Moving Images, Understanding Media

Chapter 5 Personal Expression and Studio Production 175

• Production of moving images for interactive formats such as computer
  games and simulation scenarios.


• Creation of amateur motion pictures for non-commercial uses by
  families, friends, or small groups, similar to traditions of family
  photography, personalized journals, and letter writing.

Making Motion Pictures

You have just reviewed some of the most important situations of people

generating moving images. Now you will read about a selection of fi lmmakers

who illustrate the diversity and varied approaches seen in motion picture

production.

Early Pioneers

In the early years of the cinema, many fi lmmakers controlled the entire process

of moviemaking right up through the exhibition of their fi lms. Alice Guy

Blaché was working as a secretary for Gaumont studios in the 1890s when she

stepped behind the camera to direct La Fée aux Choux (Th e Cabbage Fairy).

Guy Blaché went on to lead an innovative and bold career during which she

founded, designed, and ran a major production studio—Solax Films—and

directed hundreds of movies both in the United States and in France.

Another of the most important early cinematic entrepreneurs is Oscar

Micheaux. Micheaux was an epitome of canny moviemaking fl air. As a

black fi lmmaker, he created and assured the distribution of fi lms that existed

Figure 5-6 Alice Guy Blaché

directing a Solax production

in 1915 with camera operator

Leo Rossi at left. (Courtesy Fort

Lee Library)

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