Plays and dances have been performed for thousands of years each possessing a certain similarity to film. They each have a director, a set, an actor, and an audience. Film on the other hand, has only been around since the end of the 19th century, starting as a carnival attraction that has grown to become a huge part of the 20th and 21st century. Through the many years film has had to develop, there was a time it was not possible to synchronize audio with video. This time has become known as the silent era and was a very important part during the early development stages of film.
Most of the silent films that were released needed to explain the story to the audience by showing title cards and having the actors perform dramatic expressions. The actors emphasized their body language and specific facial expressions to help send a fuller message to the audience of what the actor is actually feeling on set. Another necessity that was considered a must to complete a film was live music. Music during the film helped build an atmosphere and controlled the audience’s emotions. Local movie theatres usually would have a house pianist and big cities would have organists and a house ensemble. Although these movies sound more like an orchestra performance, silent films had ended to make room for the next breakthrough in film’s history. In 1927 Warner Brothers released “The Jazzsinger,” the first film with sound and synchronized speech. This breakthrough in film’s history was one of the many that would help shape film to what we see it as today. One breakthrough was the Vitaphone system that Warner Brothers produced in 1925. It allowed filmmakers to have a synchronized soundtrack to their film. The music was released separately from the film on a 12 inch or 16 inch record. Fox Studios also created a machine that is very similar to the Vitaphone. The rival machine was called the Movietone and it was used for short films and news clips. As technology kept improving, film became more and more popular attracting many different types of people. Film needed something that would make movies more in depth and be a special experience for all. Original films consisted of one static camera angle and would record until the film had run out. Being very limited while creating a film, drastic measures needed to be taken to propel film forward.
Video editing started as an idea that originated in the early 1900’s. The idea essentially would allow an editor to splice multiple shots together to make one continuous flowing sequence. After many experiments, the Moviola was created. With this creation film editors could physically cut, paste, and thread film together creating one continuous sequence. This advancement in film technology was groundbreaking, and gave film an entry to the art world. Editors are now able to express their creative side thoroughly by working with many different layers of images, colors, effects, dialogue and audio. Having the power to manipulate individual components of a film creates a new way for editors to make a film and also creates a new style of art. As technology has advanced over the years, most editing takes place on a computer and is digitally modifying the film as opposed to physically cutting and threading it together. Computers have made the overall editing process of film a lot simpler by being able to split and splice one camera shot with another by just clicking and dragging. Although editing now in the 21st century sounds like it is very easy, many consider film editing to be an invisible art because when it is done correctly the viewer will become so engaged that they will not notice the editors work. Many people who see a film enjoy it as a form of entertainment, but there are also people who see film as a modern art that will only keep growing as time progresses. Gene Youngblood, a media and arts theorist, published a book in 1970 called, “Expanded Cinema,” that made the general public aware that film was to be considered as a scholarly form of art. This influential book helped create a field for film in the media arts category. It also sparked many artists interest, and the birth of a new kind of film had begun.
Nam Jun Paik, an American artist who was known for his works using a variety of media and is considered the first video artist. He is known for his original piece, Electronic Superhighway, which displays his cultural criticism of America. His work was greatly influenced by composer John Cage, an experimental musician who would then become one of the founding members of the Neo-Dada art movement. This movement would then be better known as an international group, Fluxus. These are just two of the founding styles of video art that really got the ball rolling. Video art can also be subcategorized into glitch art, scratch video, video poetry, and video sculptures. For a work of art to be created errors, glitches and circuit bending are wanted to help create the next modern masterpiece. These intentional “mistakes” are a video artist’s strokes from a paintbrush and are always visually captivating in some way. A video artist goes about their work the same way a traditional artist would complete their work. Each has the power to move the viewer emotionally and each take a physical modification by a human to complete it. Film allows a director or video artist to display their creative side that can allows the unconscious to be experienced consciously. “The unconscious is most often characterized as that sphere of life that is inhibited because of its predominant element of dream, desire, the world of wish fulfillment, and fear, unchecked by reality” (Dancyger 215). Using film as a canvas an artist can produce any type of image or overall product just as effectively as a sculptor molds with clay. Over many years, video art has built up a massive repertoire of styles and genres that are greatly influenced by the avant-garde experimental movement.
