By Clover Tahhan, Senior Reporter
Today, we have so many movies that all have uses of animation, iconic music, and special effects. The movies and shows that we see today would not be this good without the pioneers in the industry in the last 100 years. Movies like Avatar, KPop Demon Hunters, and many more, would not be able to be as advanced as they are without their predecessors. In a time when movies were generally similar and kept to their genres, a few films dared to expand the medium into what is known today:
The Terminal (2004)
This iconic movie is based on a true story. A man named Viktor travels to New York from Krakozhia. During his flight, Krakozhia turned into a newly governed, unofficial country. The USA did not recognize the new country’s status, and when Viktor landed he was not aware of the change. With no understanding of english, the customs agents decided to help him by allowing him to stay in the terminal until he can be allowed a new passport and visa. If he left, he would be arrested immediately. As Viktor created friendships with the workers, he soon realized he had been there for nine months. The war ends in Krakozhia, and he is finally left with a decision. If I explain more I would spoil it. So go watch it!
Ironically, before this, movies would not (and sometimes still don’t) recognize the soundtrack musicians in the credits. Whereas the makeup artists, hair stylists, costumers, etc. are listed within. Historically, musicians were also only given the scores during the one rehearsal and recording session per movie. The Terminal was one of the only movies that actually gave credit to a musician that played on the score. The iconic melody throughout the movie is played by clarinetist Emily Bernstein. Steven Spielberg, the director, wanted Bernstein to be featured in the credits for her amazing work as the soloist for the entire score. At the time, she was being treated for cancer, and passed away less than a year later. She performed on hundreds of scores in her lifetime. Including Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can, and she also appeared in the score of Pirates of the Caribbean. Traditionally, musicians stayed anonymous, but this was a way to commemorate her memory and hard work in the movie industry.
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New World (1977)
One of the greatest movie series of all time has changed the cinematic world completely. With the use of special effects and high-energy motion pictures, they put movie genres together in a fusion sort of way. This movie was also one of the first films to put the credits at the end of the movie instead of at the start. This allowed for the credits to be now called the “end-credits”. Following the success of the movie, the film industry has become more and more based on special effects and the use of CGI.
On the pop culture side, Star Wars is one of the most influential series ever. The series now has a fan-made day of celebration for the phrase “may the force be with you”. Celebrated by fans across the world, movie marathoners and sci-fi lovers get together on May the Fourth to watch the series in whole and commemorate the iconic films.
Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Based on the story recorded by The Brothers Grimm in 1812, this animated film was the first of its kind. This feature-length movie allowed the world to see that animated films can be longer than 15 minutes. The task was taken on by Walt Disney himself to produce it. Snow White has been noted as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made, and it has been deemed as one of the 25 films for preservation in the National Film Registry.
The film has also now been deemed as the oldest film to join the “One Million Watched Club” in March of this last year, surpassing The Wizard of Oz. Snow White was the start of Walt’s Golden Age, and even after 88 years, the movie is still iconic and a childhood classic for Disney fans across the world.
Many movies have been able to create new ways of how the industry survives and makes unique and fun creations. Fans are able to enjoy and become obsessed in supporting their favourite actors, producers, directors, and writers through the releases of their movies. We can commemorate the legacy of each film (old and new) and learn more ways to make the film world exciting and entertaining.
Because of classic, groundbreaking films like these, we are able to understand and create a new world and generation of films for everyone to enjoy. There are a lot more movies that have come out in just the past few years that have changed the industry, and many have been created from the love and change that older movies have made. What other movies can you think of that added something to the industry, or took an idea from another movie to create a new way of doing things?