On Construction of Griffith’s Films

In On Construction of Griffith' Films we picked a sequence from Griffith Intolerance (1916). It shows a dialogue between a man and a woman, filmed and edited as shot and counter shot. We reproduce the shot on two monitors to reveal its narrative character and also because analysis requires us to dissect something. The narrative form of shot / counter shot, which would later become the norm for depicting dialogue in film, remains novel here. A few years earlier Griffith had still used tracking shots to tell his stories. In The Lonedale Operator (1911), cuts were made only when the scene changed; a cut in the movie's story line. In Intolerance, cinematography had already achieved such a level of independence that it was the camera that constituted a room with it's detail. -Harun Farocki Watch On Construction of Griffith’s Films in HD free online now on MyWatchSeries with multiple servers and instant playback. Enjoy high-quality streaming of On Construction of Griffith’s Films and share your thoughts in the comments below!