Looking back at it I never thought my fascination for filmmaking came from one small channel on television. Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is, and has always been the place for the classic cinema. I’d say it was a suitable alternative to going to Blockbuster or Hollywood Video.
Screenshot of the Bride of Frankenstein (1935), via YouTube.
I recall in my youth when I visited my grandma’s house and she had the television on a channel showcasing classic monster movies. I got interested as I viewed The Bride of Frankenstein, the scene was in a crypt where the mad scientist Dr. Pretorious and The Monster are carrying on about a plan to create the bride. The style of the shots and heavy contrast caught my eye, the performances of the actors were entertaining. I kept watching the marathon getting intrigued by every film. I was now hooked on the vast the world of Classic Films and the topic of Filmmaking.
Screenshot of The Third Man (1949), via YouTube.
After that I began to flip through the channels on T.V. back home and catch a flick. It brought a lot of intrigue; One time it would be a Film Noir, another occasion it would be a foreign film, every time I was in for treat by it’s amazing variety of Genres and Directors. Every viewing broadened my perspective to cinema and analyze the culture within the films.
(Screenshot via YouTube)
The program is always introduced and concluded by hosts Robert Osborne & Ben Mankiewicz detailing with a brief synopsis of the feature film and even some interesting facts in relevance to its production. Through their analyzation and info, I obtained a vast knowledge base towards film history.
Screenshot of the Life and Death of Col. Blimp (1943) via YouTube
Throughout High School, my film teacher and I would have small talk on what we viewed on TCM and what we found interesting in what was playing. The exchange of knowledge in our interest almost brought up debates. Somehow we put our knowledge to the test with small trivia games amongst the class or notebook analysis after viewing a certain era of cinema or media.
Nowadays observing all the cinema culture and off to film courses in college where will it'll add to that, I'll always come back to where my interest began on a couch watching Turner Classic Movies.
