I’ve heard about silent films, obviously, but I had never watched one, aside from thirty second clips in the YouTube videos shown in class. Watching silent films never sounded very appealing to me, but for one to be able to convey a story without words is admirable. I thought A Trip to the Moon was pretty interesting, despite my beliefs about such films beforehand. What I really liked about the film was the matte painted backgrounds. They just looked really nice, and I’m sure a lot of time was put into making them since they were so detailed. I also thought that the special effects makeup was done nicely. I almost thought they were actually older gentlemen until they started doing acrobatic type stuff. I also enjoyed the added color and background music, even though this wasn’t a part of the original. The color emphasized the fun attitude of the film, and I thought the music was pretty engaging. What I noticed about the film is how dramatic the expressions and movements of the people were. I expected that, and I found dramatic aspects charming. I’m not sure how to express what I want to say, but the film had this cute, quirky attitude that I think only a silent film could pull off.
I had not seen the original Star Wars before class, but I’m pretty glad that I got the chance to watch it. I could see why someone would want to make changes to a past film, especially with new technologies that are available. Stories, songs, and plays change over time. If you compare the way a story was told in the 1600s versus today, it would be completely different. As time goes on we change things to make them “better”. I don’t see much of an issue with changes being made to films, such as with Star Wars, and maybe that’s because I’m not passionate about films. I do think the original version that we watched in class was better, and I don’t have a specific reason as to why I think this, but it had a certain charm. Some may argue whether it’s okay to recreate someone else’s painting or sculpture, and I think this is similar to re-editing films (correct me if I’m wrong, though). I don’t know the correct answer, and I can understand both sides of the arguments. My opinion on the Star Wars special editions, though, is that they probably didn’t need to happen. I’m pretty sure most people enjoyed the originals perfectly fine and from what I’ve read online most fans that have seen the originals believe that they are better.
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