The Transformation of Mike 1911 Directed by D.W. Griffith

This is a remarkable look into the shooting techniques Griffith developed while working at the Biograph company. The studio was housed in a townhouse at 11 East 14th Street in New York City.

The single staging area was a reconverted Ballroom, and once a set was built, everything needed to tell that story with his actors had to be shot before it was taken down.

In The Transformation of Mike, there were nine sets built and 114 separate scenes staged, and on each set Griffith rehearsed with his actors before any shooting took place.

The technical problems in printing Biograph negatives made it impossible for the Griffith productions to be assembled in story order.

Rather, the negatives were printed just as they had been photographed, and every original release print was then assembled shot by shot according to numbers written on the negative frames and printed on each positive copy.

The basis of Camera Placement and Film Editing was perhaps the most significant discovery he made in his work at the Biograph Company.

When your viewing the footage, you should be aware that the entire film and the separate scenes needed were done in Griffiths head without a script.

Whats even more remarkable is there were times he would be shooting two to three films a week.

D.W. Griffith: Master of Cinema written by Ira H. Gallen

Exhaustively researched and accessibly written, D.W. Griffith: Master of Cinema is a remarkably comprehensive biography of the legendary director and his days creating his craft at the American Biograph Company between 1908 through 1913.

Meticulously detailed, utilizing a wealth of archival documents and photographs, the book effectively details Griffith’s place as a film pioneer. Even a casual film fan can see the lines being drawn from the techniques Griffith developed to modern cinematic experience.

Ira Gallen’s exploration of Griffith’s family and his early life sets the stage for his career, and give great context for who he would become. His intricate details about early stage and film paint such a vivid and evocative picture of the time that you will be truly drawn into another world while reading it.

Link to order D.W. Griffith: Master of Cinema
at the following Link to Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/D-W-Griffith-I...

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