Scene 1: The History of Film: The 1950s

	Pre 1930s \| 1930s \| 1940s \| 1950s \| 1960s \| 1970s \| 1980s \| 1990s A novelty technique used during the 1950’s was the introduction of 3-D. Filmed with special lenses and then viewed by the audience with special glasses, Hollywood released about 35 of these films during its brief popularity. Unfortunately, audiences quickly became bored with it and Hollywood soon dropped it. Another technique introduced in the 1950’s was the widescreen format. It was introduced largely to distinguish movies from television in an effort to lure dwindling audiences back into theaters. Cinemascope was the first such technology, using a special lens to compress the wider image onto a 35mm film reel. A second lens on the projection piece would later decompress the image to create the widescreen format. It was later replaced by the Panavision system which did not require special lenses. The 1950’s also saw the rise of the French "New Wave". The New Wave began with a group of French film critics who believed that the majority of French cinema was overly devoted to written aspects of a film. They believed that the director, the creator of the final visual image should be the true center and set out to direct their own films under this new theory. The French New Wave also sought in some ways to reconceptualize film. Though they were immersed in popular culture and striving to emulate Hollywood’s success, they also incorporated new techniques and styles. One such example of this Jean-Luc Godard, who introduced the jump-cuts, temporal cuts to disrupt the continuity of a scene.
				Equipment and Techniques Movies of the Time Major Happenings Foreign Film

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