Wednesday 7 September 2011

Frank Russell Capra .

" A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something . "
" Don't follow trends, start trends . "

Frank Capra (1897-1991) was an American film director whose rags to riches story allowed him to develop his name to eventually be considered 'American dream personified' . He won 3 Oscars for Best Director , which allowed his name to grow and be more publicly renowned allowing people to rush to see his movies. The one of his films that specifically stuck out to me was It's a Wonderful Life (1946) , which I was first introduced to by Sesame Street as a small child . It was featured in a Sesame Street Christmas special where my parents later linked that to showing us the movie its self. Involved with Harry Cohn's studio , now renamed Columbia Pictures, Capra was one of the main directors to primarily implement sound into film , which was extremely new technology at the time . He claimed to not be 'at home in silent films'.
Frank Capra's directing style relied strongly on improvisation. His style was said to be described as creating 'a beauty of controlled motion'. Said to be gentle and considerate , Capra often carried  a message of goodness of human nature and showing the true value of hard work .

" I made mistakes in drama . I thought drama was when actors cried , but drama is when the audience cries . "

This quote , also by Frank Capra , took my by surprise because of the similarities to my own connections to the production of CARNIval . Its the realization that actors are only a part of the 'bigger picture' , and it is the audience's perception that makes it worth while . In this quote , I believe Capra sees drama as an object rather than a direct emotion.

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