England and the Brighton School

England and the Brighton School

R.W. Paul commercialization
1)After the first public screenings in early 1896,
2)film exhibition spread quickly in England, largely because R. W. Paul was willing to sell 
   projectors.
3)At first, most films were grouped together to be shown as a single act on the program of a
   music hall (the British equivalent of American vaudeville theaters).
4)Beginning in 1897, short, cheap film shows were also widely presented in fairgrounds,
   appealing to working-class audiences.

English Filmmakers
1) most English filmmakers offered the usual novelty subjects.
2) For example, in 1896, Paul made Twins’ Tea Party,
   a film that shows two cute toddlers squabbling and then kissing and making up.
3)It was typical of many films of this era: a single shot taken on an open-air stage in direct
   sunlight, against a neutral backdrop.

Twins' Tea Party (R. W. Paul, 1896)
Film Clip

1) Some of these early newsreels consisted of more than one shot.
2)The operator might simply stop and restart the camera to capture only highlights of the
   action, or he might actually splice bits of film together to hurry the action along.
3)Similarly, some scenics were influenced by the Lumière films’ placement of the camera
   on moving vehicles.
4) Phantom rides, designed to give the spectator the illusion of traveling, became popular in
    England and other countries.

 Film Introduction

View from an Engine Front—Barnstaple, made by the Warwick Trading Company in 1898, was typical of the popular genre, the phantom ride.

View from an Engine Front—Barnstaple (Warwick Trading Company, 1898)
Film Clip of View From an Engine

Early English Films
1)Early English films became famous for their imaginative special-effects cinematography.
2) For example, Cecil Hepworth began producing on a small scale in 1899.
3)At first he concentrated on actualities, but he soon directed trick films as well.
4) Hepworth went on to become the most important British producer from 1905 to 1914.

Film Introduction:
In Hepworth’s Explosion of a Motor Car (1900), stop-motion changes a real car into a fake one, which promptly blows up.
A passing bobby dutifully inventories the body parts that rain in from above, creating a grim but amusing film.

Explosion of a Motor Car (Cecil Hepworth, 1900)
Click Here for Film Link

PRODUCERS
1) There were other producers scattered around England.
2)The most notable were those in the small but influential group later dubbed
    the Brighton School because they worked in or near that resort town.
3) Chief among them were G. A. Smith and James Williamson, both of whom were still
    photographers who branched into filmmaking in 1897.
4)They also built small studios that opened at one side to admit sunlight.
5)Both explored special effects and editing in ways that influenced filmmakers in other
   countries.

Film Intro of The Big Swallow (1900)
1) Williamson’s 1900 film The Big Swallow is a good example of the ingenuity of the
   Brighton filmmakers.
2) It begins with a view of a man, seen against a blank background,
    gesturing angrily because he does not want his picture taken.
3)He walks forward until his wide-open mouth blots out the view.
4)An imperceptible cut then substitutes a black backdrop for his mouth, and we see the
   cinematographer and his camera pitch forward into this void.
5)Another concealed cut returns us to the open mouth,
6)and the man backs away from the camera, laughing and chewing triumphantly.

The Big Swallow (James Williamson, 1900)
Film clip

G. A. Smith’s 1903 grotesque comedy Mary Jane’s Mishap
1)uses editing in a remarkably sophisticated way.
2)One basic distant framing of a slovenly maid in a kitchen is interrupted by several cut-ins
   to medium shots that show her amusing facial expressions.
3)Although the actor’s position is usually not matched well at the cuts, there is a general
   attempt to create a continuous action while using closer shots to guide our attention.

Mary Jane’s Mishap (G. A. Smith, 1903)
Film  Clip