The Story of Film: An Odyssey

The Story of Film: An Odyssey is a film about the history of how films came to life, and how they became as big as they are today. We watched Birth of  the Cinema (1895-1920) and it showed us how people such as Thomas Edison created the photograph to help shape the way towards modern films, and how the Lumiere Brothers created what we now call a projector to show us films.

The film also reflects on early editing techniques and how they were made, alongside certain camera shots which were also created in this era such as the close-up and reverse angle shot. It also showed us early movie stars and how they were born, such as the very first movie star, Florence Laurence.

I have learnt about how the film era was started and broadened into a new art style which we call Cinema. It also taught me about the history and development of film, as well as certain techniques used in the early eras. Films in those days were used to mostly show and create a message, and due to being a mostly silent era, the films had to really show that based upon acting and editing. I learnt that the film business started on innovation and ideas, but has unfortunately rapidly grown to become focused on money and branding, rather than focusing on the people that make the films.