The development of digital cinematography, CGI and other special effects has created a world of film in which nothing is impossible. For those who have grown tired of digital manipulations, the Crank Film Society and its weekly film screenings may seem like a breath of fresh air.
The Crank is a graduate student organization and class based in the Cinema and Media Studies division of the School of Theater, Film and Television. UCLA students can benefit from its free screenings of rare and vintage films that take place weekly in Melnitz, starting tonight at 5 p.m.
“Four years ago, one of the students … in the department noticed that there was an extra screening spot available in the James Bridges Theater once a week,” said Jason Gendler, co-president of the Crank.
“(We) talked to our faculty and figured out that it would be possible to screen (films) there, so we came up with the idea to organize a class … around programming films from the UCLA film and television archive and to show them on the big screen.”
Because of the size of the UCLA Film & Television Archive, the Crank is able to show films that are not only extremely rare but also reflect the cinematic past.
“We want to show films on film. This is 35 millimeter film, no DVDs or VHS tapes … the quality is higher, and you get to appreciate the image in all of its splendor. We also program things that aren’t available on DVD or VHS, so you can’t really see these films anywhere else. They haven’t been released on home video formats,” Gendler said.
While modern cinematic technology and visual effects undoubtedly create an exciting movie theater experience, these older films can be considered visually engaging in themselves.
“A lot of people don’t even know that film is projected on film … and there’s a distinct difference in quality. Film is crisper and clearer, and you get to see film grain, especially with nitrate prints … This is one of the only screening venues, the James Bridges Theater, that actually is able to show nitrate films in Los Angeles.”
The Crank’s film schedule for fall begins tonight with a screening of Alfred E. Green’s “The Dark Horse,” a political comedy starring Bette Davis.
“We think it’s appropriate to this time because of the upcoming election,” said Clifford Hilo, the Crank’s co-president.
Other films being screened this quarter include “Caught” by director Max Ophüls and Jacques Cousteau’s “The Silent World” (at an altered time of 7:30 p.m. on November 18).
In addition to the feature films, a series of Warner Bros. animated shorts made from the ’30s through the ’50s will run before most screenings. “You’ve watched cartoons in your house … but when you watch them on the big screen it’s an entirely different experience,” Hilo said. “The colors moving on screen … is something akin to a Picasso … It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before.”