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i l m fo r u m
los angeles
fall 2006 Screenings
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i l m fo r u m fall 2006 Screenings |
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Oct 4  |
Wednesday October 4, 2006 at 7:30 pm Filmforum co-presents a rare and magnificent show at the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theatre: MAGIC LANTERNS AND THE EVOLUTION OF FILM NARRATIVE Presented by David Francis of the Library of Congress and Joss Marsh, professor of The Linwood Dunn Theater is located at the Academy's Pickford Center for Motion Picture Magic lanternists in the Victorian era had two dreams: first, to make still images move; second, to tell stories in pictures. Mixing historical commentary with period showmanship using an original triunial (three-level) lantern, presenters David Francis and Joss Marsh trace the origin and development of those dreams in the context of the cartoons, illustrated books, narrative paintings (a peculiarly English genre) and other visual art forms of the period. The program particularly highlights the importance of Charles Dickens and Victorian temperance propaganda to both lanternists' storytelling and the early development of narrative film. The program presents a very full range of lantern materials ˆ from early engraved, moving, painted slides to "dissolving views" and hand-colored photographic "life model" sets. One of the sets is a baroque extension of the famous temperance story "Buy Your Own Cherries," which anticipates the lantern's competition with film (especially in Britain) into the 1920s, since it also involves vivid commentary and (unintentionally) hilarious songs, some of which are performed live. Two films by R.W. Paul illustrate the stage and slide influences: A Christmas Carol (a remarkable work that even employs wipes) and a sophisticated, middle-class, and surprisingly cheeky Buy Your Own Cherries. David Francis was for 16 years the Curator of the British National Film Archive, and subsequently, until 2001, Chief of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division of the Library of Congress, where he currently works as a consultant. During his time at the NFA, he co-created, with Leslie Hardcastle, the Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI) in London (now, alas, closed), and received the O.B.E. for his services to film preservation; at the Library of Congress, he designed and found funding for the National Audio Visual Conservation Center. He is the author of numerous articles on film and film preservation, and co-author of the book CHAPLIN: GENESIS OF A CLOWN; while his organization of the "Cinema 1900-1906" conference in Brighton on early film, 1900-1905, thirty years ago, opened up a new field for film studies. But his main passion is the magic lantern: for 45 years, he has collected lanterns, slides, and ephemera, and has presented lantern shows across the United States and Europe. Joss Marsh is professor of Victorian Studies at Indiana University; my last book was a cultural history of blasphemy, and she’s currently embroiled in finishing another called Dickens/Cinema, which disentangles film's love-affair with "the Inimitable," and in so doing writes some new chapters on film performance, Chaplin, the rise of photographic celebrity in the 19th century, and production design. Tickets for this show are through the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences. They are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid I.D. Tickets for this event will be available beginning September 1, at the Academy during regular business hours, by mail (HTML or PDF format), or on the night of the screening, if still available. Please note, we do not take phone reservations or any credit |
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