The Cabbage-Patch Fairy- Introduction to Strange Films

-


    In 1896, Alice Guy- Blaché wrote, directed, and edited her first film, The Cabbage Fairy. She even starred in the film as the fairy. In the movie, a fairy is in a field of cabbages and pulls babies out to set them on the ground where the camera can see them. Since this is one of the first films ever made, it is short, has no dialogue, and is shot from one camera angle. The cinematography is lacking because of how old it is, as there is no change in scenery. In current years, most people find this film weird and confusing but in a way, that can be said about modern films made today as well. You could probably rack your brain for a deeper meaning like audiences do nowadays with "strange" films.


    An example of a modern film that can be seen similarly is The Menu (2022). This film is about a strange, prestigious restaurant with a head chef who takes his craft a little too seriously. Weird things happen throughout the whole movie that audiences have a hard time interpreting. This includes a chef killing himself in front of the customers, the chef chopping a customer's finger off, and of course the ending where they are all got burned alive in a "smores"-like-ritual. The movie can be seen as bizarre but could also be seen in a deeper sense. A possible conclusion that can be drawn is how talent and success can turn into madness. The Cabbage Fairy can be seen as bizarre and some can conclude that the film helped influence strange films in our modern world.


    Films from such an older time normally leave a bad taste in my mouth, with the weird plot PLUS the underdevelopment of editing tools. The fact this film is silent, black and white, and almost grainy, it gives the film such an eery feeling. This is the case with most films from early filmmaking. I don't especially love it because it doesn't fill me with the desired feeling I pursue in watching movies. I am able to identify when watching these early films how far filmmaking has come overtime. We had to start somewhere!


Comments

  1. Julian V.1/19/2023

    It is cool to see one of the first ever films, and obviously we can't expect a whole lot from it but to me this film was just really weird. I didn't understand why she was pulling babies out the ground and I feel like she could've put them back down more gently. Nevertheless it was cool to see one of the first ever films.

    ReplyDelete
  2. dr. kyburz2/26/2023

    Yes, when you say, "I am able to identify when watching these early films how far filmmaking has come overtime. We had to start somewhere!" YES!

    I WORSHIP your connection made between The Cabbage Fairy and The Menu. Perfection.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thrilling Escape Scenes in Film

-
Image
                        After watching "Get Out" for class, I made an easy comparison with the protagonist of the movie trying to escape the crazy family's house. This aspect of the movie reminded me of other movies I have watched with similar themes. My favorite genre of film is "thriller" so I often see the use of suspense with the audience questioning "will they escape?" I mentioned in my Get Out blog post that I was a little disappointed with how quick the protagonist seemed to escape compared to other escape movies I have seen. I also go on to describe how that could have been a creative choice, which I can also admire. I wanted to create an additional blog post where I talk about 2 separate movies I have seen with cinematically successful thrilling escape scenes, in my opinion ;)     First up is the movie pictured above titled Ready or Not, directed by Matt Bettinelli and Tyler Gillett. The whole premise of the ...
Read more

Short Film Making

-
Image
    So as we were assigned in class, me and my group have been working on making our short film! The concept is showing the true life of a college student. This includes how draining it can be to work as hard as we do everyday. It really explores the idea of getting into a routine in your day to day life that can become repetitive. It becomes very difficult to make your days different than the others because of how time consuming schoolwork is.     The film opens with a walk through of a students average school day and how they are energized for the start of the week. As the film goes on, you can gradually see the student become more drained and depressed. It becomes harder to get out of bed, harder to listen in class, etc. I presented this idea to my group and they all liked it! We branched out from this general idea with "nitty-gritty" details that we felt it was important to include.     This project was a fun way to let ou...
Read more

Short Film- Self Critique

-
Image
  https://youtu.be/JIC-eONzS7Y       After finishing our short film, I definitely was able to identify what changes I would make. Having made this film with no professional equipment or actors, we really had to work with what we had. Also having made this film with a group of students prompted differences in schedules and having to shoot scenes on their own time. This made some of the ideas I had for scenes just not work out because I couldn't be there to implement my own creative ideas. I'm very proud of what we came up with and how we used our brains to work together but if I had more time and more professional resources, I feel we could have made it even better. Some categories that stuck out to me range from camera angles, lighting changes, more of a "climax" in the story, and implementing some dialogue that is significant to the story but not the main focus. I think the idea was strong but in a more professional sense, I would have gone in some different di...
Read more