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Showing posts from November, 2008

"We'll have no lynchin' while I'm Sheriff" - Writing the Photoplay

Cinema hasn't been around all that long. What are we talking? A hundred years and change? Close enough. At the turn of the century in 1900, not long before Captain Nemo piloted his steampunk submarine through the perilously narrow underwater corridors beneath Venice ( work with me, people ), motion pictures first bumped into the concept of 'continuity' -- that individual shots could be strung together to create cinematographic narrative. No longer limited to showing a single shot of a puppy crossing the road, now filmmakers could show a series of shots in an edited sequence, eliciting a much stronger emotional reaction from the audience: Shot of man driving a 'motor wagon' Shot of puppy playing on road Shot of man driving a 'motor wagon' Shot of puppy playing on road Man driving a 'motor wagon' Puppy playing on road Man driving Puppy playing Man... Puppy... Puppy explodes Man explodes ( Think I'm making this up? Go visit the Wikipedia article ,