Analysis Of Various Directors To See The Changes In Film Industry

Since the earliest ages of the creation of film productions, it is well observed and understood that media techniques and concepts have greatly evolved throughout the course of history. These changes not only involve media quality, acting, equipment, props or even the types of films/movies that came out. A major change is how the techniques of filming, editing, and producing film over time have changed and who’s directing them. By analyzing the work of various directors, it enables viewers to understand the effects that are intended for a production’s particular audience. Films produced between 1895-1903 were at the point when films were just being released and equipment was becoming more readily available, people were greatly amazed by this. By 1903-1911 although not that many years have passed, there have been a huge amount of things have changed, been invented or enhanced since 1895-1903.

Directors and filmmakers were learning, practicing and developing new techniques that were already making the productions look better than what they could have remained as. Two filmmakers who are commonly compared during this time period are the two Lumiere brothers: Louis and Auguste and Thomas Edison. “A major difference between Edison's short films (primarily of stage performers) and the Lumieres’ films was that the latter were factual shorts (or mini-documentaries), termed actualities, are similar to the mundane quality of home movies that documented everyday life.” What this is saying is that Edison utilized human actors and realistic props, whereas the Lumiere brothers produced more intended factual films or documentaries that appealed to various audiences.

Two other important directors during this time were David Wark Griffith and Edwin S. Porter. These two men were both great deals during the silent era and are both extremely well known for their films along with the films they have produced. The style of all of their films are different in various ways but between the span of 1895-1911 there was a major difference from the Lumiere brothers and Thomas Edison in comparison to David Wark Griffith and Edwin S. Porter. These directors are all extremely well respected and esteemed for their productions. Although they developed and produced media content within different times, they all have unique characteristics and quirks that can easily set them apart from each other as well as other directors within the time period and throughout the course media evolution.

David Wark Griffith and Sergei Eisenstein were both film directors and pioneers of their own practices. Both men who created films in the silent era, they are both well known for their individual work and theories. Griffith was also known as, “The Father of Film” created the language of continuity editing through practice and practical problem solving. He and his American colleagues used film and editing techniques to enhance emotional impact as an extension to the current films. Eisenstein, also known as “The Father of Montage” was a Soviet film director and film theorist, a man interested in the theory of montage. By definition montage is "a single pictorial composition made by juxtaposing or superimposing many pictures or designs." a better way of understanding it is, “a montage is an editing technique in which shots are juxtaposed in an often fast-paced fashion that compresses time and conveys a lot of information in a relatively short period.”

Although Griffith and Sergei Eisenstein both used different techniques in their film, a good amount of things are still similar just as much as different. Such as in the film “The Lonedale Operator” (Griffith), we see an example of continuity editing when the young woman walks into the telegraph office. In the film “Battleship Potemkin” (Eisenstein), we see an example of discontinuity when the soldiers are at the top of the Odessa Steps shooting at the crowd. The two directors are both extremely well known for their films and work that they have produced many years ago. Regardless if they had different techniques they still produced work that completely shocked the world.

The films that were being made by these two men also shocked everyone because it is not what you would usually see in a film during this time period. It would usually be more performances, not people shooting each other and all the extreme violence that is occurring throughout the films.