In most part, they are faithful to the era they are created in, reflecting society more or less how it was at the time, which makes them greatly valuable historically and educationally.
Before film there was only music, photography and fine art, which leave room for interpretation a lot more so; the viewer must actively engage with it and assume most of its meaning.
Film had been experimented with at large for quite some time but it wasn't until the Lumiere brothers that it really got off the ground. They invented a Cinematographe that allowed film to be shot, stored and played all on the one machine. This is when audiences were finally involved in the cinema phenomenon for the first time.
Image from : http://sonandfoe.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/early-lumiere-brothers-film-poster.jpg
Around this time and before integrated sound, the 'Cinema of Attractions' was in full force.
In order to portray meaning without sound, visual attraction was used to entice an audience, in the films of Charlie Chaplin among others. It was exhibitionist, over the top, straight forward and above all easy to understand (Gunnings 2).
The effect of cinema on the body was a social, pleasurable experience. It united people together in one room and gave them common knowledge to talk about. Through Edison's films gender equality started to occur; men could view women and women could view male bodies. Pornography was the most popular type of film between 1895-1900 (showing an ankle was considered pornographic). It allowed people to travel further than their physical realm would allow; television and film is an extension of the eye and the ear according to Marshall McLuhan.
They become a great historical text in some ways; what we notice in these films differs from what people thought at the time. By being a part of a technologically soaked generation, we tend to look ignorantly upon these films and deem them unexciting or over-acted as opposed to ground breaking and risque.
"Cinema is a way of presenting a series of views to an audience" according to Gunnings (1). This reflects how views change over time, because historically different audiences experience the same film drastically differently.
People were able to learn about themselves and the world they lived in by being detached from the subjects and becoming the voyeur. Marey allowed humans to learn more through art than science with his high speed photography; proving scientific truths that the human eye was too slow to see.
Pole Vault by Marey: http://www.lumen.nu/rekveld/wp/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/marey188.jpg
They also had to understand the logistics of moving cameras in their normal space; understanding that any action they do can obscure other peoples vision and can be kept forever.
Screen Worlds.
Image from: http://www.acmi.net.au/screen_worlds.aspx
Screen Worlds at ACMI, Federation Square encapsulates the history of film and the moving image from photography, to cinema, to television, to the digital realm. Along each step of the way, thanks to technological advancements, films increased in number of production and available audience until that audience number became infinite once it reached the Internet.
Bibliography:
Gunnings, T. accessed 9th October 2010,
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