Introduction & Context

• Summer movie playlist episode from February 2015
• Focus on movies that changed filmmaking from early cinema to Star Wars era
• Last episode recorded in old studio/office
• Hosts: Josh Clark, Chuck Bryant, Jerry (producer)

Battleship Potemkin (1925)

• Silent film about 1905 Russian sailor uprising against Tsarist regime
• Made in 1925 during Lenin/Trotsky era as Soviet propaganda
• Banned in some countries for propaganda, later banned in Russia by Stalin
• Cinematic innovations:
  • Pioneered Soviet theory of montage - impact from juxtaposition of shots vs smooth sequence
  • Rhythmic series of shots independent of story flow
  • Famous Odessa Steps sequence - most mimicked scene in film history
  • Baby carriage down steps scene referenced in: The Untouchables, Naked Gun 33⅓, Everything is Illuminated
  • "Shot through glasses" technique used in: Love and Death, Bananas, The Godfather, Brazil

The General (1926) - Buster Keaton

• Showcased Keaton as greatest stuntman ever
• Famous house-falling stunt - real building facade with window opening around him
• Innovations:
  • Pioneered deadpan acting style vs Charlie Chaplin's mugging
  • Influenced: Bill Murray, Michael Cera, Zach Galifianakis, Leslie Nielsen, Amy Poehler, Jason Schwartzman
  • Combined amazing stunts with stone-faced expression throughout

The Jazz Singer (1927)

• First feature-length film with 25% spoken dialogue
• Not first talkie (short films existed) but first substantial dialogue feature
• Used Vitaphone system - vinyl records synced to film projector via physical connection
• Warner Brothers invested $500,000 in Western Electric's system
• Grossed $3.5 million (equivalent to $56+ million today)
• Ineligible for Best Picture due to unfair advantage over silent films

Citizen Kane (1941)

• Orson Welles wrote, directed, starred, produced, edited
• Narrative innovations:
  • Pioneered extensive nonlinear storytelling through flashbacks
  • Influenced later films like Pulp Fiction
• Technical innovations:
  • Deep focus photography (Greg Toland) - foreground and background in focus
  • Off-center framing - main action not centered
  • Expressionistic lighting from Welles' theater background
  • Invented the wipe transition (precursor to star wipe)
  • Low angle shots - cut floors, used fabric ceilings, showed ceilings in movies for first time
• Based loosely on William Randolph Hearst

Breathless (1960) - French New Wave

• Directed by Jean-Luc Godard, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg
• French New Wave characteristics:
  • Handheld camera work considered "amateurish" at time
  • Movies where "not much happens" - showing life as it happens
  • Flat emotional expression vs big dramatic moments
  • Influenced indie filmmaking: Wes Anderson, Bottle Rocket
• Jump cut editing innovation:
  • First extensive use of jump cuts - jarring at the time
  • Shows progression of time/movement through quick cuts vs continuous action
  • Used to create tension and hide filming mistakes
  • Famously used by Scorsese in Goodfellas cocaine sequence

8½ (1963) - Federico Fellini

• Starring Marcello Mastroianni
• Surrealist filmmaking:
  • One of first movies about moviemaking
  • Dream sequences - traffic jam to floating away
  • "Go nuts" approach to surreal imagery
  • Influenced: Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine), Darren Aronofsky, David Lynch, Terry Gilliam
• Opening traffic sequence directly mimicked in R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts" video and Falling Down

Toy Story (1995)

• First fully CGI animated feature film
• Innovations:
  • Pioneered computer animation in feature films
  • Adult humor mixed with children's content - dialogue over kids' heads
  • Led to Best Animated Feature Oscar category
  • Up and Toy Story 3 later nominated for regular Best Picture even after animated category existed

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - Stanley Kubrick

• Collaborated with Arthur C. Clarke (book and movie developed simultaneously)
• Consulted Carl Sagan on alien portrayal - chose not to show aliens at all
• Structure:
  • Three movements vs conventional three-act structure
  • 146 minutes total with only 40 minutes of dialogue
  • First/last 30 minutes completely silent (no dialogue)
• Technical achievements:
  • Rooted in science fact vs science fiction
  • Visually groundbreaking - still looks futuristic today
  • Influenced George Lucas, Ridley Scott
  • Lucas said Star Wars technically comparable but 2001 far better movie
• Famous sequences:
  • Match cut: bone tool to nuclear satellite showing human evolution (or lack thereof)
  • HAL 9000 computer character
  • Star child transformation
• Kubrick's obsession:
  • Destroyed all sets, props, miniatures after filming
  • Destroyed all unused footage to prevent future recutting
  • Every frame intentionally composed - nothing accidental
• Alternate titles considered: Journey Beyond the Stars, Universe, Tunnel to the Stars, Planet Fall, How the Solar System Was Won

Fatty Arbuckle Retraction

• Previously incorrectly called him rapist/murderer
• Was acquitted of all charges, apparently innocent
• Career and reputation destroyed by false accusations