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The senior
electrician on
the film set
is called
the gaffer.The cinematographer leads
a team that also includes the
camera operator. Camera
assistants help with focusing,
load magazines, and operate
the clapper board. Workers
called grips move the camera
down tracks or rails
for the camera to run
along smoothly.Stuntmen and stuntwomen take
the place of actors in dangerous action.
They risk their lives performing stunts,
such as falling from a great height,
crashing a car, or leaping
from a moving train.Sound technicians follow
the actors with microphones
suspended from long poles
(booms).The producer
chooses the
script, finds
financial
backing, picks
the director
and the
technical teams,
oversees the
filming, and
organizes publicity.The director
guides the
actors’
performances,
the action,
and the
camera angles,
and gives the
movie its style
and character.Hollywood
Southern California had the ideal
climate and scenery for making
films. Between 1907 and 1913, a
los Angeles neighborhood called
Hollywood became the center of
the American film industry. Not all
stars were human: King Kong
(above) was an animated model.Acting on the big screen is
very different from the theater. In close-ups, every
movement can be seen, and actors have to play
their part with subtle facial expressions. They must
also be able to act the story out of sequence.The art
director
designs
the sets and
chooses
suitable
locations for
filming away
from the studio.CHArlie CHApliN
The British actor Charles
Chaplin (1889-1977)
created a movie character
that touched the hearts
of millions: a silent little
tramp with a funny walk.Teams of
expert makeup
artists and
dressers prepare
an actress or
actor for a
day’s shoot.Movie SeT
Set builders make movie sets—from city
streets to tropical jungles—inside huge
buildings like aircraft hangars, or outdoors
on studio grounds. Hundreds of people are
involved in getting things ready for the first
filming of the day. when all is satisfactory, a
red warning light goes on, the studio is told
to stand by for a take (an attempt at a scene),
sound and cameras roll, and the director
shouts “Action!”Lighting experts operate
huge lamps to ensure that
the light looks as natural
as possible in a movie.
Lighting is needed
on location as
well as in
the studio.A continuity worker makes sure that scenes shot
out of order match each other. He or she notes
the details of each shot to ensure that there are
no mistakes when the scenes
are put in order.iN A pAriS café in
december 1895, people sat
down to watch the world’s
first motion picture. it was
shown by two French
brothers, louis and
Auguste lumière, and
though it consisted only of a
few short, simple scenes, movies
have been popular ever since. The first movies were silent, with titles on the
screen to explain the story. A pianist accompanied the movie with the right
type of music—for example, fast and furious music during a chase scene.
The United States took the lead in making movies. Soon the public began to
select its favorite actors and actresses, and the first movie stars were created,
such as rudolph valentino. in 1927, the first full-length “talkie”—movie with
sound—was shown, and from then on the public would settle for nothing less.
Technical improvements continued. in the United States, Metro-Goldwyn-
Mayer and a few other powerful studios made 95 percent of the movies.
during the 1950s, television captured people’s attention and the film industry
went into decline. in recent years, movies have become
popular again. russia, Germany, France, and Japan have
produced movies that have influenced
filmmaking throughout the world, and
there are many national film industries.Movies 359-
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