Tag: computer graphics

Julien Douvier

The Gifs of Julien Douvier

Julien Douvier is a freelance computer graphic artist based out of Strasbourg, France. His ability to combine well-crafted photographic compositions with just a touch of motion somewhere in the frame makes his cinemagraphs some of the most compelling. Not limited by one genre, his photographs range from landscapes and nature scenes to street photography, sometimes augmented by only the slightest bit of motion, and at other times completely wrapped up by it.

Gofs reblogged with thanks to the artist’s site https://juliendouvier.tumblr.com

Buster Keaton: “The Haunted House”: Film History Series

Buster Keaton, “The Haunted House”, 1921, Directors Buster Keaton and Edward F Cline, Cinematographer Elgin Lessley≠≠≠

Happy Halloween

Written and directed by Buster Keaton and Edward F. Cline, the 1921 “The Haunted House”, an American two-reel silent comedy film, starred actor and comedian Joseph Frank “Buster” Keaton. Keaton is best known for his silent film work with its physical comedy and his stoic, deadpan expression. 

“The Haunted House” was shot in a time of simplistic comedic storytelling.The film used a generic, two-decades old story of haunted houses occupied by criminals, one which remained a favorite of theater audiences. Cinematography was done by special effects artist Elgin Lessley, a groundbreaking hand-cranked cameraman who had previously worked with Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle. The film was produced by Joseph M. Schenck who became the second president of United Artists Studio, and later, co-founded Twentieth Century Pictures with Darryl F. Zanuck.

In the film, Buster Keaton plays a teller at a successful bank who, in the process of thwarting a robbery, is mistaken for one of the thieves. He takes refuge in an old house unaware that it is a rehearsal space for a theatrical troupe clad in scary costumes. Keaton and the robbers, also hiding there, have many encounters with the costumed actors and the house’s booby traps. 

After it is revealed that the thieves’ leader is the bank’s manager, Keaton suffers a blow to the head which renders him unconscious. A dream sequence follows in which he is revived by angels and taken to Heaven. Denied entrance by Saint Peter, Keaton is sent to Hell instead. At the end of the twenty-one minute film, he regains consciousness to realize only a few seconds had passed. 

Reblogged with thanks to http://catholicboysdetention.tumblr.com

Ramón Novarro: Film History Series

Ramón Novarro

Ramón Novarro, whose birth name was Jose Ramón Gil Samaniego, was a Mexican-American actor born in 1899 in Durango, Mexico. Fleeing the Mexican Revolution in 1913, Novarro and his family settled in Los Angeles, California.  Within four years, he started appearing in the films of Rex Ingram and his wife Alice Terry, while also working as a singing waiter. Novarro’s first major success was his role in the 1923 “Scaramouche”, playing the lead role of André-Louis Moreau.

Novarro’s good looks and adequate skill as an actor made him an ideal competitor for Rudolph Valentino’s dominance as a Latin lover. Three years after Valentino played the title character of “The Shiek” in 1921, Novarro played a similar role. In 1925, Novarro gave his breakthrough performance as the title character in director Fred Niblo’s “Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ”.  The film was a blockbuster hit, cementing MGM’s reputation as a quality studio and elevating Navarro into the Hollywood elite.

Valentino’s 1926 death left Novarro the title of Latin Lover Number One in Hollywood, and he enjoyed the status  into the talking film era.  He was popular as a swashbuckler in action films and one of the great romantic leads of the era. Novarro appeared with Norma Shearer in the 1927 “Student Prince in Old Heidelberg” and in the 1928 “Across to Singapore” with actress Joan Crawford.

At the peak of his success in the early 1930s, Novarro was earining more than 100,000 US dollars per film.  It was only after his studio contract with MGM Studios was not renewed in 1935 that his celebrity faded.  After that, he made sporadic appearances in film, including John Huston’s 1949 “We Were Stagers” and the 1950 film-noir crime film “Crisis” with Cary Grant.

Ramón Novarro was gay in a time when society had little understanding and no tolerance for anyone considered different. MGM mogul Louis B. Mayer asked him to take a woman as a bride, to participate in a “lavender marriage’ for publicity purposes.  Novarro refused, and maintained romantic relationships with men, including composer Harry Partch and Hollywood journalist Herbert Howe. On the night of October 30, 1968, Novarro was murdered by brothers Paul and Tom Ferguson whom he invited into his home. Believing there was a large sum of money in the house, the brothers hoped to rob him. Novarro died as a result of asphyxiation, choked to death on his own blood after having been beaten. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles.