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Filmmaking from the First Directors
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Introduction6 Steps
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Lesson 1 - Documenting Life: Edison & Lumiere8 Steps
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Watch: The Big Picture (13 min video)
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Watch: Films - "Let's Go to the Movies" (3 min video)
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Watch: Films - Muybridge, Lumiere & Edison (20 min video)
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Watch: Films - "How You See It" (8 min video)
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Watch: Production (13 min video)
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Assignment: Filming an Action (2 min video)
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Submit: Link to Finished Film***
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Watch: Films - Lumiere & Edison Films (external links)
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Watch: The Big Picture (13 min video)
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Lesson 2 - A Magical Story: George Melies8 Steps
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Watch: The Big Picture (19 min video)
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Watch: Films - Milies Shorts (18 min video)
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Watch: Films - "A Trip to the Moon" (1902) (12 min video)
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Watch: Production (16 min video)
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Assignment: Scripting & Filming a Simple Story (7 min video)
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Read : Screenwriting Software
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Submit: Link to Finished Film
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Watch: Films - More Melies Films (external links)
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Watch: The Big Picture (19 min video)
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Lesson 3 - Editing Action: Edwin S. Porter6 Steps
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Lesson 4 - Multi-Shot Narrative: D.W. Griffith6 Steps
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Lesson 5 - Parallel Editing & More: D.W. Griffith7 Steps
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Watch: The Big Picture (19 min video)
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Watch: Films - "The Lonedale Operator" (1911) (16 min video)
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Watch: Films - "The Unchanging Sea" (1910) (13 min video)
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Watch: Films - "Corner in Wheat" (1909) (14 min video)
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Watch: Production (15 min video)
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Assignment: Lesson 5 (3 min video)
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Submit: Link to Finished Film
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Watch: The Big Picture (19 min video)
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Lesson 6 - Mise-en-scene - Framing, Depth, and Setting: D.W. Griffith6 Steps
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Lesson 7 - The First Epics - Introduction of the Feature Film8 Steps
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Watch: The Big Picture (22 min video)
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Watch: Films - Cabiria (1914)(2 hour video)
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Watch: Production (19 min video)
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Assignment: Lesson 7 (8 min video)
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Read: Selections from Aristotle's Poetics
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Read: Wikipedia entry on Screenwriting
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Assignment: First write an Outline, then a Simple Treatment
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Read: Screenwriting Books (external links)
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Watch: The Big Picture (22 min video)
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Lesson 8 - Feature Films & Auteur Theory: Maurice Tourneur7 Steps
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Lesson 9 - The Character of Comedy: Charlie Chaplin10 Steps
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Watch: The Big Picture (19 min video)
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Watch: Films - Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914) (6 min video)
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Watch: Films - The Tramp (1915) (26 min video)
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Watch: Films - The Immigrant (1917) (24 min video)
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Watch: Films - A Dog's Life (1918) (32 min video)
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Watch: Production (18 min video)
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Assignment: Lesson 9 (2 min video)
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Submit: Link to Finished Film
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Watch: Films - The Gold Rush (1925) (1 hour video)
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Watch: Films - How to Make Movies (1918) (16 min video)
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Watch: The Big Picture (19 min video)
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Lesson 10 - Comedy as Complex Sequence: Buster Keaton8 Steps
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Watch: The Big Picture (10 min video)
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Watch: Films - One Week (1920) (18 min video)
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Watch: Films - The Goat (1921) (23 min video)
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Watch: Films - Cops (1922) (18 min video)
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Watch: Production (17 min video)
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Assignment: Lesson 10 (3 min video)
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Submit: Link to Finished Film
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Watch: Films - The General (1926) (1 hour video)
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Watch: The Big Picture (10 min video)
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Lesson 11 - Documenting Life: Robert Flaherty6 Steps
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Lesson 12 - Realism and the Classical Cinema: Douglas Fairbanks and John Ford5 Steps
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Lesson 13 - Formalism and Montage: Sergei Eisenstein3 Steps
Lesson 2,
Step 8
In Progress
Watch: Films – Lumiere & Edison Films (external links)
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If you want to watch more Edison films, you can watch or download them on the Internet Archive:
Part One (1891-98), Part Two (1899-1902), or Part Three (1903-22)
If you want to purchase a collection of both, buy The Movies Begin: A Treasury of Early Cinema