D.W. Griffith (1875-1948): Selected Filmography:

YEAR	FILM: as director: usually writer, too:
1908	THE ADVENTURES OF DOLLIE
	THE CALL OF THE WILD
	TAMING OF THE SHREW
1909	THOSE AWFUL HATS
	WHAT DRINK DID
	THE LONELY VILLA
	PIPPA PASSES
	IN THE WINDOW RECESS
	THE REDMAN’S VIEW
	A CORNER IN WHEAT
1910	RAMONA
	THE FACE AT THE WINDOW
1911	WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH OUR OLD?
	THE LONEDALE OPERATOR
	ENOCH ARDEN (2 reels)
1912	THE GIRL & HER TRUST
	THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES
	AN UNSEEN ENEMY
	THE MUSKETEERS OF PIG ALLEY
	THE NEW YORK HAT
1914	JUDITH OF BETHULIA (2 reels)
	THE BATTLE AT ELDERBUSH GULCH
	THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES
1915	THE BIRTH OF A NATION
1916	INTOLERANCE
1918	HEARTS OF THE WORLD
1919	TRUE HEART SUSIE
	BROKEN BLOSSOMS
1922	ORPHANS OF THE STORM
1924	AMERICA
1925	SALLY OF THE SAWDUST
1929	LADY OF THE PAVEMENTS*
1930	ABRAHAM LINCOLN*
1931	THE STRUGGLE*

*indicates sound film

Career of D.W. Griffith: taken from the Museum of Modern Art’s 1965 publication D.W. Griffith:

1908 through 1913: period of exploration: Biograph Company:

• DWG’s greatest contributions to art of film: made all discoveries for which he’s remembered:
• about 500 films made during this period

1914: period of expansion: Mutual Film Corporation:

• head of production: produced about a dozen film: personally wrote & directed 4 films:
  • BATTLE OF SEXES / THE ESCAPE / HOME SWEET HOME / AVENGING CONSCIENCE
• began work on THE BIRTH OF A NATION

1915: 1^st independent project: THE BIRTH OF A NATION:

• desire to make longer film fulfilled: extremely successful: extremely controversial

1915-1916: interlude: Triangle Film Corporation:

• formed with Thomas Ince & Mack Sennett:
  • DWG: supervised directors, actors, etc; wrote some films:
• mostly: getting ready to film INTOLERANCE

1916: 2^nd masterwork: Wark Producing Corporation: INTOLERANCE:

• made as reaction to racist denunciations of BIRTH OF A NATION:
• DWG: poured all his funds into film: it was a financial failure

1918-1919: the results of fame: Artcraft Pictures:

• HEARTS OF THE WORLD, TRUE HEART SUSIE:
  • 6 features plus uncredited comedy series w/Dorothy Gish

1919: striving for independence:

• formation of United Artists: DWG, Pickford, Fairbanks, Chaplin
  • DWG’s 1^st film for UA: BROKEN BLOSSOMS

1919-1920: interlude: the films made at First National Pictures:

• move to Mamaroneck, NY, studios: 3 films made to help finance films for UA

1920-1924: independence achieved: the films made for United Artists:

• WAY DOWN EAST / ORPHANS OF THE STORM / AMERICA:
  • films lost money: road show losses: poor management

1924: independence lost: ISN’T LIFE WONDERFUL:

• DWG at odds w/UA partners: his own financial situation desperate

1925-1926: wage slavery: the films made for Paramount Pictures:

• SALLY OF THE SAWDUST, etc: warmed-over Cecil B. De Mille projects:
• DWG submitting to studio system: w/o his staff: w/o his confidence
• disappointing receptions for films

1927-1930: return to Hollywood: the films made for Art Cinema Corporation:

• DWG’s films distributed through UA: but he didn’t have autonomy w/them:
  • LADY OF THE PAVEMENTS / ABRAHAM LINCOLN:
• DWG beaten by studio system: no strength to fight for his ideas:
  • films commercially & critically poorly received: DWG out-of-touch w/ "new Hollywood"

1931: the last film: THE STRUGGLE:

• film received w/"universal disapproval": audiences laughed

Innovations of D.W. Griffith: from David A. Cook: A History of Narrative Film:

• DWG: not the first to use these techniques: but first to put them together in narrative way:
  • first to formulate ways films could tell stories most efficiently

narrative innovations: between frames:

• 1. the close-up: bringing camera closer to actors: so expressions could be read::
  • at same time: cut scene into different shots:
    • 1908: ENOCH ARDEN: cinema’s first true narrative c/u:
      • c/u of woman: followed by object of woman’s thoughts:
        • husband on desert island:
      • revolutionary innovation: psychological / subjective camera
• 2. intercutting: alternating shots of different spatial lengths:
  • no single shot dramatically complete by itself:
    • creating cinematic "sentences" w/i scenes:
  • rendering dramatic scene from multiple points of view:
    • cutting together: long shots, medium shots, close-ups:
      • learned value of different spatial lengths:
    • close-ups: psychological / symbolic value
    • extreme long shots: important to epic action sequences
  • 1909: A CORNER IN WHEAT: intercutting:
    • shot of wheat tycoon: gorging himself at huge meal
    • shot of poor sharecroppers: standing in breadline
      • use of intercutting: as parallel editing: taken to abstract level:
    • 3 levels: producers / consumers / commodity investors
• 3. spatial & temporal fragmentation: creating illusion of parallel action:
  • new kind of dramatic suspense:
    • 1909: LONELY VILLA: 3 separate actions:
      • cutting back & forth among different actions:
      • tempo of cuts: gradually increased: shorter & shorter duration:
  • effect of cross-cutting: dramatic climax of film:
    • transformed into visual climax too
      • became known as "Griffith last-minute rescue":
  • important: not just intercutting shots:
    • alternation: shorter & shorter duration:
  • not just limited to chases: even now: basic principle of structuring movies:
    • visual counterpart of musical crescendo

narrative innovations: within frames:

• 1. insistence on stories of high quality: from literature: social concerns:
  • way to dignify medium of film
• 2. first great director of actors: rehearsals rigidly imposed:
  • by 1913: DWG had ensemble of actors:
    • performers coached for natural performances:
      • subtlety of expression: different from theatrical acting
• 3. attention paid to details of sets:
  • DWG: often supervised design & construction
• 4. experimenting w/lighting: expressive lighting:
  • scene illuminated w/firelight, e.g.
  • using sunlight to show changes in day as time goes by
  • rays of light coming in high window: only illumination in shot
  • illuminating some objects: leaving others in darkness: "Rembrandt lighting"
• 5. experimentation w/narrative panning shots:
  • tracking shots: camera & audience: both:
    • actively participating in action by moving with it
    • engaged in total environment of film
  • 1911: LONEDALE OPERATOR: camera mounted on moving engine:
    • idea of frame as proscenium arch: began to break down
• 6. dramatic expressiveness of camera placement:
  • character filmed from below w/back lighting: sinister appearance:
  • reverse angle: used for character who’s helpless or weak

innovations attributed solely to DWG & Billy Bitzer (cameraman):

• flashback
• iris shot: circular lens-masking device either contracts or expands:
  • isolates or reveals area of screen for symbolic or narrative emphasis
• mask or matte shot: masking device changes shape of screen for dramatic effect
• split-screen shot
• soft-focus shot: blurring of image for romantic effect: shot through gauze, etc.

DWG: also:

• perfected dissolve & fade
• pushed for increased film length: as his narratives became more complex

bgs: 03-04