This week we studied a sad period of American history, a trying time, a devastating time. The Great Depression. For a quick review of this period of history, click on
this link of the timeline. People were destitute, they could barely afford to live. Once with roofs over their heads, many many Americans ended up sleeping in parks, in tents, wondering day to day how they were going to eat.
Yet, people still came to the movies. They still found a way to find enough money for a ticket, and they still went to see stories told on the big screen. Movies helped people during the Great Depression, and the Great Depression influenced the kind of movies made.
This was also the dawn of sound films. What a inconvenient time for movies to develop a new, huge technology, no? So, people were going through immense financial strain, and film studios were making talkies.
We watched a rang of films from this first decade of sound films - a musical, an epic adventure, and a monster film.
Gold Diggers of 1933 talked about the Depression straight up. It was not only an early sound film, it was an early musical. Why were the first musicals about people putting on stage musicals? What did you think of the songs, different from the kind of music today - did you like them? Why or why not? What did you think of Busby Berkeley's choreography? Why do you think such fantastical dancing was so important to audiences of this time period? Did the dance numbers work for you? Why or why not? Berkeley is considered by many a genius when it comes to creating dance choreography, do you agree? Why or why not? How can song and dance help during hard and troubling times?
King Kong, also from 1933, was the first to do so many things. We watched some compelling documentaries about this film, as well. Did you like
King Kong, why or why not? How did learning about all that went into creating the special effects for
King Kong influence your opinion of the movie? Was learning about how it was made beneficial? What are some things that you saw in
King Kong, or in the "behind the scenes" documentary, that truly impressed you? And, how did knowing about what was going in the Nation with the Great Depression influence your experience with watching this movie?
Bride of Frankenstein (1935) is a classic example of the style and stories used by Universal Studio for its monster movie releases. Man, Universal went nuts and made a bunch of these, getting started right after sound came out. Why do you think the invention of sound film sparked in Universal the desire to make monster movie after monster movie after monster movie? This film is considered a masterpiece - intentionally goofy and witty at times, touching at other times, and scary at others. James Whale, the director, intentionally combined horror with humor. Did that work for you? This piece of science fiction horror also had things to say, messages and themes about death, life, prejudice, hatred, judgement, and trying to play God, along with many other messages. What is the main message you got from the film? As always, I want to know if you liked the movie, and why or why not?
i thought each of this movie are awesome for there acting and music charter and story and effects in films it was atlittle bit hard to have new tec to do movies it was awesome but it must been hard to develop it . in gold digger i loved the music it really fits the film and at that time it must have made people really appraisal it and even in theis time are experiencing some what of the same thing not as bad but i can feel what they must have felt . in king kong i thought is was awesome how they came up with the sound effects and the stopmotin was great and the fact they had kong as the big part was never seen was amazing .the horror with humor felt conflicting thou the movie i did like the flim . my fav film for film history is king kong i love stop motion ~yamigaia
ReplyDeleteThe first musicals were about people putting on stage performances because it was the only logical way for them to be singing. I liked the songs and they were stuck in my head days after. I thought the choreography was pretty rad, too. I think song and dance was important at the time because it pulled people out of their horrible lives. I did like King Kong, I thought it was really cool that they were doing stop motion the way they were. I didn't really like it when I first saw it, I thought it was pretty boring. It wasn't until I saw the documentaries about what King Kong meant to people, and how much went into making that I gained a new found appreciation for it. The making of the puppet really impressed me; as did the whole filming in front of projections. The spark of sound inspired monster movies because they could elaborate on the rich background of the character in really cool ways that they couldn't put into text boxes, because of emotions and everything. The combination of the horror and humor did not work for me. I did not enjoy this, and it was my least favorite of anything we've watched in the class. I was not a fan.
ReplyDelete~Brennan Hanks
Gold Digger 1933- This on was well... interesting. It's not the best thing I've ever seen but it's decent. It's about people setting up a play. I don't really exactly know why in the 30's they like making movies about making the stage plays but I think it's because durring the depressing 30's they need something upbeat and feel like they're not in the depressing years. Some of the songs is interesting mostly because I was surprised by the sexual content they got past the hayes code. The actors are fine as well. I wasn't really big on the drama that was going on but when ever something it's funny it's really funny. Overall it's okay movie
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King Kong- This movie is amazing. I love giant monster movies and this one is a classic. I was mostly impressed with the stop motion I love watching stop motion movies it always looks real to me. Kong was the best stop motion character ever. I mostly love the documentary of making this movie I was amazed by how they had so much backgrounds, models, and design. Overall I am falling in love with this movie already
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Bride of Frankenstein- I've never seen the first 1931 movie but I got introduced to the sequel and it was great. I love how it focus on frankenstein trying to fit into society but he is like the most scariest monster society has ever seen. I love how horror movies can work with sound because if you hear one little bump you jump to it and it adds all the fun. One problem is the title even though the Bride is not in the movie long enough they should've called this movie The Return of Frankenstein. Overall what a great horror movie I always enjoy the Universal Monster Movies.
