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This episode we finish up our series on early animation by covering Gertie the Dinosaur and The Sinking of the Lusitania, both animated by Winsor McCay. Next time its back to Europe, where we will cover the the effect of the first world war on European film! I decided to end the Patreon, at least for the foreseeable future. It was a hard decision, but I wasn't in the position to devote the time that I wanted and needed to to make the channel what I wanted it to be. A special thank you to all my patrons for their support. I hope that I am able to find a way to bring all of the ideas I had for it to life for you in the future!If you would like to contact me, you can email me at historyoffilmpodcast@gmail.com.You can visit historyoffilmpodcast.com to access helpful resources for this episode.The history of the film has a discord server, which you can get access through this here link:discord.gg/Ud8EcEzvSFSupport the show

This is the first of two episodes (only two, I promise) about the great animator Winsor McCay. We cover his life before he became a filmmaker, and his two first movies: Little Nemo (1911) and How a Mosquito Operates (1912).The history of the film has a discord server, which you can get access through this here link:discord.gg/Ud8EcEzvSFThank you to my wonderful patrons who help make this show possible! A special thank you to patron Ed & Shari for supporting this program in such a big way. If you want to support this show, read your name down here in the credits, and get access to cool bonus content, you can! By visiting patreon.com/historyoffilm and becoming a patron, you can play an integral part in actually making this show exist. If you would like to contact me, you can email me at historyoffilmpodcast@gmail.com.You can visit historyoffilmpodcast.com to access helpful resources for this episode.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/historyoffilm)

It's a new year, and the History of Film is back! In this episode, we cover the life and achievements of French animator Emile Cohl, as he creates the first paper film animation, and brings fluidity and grace to a medium he helped invent!Thank you to my wonderful patrons who help make this show possible! A special thank you to patron Ed & Shari for supporting this program in such a big way. If you want to support this show, read your name down here in the credits, and get access to cool bonus content, you can! By visiting patreon.com/historyoffilm and becoming a patron, you can play an integral part in actually making this show exist. If you would like to contact me, you can email me at historyoffilmpodcast@gmail.com.You can visit historyoffilmpodcast.com to access helpful resources for this episode.You can join the History of Film discord server by using this link;discord.gg/Ud8EcEzvSFSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/historyoffilm)

The long promised day is finally here! We dive into the world of animation, examine ancient Iranian pottery, and meet animators named Charles-Emile Reynaud and James Stewart Blackton, as we begin our journey though a whole other kind of cinema.Thank you to my wonderful patrons who help make this show possible! A special thank you to patron Ed & Shari for supporting this program in such a big way. If you want to support this show, read your name down here in the credits, and get access to cool bonus content, you can! By visiting patreon.com/historyoffilm and becoming a patron, you can play an integral part in actually making this show exist. If you would like to contact me, you can email me at historyoffilmpodcast@gmail.com.You can visit historyoffilmpodcast.com to access helpful resources for this episode.You can join the History of Film discord server by using this link;discord.gg/Ud8EcEzvSFSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/historyoffilm)

This episode we take a look at Griffith's second most famous movie, Intolerance, and examine its production, structure, and impact. We also (finally) finish the long arc of Griffith's story, and bring his career, and his time here on the podcast, to a close. I would like to give special credit to my wonderful patron Ed & Shari for supporting this episode and helping to make this show possible. If you want to support this show, read your name down here in the credits, and get access to cool bonus content, you can! By visiting patreon.com/historyoffilm and becoming a patron, you can play an integral part in actually making this show exist. If you would like to contact me, you can email me at historyoffilmpodcast@gmail.com.You can visit historyoffilmpodcast.com to access helpful resources for this episode.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/historyoffilm)

This is the last of it. In this episode, we really dig into how and why The Birth of a Nation was so influential, and who was influenced by it. I am happy to say that next week we will be moving on from here. So three cheers for that.If you would like to email me, you can do so at historyoffilmpodcast@gmail.comYou can visit the shows website at historyoffilmpodcast.comand you can support the show at patreon.com/historyoffilmThank you for listening!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/historyoffilm)

