Corporate Video Production studies examine everything from the origins of cinema to the technical wizardry of great cinematographers, scaling the dizzying peaks of auteurship and sliding down the scree slopes of wanton hackery.
You may have read our articles providing insights into key industry positions and responsibilities in the film industry, as well as filmmaking equipment, amongst others. This article, however, provides a guide to the major movements that have shaped cinema from the silent era to the present. Put on your smartest glasses and join us as we travel. A historical journey
You can divide the development of feature films into roughly thirteen key cinematic movements, ranging from silent films to contemporary blockbusters.
The Film Movement: What Is It?
A cinema movement is a trend in filmmaking that is influenced by and reflects the historical context, individuals, culture, social mores, and political events of the region from where it originated. These movements are frequently the result of discussions about how to make movies by filmmakers or film reviewers, who then put those theories into action.
13 Movements in Film:
You won't always find agreement in film studies about what constitutes a real film movement versus a tendency because filmmaking trends sometimes overlap. The principal acknowledged cinematic movements are as follows:
1. German Expressionism (1919–1926): During World War I, the German government outlawed foreign motion pictures, necessitating the production of German motion pictures, which unintentionally led to the development of the avant-garde film style known as German Expressionism. German directors, like Fritz Lang (Metropolis, 1927), were forced to emigrate to Hollywood as a result of the Nazis' mid-1930s declaration that German Expressionism was corrupt. German Expressionism makes use of stark contrasts, dramatic camera angles, and menacing themes in films like Nosferatu (1922, directed by F.W. Murnau) and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920, directed by Robert Wiene).
2. Surrealism (1924–1930): The Surrealist movement was born in Paris in the 1920s and questioned established art forms by using bizarre or disturbing images. Famous Surrealist directors Jean Renoir and Marcel Duchamp left their imprint on this movement with works like La Fille de L'eau (1925), which was directed by Jean Renoir, and Anémic Cinéma (1926), which was directed by Marcel Duchamp under the alias Rrose Sélavy.
3. Soviet Montage (1924–1933): In Russia, at the State Film School, Soviet montage was created. The Soviet montage movies don't have a single main character; instead, the plots focus on groups or classes of individuals and resemble documentaries. Because they invented cutting-edge film techniques, including overlapping edits, jump cuts, and split screens, that are some of the most commonly used techniques by a corporate video production. The Soviet montage films can be identified by their distinctive editing style. The movement was led by Sergei Eisenstein under the guidance of Lev Kuleshov, and Eisenstein's films, Battleship Potemkin (1925) and Man With a Movie Camera (1929), are now regarded as modern masterpieces of cinema.
4. Poetic Realism (1930–1939): Films in this French style have a nostalgic feel to them and frequently centre on unfulfilled love. The French New Wave and the Italian Neorealism groups, which were beginning to move toward naturalism, were both affected by this approach. With his renowned Poetic Realist movies, Les Bas-fonds (1936) and La Grande Illusion, Jean Renoir, who is also connected with Surrealism, lays his claim as the most well-known director of the era (1937).
5. Italian Neorealism (1942–1951): Italian neorealism, one of the most significant movements in cinema history, signalled a deliberate shift away from Hollywood-style filmmaking (a style with less realistic people following a specific storyline) and toward more realistic characters and narratives. Italian neorealism is characterised by its emphasis on moral ambiguity, candid depictions of poverty, and intense empathy for its subjects. Italian neorealist filmmakers like Roberto Rossellini and Federico Fellini were well known during this time. During this time, classic movies like Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves (1948) and Umberto D (1952, directed by Vittorio De Sica) were released.
6. The French New Wave (1959–1964): The French New Wave film movement gained notoriety in Paris, France, in the late 1950s. The movement sought to offer filmmakers complete creative freedom over their work, enabling them to forgo overblown narrative in favour of improvised, existential storytelling. Modern independent auteur filmmaking was made possible by the impact of French New Wave filmmakers on both French cinema and the larger film industry. During this time, renowned filmmakers Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut produced such classics as The 400 Blows (1959), Truffaut's directorial debut, and Breathless (1960), also by Godard.
7. British New Wave (1959–1963): The British New Wave film movement and the French New Wave have comparable aesthetics. The working class and the struggles of daily life are the main subjects of British New Wave films, which are spontaneous, naturalistic, and shot in black and white with nonactors in actual locales. Three Tony Richardson-directed films from the 1950s—Look Back in Anger from 1959, A Taste of Honey from 1961, and The Sporting Life from 1963—remain as standards of this style.
8. Cinéma Vérite (1960s-present): The phrase "cinema vérité" (French for "truthful cinema" or "cinema of truth") refers to a documentary filmmaking trend that started in France in the 1960s. With this method of filmmaking, characters are followed as their stories develop over the course of several months (or more) of immersion in a community. Grey Gardens, directed by Albert and David Maysles in 1975; Paris Is Burning, by Jennie Livingston in 1990; and Hoop Dreams are notable examples of cinematic classics (1994, directed by Steve James).
9. Third Cinema (1960s–1970s): The Third Cinema film movement got its start in Latin America as a critique of capitalism and the Hollywood movie business. The films of this movement, such as Jorge Sanjinés's Blood of the Condor (1969) and The Principal Enemy (1974), put a strong emphasis on exposing harmful national policies, highlighting the hardships of the working class, and inspiring viewers to take revolutionary action.
10. New German Cinema (1962–1982): These movies, which were heavily influenced by the French New Wave, stand out as low-budget indies that prioritise aesthetic quality over box office success. During this time, internationally recognized directors Werner Herzog and Wim Wenders, as well as works like Alice in the Cities (1974), The Tin Drum (1979), and Fitzcarraldo, all under the direction of Volker Schlöndorff, began to flourish as filmmakers (1982, directed by Werner Herzog).
11. New Hollywood (1967–early 1980s): Also known as the American New Wave, this movement handed control of movies from the studio to the director. Films like Taxi Driver (1976, directed by Martin Scorsese), The Graduate (1967, directed by Mike Nichols), and Easy Rider (1969, directed by Dennis Hopper) were made by young directors and broke the rules of traditional cinema by telling stories that lacked definite conclusions or traditional narrative linearity. Three legendary directors, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and Terrence Malick, flourished throughout the New Hollywood era.
12. Cinéma Du Look (1980s–1990s): This film series is centred on French filmmakers that prioritise style and spectacle in movies that typically tell the tale of a young outcast. During this time, well-known directors Luc Besson and Leos Carax produced visually stunning Cinéma Du Look movies, including La Femme Nikita (1994), Léon: The Professional (1994), and Boy Meets Girl (directed by Leos Carax in 1984). (1990, directed by Luc Besson).
13. Dogme 95 (1995–2005): The films of this movement place more emphasis on story, actors, and topic than on special effects or technology, and were created in Denmark as a reaction to the studio system by directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg. The Idiots (1998, directed by Lars von Trier) and The Celebration (1998, directed by Thomas Vinterberg) are two films that serve as excellent examples of this movement and are based on a manifesto written by the two filmmakers that includes filmmaking guidelines followed by the Dogme film collective.
Today’s corporate video production techniques owe a lot to the cinematic movements that defined what today’s film industry is. Without these 'revolutions’, as some see them, perhaps, the behemoth that the filmmaking industry is around the world today would not have been possible.
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