The Man

Recently in Media and Society class, we screened The Man with a Movie Camera. This film was made in 1929. Being an early experimental film, the entertainment value of this production is almost as significant as it was in the late 1920's. It was amazing being exposed to the general way of life eight and a half decades ago. In relation to the time period the film was released, this film was a story with no actual story and no scripted characters. The main character was the actual man with the camera.

The man was in the world collecting random shots that in the end told a story through symbolism. The audience was exposed to an event, then the opposite of the first event. For example, illness and death was presented, then a woman experiencing birth and then the baby being born. Then symbolism was shown to support the opposites; an example was the change in direction of the traffic signs. This style and content portrayed in the film kept it interesting at all times. It was never obvious what was going to happen next.

I also found the dangerous methods of getting the shot very appealing. The cameraman would go to any extreme to get the shot. He stood either in the back of a truck or on the edge of a building quite frequently. The style of seeing him get the shot then viewing the captured motion picture through his lens also added to the excitement.

This screening of The man with a Movie Camera was a great experience and also entertaining. The randomness and conflicted shots were the best parts. Messages were presented and translated to us viewers in very basic and affective ways. At the end of the day, whether its today, or in the late 1920s, this film made its audience think similar and different ideas through the medium of cinema.