Does International Film influence American Films?

Throughout the history of film American filmmakers and International filmmakers have influenced each other.  Let us start from the beginning.  The first motion pictures were in essence from Nickelodeons, quite large machines (at least 4 feet tall), where one would insert a nickel (hence the name) and turn a crank which while turned rotated still image pictures that were illuminated from the back with lamps.  As time went on, people began using this technique to make motion pictures.  The first motion pictures were short films (about 20 seconds long) that were of various real life events (outside a train station, people lifting heavy items, etc.)

Shortly after there were comedic shorts that began to arise such as the famous boxing cats.

These shorts traveled to Europe and many European film makers began doing the same thing where they lived.  It wasn't long after these shorts began that the film makers realized that these shorts were not what was going to make them money.  Once a person saw one short, there was no need to return to see it again, so behold the introduction of short films with a plot, using film in a whole new way.  The first to do so were the Lumiere brothers from France.  Their first films were of everyday life in France (outside a train station, etc), and they are considered the fathers of modern motion picture.  Their first short to introduce the idea of using a plot was La Voyage dans la Luna (A Voyage to the Moon).  Although the acting style is much different to today's, and there is no sound, it is clear what the plot is, as well as all conventions entailing a storyline are used.

Throughout the history of film there have been many innovations introduced, the most important is editing.  Although often overlooked by movie goers, editing is what makes or breaks a movie.  If a movie flows well, and the audience can be absorbed into the movie without being reminded that they are watching a movie, then the editors have done their job well.  But, if the editing is done horribly, no matter how good the plot, or how good the actors/actresses are the public will abstain and the movie will "flop."  But, there have been cases where editing has been used "outside" the box and been successful.  The first of these techniques were utilized in propaganda short movies, most notably the Russians and the Germans.  These films traveled to the United States, and film makers took notice, trying it in films, unfortunately though it did not take hold for another twenty to thirty years.

Although films are influenced by other countries, they are also influenced by the regions that they are made.  The region where movies are made are going to be made for the audience of that region, for example, European films tend to be a little more artsy whereas Japanese and American films seem to be more black and white, or epic.  That is not to say that European films are lacking in these areas.  Another example would be the Anime section of films, while taking hold in American film industries, they are viewed as "childish" and are recommended to children and not to adults, whereas this is not so in the Japanese culture, it is made for both adults and children alike.  Most notably in the U.S. is Hayao Miyazaki who has teamed up with Disney to do such movies as "Howl's Moving Castle," "Ponyo," etc.

So, to say that one country's films are not influenced by another country's movies would be a farce.  All films from different countries are influenced one way or another by each other, whether it be from the editing, to the way a movie's plot is done, etc.

The difference between silent films and sounded films, as pertaining to women

 The view of women, as well as their role they played within the movies, differ hugely between silent films and "the talkies" films.  When silent films first came out and showed women on screen for the first time, there was an outcry from many different people.  Their standing was that if women were shown on the big screen it would lead to sexual promiscuity, and lead to the downfall of man.  This was not true as we see today, although that is imposing today's standards upon that time.  In a sense they were right, with the short nickelodeon of a woman in her undergarments, not like today's undergarments.  These articles of clothing looked as if it was to be a very conservative dress in today's time, but during the turn of the 20th century, this was a huge no-no in society.  This was something taboo.  Then came "The Kiss" which shows a man and a woman sharing a "pecking" kiss.

As the silent films progressed, and were no longer thirty second short films, women began playing a role within the film, although still quite small.  Let us look at the movie "The General."  In this movie the female actress does play a little bit of a role, although not a main role, her role is one of to set the gears in motion.  She is the one to set into motion the plot of the movie, and as the story progresses, is the damsel in distress, and finally the happy ending.  But, there really is no change to this sort of plot line involving women throughout the silent films. 

