A History of Screenwriting – 28 in a series – The Black Imp (George Méliès, France, 1905)
The jump cut was the key element in early movie conjurer Georges Méliès bag of tricks, and as he grew more experienced in the production of films so his use of this trick grew more sophisticated. This ingenious little movie shows off Méliès’ adeptness to good effect, and it’s clear that a lot of imagination has been used in a simple tale. – A Room with a View on YouTube
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I teach several classes for the Stephens College Low-Residency MFA in Screenwriting, including History of Screenwriting. In fact, I created the curriculum for that course from scratch and customized it to this particular MFA in that it covers ‘Screenwriting’ (not directors) and even more specifically, the class has a female-centric focus. As part History of Screenwriting I, the first course in the four-class series, we focus on the early women screenwriters of the silent film era who male historians have, for the most part, quietly forgotten in their books. In this series, I share with you some of the screenwriters and films that should be part of any screenwriters education. I believe that in order to become a great screenwriter, you need to understand the deep history of screenwriting and the amazing people who created the career. — Dr. Rosanne Welch