FILM (back to the cave)

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As we explored with the cave paintings, humans have been telling stories visually since the beginning of existence -but since those early endeavors we have developed a complexity and a technology for telling a story. Film may not be the first form of visual storytelling, but it is certainly the most sophisticated thus far.

Beginning with the invention of film in the 1800s, the photograph was as effective at telling a story as those early paintings. One could infer the story's theme from the action in the still, but inference lent more to human imagination than actual storytelling.

In the 18th century, scientists began to take note of a visual phenomenon. They found that displaying a rapid sequence of pictures gave the illusion of motion -the motion picture. As these experiments continued, a device called the Zeotrope -a mechanical toy consisting of a sequence of pictures on the inside surface of a slotted drum -produced the same effect when whirled. Soon afterward, Thomas Edison invented the Kine-scope, an individual viewing device. Eventually projection followed and the first celluloid stories were born.

With the introduction of sound in the film The Jazz Singer, the art of film which incorporated visuals, like those cave paintings so many years ago, audio; like the first orally driven narratives; characters like Greek dramas, and complex stories, like the novel....ALL the elements were now together and in complete control and could be saved for eternity.

The next step of these development of story and technology may be new media and video games.

what do you think is unique of about experiencing a story through a film versus a video game?

 

 

*Krawcyzk/Novak