Movies and film is a huge part of my very own life and millions across the world. Everyone loves movies and they are a great form of entrainment. Movies have come so far since the early 19th century. For instance, categories have broaden and the acting as well as the directing has improved. The whole operation of making a movie itself has evolved from a person holding a single camera. The whole city of Hollywood is an enormous hub for making movies.

Adolf Zukor was the first director who turned out really successful. He was a great business man as well. He was the first director to go to wall street for financial backup on his movies. He also made actors into celebrities. Zukor was one of the first “independent directors”. Independent directors were directors who worked for foreign studios and would road show their features as a way around the “Trust” that was set up by Thomas Edison. The Motion Picture Paten Company was intended on having complete control over the film industry. These directors were rebels sticking it to the man which was Thomas Edison. Movies are an art form and art can not be monopolized and controlled. These directors were essential in moving this industry forward.

The raise of Hollywood in the early 19th century was also a huge turn in the movie industry. The location seemed to be perfect for movie makin’. The weather was always warm, the sun was always shining, and the land was cheap. The land also was diverse for all different kinds of movies. Hollywood has woods, mountains, lakes, beaches, and ocean. What more would you need? There is also some sort of mystic sense that goes along with it being way out west and wondering what goes on out there. The famous movie actors living all in one area with so much spotlight on these people, it was and still is a city full of stars.

The concept of silent films really interest me. Silent films make the audience really have to engage with the film and pay attention. Eliminating the sound and the actors having conversations without words really make you dial in and focus on the story. You have to rely on facial expressions and your own mind to put the story together. This version of film (silent film) also leaves room for you to have your own view that might be different from someone else. Someone else might interpret the movie different because of having to figure it out on your own. Silent films also use music to show tension and help the audience get a feel for the scene and moment. In 1925, the industry was looking to expand and then started making movies with sound. With the amount of focus a silent movie takes to understand, these films would not work for todays audience. We as humans are very easily distracted with the technology that we are surrounded by and would never be able to actually enjoy a silent film.

Film also was treated differently compared to how people view film now. In the early 19th century up until about the 1990s, going out to the movie theater was a popular thing to do. Especially in the early 19th century, going out to the movies was fancy and a special occasion. Now we will put on a movie just for the hell of it. It is not as special now to us as it once was and that is because we have every movie at our finger tips. The sense of doing something special and out of ordinary no longer exist with movies.