On the First Period of Film History

Abstract

There are three factors which acted upon the formation of film art ; the technical, the economic and the artistic. These three factors successively discharged their essential functions. So, we can devide the first period in three stages. The technical stage can be regarded as the pre-history of film art. Two others can not be separated, because the development from one to another was only gradual. Then, it is necessary to clarify the subject which unifies these two stages. Because, all the history must be regarded as the development and metamorphosis of a certain subject. This subject is the "Reinfilmisches Sehen", which may correspond to Fiedlers' "Reines Sehen" in visual art. From Lumiere to Griffith, it is the process of it's formation, and, after Griffith, it is the process of it's own development.