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Edwin S. Griffith's Life Of An American Fireman

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Edwin S. Porter

Edwin S. Porter was born April 21, 1870, in Connellsville, Pennsylvania. In 1897, he invented the Beadnell film projector. As the Edison Company's director-cameraman, Porter filmed The Great Train Robbery. He later invested in his own film equipment company, but the 1929 stock market crash put him out of business. In the 1930s he worked on home-movie cameras. He died on April 3, 1941, in New York City. (Biography.com)

'Life of an American Fireman' combined stock actuality footage of fires, firemen and fire engines with dramatised scenes which Porter shot, this juxtaposition added tension and release to the film making it truly dramatic in contemporary setting, unlike Méliès whose filmatic drama was derived from his films’ …show more content…
A short film has a slightly different narrative structure than a feature. Everything has to be set up rather quickly, but Griffith always made sure not to rush the narrative of the stories he was trying to portray. Instead, Griffith would telescope the action to fit within one reel so that he would shorten the story with a title card or narrative device. It was even reported that Griffith would often insist that the cameraman crank slower so that he could fit more scenes into the film. His style of photography also differed greatly from others at the time. While his staging had great depth, it was usually filmed with a more narrow scope – creating what seemed to be a crowded scene with only just a few actors. You can see a good example of this in his 1912 short, Musketeers of Pig Alley where Griffith strings the camera away from the actors but uses a camera angle that makes it seem like there are quite a few people in the shot. He often only showed rooms from one camera angle to trick the audience into thinking that the room is larger than it actually

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...367 Date of submission: 7 March 2009 Course Code: DRAA 1003 Lecture : Jordache A. Ellapen Due Date: 23 March 2009 Word count : 452 ( not including references ) Essay Topic: 1. D.W Griffith, who is often referred to as the father of film, was influenced by the works of Edwin S. Porter. Porter’s two film’s Life of and American Fireman (1903) and The Great Train Robbery (1903) display some of the early innovations in filmmaking that were instrumental in the development of film language. By examining the films of Porter and Griffith ( Birth of the Nation (1915)) , discuss in detail the manner in which Griffith was influenced by the works of Edwin S. Porter in establishing the basic vocabulary of filmmaking and editing . The film industry in contemporary society has proven itself to be one of the most popular forms of entertainment and information. Films produced these days have made way for a thriving industry. It is important to understand how these films are made and in particular how the cinema culture has evolved. D.W Griffith was a prominent figure in creating films during the early 1900s. His work was based on the basic narrative ideas for film that were formally introduced by Edwin S Porter, another critical figure in cinematic history. This essay will discuss how the works of Porter influenced D.W Griffith in developing the basic vocabulary of filmmaking and editing with reference to the early films of both these filmmakers. During the silent film era, Porter...

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