1855 United States Tycoon

Chapter 516, The Age of Movies (4)

The premiere of “Annie’s Diary” is not only of political significance. Later film critics often regard the appearance of this film as the beginning of film art. Although “Singer” shot by Edison was the first sound film with a plot, it was obviously forgotten. Later, when talking about the earliest sound film, everyone generally thinks of “Annie’s Diary”. It is said that during the enrollment examination of a certain film school in later generations, the question “Which is the earliest sound film with a plot” was asked. Most candidates answered “Anne’s Diary”, and only a few people answered “Singer”. What’s more terrible is that these few candidates who answered “Singer” were deducted points for this question.

In the early 21st century, the “Greatest Film in Film History” poll conducted by the United States Film Association found that this film, which was shot a hundred years ago, topped the list.

“This is a great movie. Most of the creative techniques we have about the movie now-whether it’s the use of lenses, cutting, special effects, or the coordination of music, almost all of them come from “Anne’s Diary”. Yes. Said, “Anne Diary” is a complete miracle-its appearance has made the new art of film almost no youthful childhood, but one step into the blossoming May. Its success has enlightened. Countless later filmmakers, although due to technology and other issues, in fact, from today’s perspective, this movie still has many flaws, but even so, this movie still has the power to shock the soul until today. When we carefully study any successful film since then, we can see the shadow of “Annie’s Diary”…”

If one hundred years later, this film can make the audience feel a long aftertaste, then in this era, it will directly make countless people crazy. In New York, Heidi and Katie have watched this movie six times, but this is not the highest record. The highest record is a United States aunt who bought tickets from others at a high price. I watched it twenty times in a week!Of course, this kind of madness has also attracted the attention of the media. Now you can read reports about this movie when you open the entertainment charts of various newspapers. It seems that if you don’t report about this movie, you won’t be considered as a media. Of course, the reporting angles are even more diverse. Some analyze from the perspectives of science and technology, and then chant long live science, such as a report in “Science” magazine:

“”Anne’s Diary” marks the maturity of sound movies. Compared with Edison’s sound films, the groundbreaking soundtrack technology of “Anne’s Diary” impressed us deeply. This technology perfectly solves the synchronization of sound and picture. The problem, and the multi-track technology used in “Anne Diary” provides us with an auditory feast. When the sound of the cannons in the movie sounded, some viewers who had experienced war even immediately fell down. The action, which fully demonstrates the fidelity of the sound effects of this movie. In terms of expressing music, whether it is the music we heard on the phonograph or the radio before, compared with the movie, it is very different. To be honest, the musical effects in the movie are very close to live performances, and many people even wonder if there is a symphony band hidden in the back stage. Maybe only the most professional ears can tell that this is not hidden in the back. The symphony orchestra of the station is performing live.

Not only sound technology, but also in “Anne’s Diary”, the progress of photography technology is extremely obvious. When we watched “Anne’s Diary”, we could find a huge difference between it and the previous movies. First of all, compared to the previous movies, the actions of the characters in “Anne’s Diary” are much smoother. This is because in the shooting of “Anne Diary”, the camera can take 24 photos per second, which is much faster than the previous 16 frames per second. At the same time, we can also notice that the resolution of the picture in “Annie Diary” is much higher than that of some previous movies. This advantage comes from two points. One is the camera itself. As far as we know, the cameras used to shoot this movie were all manufactured in the laboratory of the University of Cleveland, which means that this kind of camera is not the usual product that is currently available on the market. In order to understand these cameras, the reporter of this journal interviewed researcher Peter of the University of Cleveland Laboratory Optics Institute after obtaining permission. He told us that the lenses of these cameras use a lot of related equipment for the most sophisticated astronomical telescopes. technology, such as aspherical high-transparency special optical glass lenses, and complex lens combinations:

