These "phantom ride" genre films as well as "The Kiss" contrasts from The Uses of Cinema reading in that these films as well as many of the previous films we have seen serve as entertainment. This is mainly due to 90% of the footage being lost and a limited selection due to time constraints, but it is interesting that the ones we have seen fit in the entertainment category. A surgical video from this time would be fascinating. From this selection it is also difficult to believe that anyone would connect these to delinquency. "What Happened in the Tunnel" comes closer to something I can imagine there being much protest about showing for fear of increase in sexual violence. While now many are well-versed in discussions disproving the theory that media makes people violent, at the beginning of the history of moving pictures it is not surprising that this is a major concern that has not gone away. Regarding the war film, I doubt that all audiences were entirely aware to the extent that they did not let the war films they saw deeply influence how they felt about such subjects. Even if it is well known that the images are fake, everyone is susceptible to the strong emotional persuasion of visual media and I presume that these films had a great impact on either cementing or forming beliefs about the battles depicted.
The literal closeness of the camera to the subjects, at eye level, as well as depicting intimacy itself create an intimate picture. I absolutely loved the music playing during "The Kiss in the Tunnel". I bet that if a viewer has never experienced that swooning, lustful feeling while watching a video that experiencing it from this third perspective between two people feels like such an invasion. To never see that act in public much less to pay to sit down and watch it surrounded by other people, it would feel very intimate and be quite the shock. Again, formally, the picture goes to black inside the tunnel before we view the kiss and to black again as we exit. These edits serve to show we are seeing something happening in the dark, in privacy. I felt a bit trapped by the very still camera shot in contrast with the mobile shots on the train. It creates a feeling of being frozen and forced to watch the kiss, suddenly seeing this train ride from a very different perspective than is typical of the "phantom ride genre". I absolutely love editing and it's so cool to see such a great execution of it at its birth.
The literal closeness of the camera to the subjects, at eye level, as well as depicting intimacy itself create an intimate picture. I absolutely loved the music playing during "The Kiss in the Tunnel". I bet that if a viewer has never experienced that swooning, lustful feeling while watching a video that experiencing it from this third perspective between two people feels like such an invasion. To never see that act in public much less to pay to sit down and watch it surrounded by other people, it would feel very intimate and be quite the shock. Again, formally, the picture goes to black inside the tunnel before we view the kiss and to black again as we exit. These edits serve to show we are seeing something happening in the dark, in privacy. I felt a bit trapped by the very still camera shot in contrast with the mobile shots on the train. It creates a feeling of being frozen and forced to watch the kiss, suddenly seeing this train ride from a very different perspective than is typical of the "phantom ride genre". I absolutely love editing and it's so cool to see such a great execution of it at its birth.
I totally agree with you that I also have a feeling of being frozen and forced to watch the kiss. Phantom ride is also a new idea for films. It is fresh and interesting.
ReplyDeleteI also truly enjoy the background music of Smith's Kiss in the Tunnel. It is so beautiful with the stable dolly shot on the train at the beginning. Your connection of the Battle film is interesting. The power of media is so strong because what it represents is so similar as the reality, which might get to the point that people cannot separate the fantasy with the reality, even they want to, it will be hard for them to believe the truth once they already have the first impression of some subject from films.
ReplyDelete"What Happened in the Tunnel" gave me a much more tense feeling through the title as well. Which was unexpectedly met with more of a slapstick scenario.
ReplyDeleteI think that to understand how these were connected to delinquency we must remember that Victorian era mores made very intense distinctions between public and private life. Film created the possibility for seeing people's private life from an extremely intimate perspective. This in and of itself was pushing the boundaries of the social codes. "The Kiss" was considered quite lewd in its time because of the intimacy that the camera creates. Interestingly, I think "What Happened in the Tunnel" would potentially seem the least offensive because it came at a time when people were more used to the experience of cinema and it has few close-ups.
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