Practically speaking, the artiste maturing of the cinema was the single-handed achievement of David W. Griffith (1875～1948). Before Griffith, photography in dramatic films consisted of little more than placing the actors before a stationary camera and showing them in full length as they would have appeared onstage. From the beginning of his career as a director, however, Griffith, because of his love of Victorian painting, employed composition. He conceived of the camera image as having a foreground and a rear ground, as well as the middle distance preferred by most directors. By 1910 he was using close-ups to reveal significant details of the scene or of the acting and extreme long shots to achieve a sense of spectacle and distance. His appreciation of the camera's possibilities produced novel dramatic effects. By splitting an event into fragments and recording each from the most suitable camera position, he could significantly vary the emphasis from camera shot to camera shot. Griffith also achieved dramatic effects by means of creative-editing. By juxtaposing images and varying the speed and rhythm of their presentation, he could control the dramatic intensity of the events as the story progressed. Despite the reluctance of his producers, who feared that the public would not be able to follow a plot that was made up of such juxtaposed images, Griffith persisted, and experimented as well with other elements of cinematic syntax that have become standard ever since. These included the flashback, permitting broad psychological and emotional exploration, as well as narrative that was not chronological, and the crosscut between two parallel actions to heighten suspense and excitement. In thus exploiting fully the possibilities of editing, Griffith transposed devices of the Victorian novel to film and gave film mastery of time as well as space. Besides developing the cinema's language, Griffith immensely broadened its range and treatment of subjects. His early output was remarkably eclectic: it included not only the standard comedies, melodramas, westerns, and thrillers, but also such novelties as adaptations from Browning and Tennyson, and treatments of social issues. As his successes mounted, his ambitions grew, and with them the whole of American cinema. When he remade Enoch Arden in 1911, he insisted that a subject of such importance could not be treated in the then conventional length of one reel. Griffith's introduction of the American-made multi-reel picture began an immense revolution. Two years later, Judith of Bethulea, an elaborate historico-philosophical spectacle, reached the unprecedented length of four reels, or one hour's running time. From our contemporary viewpoint, the pretensions of this film may seem a trifle ludicrous, but at the time it provoked endless debate and discussion and gave a new intellectual respectability to the cinema.
单选题
The author suggests that Griffith film innovations had a direct effect on all of the following EXCEPT______ A. film editing B. camera work C. scene composing D. sound editing
单选题
It can be inferred from the passage that before 1910 the normal running time of a film was______ A. 15 minutes or less B. between 15 and 30 minutes C. between 30 and 45 minutes D. between 45 minutes and 1 hour
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 根据文章内容可知，格里菲斯1911年改编电影《伊诺克·阿登》时认为如此重 要的一个电影题材不可能采用当时一贯采用的一集录完的处理方法。格里菲斯首创的美式多 集电影掀起了一场巨大革命。两年后，一部精心制作的历史哲学题材的电影Judith of Bethulea 达到了史无前例的长度：四集，一个小时。所以，1910年以前的电影长度应该在15分钟以 内。据此判断，答案是A。
单选题
It can be inferred from the passage that Griffith would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements? A. The good director will attempt to explore new ideas as quickly as possible. B. The most important element contributing to a film's success is the ability of the actors. C. The camera must be considered an integral and active element in the creation of a film. D. The cinema should emphasize serious and sober examinations of fundamental human problems.
单选题
The author's attitude toward photography in the cinema before Griffith can best be described as______. A. sympathetic B. nostalgic C. amused D. condescending
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 根据文章第一段第二句“Before Griffith，photography in dramatic films consisted of little more than placing the actors before a stationary camera and showing them in full length as they would have appeared onstage．”可知，在格里菲斯之前，戏剧电影的摄影只不过就是由演 员表演的静态电影，演员在电影中的比例和实际舞台上无异。后文接着介绍，自从格里菲斯 开始当导演，情况就不同了。在给出的四个选项中：sympathetic“同情的”；nostalgic吒怀旧 的”；amused“有趣的”；condescending“高傲的”。据此判断，答案是B。
单选题
The primary purpose of the passage is to ______ A. discuss the importance of Griffith to the development of the cinema B. describe the impact on cinema of the flashback and other editing innovations C. deplore the state of American cinema before the advent of Griffith D. analyze the changes in the cinema brought by the introduction of the multi-reel film