In the course of my travels each year, I come into contact with a large number of film students. While I admire their energy and excitement, more and more I’m finding myself shocked at their ignorance of so many classic films. I don’t know what’s causing this trend. It’s no doubt generational; a lot has changed over just the past few years. When I was their age, my crowd had a strong awareness of titles, directors and performers of movies that were popular forty, fifty, even sixty-years before our time, (even if they weren’t our first choices for viewing). That moment has clearly passed.
I also don’t know how anyone could have the presumptuousness to pose as an embryonic cinematographer while claiming no awareness of Gregg Toland, ASC and Citizen Kane (this happened just the other day!). With such a new norm, I shouldn’t be surprised that the more recently passed roster of greats – Alonzo, Hall, Kemper, Kovacs, Roizman, Zsigmond, et al – are similarly lost at sea.
A quick step in the right direction for these lost children – if indeed any are listening – would be a read of the article below. Liberated from the June 1971 issue of American Cinematographer, it addresses an equally important movie whose photography is on par with Toland’s. I promise – it contains more wisdom within its tight four pages than can be found in the entire universe of YouTube tutorials.
Now, film students everywhere, get your nose out of the phone and actually learn something!
I know many people who refuse to watch movies older than 10 years. I assume that the ignorance of classic movies from the golden ages is partly because movies like “Pulp Fiction” are now 32 years old, so they are becoming the new “Citizen Kane” or “The Godfather”.
I always suggest that people watch the old classics. Their stories, performances and cinematography are masterclasses. But I also read an interesting article that connected the advent of social media with the way we watch movies. Nowadays, it seems that a spectacle is required every five minutes or we lose the audience’s attention.
I also think that not going to the movie theater, having a phone in your hands or a remote that gives you the power to change the channel, leads to less attention and less forgiveness when a movie doesn’t capture us immediately.
I remember movie theaters where there was a short cartoon or another film before the actual movie, and then an intermission while the reel was changed. I miss that dearly.
Luigi – Most of them will never know what they’re missing. The smart ones, on the other hand, take every bit of it in.
It’s always disturbing when a young person doesn’t have a sense of
or an appreciation of history in general. If I were a film student today
I would be trying to watch as many early films as possible and getting
my hands on books about early directors and cinematographers.
There is so much out there to read and study. And try to enjoy it!