From Start to Finish

From the earliest form of film recording with the Cinematographto the creation of the Fusion Camera System used in James Cameron's AVATAR, Wired magazine has it covered. In their article on the progression of cinematic history we are exposed to the major advancements and the not-so-remembered hopefuls that never caught on. Being in the age group I am I was most attracted to the more recent achievements with digital film such as the development of the Red One digital camera.

A long time ago, in a world without color.

Exploring the pages of the Museum of Television's website made me gain much appreciation for all of the wonderful tech gadgets that have become a huge part of our daily lives. We are so caught up with the glitz and glamour of HD and 3D that we forget what it's like to have just plain 2D, or color, or a picture at all for that matter. It was fascinating seeing the photographs from the World's Fair of thirty or forty people standing around a box in the center of the room trying to catch a glimpse of an image coming from this new invention. To think that the first television didn't even have a screen yet attached an angled mirror to reflect the projection.
We all have our televisions to find comfort in on a rainy day but we have these certain individuals, who over seventy years ago, pioneered our past time. MZTV.com has the photos, the stories and the dates of the televisions transformation into main stream media.

Terry and The Pirates - OTR

Have you ever been to OTR.com? Neither had I until recently. Growing up just prior to the new millennium I have always been surrounded by television (in color), video games and, the biggest game changer, the computer. Not having much interaction with the radio outside of the morning drive to elementary school I never realized the big hit that radio had been. Listening to some shows on OTR.com helped bring radio to life in a way that I never thought possible.
My first radio show I picked was Terry and the Pirates, a radio series about a young man traveling through the war in the far east.
My favorite part is the advertisements prior to the start of the show. A handsome sounding, well-versed man with his calm cool voice comes on and yaps about tomato soup and the health benefits which pour from the can; oh by the way, trust him, 'he would know.' Once the show started though it was surprisingly a lot of fun. Being used to the visual aspects of entertainment it was a little unexciting compared to top Hollywood intro's but as soon as this regret gives way to childhood imagination the radio shows come to life.

When the Rain clears.

The middle of the 1950's in America was a prosperous time for the recently depleted country. Charles Schulz introduced Peanuts, Disneyland opens in California changing the face of 'fun' and color soon began to flood television screens. The film Singing in the Rain, however still shown in black and white, was a toast to the happy side of life. The art of entertainment was designed to give American's the ability to forget about their hardships and live vicariously through these silver screen shows. 'Singing in the Rain', performed by Gene Kelly, has influenced many film's to come and is now highly regarded as a great musical masterpiece. Despite the happy-go-lucky feelings the song promotes, it would soon become a testament to the dark side of free will, controlled substances and new experimental forms of music.
Over the next twenty years America would be thrust back into war again and have to witness the assassination of one of their favorite presidents in JFK while the rise of the hippie alternative movement separates society into very distinct, divergent groups. Stanley Kubrick's film A Clockwork Orange in 1971 demonstrates the antithesis to Gene Kelly's original version of "singing in the rain'. At first we saw a man so believably happy to be singing outside during a rain storm and now, twenty years later, we see the same song being sung during a rape scene. The character who sings this song appears to be boasting about the terrible change that has come from the depths of society. He shows us through song and rape that the world has an ever-present evil that is not going anywhere soon.
Personally it was a bit hard to watch the Clockwork Orange rendition of singing in the rain directly after watching Gene Kelly's original. To see smiles turn into sinister grins overdubbed with screams and cries. Try it yourself to see what emotional changes you feel.

Abel Gance

Abel Gance was a man whose knowledge of film was much more advanced than the average Joe. His silent film Napoleon in 1927 is a tribute to his out of the box style. He pioneered the art of filming with handheld cameras creating a more life like feel for the viewer. Aside from filming on multiple cameras he also wanted the film to be shown on three different screens to increase the intensity of his montage scenes. This technique he called 'Polyvision'.
Unfortunately Gance's film was thoroughly edited before it was released in the United States and was not thought to be as well done as when released in Europe.