Chapter 12
Historical Changes in Film Art
1. People today have difficulty understanding older films most often because those films
2. Which of the following was NOT among the earliest early pioneers of film?
3. Louis and Auguste Lumière
4. In modern times, the types of films that most resemble the earliest films are
5. Which of the following was NOT one of the earliest feature films?
6. Which of the following does NOT characterize the American film business in the 1910s and 1920s?
7. Which of the following does NOT characterize American filmmaking in the mid-1910s, as exemplified by Cecil B. De
Mille’s The Cheat (1915)?
8. Which of the following does NOT characterize German Expressionism?
9. Which of the following factors did NOT contribute to the decline of German Expressionism?
10. Which of the following is NOT one of the typical characteristics of French Impressionist films?
11. The film movement that emphasized bizarre and evocative imagery while attacking traditional notions of causality and
coherence was known as
12. Expressionism, Impressionism, and Surrealism were all finished as film movements by about
13. Which of the following was a serious problem faced by the Soviet film industry after the 1917 Revolution?
14. Directors in the Soviet Montage movement put the greatest emphasis and priority on
15. The most important change that occurred in Hollywood during the late 1920s was the
16. Which of the following statements about the introduction of synchronized sound in the late 1920s is NOT correct?
17. One cinematic genre that flourished in the 1930s as a result of recent technological developments in filmmaking was the
18. The most significant technological development in film during the 1930s was the
19. Citizen Kane (1941) reflects the trend toward a(n) ______ style of cinematography, which developed in the late 1930s.
20. The movement known as Neorealism emerged in ______ after World War II.
21. Unlike the Soviet Montage filmmakers of the 1920s, the Italian Neorealists were
22. Which of the following is NOT a typical trait of Italian Neorealism?
23. The young directors of the French New Wave
24. Which of the following traits is NOT typical of French New Wave films?
25. Among the major factors that contributed to the decline of the French New Wave in the late 1950s was the
26. Which of the following does NOT accurately characterize the state of the American film industry during the period from
World War II to about 1970?
27. The kinds of movies that saved Hollywood in the 1970s are known as
28. If a film is called a “tentpole,” it means that the film
29. Most of the “movie brats” who emerged in the early 1970s had
30. Five Easy Pieces (1970), The Last Picture Show (1972), and a number of works directed by John Cassavetes have in
common the fact that they were
31. A major turning point in Hollywood history occurred in 1968 with the
32. Which of the following contributed to the rise of independent filmmaking in the 1980s?
33. During the 1980s and early 1990s, a great number of innovative directors and films emerged from
34. In contrast to traditions, shorter-lived trends in film are known as movements.
35. Thomas Edison was quick to understand that movies would one day be a big business.
36. By the late 1910s the Hollywood studio system had come into existence.
37. The Cabinet of Caligari was a commercial success that helped popularize German Expressionism in the early 1920s.
38. The French Impressionist filmmakers made films that were focused on emotions, perceptions, experience, and moods.
39. The most important Surrealist films of the 1920s were made in England.
40. The Soviet Montage movement emphasized individual personalities by using famous actors with very distinctive
appearances and mannerisms.
41. Many scholars believe that cinema actually benefited from the fact that it emerged as a solely visual art form before the
development of synchronized sound filmmaking.
42. Technicolor in the 1930s required lots of light on set which is provided by powerful lighting units. This addition of more
light then permitted filmmakers to experiment with deep-focus shots in black and white.
43. The introduction of sound and color radically changed the classical Hollywood approach to storytelling.
44. Virtually all the Italian Neorealist directors were young film critics who made their first films just after World War II.
45. French New Wave films continued the experimentation with plot construction begun by the Italian Neorealists.
46. From the beginning, the French film industry was hostile to the New Wave and eventually contributed to its decline
through its censorship.
47. American blockbusters in the 1970s included few major established stars.
48. Bruce Lee was an American that moved to Hong Kong to make martial arts films.
49. What does a film movement consist of? Give two specific examples from Film Art, lectures, and films seen in class.
50. Discuss the current relationship between Hollywood and independent filmmakers. Consider the current role of tentpole
films, star-driven comedies, film festivals, genre projects, prestige pictures, blockbusters, “Oscar bait” films, and
Mumblecore. How do these kinds of films all work together to form the current state of the film industry? What are the main
factors that influence the industry today?
51. In the 2000s we’ve seen a climate that discourages innovation in theatrical releases due largely to the increase of video
on demand. How might this shift explain the jump in films being released in 3D, the move to remaking older films, the
increase in animation, and the reliance on sequels/franchises such as Despicable Me, Spider-Man, The Fast and the Furious,
and Hunger Games? What intersection do you see between the shift in filmmaking and the increase of cable television
serials such as Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, The Wire, and Breaking Bad?
52. Where does the film noir style fit into American filmmaking history? Discuss what new techniques developed in the
