Visual
Look
The visual look of these films is varied both in style but
also in image degradation over the years. While Bruce Posner
and the groups that have assisted him in restoring these
films have done awesome work, there is only so much that
can done on some of these. Still, I was shocked by how good
many of these rarely seen films looked. A couple of them
were so pure looking that it was really incredible to realize
that they were shot nearly a century before.
There
were idiots waving at cameras
even at the dawn of it all!
This
amazing ship was eclipsed
by the amazing filming technique!
Use
of Audio
There was a lot of work done on the audio for this set.
For films that had no known soundtrack, original music was
scored for them. For films that were intended to be shown
in silence, they refrained from creating any music for it.
And for films that had a known soundtrack, they reproduced
and rerecorded the scores, so that they would sound as good
as possible as you watch these films. In fact, The Ballet
Mécanique actually had a score that was so complicated
that it couldn't be performed in it's entirety before the
modern age. For the first time in a distributed format,
the music and the film were reunited for this DVD.
Use
of Budget
With films ranging all over the board, it's impossible to
lump in one type of budget that these artists worked with.
However, it is pleasing to see that most of them worked
on no-money budgets, just like us. Some of the budgets in
the early years ranged from $20-$100, which was substantial
for an individual in those days but not much more so than
for us with the budgets we work with today.
Lasting
Appeal
Even non-cinema people can find these films fascinating.
They absolutely beg to be watched and rewatched again. Buy
these and show them to some of your friends and take joy
in seeing what our predecessors in the film movement made
when all the odds were against them.
Overall
Comment This is a must own collection for every Microfilmmaker
out there. If you have a love for film, then you owe it
to yourself to pick up this set. If you order through the
website soon, Bruce
Posner's giving 25% off and free shipping. (While you're
at it, pick up the Unseen Cinema Catalog, which is actually
an in-depth 150-page book that Bruce Posner edited that
really gets you into the culture and motivation that drove
the directors to make the films in this set. It runs less
than $20 and is amazingly helpful.)
