Moving Images, Understanding Media

Chapter 6 Recording and Presenting Reality 219

in relation with the moving images seen by the viewers. Th is practice would

be adapted later for motion pictures with synchronous sound by the use of

interviews or voice-over with the image on the screen.

Developing Structure

However, these early fi lms did not sustain the interest of viewers. In the fi rst

decades of motion pictures, notable fi ction movies developed framing, staging,

and editing of shots to establish the dramatic interest and understandability

of the story. Non-fi ction fi lms were limited to individual shots that depicted

single events or a landscape, and “news” movies were oft en only fi ctional

reenactments of major events. Th ese motion pictures can be witnessed for

their historical evidence, but they do not hold the attention of audiences for

signifi cant periods of time. In addition, fi lms linked to current events were

pertinent for only a limited time, so they did not make enough money for

their producers.

How could fi lmmakers put together shots to present a topic in an

organized, analytical format? How could viewers understand a topic through

images that created meaningful and interesting relationships and patterns

for the viewer? What was necessary was the development of methods that

Figure 6-10 Lantern show used for a travelogue lecture.

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