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Gold Diggers of 1933
ReplyDeleteThe first musicals were about people putting on stage performances because it was the only logical way for them to be singing, at least that's what people thought back then. I actually thought the songs were quite good. They were stuck in my head for at least two days. I think the choreography was great, and worked really well with the music. I think fantastical dancing was important to the people of this time period because it would cheer them up and take their mind off of the world around them and the depression that was going on. The dance numbers worked really great for me, because they just matched really well with the music in my opinion. I think Berkeley's choreography was quite good, because it fit with the music.
**King Kong and Bride of Frankenstein will be posted in a separate comment**
-Totally not a relative of Manbear
The first musicals made were about people putting up musicals because well, they were the first ones. They didn't know how to put singing and dancing into everyday events yet so they thought they can easily make them about people in musicals. I thought that the music from the movie was okay, it was really catchy and everything but a little too repetitive. I thought that the choreography for the film was good, it fit into the songs really well and was fun to watch. People at the time really liked to watch people dance and sing in movies because they haven't seen this before, it was new and important that it was really good. Yeah, the dance numbers worked for me, they were appropriate to the movie and the parts, there was a lot to them, with the sets and etc... Sure, he was pretty good when it came to doing choreography. Dance and song can help through troubling times because they're fun and nice, both visually and through sound.
ReplyDeleteYes, I very much enjoyed the classic 1933 king kong. I liked it because it was an amazing movie for that time, and it was a great story and fun to watch. Learning how they made that film definitely influenced my opinion of the movie. It did this because it was really fascinating how they made the movie, with all the stop motion put into it and all of the other effects they did with it. Especially audio wise, they did a lot of really cool stuff, like they made king kong's voice and the T-rex's voice with a tiger. What impressed me about this movie was pretty much everything, how they made it, etc. It was neat how they put so much on one shot. Knowing what was going on with the nation influenced how I saw it because when people back then saw it they went to escape on this big adventure.
The invention of sound must of sparked the making of monster films because with sound they can do so much for movies, especially horror films, and people just loved them. Yes I think that the horror and humor in this film all worked with each other and for myself. The message for this film might be that you can't play god? Yes, I enjoyed this movie, I liked it because it's the classic Frankenstein, it's great, the color, the gloominess, and everything else. I especially liked the part with Frankenstein and the blind guy, it was really something.
PART 1:
ReplyDelete(The site would not accept my post because it was too long, so I have put it here in two parts.)
GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933: I thought this film was pretty average. The story and everything were alright. I didn't think the jokes were too funny, but they were at times. The best part about this film was probably the music and all the cool sets and costumes and things during the musical numbers, and also the forgotten man scene and its message in particular was pretty great. The first musicals were about people putting on musicals because it was not yet normal for people to randomly start singing in movies. People would think it was weird if the actors just randomly sang while walking around outside, a reaction I constantly wonder why people don't have today with musicals. I think that most of the songs were pretty good. They were pretty catchy and sounded good, at least most of them. The choreography was cool, with all the big weird sets and costumes and glowing violins. The fantastical choreography was important at that time period for helping people to forget about the depression. The dances worked for me because they were really crazy and full of weird sets, costumes, and camera angles. Genius is a strong word, I would probably call Berkeley a great filmmaker in that field, but I could not call him a genius. He is a great filmmaker in that field because the way he does things are just really cool and fun to watch. Song and dance help in troubling times by really making people forget about their problems, and giving them a tune to hum.
KING KONG: I liked King Kong a lot. It was real great. Of all three of the King Kong's I've seen, I liked this one the most. 2005's adaptation would come second for me as much as I hate CG leaving the 1976 one in last because I really did not like the 1976 one too much. I liked the epic yet tragic story and the special effects, but mostly I really loved the stop motion animation. It was incredible. Learning what happened behind the scenes in King Kong made me have a much bigger appreciation for everything. I had known the film was partially stop motion, but to see all the work put in to mix stop motion and live action and the work put in to the backgrounds and everything, it really makes you appreciate the film all the more.
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PART 2:
ReplyDeleteCONTINUING KING KONG: Learning how it was made was very beneficial, because it really (as I've already said) adds to your appreciation of the film, and I cannot believe the makers tried to hide how it was made upon its original release. How they used tiny projections of humans next to the puppets to mix live action and stop mo really impressed me, and all of that detail and layering that they put in to the sets for the puppets also did so. I guess everything about the stop motion, the detail, and earliness of it all really impressed me, altogether. Knowing there was a depression going on, it really made me notice how they tried to keep things exciting at all times, probably in an attempt to get people to forget their worries.
BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN: I really liked this movie, a little less than King Kong and a lot more than Gold Diggers of 1933. I thought it was really touching at times and had lots of great messages, and the story, comedy and horror altogether were pretty darn great. I especially like the blind man bit and the ending. Also, Frankenstein as character is really cool. I think Universal wanted to make a million monster movies once sound came to the screen because they could build tension and suspense a lot easier with the music actually attached to the films, and they could do a bunch of weird sound effects and make the monsters make weird noises, too. The horror-humor mix really did work for me. My favorite style of comedy is black comedy, and while this film didn't exactly have that, because of the mix of horror and comedy I still got to be freaked out one minute and then have a laugh the next, creating a similar effect to black comedy... sort of. Anyway, I liked the jokes and the scares. Good mix. The main message of this film is most probably that one should not mess with the dead, they are meant to stay dead, or as you said don't play God, and it could also be not to judge someone by the way that they look, they could really be a good person. I already explained why I liked the movie at the beginning of the paragraph so I suppose I'm done. Done. Yeah...
END OF RESPONSE.
The first musicals to be made were about musicals because, they were more akin to and more easy to get used to the transition to sound. They didn't quite know how to put singing and dancing into everyday life at the time so they assumed they can very easily make them about people in the musicals themselves. I thought that the music from the movie was really catchy and everything but a little too repetitive. I thought that the choreography for the film was quite good, it fit into the songs really great and was a joy to watch. People at the time really liked to watch people dance and sing in movies because the sound thing was completely new to them, it was new and important that it was really good. Yeah, the dance numbers worked for me, they were appropriate to the movie and the parts played in them, there was a lot to them, with the sets and stuff. Sure, he was good when it came to doing choreography. Dance and song can help through troubling times because they're enjoyable and creative, both from the sights and the sounds
ReplyDeleteFor King Kong when I first walked into the class I was uneducated to say the least about the films from the time so I actually liked the modern day one. I'm happy to say that my opinion has drastically changed because of the hard work, dedication and just pure awesomeness that went into the making of the film. I am so glad because of this class I had to watch it, and to know all of the things they were going through makes my opinion on it more justified. I think the remake is total garbage (I watched it again to compare) This movie is beautiful.
And Bride Of Frankenstein.
Ah man this movie was great, I believe that they made movies like these to get away from the troubles they had to face. They won't bump into Frankenstein's monster in the street and that's something to be happy about. I really liked the combination of the humor and horror that went in this flick. It makes an actual good story and even though *SPOILERS* The bride was in it so short it kinda made a point. The monster wasn't even just hideous to the living as he was to the dead. Also there's a classic theme that you shouldn't play god or with the natural order of things. There's order to these things. I've never seen this movie before and I wanted to watch The Invisible man cause I haven't seen it in forever but I'm glad you showed us this, it was a really great movie.
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ReplyDeleteKing Kong
ReplyDeleteI liked this movie, The people who worked on it did a really good job and worked really hard on it, and that makes it a good movie for me. Learning how it was made was very beneficial, because it really adds to your appreciation of the film, and I cannot believe the makers tried to hide how it was made upon its original release. How they used tiny projections of humans next to the puppets to mix live action and stop mo really impressed me, and all of that detail and layering that they put in to the sets for the puppets also did so. I guess everything about the stop motion, the detail, and earliness of it all really impressed me, altogether. Knowing there was a depression going on, it really made me notice how they tried to keep things exciting at all times, probably in an attempt to get people to forget their worries.
- Is this guy related to Manbear? nobody knows.
Because, they used a normal situation instead of people randomly breaking out into song. Mainly because it doesn't make sense. The songs weren't whiny bullcrap, that is how i set the difference. All the songs in todays musicals are usually about sad people living meaningless lives, so yes I liked them. All in all it was pretty good. Song and dance was a huuuuuuge thing back then and everyone just liked it i guess. I can't really see myself in that period. The dance numbers like I said it was good but not my favorite. Musicals have never been my thing and this isn't an exception but again the movie was an interesting movie. Berkeley was good at what he did and deserves much appreciation for his work. It really just lifted the spirits of people, and made 'em laugh.
ReplyDeleteKing Kong is one of my favorite movies about monsters and will continue to be for the rest of my life. Although the effects were cheesy, it was a fantastic film for it's time and has been praised as such. Not really other than it really helps me to appreciate the film much more. The sets! The sets were fantastic and well sized and the tricks they did to get Kong in the movie with the characters really helped! I never think too much about how the great depression was going on, because, while watching this movie, it is hard to think it was going on when this film was made!
Bride of Frankenstein was really cool. I never saw the original, but this film really made you feel for the monster, and even though he was easily pissed off, you can't forget that this is because people are scared of anything different.
Sound let Universal put in creepy sound effects with music and just added that much more to the film. They really took advantage of this and thanks to it, a lot of really amazing films have come out. Yes I love it when horror has humor to it, not because I get scared. But because it reminds me of haunted houses. I normally never get scared and when I was little, I always laughed to keep me from being scared!
The message I took was that people will always try to kill something that looks different to them, no matter what, and that we are vicious irrational animals, barely capable of doing anything but creating fire. Do you know why we remember the names and times lived of innovators and people that say we should all live in peace and lack prejudice? Because most of us can't do that and are incapable of thinking for ourselves. That's the message I took.