The film : its economic, social, and artistic problems (1948)

Page scan 000104 from The film : its economic, social, and artistic problems

Record Details:

Title:
The film : its economic, social, and artistic problems
Date:
1948
Publisher:
Basel : Holbein Publishing Company Basle
Volume:
The film : its economic, social, and artistic problems
Leaf #:
000104
Language:
English
Collection:
Books
Format:
Books
Contributor:
Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum
Sponsor:
Media History Digital Library
Coordinator:
Media History Digital Library
Date Added:
May 02, 2025
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ARTISTIC PRODUCTION The Film Picture Tricks in the Fiction Fihn As a photographic art the fihii remains within the hmits of visible reality, that is, within naturalism. Its artistic means of creation are bounded by this naturahstic framework. This remains true even though the film has the capacity, through tricks, to abolish the existing laws of visible reality, for instance the law of gravity. Tricks are a specific film technique, a specific photographic technique. Their material is always external reality. They do not entirely abolish external appearances, but only their physical laws. For example: hats remain hats, but suddenly they have the abihty to fly. The transference from the laws of visible reality to the laws of the film celluloid is nowhere so obvious as in trick work. It is no accident that the film discovered tricks very early; through them it can freely enjoy the pure playfulness of the film. But from these merely playful possibihties the film developed the potentiality of rendering psychological events photographically, even to the extent of abandoning the rational entirely (as in the surreahstic films). These technical refinements of the film can create the most 'artistic', 'poetic' or 'musical' eflx'cts. And thus the film can develop into an art through its technique. 46