“Traffic In Souls” (Assignment #2 By Sean Engel)

Before I truly dive into this topic, I must state an opinion of mine. Silent films are films that I mostly do not enjoy. Apart from a few exceptions like Charlie Chaplin or similar comedy movies from the time, I never really enjoyed silent films. Maybe it might be because the piano music some of these films that kind of makes me feel a little tired or maybe it might because of how different silent films are from the films I’m more accustomed to. I don’t really know what my own reason is for not really enjoying silent films but it just isn’t my cup of tea. “Traffic in Souls” is another one of those movies where I kind of didn’t enjoy the overall experience of the movie but there was a few elements that I did find pretty interesting about the movie.

The Plot is one of the strongest points of the movie but it takes it time to get going.

One of those elements that I really found interesting about the movie was its plot and setting. The story is realistic of its time frame taking place in the 1910’s and dealing with “White Slavery” or prostitution. It contains multiple plots which range from stopping a “White Slavery” ring to the separation of two sisters. The plots made the movie more interesting  however it takes a really long time to build up in my opinion and even drags out at times. Regardless of how it drags on, it still is interesting enough all on its own.

Other parts of the movie that I found to be effective were some of the technological aspects of the film. Compared to movies that came before it, the film was a feature as it was much longer and more complex. It also was six reels long which was a risky way to make a movie back then but overall, the quality of the film was an improvement of the films that came previously. Overall, I can’t help but notice that “Traffic in Souls” has made a few innovations especially with plot and storytelling however I personally feel it hasn’t aged well in everyone’s eyes. Maybe if this movie was remade, I feel that it can be improved on and audiences might be able to enjoy it better now.

Edison’s Vision for Motion (By Sean Engel)

History is filled with numerous inventors that have made all sorts of inventions that have changed the course of history as we know it. There was the internet, radio, television, and even the light bulb were all revolutionary ideas when they first emerged into their place in history. Now let’s stop for a moment and think about the light bulb, do you know who invented the light bulb? If you guessed Thomas Edison you’re right but while Edison might be most commonly known for his invention of the light bulb, that is not the invention of his I am going to be talking about in this post. What I will be talking about however is another invention of his that is truly revolutionary and is a little less noticable compared to the light bulb, the Kinetoscope.

The Edison Kinetoscope in color.

The idea for the Kinetoscope first emerged into the public in 1888 when Edison filed a claim to the US Patent Office and announced his plans to invent a device that would “Do for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear.” Edison would later file another claim to the office in 1889 which had revealed the device’s name to be the kinetoscope and for the next three years, development would be handled mostly by Edison’s assistant William Kennedy Laurie Dickson. The Kinetoscope would officially demonstrated and tested all throughout 1891 at various locations to help influence its final design. By 1894, the Kinetoscope would officially be released to the public and become a financial success.

A Boxing Match between Michael Leonard and Jack Cushing was a popular film to be viewed in 1894.

The success of the Kinetoscope would continue into the rest of the two decades and help Edison and his company become notable figures in the movie scene going into the 1900’s. There would be increased competition in the film industry as films became more edited, longer, and just generally increased in quality. Other companies and movie producers were also at the forefront of the film industry apart from Edison’s company such as Vitagraph and Biograph. Edison wanted to dominate his competitors in this industry and tried to do this by forcing everyone to use his cameras under a license and sell or rent films that were licensed by his company. Edison would accomplish this through patents and lawsuits against his competitors which worked for the most part with the exception of Biograph who were using a different camera apart from the Edison company’s. Edison tried taking Biograph to court after failing to register a patent through the US Patent office, he tried to take it to court and lost several cases before gaining an edge around 1907 and 1908 through infringement of copyrights. This would lead into the creation of the Motion Picture Patents Company with the Edison Company at the helm. Edison would later enter an agreement with Eastman Kodak, who was the manufacturer of raw film stock in America and ended up increasing Edison’s monopoly on the film industry. Overall, the Motion Picture Patents Company allowed Edison to put total control on the film industry and only allow those approved by his company to make films and show films at certain locations.

This has been an overview on Edison’s invention, the Kinetoscope and how its success impacted an inventor and his company.