[1] Moving images are so pervasive in our lives today
that it is hard to imagine a time when people did without
them. They’ve become an essential element in the way we
[4] communicate, the way we think. They’ve certainly
influenced every other form of art in some way.
When photography was invented in 1839, many
[7] artists were repulsed by the new phenomenon. The visual
arts of painting and sculpture had reigned for millennia. A
painting wasn’t just a reproduction — it transformed the
[10] objective reality which it portrayed into something new, a
result which contained a mysterious quality that, for lack of
a better phrase, was a part of the artist’s soul. The new
[13] invention, which reflected reality back to us through a
mechanical device, seemed cold and frightening.
People have always remembered, and tried to
[16] preserve and transmit their memories through time. History
was recorded through the written word. The wisdom of the
past was transmitted through the myth, the story, and later
[19] the epic poem, drama and novel.
I doubt if I am the only person who, while
watching an old movie, has had the morbid thought occur
[22] to him that “Everyone in the film is dead now”. Yet, they
are still on the screen, moving, laughing, dancing, just as
they did when alive.
[25] The Lumieres began to show their short films in
1895. They were a sensation. Imagine if you can the
astonishment experienced by the audiences, to see a
[28] projected moving image on a large screen. One effect was
fright. It is said that when the Lumieres showed their film of
the arrival of a train at a station, the audience jumped back
[31] from the screen as if they were going to be run over by the
oncoming train.
Internet: <www.cinescene.com> (adapted).
Based on the text above, judge the following item.
The author of the text believes he is the only person who thinks that people shown in old films are already dead.