‘In order to ensure the high quality of the pictures, we made the lenses of these cameras quite large. Yes, we made them according to the standards for making astronomical telescopes. This of course also brings another problem, that is, our lens and camera are too heavy, so that stable movement becomes difficult. And directors often require the camera to follow the actor’s movement, or even move quickly. In order to solve this problem, we thought of many ways and finally imitated the railway. In all the scenes where the camera needs to be moved, we prepared the rails in advance, and then set the camera rack on it…’

In addition to high-resolution lenses, high-resolution film is also very important. The film used in the filming of this movie is also a distinctive high-resolution film. The size of their silver particles is much smaller than that of normal film. Of course, this also means a higher investment… Obviously, in For some time to come, these brand-new technologies may not enter people’s lives immediately. Even considering the high cost, it is difficult to say whether the next sound film can maintain such a level, but in any case, scientific technology is gaining momentum. The tremendous power affects our life, making things that we didn’t even appear in the most bizarre dreams before quickly become reality. We believe that science will surely lead mankind to create a better tomorrow…”

Some media analyze the meaning of this work from the film art itself, such as the “Artist” magazine in Paris:

“Compared to the previous movies, “Annie’s Diary” has a far-reaching significance in addition to its profound social significance, that is, its artistic innovation. Before “Anne’s Diary”, the movie could not be called at all. Art, they are just technology verification or show off, and vulgar curiosity. However, “Anne Diary” is different. (Although it uses more and more advanced technology, its purpose from the beginning is to complete the artistic Creation) It is a great masterpiece of art. It has created a brand new art form, and it can be passed down through the ages. I’m sure that it won’t be long before more advanced technology will appear, and countless shots of such technology will appear. Movies. But people who love art will never forget this great movie. Here, please allow me to take off my hats to the masters who created this great, Immortal artwork, and use the great poetry of Shakespeare to express it. My tribute to this great work:

‘Your eternal summer will not die,

Nor will you lose the beauty you have;

Grim Reaper cannot boast that you wander in his shadow,

When you get eternal life in this eternal poetry;

As long as people can breathe and eyes can see,

As long as this poem lasts, it will make you eternal. ’

Before film became an art, we already had a great art appealing to the visual—painting, and also a great art appealing to the sense of hearing—music, as well as epics, novels, and dramas that were good at using stories to move the soul. . And all of this is integrated in the film art created by “Anne’s Diary”. Some insensitive people only regard it as an extension of the drama on the stage, but this is not exact. First of all, when the audience is watching the drama, his perspective is fixed, and many expressions will be affected by this fixed perspective. For example, the small movements and expressions that are very classic and vivid in some novels are almost impossible to express on the stage, because even if you do, the audience will not see it. And it is difficult or impossible to show a wide scene like a movie. There is no such artistic use of cameras as in “Anne’s Diary”. Film is not a simple expansion of the stage, it has its own unique artistic methods and artistic characteristics…”

But the best proof of the popularity of the movie “Annie Diary”, in the final analysis, is the box office revenue. In this film, the newly established “DreamWorks” film company spent about 70,000 US dollars (some fixed asset investments that will be used later are not counted). Although the viewers are very enthusiastic, it is considered that the theater is divided. With nearly half of the income, this investment was not quickly recovered. This makes Edmundo very worried. However, the Macdonald Consortium did not push him too much, because neither the Macdonald Consortium nor Edmund himself can be sure that the movie will definitely make a lot of money, and now there is only one thing that limits the speed at which the movie can make money. , That is too few projectors. If there are enough projectors in United States, depending on the current market heat, these investments would have been made back long ago. Of course, borrowing money is after all borrowing money, and you still have to repay the money. Otherwise, it’s not easy to do the accounts. However, the Macdonald consortium was very kind and allowed Edmundo to borrow new debts to repay old debts.

Of course, MacDonald did not fully see the prospects. In fact, MacDonald as a whole made a long time ago. Those theater managers who are eager to buy projectors are working in the same newly established “United States Special Optical Equipment Company”. The queue at the door can extend to the outside of the two streets. Just getting the deposit in your hand has already exceeded the cost of the entire movie.