Final
Project Proposal
My final project will be about a woman whom I believe
every media and film student should learn about, Lois Weber. She was one of the very first female
directors in film and stood out for her willingness to tackle issues considered
taboo at the time. From showcasing the
horrors of child labor to nudity in the face of censorship, Lois Weber set the
framework for many future filmmakers to build upon. My project will highlight her career and
contributions to our artform.
What I plan on doing is a short documentary on Lois Weber
as opposed to a top ten list which is what I originally planned on doing. However, the more I thought about it, I
realized that the best way to honor her would be with a documentary. What I hope to achieve is to generate
interest from mainstream audiences to look up her work as some of her movies
are considered lost. Over half of all
films made before 1950 are considered lost as they were destroyed, degraded
beyond repair or simply have gone missing.
Some of Lois Weber’s films have thankfully been restored and preserved.
I will be uploading the video on my personal YouTube page
under the title of my show, Big Rob’s
Classic Cinema. This video is my
tribute to a woman who thrived in a male dominated profession, even when this
profession was in its infancy. Lois
Weber paved the way for female filmmakers both in front of and behind the
camera to stand out and shine. I
encourage everyone who sees this to share on all of their social media accounts
to reach more people.
Hey Robert! I think this is an interesting topic, personally I've never heard of Lois Webber but am interested in learning about her contributions and accomplishments in the film world. In your documentary are you planning on just talking about her or maybe her movies and how they contributed to feminist media? I think maybe just focusing on her accomplishments can get a little tedious (mainly because anyone can find those) maybe you can critique or analyze one of her movies just to add something other than her accomplishments or maybe make a silent film comparing it to her films. They're just suggestions but I think the idea sounds great and very interesting!
ReplyDeleteI really like your idea of focusing on Lois Weber and all that she has done for female empowerment in filmmaking. I think it would be worthwhile to discuss how she fell out of the spotlight and as you mentioned many of her films aren't available today due to problems with preservation among others. It could also be useful to connect her efforts to bring other women into the field (arguably she paved the way for other women like Dorothy Arzner to succeed in film; but she also used her position to aid other women like Frances Marion into high positions of employment) to how filmmaking has largely been a male dominated field for such a long time.
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