David Gill (film Historian)
David Ian Gill (9 June 1928 – 28 September 1997) was a British film historian, preservationist and documentarian who documented the history of motion pictures and helped restore many early, silent films. He was born in Papua New Guinea, the son of Cecil Gill, a missionary doctor. His uncle was the sculptor Eric Gill. The family returned to England in 1933 where Gill attended the Belmont Abbey School, Hereford. Gill died at his home in Huntingdon, England, aged 69, after a heart attack. Career Gill trained as a dancer and joined Britain's Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet in 1946, appearing in ''The Sleeping Princess'', which opened in Covent Garden that year. In 1953, he married dancer Pauline Wadsworth, who later taught at The Royal Ballet School. Gill left ballet in 1955 to work in television, producing his mime play, ''The Way of the Cross'', for the BBC before joining Associated-Rediffusion as an editor. As a result of that year's franchise changes, he moved to Thames Te ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the study of all history in time. Some historians are recognized by publications or training and experience.Herman, A. M. (1998). Occupational outlook handbook: 1998–99 edition. Indianapolis: JIST Works. Page 525. "Historian" became a professional occupation in the late nineteenth century as research universities were emerging in Germany and elsewhere. Objectivity Among historians Ancient historians In the 19th century, scholars used to study ancient Greek and Roman historians to see how generally reliable they were. In recent decades, however, scholars have focused more on the constructions, genres, and meanings that ancient historians sought to convey to their audiences. History is always written with contemporary concerns and ancient hist ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Today (Thames Television Series)
''Today'' was Thames Television's first regional news magazine programme, shown in the London area from 1968 to 1977. It was hosted by Eamonn Andrews, Bill Grundy and others. For nine months, the programme featured Barbara Blake Hannah, the first Black reporter on British television, who was eventually driven off-air by racist complaints. John Lennon and Yoko Ono made an appearance on the show in 1969, sharing a bed with Eamonn Andrews. The show is now most commonly remembered for Bill Grundy's 1976 interview with the Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ..., which caused public outrage at the time. ''Today'' was replaced in September 1977 by '' Thames at Six'', a more conventional news magazine programme. References 1960s British television series ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Phantom Of The Opera (1925 Film)
''The Phantom of the Opera'' is a 1925 American silent horror film adaptation of Gaston Leroux's novel of the same name directed by Rupert Julian and starring Lon Chaney in the title role of the deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star. The film remains most famous for Chaney's ghastly, self-devised make-up, which was kept a studio secret until the film's premiere. The picture also features Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, Arthur Edmund Carewe, Gibson Gowland, John St. Polis and Snitz Edwards. The last surviving cast member was Carla Laemmle (1909–2014), niece of producer Carl Laemmle, who played a small role as a "prima ballerina" in the film when she was about 15 years old. The first cut of the film was previewed in Los Angeles on January 26, 1925. The film was released on September 6, 1925, premiering at the Astor Theatre in New York. In 1953, the film entered the public domain in the U ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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A Tale Of The Christ (1925 Film)
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient Greek letter alpha, from which it derives. The uppercase version consists of the two slanting sides of a triangle, crossed in the middle by a horizontal bar. The lowercase version is often written in one of two forms: the double-storey and single-storey . The latter is commonly used in handwriting and fonts based on it, especially fonts intended to be read by children, and is also found in italic type. In English, '' a'' is the indefinite article, with the alternative form ''an''. Name In English, the name of the letter is the ''long A'' sound, pronounced . Its name in most other languages matches the letter's pronunciation in open syllables. History The earliest known ancestor of A is ''aleph''—the first letter of the Phoenician ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Empire, Leicester Square
The Empire, Leicester Square is a cinema currently operated by Cineworld on the north side of Leicester Square, London, England. The Empire was originally built in 1884 as a variety theatre and was rebuilt for films in the 1920s. It is one of several cinemas in and adjoining Leicester Square which are regularly used for film premieres and first runs. Today, it has nine auditoria, including an IMAX, a Superscreen and a 4DX screen. History 1884: The Empire Theatre opens The Empire Theatre opened on 17 April 1884 under the ownership of Daniel Nicols as a West End variety theatre on Leicester Square, as well as a ballet venue, with a capacity of about 2,000 seats. The first performance was '' Chilpéric'', with music by Hervé, adapted by H. Hersee and H. B. Farnie and described as ''a Grand Musical Spectacular, in three acts and seven tableaux''. The corps de ballet for the performance was 50 strong. Edward Solomon and Sydney Grundy premièred their comic opera, ''Pocaho ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Napoléon (1927 Film)
''Napoléon'' (on-screen title: ''Napoléon vu par Abel Gance'', "Napoleon as seen by Abel Gance") is a 1927 French Silent film, silent Epic film, epic historical film, produced and directed by Abel Gance, that tells the story of Napoleon's early years. The only film to use Polyvision (for the finale), it is recognised as a masterwork of fluid camera motion, produced in a time when most camera shots were static. Many innovative techniques were used to make the film, including fast cutting, extensive close-ups, a wide variety of hand-held camera shots, location shooting, point of view shots, multiple-camera setups, multiple exposure, superimposition, underwater camera, kaleidoscopic images, film tinting, Split screen (filmmaking), split screen and mosaic shots, multi-screen projection, and other visual effects. A revival of ''Napoléon'' in the mid-1950s influenced the filmmakers of the French New Wave. The film used the Keller-Dorian cinematography for its color sequences. The f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Abel Gance
