Catalog for the exhibition A Celluloid Story - New Jersey\u27s Film History held at Seton Hall University\u27s Walsh Gallery, November 3 - December 12, 2014. Curated by Sara Hart and Romana Schaeffer. Includes an essay by Sara Hart and Romana Schaeffer

Bara, Theda

Edison, Thomas

Linden, Einar

Miller, Arthur

Tourneur, Maurice

White, Pearl

English

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A Celluloid Story - New Jersey\u27s Film History

Seton Hall University Libraries

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3  —  FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014An exhibition of filmmaking history from 1880-1920 in honor of New Jersey’s 350th anniversarySponsored by the Seton Hall University MA in Museum Professions Program and by the Fort Lee Film CommissionThis exhibition and program were made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations in this exhibition and program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or the New Jersey Council for the Humanities.Curated by Sarah Hart and Romana Schaeffer“Directing motion pictures is merely capturing life” in Variety, December 27, 1918400 S. Orange AvenueSouth Orange, NJ 07079973.275.2033  ||  www.shu.edu/walshgalleryThe Walsh Gallery at Seton Hall UniversityLou Azzolini Xue-Ming BaoDr. John BuschmanVanessa CottoMeghan BradyJeanne BrasileFrank CapraPetra ChuVanessa CottoAlan DelozierJody Lee DraftaDanny GarrettRichard KoszarskiJillian LopeWill MelonesTom MeyersCharlotte NicholsRobert Rementeria Jr.Christina RomanoSierra Van Ryck deGrootMichael VillanuevaJoseph YankusAcknowledgements-Maurice Tourneur Front: Pearl White rehearsing on the Palisades for The House of Hate (Pathé, 1918), with Arthur Miller at the cameraTheda Bara and Einar Linden pose for a publicity shot for Carmen (1915)Fort Lee Film CommissionFort Lee Historical SocietySeton Hall University ArchivesThomas Edison National Historic ParkWalsh Gallery Advistory Boardwas a medium closely related to the ancient art of the theatre, communication styles were significantly different. The many Broadway stars that came to the New Jersey studios were challenged to find new ways of interpreting the story for a camera that could not capture sound, only intimate gestures and expressions. Cinema was a completely new art form, and the studios in New Jersey were the laboratories where this new medium was tested and refined. This new art form was not one that could be undertaken by just a solitary individual. The complexity required to create one film need a variety of people. Writers, directors, actors, carpenters, extras, and all the other departments contributed to this collaborative process; a process that first became a complete industry in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Once the films were produced, people from many different backgrounds enjoyed them in a community setting. While the initial moving pictures designed by Edison were intended to be a single-person viewing experience, demand quickly rose for a way for viewers to enjoy the film together through a large projection. The early movie picture houses that developed for the use of projected films introduced the cinema trips that are still a beloved community experience shared with family and friends.  The popularity of the movies and society’s demand for longer, more intricate stories allowed films to become mirrors of contemporary society. They gave people perspective to better understand themselves and their culture, as well as the lives, cares, and interests of others around the world. Now, in the years that have followed, historic movies have turned from mirrors into windows, allowing those in the present to look back on past generations and see how they shared, experienced and understood their culture. But these windows are often broken, as the films, the places, and the stories from the past are lost, destroyed, and forgotten. So the larger film community works to preserve and record the history of its past through institutions, organizations, and individual storytelling so that we can continue to build on our predecessors’ legacies. New Jersey’s first 350 years have been filled with thousands of important people, events, and places that have shaped it as a state. May New Jersey’s next 350 years be filled with the same spirit of cooperation, creativity, and innovation demonstrated by the filmmakers of 1880-1920.-Sarah Hart and Romana Schaeffer, curators New Jersey’s main contributions to the origins and growth of film took place over just 40 years from 1880-1920. Although brief in time, it was a significant period in film history. Over subsequent generations, the influence of film development on the East Coast is evident as film is still today both a product and a shaper of human culture. Little did Thomas Edison know when he filmed the first short  clips of movement—such as Strongman Eugen Sandow flexing his muscles—that film would one day be a way of telling some of the most important stories in society. But these first steps in the invention of film technology were results of the creativity, forethought, and experimentation of New Jersey inventors, and the film process itself was infused from the very start with the spirit of human creativity. As technology progressed, filmmakers were able to connect these short clips of moving images together, which allowed for longer films that incorporated basic plot lines. As the art of the film developed, fuller, more elaborate stories could be communicated to the audience. Fort Lee director Maurice Tourneur captured this transition eloquently, stating that “directing motion pictures is merely capturing life.” As thousands of films rolled off the cameras, filmmakers and directors gradually learned how to create moving pictures that told stories effectively and beautifully. Actors also learned how to communicate through film. Even though it “...a host of silent-screen pioneers, from D.W. Griffith to Theda Bara, created the American motion picture industry right here in the streets and studios of New Jersey.” -Dr. Richard KoszarskiMONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 6:30-8pmProgrammingA special presentation  from Dr. Richard Koszarskiand a film screening of The Reckless Romeo The 1895 version of the Kinetophone in useNEW JERSEY’S FILMMAKING HISTORYPreparing the set for filming The Black Panther’s Club (1921)  

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A Celluloid Story - New Jersey\u27s Film History

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