muskateers of pig alley 1912
painted lady 1912
one is business, the other crime 1912
the lesser evil 1912
d w griffith is famous for furthering the art of motion pictures and rightly so. watching these biograph shorts, i was struck by a curious fluctuation between the indoor and the locations shots. while the interiors are set up as static picture postcards, the outdoor scenes are full of detailed deep-focus compositions. it seemed strange to me that the more traditional theatre settings were simply designed while camera set-ups in an assumably less controlled environment would be so much more complex. to me, griffith earns all his accolades with these shots alone.
these last two stills are also from the lesser evil, easily the best in the collection and certainly deserving of a place in my canon.
fellow blogger lloydville goes into much more detail about the contrast between interiors and exteriors in a posting on his site, mar de cortes baja.
5 comments:
By the standards of his day, Griffith worked harder than other directors to compose for spatial depth in interiors. His effects have to be judged in comparison with those standards, which allowed for totally flat compositions against painted backdrops. Griffith's efforts to create an impression of depth in interiors are indications of his growing awareness of the importance of spatial illusion to the medium of film.
perhaps, as i haven't seen much else filmed in america at this point in time. in this dvd set, i found a few examples of indoor "crowd" scenes with multiple actions taking place simultaneously and set design that mimicked the theatre. there were some especially nice compositions of staircases. but, by and large, the outdoor shots really stood out to me as being more "modern" and detailed and involving different actions from actors, a marked contrast to the composition of the interior scenes.
You're absolutely right, but what's fascinating to watch is Griffith's progress as he tries to reconcile the differences in spatial approach between interiors and exteriors. He rarely got to the same level of dynamic composition in interiors that he reveled in in exteriors, but it was something that he continued to work at (and to succeed at occasionally.)
that attempt to achieve more of a balance between interiors and exteriors says to me that he saw the finished film back then the way i did from my 21st century movie-obsessive seat. i'm all the more impressed now.
hopefully i'll get to see that progress this weekend when i watch "intolerance."
Check out these posts for stuff on "Intolerance" and spatial depth:
http://www.mardecortesbaja.com/blog/_archives/2007/5/18/2942174.html
http://www.mardecortesbaja.com/blog/_archives/2007/6/1/2924715.html
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