at that point, was beyond our financial range; so, like the early silent filmmakers, we were forced back to the primacy of the image, and we created films of deeply romantic intent using a few costumes, borrowed props, and the barest of sets. A...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Quarterly review of film and video 2020-07, Vol.37 (6), p.543-550
Main Author: Dixon, Wheeler Winston
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Art exhibits
Film studies
Motion pictures
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Sync-sound filmmaking equipment, only recently invented at that point, was beyond our financial range; so, like the early silent filmmakers, we were forced back to the primacy of the image, and we created films of deeply romantic intent using a few costumes, borrowed props, and the barest of sets. Another defining characteristic of these films was their calculated sloppiness, since we were dealing with second-, third- and fourth-rate equipment and film that was often of deeply uncertain origin; even then, it was all we could afford. So we would use every possible frame of what we shot, down to the last bit of leader streaked material at the end of the roll, in a desperate attempt to capture every last bit of our vision on film.
ISSN:1050-9208
1543-5326
DOI:10.1080/10509208.2019.1681926