I little tribute I made for Harry from his First National years. I want to do one later on his Sennett years. But in the meantime
There is a period in film history sandwiched between the Lumiere Brothers and the beginning of the studio era that the film theorist Tom Gunning calls an era of the ‘cinema of attractions’. This is a theory used to describe films that are not narrative driven, but rather are driven by the need to amaze, a need to exhibit, a need to acknowledge their audience. This essay will examine the technology behind film, the desideratum for these films to exhibit, as well as the cultural context of film during this period and it will consider the theory behind ‘cinema of attractions’. In the mid-eighteenth century shadow theatre had arrived in Europe and was at once very popular with audiences (Robinson 1981, p. 2). Magic lanterns go back to the seventeenth century when exhibitors would tour cities and towns (Robinson 1981, p. 9). Whilst invention after invention came and went, it could be argued that it was the invention of photography in 1826 that is the true basis of film as w...
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