At 44 minutes, this is a massive epic for 1911, and the production values, especially the set designs and decorations are great. There are some beautiful scenes in it, particularly the combination of split-screen photography and forced perspective used in the cave of Polyphemus, and the beauty and fine crowd direction of Alcinous' court. Unfortunately, there are three directors credited on this one. It's impossible to say who was responsible for what, although the cameraman, Emilio Roncarolo offers praiseworthy work.
The credits say the movie's look is based on drawings found in a library. If true, this means it's an evolutionary link to the modern practice of storyboarding, in which the shooting script is first converted into a sort of graphic novel to serve as a guide to the director. That, in turn, evokes the tableau vivant, a type of stage performance in which the performers reproduce a famous scene, painting or statuary group. The trick was to remain still, and this was often used for 19th-Century pornographic shows in which disrobed nymphs bathed. The details of British and American law in particular held that so long as no one moved, it was art, not dirty performances.
Because THE ODYSSEY is one of the foundational works of Western Art, it should come as no surprise that this is told using the Chapter Heading method, in which the audience is told what they are going to see, and then are shown it. Because of the strong adherence to those pictures (reportedly) found in a library, I found myself picking out moments, and realizing that moment was the picture they used. When they use such methods nowadays, usually in movie versions of Frank Miller, I find the splash panel moment, and it looks clumsy to me; films are not graphic novels. Here, though, when cinema was still very young, it's a clear attempt for workers in the field to find the best techniques.
The credits say the movie's look is based on drawings found in a library. If true, this means it's an evolutionary link to the modern practice of storyboarding, in which the shooting script is first converted into a sort of graphic novel to serve as a guide to the director. That, in turn, evokes the tableau vivant, a type of stage performance in which the performers reproduce a famous scene, painting or statuary group. The trick was to remain still, and this was often used for 19th-Century pornographic shows in which disrobed nymphs bathed. The details of British and American law in particular held that so long as no one moved, it was art, not dirty performances.
Because THE ODYSSEY is one of the foundational works of Western Art, it should come as no surprise that this is told using the Chapter Heading method, in which the audience is told what they are going to see, and then are shown it. Because of the strong adherence to those pictures (reportedly) found in a library, I found myself picking out moments, and realizing that moment was the picture they used. When they use such methods nowadays, usually in movie versions of Frank Miller, I find the splash panel moment, and it looks clumsy to me; films are not graphic novels. Here, though, when cinema was still very young, it's a clear attempt for workers in the field to find the best techniques.