 As film evolved from silent films into sounded films, the role that women have changes.  The roles move from mere faces and thrown into the mix for little bits of plot, to playing a role, that without them the story would be lacking and altogether impossible.  The best example of this would be "Singing in the Rain," which ironically is all about the transition from silent to sound films and what effects it had on actors and actresses.  The movie discusses how the ability to have sound in movies has a profound impact on actresses who do not possess an angelic sounding voice to go with their looks.  This is one thing that did impact the movie industry, and the creation of "voice" actors was born, used to play over the main actor, or actresses, voice in the movie.

The changes occurred due partly because of public demand.  The studios found that it was beneficial to give females the roles that they were given because during the time of sounding movies, 1920's to 1930's, the depression was in full swing, and the general public was looking for any escape from real life, including the movies.  Studios began to make movies that were more fairy tale, more fantasy, looking to give the public what they wanted.  So, with that in mind, we can see that a movie about real life, with women roles being confined to pretty faces and not much else was a thing of a past, replaced by movies that had women roles as strong, driving the plot along.  Because of the fact that in this point in time the Women's Rights Movement was beginning to surface, the studios began to give larger roles to women.  Studios at this time were signing more and more contracts with women stars, allowing them to use female actresses more and more, giving them larger roles, and able to "pump" out more movies every year.

Prescott Film Festival

    Unfortunately I did not have a chance to volunteer directly.  The wine tasting was held at the Hassayampa Inn, where I work, on the day that I had to work.  Although I was not able to be in the room when it happened, I did help the clean up process afterward.  Although all cleaning is a necessity, most times it is not looked forward to, and while doing it can be taxing, but cleaning up after an event is important because it shows the community that the people taking part in events are not just slobs there to take advantage of the town they are in, the cleaner the place is left, the better the impression is left on the people and community the event is being held, the messier the areas are left the more negative impression that is imprinted.
    Making independent films is a lot of hard work as well as stressful.  I did learn that money is a huge issue when trying to make an independent film.  Because there is a lack of a budget from any studio, all of the budgeting comes out of pocket from the director, and even if the director has a cast of nothing but friends, which is nice because they don't demand pay, there is still the cost of traveling to and from the set, as well as food cost for while they are filming.  And when the product is finally finished, there is the cost of trying to get the film recognized by really anyone who can play it.  I would love to learn how the independent film makers take their films and have them shown at film festivals.  That part was unclear when talking to a couple of directors.  They told me all about how they made their films, where they shot their films at, who was in it, how they knew those people, but I never did get to learn about how they gain entrance into a film festival.  Another thing I would like to learn is the film festival process, by this I mean, how is it that they decide what films to choose from.  I'm sure that they have a huge list of movies from independent film makers, so how do they decide which should be shown and which to overlook?  To start I could go and talk with the person in charge of the film festival, but that would depend on their availability.  After that step I really don't know where to go to answer these questions.
    There is a huge importance that comes with a film festival.  First and foremost would have to be to the community.  In a community as small as Prescott, there really is not a lot of choice of what you get to see on "The Big Screen."  There is only the one movie theater in Prescott Valley, Harkins, which chooses only the biggest titles to play, other than that there is nowhere else to view these independent films.  Now, a big player in town where one could go to find these movies, would be Hastings, but even then they only carry the independent films that have made it to the main stream.  So, with all of this in mind it is very important that the film festival comes, because without it these films are unknown in smaller communities like our own.  They give the people a chance to see films that are not big hits at the box office, and to support the independent film makers by word of mouth, telling their friends about their movies, and supports the "little guy" rather than the corporation, allowing the independent film makers a chance to get their movies out in the open and who knows what studio representative will be around to pick them up under their title?
    I will most definitely see more independent films in the future.  The movies I saw, one short and one feature, were actually very entertaining.  The short was a little iffy, there was no plot to be seen, but the special effects were very well done, the explosions looked like actual explosions, not just an explosion just chopped in and was apparent.  The feature that I saw was very good, it captivated me throughout the whole time, and I never once looked at my watch, which I do frequently at Harkins while watching a movie there, sad but true.  The only places that I can think of to see these movies is in Flagstaff and Phoenix, unfortunately two hour drives both ways, but well worth it, making a day trip out of it, I'm thinking, would be the best way.