Practicallyspeaking,theartisticmaturingofthecinemawasthesingle-handedachievementofDavidW.Griffith(1875-1948).BeforeGriffith,photographyindramaticfilmsconsistedoflittlemorethanplacingtheactorsbeforeastationarycameraandshowingtheminfulllengthastheywouldhaveappearedonstage.Fromthebeginningofhiscareerasadirector,however,Griffith,becauseofhisloveofVictorianpainting,employedcomposition.Heconceivedofthecameraimageashavingaforegroundandarearground,aswellasthemiddledistancepreferredbymostdirectors.By1910hewasusingclose-upstorevealsignificantdetailsofthesceneoroftheactingandextremelongshotstoachieveasenseofspectacleanddistance.Hisappreciationofthecamera’spossibilitiesproducednoveldramaticeffects.Bysplittinganeventintofragmentsandrecordingeachfromthemostsuitablecameraposition,hecouldsignificantlyvarytheemphasisfromcamerashottocamerashot. Griffithalsoachieveddramaticeffectsbymeansofcreativeediting.Byjuxtaposingimagesandvaryingthespeedandrhythmoftheirpresentation,hecouldcontrolthedramaticintensityoftheeventsasthestoryprogressed.Despitethereluctanceofhisproducers,whofearedthatthepublicwouldnotbeabletofollowaplotthatwasmadeupofsuchjuxtaposedimages,Griffithpersisted,andexperimentedaswellwithotherelementsofcinematicsyntaxthathavebecomestandardeversince.Theseincludedtheflashback,permittingbroadpsychologicalandemotionalexplorationaswellasnarrativethatwasnotchronological,andthecrosscutbetweentwoparallelactionstoheightensuspenseandexcitement.Inthusexploitingfullythepossibilitiesofediting,GriffithtransposeddevicesoftheVictoriannoveltofilmandgavefilmmasteryoftimeaswellasspace. Besidesdevelopingthecinema’slanguage,Griffithimmenselybroadeneditsrangeandtreatmentofsubjects.Hisearlyoutputwasremarkablyeclectic:itincludednotonlythestandardcomedies,melodramas,westerns,andthrillers,butalsosuchnoveltiesasadaptationsfromBrowningandTennyson,andtreatmentsofsocialissues.Ashissuccessesmounted,hisambitionsgrew,andwiththemthewholeofAmericancinema.Whenheremade?EnochArden?in1911,heinsistedthatasubjectofsuchimportancecouldnotbetreatedinthethenconventionallengthofonereel.Griffith’sintroductionoftheAmerican-mademulti-reelpicturebegananimmenserevolution.Twoyearslater,?JudithofBethulia,anelaboratehistoricophilosophicalspectacle,reachedtheunprecedentedlengthoffourreels,oronehour’srunningtime.Fromourcontemporaryviewpoint,thepretensionsofthisfilmmayseematrifleludicrous,butatthetimeitprovokedendlessdebateanddiscussionandgaveanewintellectualrespectabilitytothecinema. Itcanbeinferredfromthepassagethatbefore1910thenormalrunningtimeofafilmwas_____.
A.15 minutes or less
B.between 15 and 30 minutes
C.1 hour or more
D.between 45 minutes and 1 hour
正确答案是A