and why did none of it get oscar nods??????????????????????????????????????
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felstein — 14 years ago(April 18, 2011 06:40 PM)
How right you are, artmania90!!
It's because the film industry had ARTISTS back in the 1970s. Now the entire industry is controlled by the corporate conglomerates, and most of the product they churn out isn't worth squat.
Makes me long for a return to better times. Hell, I'd even settle for the big studio system days, pre-1970s. At least Messrs. Mayer, Warner, Zanuck, Cohn, Zukor, Thalberg, et al, actually cared about providing a quality product. -
franzkabuki — 14 years ago(July 05, 2011 05:23 PM)
Lets just say that for a short period of time in late 60s/70s, serious, mature films were not automatically associated with box office disaster; its not like Hollywood was engaged in charity or altruism during that period. And when folks reverted back to demanding easy distraction & escapism, they got just that. Big time.
I dont think, however, that the prowess of American mainstream film in the 70s has that much to do with cinematography, strictly speaking. In terms of pure visual splendor I believe the 50s or 60s might just win out.
Generally though, there will likely never be a period as great as, particularly, the stretch between 1971-1976 in commercial, high powered studio film-making.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan -
Zuider_Zee — 11 years ago(August 21, 2014 04:51 AM)
I didn't know it did. Much of the cinematography of the pre-sound era was astonishingly beautiful. It seems the camera was much more flexible when the issue of sound wasn't a hindrance. They have learned to work around that but try to watch some German expressionism from the twenties. You eyes will be amazed.
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simon.conder — 11 years ago(August 24, 2014 05:06 AM)
I think I have an idea as to why that is the case.
Apart from shooting digitally there is such a focus on HD which I can find rather boring at times. As film stock and cameras developed they reached a plateau for me that took a long time to surpass but that took styles in a different direction.
I agree with you that the look at feel of '70's films are very distinctive and special.
KBN -
MrDeltoid77 — 11 years ago(February 23, 2015 07:48 PM)
May I just say how pleasantly surprised and thrilled I am to find a thread that has been going on for over 4 years a thread that is intelligent and civil a thread that hasn't devolved into name calling, racial slurs, ad hominem attacks or juvenile vulgarity.
I recently posted on another thread some interesting info I read about B&W cinematography some years back.
As most of you probably know, in the early days of B&W film, movies were printed on Nitrate stock. Nitrate was incredibly flammable and dangerous so they switched to acetate. I have read from film historians and critics who lived through that transitional period that the Nitrate prints had deeper blacks and richer depths in the grays than acetate. They said the look of the Nitrate Prints were stunningly beautiful and were never matched by acetate.
Of course, the transition was due to health and safety concerns rather than financial concerns.
I think we are going through a similar transition these days. The speed and cost effectiveness of shooting Digital has trumped Artistic expression to a point where in a short time there will be generations who have never experienced the beauty of film stock shot by true masters.
Spielberg talked about film running through the gate of a projector having "life" by the very nature of silver particles dancing about the substrate (not entirely accurate but you get the idea)
Even in locked down shot with nothing moving in the frame, film still had a sense of "life" that digital has yet to match.
Perhaps as advances in technology progress, new artists will find ways to create the depth and beauty of film that so many of us grew up with, -
ComicNerd — 10 years ago(April 06, 2015 06:24 AM)
I just watched Klute for the 1st time today and wanted to comment on the Cinematography as well. The 70's had very naturalistic cinematographer that is a little lost now. I love the look of both Godfathers, The Conversation, Marathon Man, All the President's Men etc.
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henrimaine — 10 years ago(November 16, 2015 08:38 PM)
Interesting thread. I like American movies from the seventies, I think it's the best period in American cinema. I've always felt that the seventies movies have a distinct look and feel, which is hard to describe (movies from other periods have their own looks). This special look could be partly due to cinematography. But it could also be in part due to the general look of these times. I mean the streets, buildings, clothes, hairstyles, cars - all these things change with history and this history is recorded in the movies. Naturally we would come to associate movies from a particular period with a distinct look.
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Pzachlen — 9 years ago(November 18, 2016 06:00 PM)
Not only cinematography but the best all around,It was the most experimental film making.Things were invented in ways common today.Things in the 70's ( SOME) were stripped down to their Raw Organic reality.I think the best example are the early 70's work of Ken Russell.His use of nudity was not done as a giggly gimmick.