Early American Cinema in Transition

Story, Style, and Filmmaking, 1907–1913

Charlie Keil

• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
• Year: 2001
• Print ISBN:
  9780299173647
  9780299173609
• eBook ISBN:
  9780299173630
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Film History & Criticism

The period 1907–1913 marks a crucial transitional moment in American cinema. As moving picture shows changed from mere novelty to an increasingly popular entertainment, fledgling studios responded with longer running times and more complex storytelling. A growing trade press and changing production procedures also influenced filmmaking. In Early American Cinema in Transition, Charlie Keil looks at a broad cross-section of fiction films to examine the formal changes in cinema of this period and the ways that filmmakers developed narrative techniques to suit the fifteen-minute, one-reel format.
    Keil outlines the kinds of narratives that proved most suitable for a single reel's duration, the particular demands that time and space exerted on this early form of film narration, and the ways filmmakers employed the unique features of a primarily visual medium to craft stories that would appeal to an audience numbering in the millions. He underscores his analysis with a detailed look at six films: The Boy Detective; The Forgotten Watch; Rose O'Salem-Town; Cupid's Monkey Wrench; Belle Boyd, A Confederate Spy; and Suspense.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Tables
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Introduction
• 2. “Boom Time in the Moving-Picture Business” : Industrial Structure, Production Practices, and the Trade Press
• 3. “A Story Vital and Unified in Its Action” : The Demands of Narrative
• 4. “An Immeasurably Greater Freedom” : Time and Space in Transitional Cinema
• 5. “The Modern Technique of the Art” : The Style of Transitional Cinema
• 6. Analyzing Transition: Six Sample Films
• 7. Conclusion
• Appendix A: Notes on Method
• Appendix B: Shot-by-Shot Analyses for Chapter 6
• Notes
• Filmography: Viewed Titles, 1907–1913
• Works Cited
• Film Index
• General Index