When I write these, I never know just how long they will be. As it turns out, talking about a film that has had a huge impact on the development of film history, and made the world so much worse, is taking a lot of words. So, this is the second of what I hope to be three episodes on The Birth of a Nation. In this episode, we describe the plot of the movie in detail (though I still skipped a couple of things here and there for the sake of brevity, believe it or not), and talk about how the ideas present in the story interact with each other. The clip I play toward the end is from the 1993 Documentary D. W. Griffith: The Father of Film, directed by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill.  You can contact me at historyoffilmpodcast@gmail.com, and you can visit the shows website: historyoffilmpodcast.com to view resources for each episode.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/historyoffilm)

Well, where it is. The Birth of a Nation is an extremely important movie. It would actually be hard to overstate it. In this episode, we cover the original novel the film was based on, and the film-making process for the movie. So, spoilers for a 106 year old movie, the birth of a nation is an evil film. other than the films that were created by the Nazi regime during WWII, I don't think there have been movies that have spread so much evil, and hate that have been so widely received. We have to deal with it, so we will do so now.If you would like to email me, you can do so at historyoffilmpodcast@gmail.com.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/historyoffilm)

This is the first of (hopefully) a recurring series of episodes on film critical theory. Today, with special guest Melissa Favara, we cover the idea of cultural production. This is kind of the broadest way of looking at movies, as a product of a culture rather only the work of an individual or group of filmmakers. This is a lens with witch to look at movies, and a tool for building context for the movies we will encounter throughout this series. I hope you enjoy it!You can email me at:historyoffilmpodcast@gmail.comSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/historyoffilm)

Here it is! Its an episode and a subject that has been a long time coming, and it's one that is less important then people used to think, though perhaps a little more important than some people say it is now. D. W. Griffith was a filmmaker who invented nothing, innovated on much, and influenced many (including influencing people to commit acts of viscous evil and pernicious violence). In today's episode, we cover his early life and career, and talk about some of the movies that would lead him to making  The Birth of a Nation. You can learn more about some of Griffith's movies in Episode 13, 15, and 16a of this show.If you would like to email me, you can do so at historyoffilmpodcast@gmail.com.I hope you enjoy thew show!-JakeSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/historyoffilm)

Hello and welcome back! This is everything about early Italian films that we didn’t cover in the last two episodes. That means we talk a little about how Italian studios were run throughout the 1910’s,  Important actors not playing Maciste, influential directors (including another of the most prolific women of early film),and a film movement: Futurism. We talk about the movement’s origin, and it's only surviving film – Thaïs – and how it, and the whole Italian film industry, entered a decline throughout the 1920’s.If you would like to contact me, you can email me athistoeyoffilmpodcast@gmail.comAnd you can visit the shows website atHistoryoffilmpodcast.comSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/historyoffilm)

A few words on exciting changes that are coming to "The History of film in very  near future. historyoffilmpodcast@gmail.comhistoryoffilmpodcast.comSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/historyoffilm)

This week its all about two movies Quo Vadis?  from 1912 or 1913 and Cabiria from 1914. Both are amazing movies in their own right, and in many ways are the first "real" silent films we have seen on this show so far! At least to me, they seem to check all the boxes.If you would like to visit the show's website, you can do so at historyoffilmpodcast.com. You can email me at historyoffilm@gmail.com.thank you so much for listening! I hope to see you next week!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/historyoffilm)

This is the first of a planned three episode series about Italian film from before the 1920's and the rise of fascism in Italy. In this very first episode, we cover the earliest origins of Italian film, though much more briefly than we did French film, mostly because there isn't as much written about it. We also go into some detail about the astonishing 1911 special effects wonderland The Inferno directed by a bunch of Italian guys whose names I struggle with.  If you would like to contact me you can email me at historyoffilmpodcast@gmail.com, and you can visit the shows website at historyoffilmpodcast.comSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/historyoffilm)