A ketchup and mustard sandwich doesn’t sound very appetizing to many people, but to an avant-garde artist it may. Avant-garde is an experimental method that exceeds the normal constraints of visual, literary, and musical arts and generates something completely unorthodox. Originating during the 19th and 20th century in France and Italy, the Avant-garde concept grew quickly from France to Russia to all of Europe. The exact date the idea of Avant-garde was born is still unknown, but without this movement many Avant-garde influenced styles of art would not exist. Movements such as Dada, conceptual art, abstract expression and pop art would not exist. These art movements all typically consist of going against what is considered normal. American pop artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol, is the most commercially recognizable face in the Avant-garde movement. Warhol’s collection of work contains many artistic films, paintings, photographs and sculptures that are all odd to the eye. His film library is built from films such as Sleep, which films poet John Giorno sleeping for six hours and Blow Job, which is a 35 minute continuous shot of DeVeren Bookwalter facial expression while he is receiving oral sex. In a recent interview on the Colbert Report, American minimalist artist Frank Stella said, “If you want to look at art, you have to find it.” Mr. Stella, Mr. Warhol and many other leading figures in the Avant-garde movement created something that basically gives art an unlimited amount of room to grow and when applied to film, it can produce something that is as emotionally moving as Grant Wood’s, American Gothic. Although Avant-garde films are usually short in length, major films today incorporate its own style of Avant-garde. Making a film that is emotionally moving is not just limited to the quality of acting and how well the plot develops throughout. For a film to be complete, a lot of work on multiple aspects of a film must be completed first to become a flawless cinema blockbuster. Producing a film at this level takes a lot of time and a large amount of it deals with editing. As editors become a must in the 21st century by creating full-length films that are all computer generated, technology has kept up with the very high demands leading to more unconscious views to be seen consciously.
Someone’s dream that is to be seen in front of an audience as a motion picture is very difficult to create in reality without expanding to what isn’t reality. With the advancement of technology that allows a filmmaker to capture his or her vision; cameras, software and techniques have all advanced to always keep the audience visually captivated. Cameras have evolved quickly since the twelve frames per second Vitaphone. Cameras now shoot at twenty-four frames per second and sometimes aren’t even recorded to a physical copy. As everything has become digital in this day of age, film also joined the digital community. Short films and movies often shot digitally have a high level of computer editing because it is very easy to start. With computer editing a film editor or video artist can generate their creative side effectively with powerful editing software. In 2002, Roger Avary released his film, The Rules Of Attraction. This was the first major film edited with Final Cut Pro. Final Cut Pro is a non-linear video-editing program created by Apple. In 1999 it was released still in its beta stages. The program caught on to many people who enjoy film and independent filmmakers also took interest. In 2007, Final Cut Pro was being used by 49% of the professional editing market. As editors became more comfortable with the power of the software, editing has become its own art. Some features that Final Cut Pro includes are being able to stack 99 layers of audio, multi-camera editing, color correcting and basic video effects. As a result many interesting films have been created that are all digitally modified and built up of many logarithms that create an overall visually appealing experience. Apple’s most recent edition, Final Cut Pro 7 was released in 2009. This new update now allows editors to edit HD quality films and use over 150 different effects and transitions. Apple is not the only company who has created a video editing program, but it is considered most used editing software in today’s market. As computer programs advance, each aspect of a film can be easily modified or mutilated, leading to the future of a different style of postmodern art.
Andy Warhol once said, “Art is what you can get away with.” His definition of art could be considered dangerous to traditional artists, but I interpret his words being the reason art will be immortal. Film has developed a detailed history from the beginning that shows that it will only keep advancing just like the basic principle of art. As time progressed many different styles and subcategories developed giving film a strong backbone in today’s industry. While film continues to stand tall, technology will advance and will only lead to more visually impressive films that will put the viewer in another state of mind. The magic a film contains is very unique to cinema and can only be experienced through a film. It has the power to move someone emotionally and create something beautiful the same way traditional artists describe the meaning of art.
Bibliography
Arnheim, Rudolf. Film as Art. Berkeley: University of California, 1957. Print.
Dancyger, Ken. The Technique of Film and Video Editing. Boston: Focal, 1993. Print.
Nbc, Channels Like. "The History of Final Cut Pro Video Editing Software." Find Health, Education, Science & Technology Articles, Reviews, How-To and Tech Tips At Bright Hub - Apply To Be A Writer Today! Web. 14 Dec. 2010.
Nilsen, Vladmir. "The Cinema as a Graphic Art." Web. 14 Dec. 2010.
Prinz, Jesse J. "Whin Is Film Art." Jesse Prinz. Web. 14 Dec. 2010.
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Rubin, Michael, and Ron Diamond. Nonlinear: a Field Guide to Digital Video and Film Editing. Santa Cruz, CA: Playground Productions, 2000. Print.
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