TFM 364A Midterm Exam UPDATED
ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
ANSWERS
Thomas Edison - CORRECT ANSWER 1891: An inventor who specialized in electric power
sought to invent the movie camera
The Kinetoscope - CORRECT ANSWER one person could look through a hole in a machine
and watch the images - but they had to create content for this machine - so Edison built a movie
production studio (Black Maria: first major film studio)
-first marketable film production tool in the United States
Auguste and Louis Luminere - CORRECT ANSWER (1895) Photographic equipment
manufacturers who created the first cinematographe system. Their movies aimed to observe people in
their everyday lives. (ex. Train Arriving at the Station, 1896)
Georges Méliès - CORRECT ANSWER A filmmaker from France of great vision and
innovation. He took special effects to another level. A Trip to the Moon (1902)
A Trip to the Moon - CORRECT ANSWER Inspired filmmakers and vaudeville performers
from around the world to experiment with different ways of telling a story cinematically.
Cinematographe - CORRECT ANSWER Lumiere brothers' device that both photographed and
projected action
Magic Lanterns - CORRECT ANSWER devices for the projection of still images (painted or
drawn)
Early Film Exhibition - CORRECT ANSWER USA: film producers used Vaudville, and movies
became part of the act
Europe: fair, or regional celebrations, showman would pop up and charge admission to a screening, or
project on walls or sheets.
This era, the late 1890s, was all about experimentation, trying to figure out how to capture the public's
attention and money with a new spectacle. At first, movies were just technological marvels, and it was
, up to the filmmakers and inventors to convince the skeptical public that this was something worth
their time.
Vaudeville - CORRECT ANSWER A type of inexpensive variety show that first appeared in the
1870s, often consisting of comic sketches, song-and-dance routines, and magic acts
Edwin S. Porter - CORRECT ANSWER An employee of Edison who began making early films
for the Edison Company. Director of "The Great Train Robbery". This film is considered by many to
be the first narrative film (1903). Tightly structured films, causes and effects, continuity, the beginning
of editing, and stringing shots together. Tension, suspense, action, and many of today's themes and
emotions.
Life of an American Fireman (1903) - CORRECT ANSWER Edwin S. Porter - Momentum,
tension, rescue narrative, covered once from the interior, then the exterior the same events play out, so
filmmakers were trying to figure out continuity and how to film a scene.
Cinema of Attractions (Tom Gunning) - CORRECT ANSWER (during the early film exhibition
era) a cinema that displays its visibility, willing to rupture a self-enclosed fictional world for a chance
to solicit the spectator's attention.
Biograph Company - CORRECT ANSWER a film studio that was founded in 1895. One of the
first American companies devoted entirely to making films. Quickly became one of the most
respected film studios.
Nickelodeons - CORRECT ANSWER the first small makeshift movie theaters, which were
often converted cigar stores, pawnshops, or restaurants redecorated to mimic vaudeville theaters
Gaumont - CORRECT ANSWER A french film production company founded in 1895 by Leon
Gaumont. Next to Pathe, Gaumont was the biggest firm in France. Created serials, later expanded
onto british theatre.
Solax - CORRECT ANSWER Alice Guy-Blache's studio in Fort Lee, NJ. She moved to
America in 1907 and founded it with a $100,000 investment. The only woman to have owned and
operated her own studio plant. Specializes in long-form dramatizations, adaptations, and comedies.
Shooting up to 3 films a week.
ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
ANSWERS
Thomas Edison - CORRECT ANSWER 1891: An inventor who specialized in electric power
sought to invent the movie camera
The Kinetoscope - CORRECT ANSWER one person could look through a hole in a machine
and watch the images - but they had to create content for this machine - so Edison built a movie
production studio (Black Maria: first major film studio)
-first marketable film production tool in the United States
Auguste and Louis Luminere - CORRECT ANSWER (1895) Photographic equipment
manufacturers who created the first cinematographe system. Their movies aimed to observe people in
their everyday lives. (ex. Train Arriving at the Station, 1896)
Georges Méliès - CORRECT ANSWER A filmmaker from France of great vision and
innovation. He took special effects to another level. A Trip to the Moon (1902)
A Trip to the Moon - CORRECT ANSWER Inspired filmmakers and vaudeville performers
from around the world to experiment with different ways of telling a story cinematically.
Cinematographe - CORRECT ANSWER Lumiere brothers' device that both photographed and
projected action
Magic Lanterns - CORRECT ANSWER devices for the projection of still images (painted or
drawn)
Early Film Exhibition - CORRECT ANSWER USA: film producers used Vaudville, and movies
became part of the act
Europe: fair, or regional celebrations, showman would pop up and charge admission to a screening, or
project on walls or sheets.
This era, the late 1890s, was all about experimentation, trying to figure out how to capture the public's
attention and money with a new spectacle. At first, movies were just technological marvels, and it was
, up to the filmmakers and inventors to convince the skeptical public that this was something worth
their time.
Vaudeville - CORRECT ANSWER A type of inexpensive variety show that first appeared in the
1870s, often consisting of comic sketches, song-and-dance routines, and magic acts
Edwin S. Porter - CORRECT ANSWER An employee of Edison who began making early films
for the Edison Company. Director of "The Great Train Robbery". This film is considered by many to
be the first narrative film (1903). Tightly structured films, causes and effects, continuity, the beginning
of editing, and stringing shots together. Tension, suspense, action, and many of today's themes and
emotions.
Life of an American Fireman (1903) - CORRECT ANSWER Edwin S. Porter - Momentum,
tension, rescue narrative, covered once from the interior, then the exterior the same events play out, so
filmmakers were trying to figure out continuity and how to film a scene.
Cinema of Attractions (Tom Gunning) - CORRECT ANSWER (during the early film exhibition
era) a cinema that displays its visibility, willing to rupture a self-enclosed fictional world for a chance
to solicit the spectator's attention.
Biograph Company - CORRECT ANSWER a film studio that was founded in 1895. One of the
first American companies devoted entirely to making films. Quickly became one of the most
respected film studios.
Nickelodeons - CORRECT ANSWER the first small makeshift movie theaters, which were
often converted cigar stores, pawnshops, or restaurants redecorated to mimic vaudeville theaters
Gaumont - CORRECT ANSWER A french film production company founded in 1895 by Leon
Gaumont. Next to Pathe, Gaumont was the biggest firm in France. Created serials, later expanded
onto british theatre.
Solax - CORRECT ANSWER Alice Guy-Blache's studio in Fort Lee, NJ. She moved to
America in 1907 and founded it with a $100,000 investment. The only woman to have owned and
operated her own studio plant. Specializes in long-form dramatizations, adaptations, and comedies.
Shooting up to 3 films a week.