It is a little late, but it is also long! This is one I have been researching and working on for a long time. This week its all about a new kind of serial film–one that takes us out of the light, and into the shadowy depths a criminal and violent Paris. Louis Feuillade takes us to depths not before plumbed by this show, as we give some much deserved attention to serial films made by the man who Alice Guy hand picked to be her replacement. Fantomas and Les Vampires are two excellent movie serials that will keep you on the edge of your seat! You can watch them on YouTube, but if you have access to it through your local library, I recommend you use the streaming service Kanopy to give them a watch!The clip I used of Alfred Hitchcock I got here. You can see resources for this episode and others at historyoffilmpodcast.com, and you can contact me at historyoffilmpodcast@gmail.com.Happy Listening!-JakeSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/historyoffilm)

Forget movies that are a mere five reels long, how about three hundred!? In the United States during the "nickelodeon era" of film history, movies got longer in more ways than the ones we have been covering recently. Some became the first film series with continuing stories! We cover that transition and its greatest star in today's episode!Make sure to visit the website, historyoffilmpodcast.com, for this weeks episode–there is some information there that is important but didn't make it into the show for various reasons. This includes the very literal origins of the word "cliff-hanger" and examples of some of the movies we talked about in this episode. If you would like to email me, you can contact me at historyoffilmpodcast@gmail.com.Thank you, and happy listening!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/historyoffilm)

Just as promised in episode 15, this week we begin our journey through the early influences of feature length movies that will eventually take us into the studio era of the U. S. film industry and D. W. Griffith. Film D'art is more important for what it inspired than what it accomplished, and funnily enough is skipped over entirely in a book I have on the History of French film, but is still worth discussing. It represents the last holdouts from the Edison/Black Maria style of film making. This "un-cinematic" style of film making  will, happily, be in the rear view mirror (unless you count some of the crummy movies I tried to make as a freshman in high-school). If you want to email me you can do so at historyoffilmpodcast@gmail.comyou can visit the show's website at "historyoffilmpodcast.com"Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/historyoffilm)

This episode is actually a bonus episode, rather than the other “bonus” episode I’ve released, which were 30 minutes long and took weeks to make.  This episode gets a little heavy, but suicide is a heavy subject. If you, or someone you know, is having suicidal thoughts, know that there is help. In the United States, you can visit https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org to make contact with people who are here to help you right now. You can also call them on the phone, just dial 800-273-8255.  I'm a great admirer of the writer and philanthropist, John Green, who put it excellently when he said “Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” People struggling with suicidal thoughts make it through them, and you, or the people you know, can too.  I'm sorry that I don't have the information here of other countries, but this kind of help is available in many places across the world. I also really recommend This Was Hollywood by Carla Valderama. Its entertaining and packed full of information that I used for both this episode and episode 16.  If you would like to contact me you can email me at historyoffilmpodcast@gmail.com, and you can visit the shows website, historyoffilmpodcast.com. Jake.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/historyoffilm)

16- The Stars are BornHere it is, episode 16, which in my heart, is the Kill Bill Vol. II of the podcast. This one pares a lot with episode 15, so I have a couple of brief recaps to the last episode to make the episode flow a little better.I played a clip from Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal from 1982, and was very tempted to play the emperor’s death sounds again when I was talking about the downfall of Edison’s trust. If you would like to contact me you can email me at historyoffilmpodcast@gmail.com, and you can visit the shows website, historyoffilmpodcast.com, to access resources for each episode. I'm a little behind on updating it, but by the end of the week (22 May 2021), it should be all caught up. -JakeSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/historyoffilm)

This is actually the first of a two party episode that I was originally going to call "Trustbusters." This week, we cover the early events of Carl Laemmle's life, and see the feature film become the dominate form of cinematic presentation in the United States.  Next week its the star system and the exodus to California, where the center of film production has stayed (in the U.S. at least) ever sense. If you would like to contact me, you can do so at historyoffilmpodcast@gmail.comand you can visit the shows website at http://historyoffilmpodcast.comThanks, and I will see you next week!-Jake, May 2021Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/historyoffilm)