Birth of a Nation screening report

1.     Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening

The screening of Birth of a Nation in class relates to the first chapter about the invention of motion pictures because D.W. Griffith was the first film auteur who built his body of work on top of the shoulders of the technical film inventors and early film makers that came before him. His film expanded the film language that early filmmakers like Melies and Porter created for the medium.  Griffith’s film length helped change movies from the early nickelodeons into massive theaters that we are used to seeing today.

2.     Find a related article and summarize the content

The article I found was called the worst thing about “Birth of a Nation” is how good it is. In this article Richard Brody writes about how D.W. Griffith’s film for all its flaws it created a new template for the many capabilities of cinema. And it showed how it could imprint ideas onto an audience whom knew very little about slaver, reconstruction and Jim Crow. They only saw what the director wanted them to and accepted it as truth over the facts from the period.

3.     Apply the article to the film screened in class

The article makes a case for the ability of Griffith’s film techniques to influence his viewers and it indeed did, creating both a shift in the perceptions of the Klu Klux Klan and African Americans within American society. Films became very influential on the masses for example helping people escape into fantasy during the great depression.

4.     Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of the screening, class discussions, text material and the article.

The screening of Birth of a Nation in class left me with mixed feelings about whether art can and should be censured at times. Griffith considered his art more important than any negative implications the work could lead to. And his work of art helped to shape and change the film medium but at the same time it led the way in a shift in opinion on the way African Americans were treated in American society. The large amount of people who saw the film took the actions in it for truth and went out willing to commit violent acts against African Americans. His advances in editing and transitions helped move film from its early days a series of long scenes shot in a fixed position to the future where individual shots and camera movement helped expand film language.

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 

1) ( x ) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class. 

2) (x  ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper. 

3) (x  ) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text. 

4) (x  ) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper. 

5) ( x ) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read. 

6) (  x) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography. 

7) ( x ) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality. 

8) (  x) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper. 



Name: _______________Matthew Larue__________  Date: _________9/16/14_________