Abel Gance (; born Abel Eugène Alexandre Péréthon; 25 October 188910 November 1981) was a French film director, producer, writer and actor. A pioneer in the theory and practice of montage, he is best known for three major silent films: ''J'accuse (1919 film), J'accuse'' (1919), ''La Roue'' (1923), and ''Napoléon (1927 film), Napoléon'' (1927). Early life Born in Paris in 1889, Abel Gance was the illegitimate son of a prosperous doctor, Abel Flamant, and a working-class mother, Françoise Péréthon (or Perthon). Initially taking his mother's name, he was brought up until the age of eight by his maternal grandparents in the coal-mining town of Commentry in central France. He then returned to Paris to rejoin his mother, who had by then married Adolphe Gance, a chauffeur and mechanic, whose name Abel then adopted. Although he later fabricated the history of a brilliant school career and middle-class background, Gance left school at the age of 14, and the love of literature an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hollywood (1980 TV Series)
''Hollywood'' (also known as ''Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film'') is a British television documentary miniseries produced by Thames Television and originally broadcast on ITV in 1980. Written and directed by film historians Kevin Brownlow and David Gill, it explored the establishment and development of the Hollywood studios and their cultural impact during the silent film era of the 1910s and 1920s. At the 1981 BAFTA TV Awards, the series won for Best Original Television Music and was nominated for Best Factual Series, Best Film Editing and Best Graphics. The series has seldom been released on home video formats, apparently due to the complexity of obtaining home video rights to all of the film clips used. It is available on the Internet Archive. In 1995, Brownlow and Gill produced the followup series, '' Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood'', which explores the rise of the silent film industry in Sweden, Germany, France and Great Britain. Synopsis The s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Silent Film
A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when necessary, be conveyed by the use of inter- title cards. The term "silent film" is something of a misnomer, as these films were almost always accompanied by live sounds. During the silent era, which existed from the mid-1890s to the late 1920s, a pianist, theater organist—or even, in larger cities, an orchestra—would play music to accompany the films. Pianists and organists would play either from sheet music, or improvisation. Sometimes a person would even narrate the inter-title cards for the audience. Though at the time the technology to synchronize sound with the film did not exist, music was seen as an essential part of the viewing experience. "Silent film" is typically used as a historical term to describe an era of cinema p ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Television Producer
A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon acceptance they focus on business matters, such as budgets and contracts. Other producers are more involved with the day-to-day workings, participating in activities such as screenwriting, Scenic design, set design, Casting (performing arts), casting, and directing. There may be a variety of different producers on a television show, including showrunners, executive producers, supervising producers, coordinating producers, field producers, line producers, among other roles on a television crew. Notable television producers * J. J. Abrams: ''Alias (TV series), Alias'', ''Lost (2004 TV series), Lost'', ''Fringe (TV series), Fringe'', ''Person of Interest (TV series), Person of Interest'' * Mara Brock Akil: ''The Game (American TV series), The G ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Television Director
A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the producer's vision is delivered. Their duties may include selecting cast members, conduct rehearsals, work with set designers, location scouts and art directors, originating program ideas, finding contributors, writing scripts, planning 'shoots', ensuring safety, leading the crew on location, directing contributors and presenters, and working with editors and music supervisors to assemble and make sure the final product meets the producer and director's vision. The work of a television director can vary widely depending on the nature of the program, the practices of the production company, whether the program content is factual or drama, and whether it is Live television, live or recorded. Types of television director Factual television dire ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Photoplay Productions
Photoplay Productions is an independent film company, based in the UK, under the direction of Kevin Brownlow and Patrick Stanbury. Is one of the few independent companies to operate in the revival of interest in the lost world of silent cinema and has been recognised as a driving force in the subject. In 2010, Photoplay Productions was the recipient of the Silent Film Festival Award Documentary production Photoplay Productions has been recognised as a driving force in the revival of interest in the lost world of silent cinema. Amongst its film history documentaries are: * D. W. Griffith: Father of Film, produced by Kevin Brownlow, David Gill and Patrick Stanbury. Narrated by Sam Wanamaker. * I'm King Kong! - The Exploits of Merian C Cooper (2005) directed by Kevin Brownlow and Christopher Bird. Narrated by Alec Baldwin * Garbo (2005) directed by Kevin Brownlow and Christopher Bird. Narrated by Julie Christie * Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood (1995) directed by ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |