"just as YouTube is criticized for its clickbait-y, polarized, homogenized, and ‘ephemeral’ content designed for little lasting value..." this quote would have also applied to movies/films back when Orson Welles started... particularly the part about little lasting power.
It's only been since the 1980s when VCRs became a common household item that films would be viewed outside of the initial movie theater run.
I remember being a kid, going to school and hearing about movies that I didn't see in the theater... then not getting to watch them until years later when my family got a VCR, and I could rent them.
We also need to remember that for every Citizen Kane, there are dozens of movies from that same year that no one remembers like "King of the Zombies."
Orson Welles certainly would have started on YouTube, as would many others like Spielberg, PT Anderson, and many more. YouTube is just a distribution platform, just like movie theaters are. The distribution platform doesn't dictate the art.
My favorite Orson Welles film is "F for Fake," which would actually be right at home on YouTube as a precursor to "video essays"
You’re spot on about the ratio of classics: mediocre films from back in the day. We don’t even know how many films were lost due to poor storage.
And the ephemeral content applies to all the art forms, doesn’t it? For every good song, there are hundreds of bad songs; for every good book, hundreds of bad books; and so on and so on.
What I find amazing is how Orson Welles became so good at filmmaking despite having limited exposure. From a piece of research I couldn’t use for this article, he roped in the help of two women to teach him everything about filmmaking: Amalia Kent, an experienced and quick-witted continuity supervisor who briefed him on writing screenplays, and Miriam Geiger who taught him about lenses and shots. Then he toured RKO’s technical departments, and watched films every night, especially Stagecoach. The intensity and focus to catch himself to speed on a new medium is staggering.
I kind of wonder if some of his “experimenting” came from him not having been indoctrinated on how to do things a certain way up to that point. It’s easier to come up with a new way to do things if you don’t know what the old way was… we’re seeing that to varying degrees on YouTube/TikTok, etc. now - some experiments are successful, and some aren’t
I certainly believe his outsider status allowed him to approach filmmaking in a different way. But it also needs to be pointed out that Welles was extraordinarily well-read and literate in a way that today's YouTubers/TikTokers and even aspiring film students/filmmakers simply aren't. Welles delivered hits on the stage (Voodoo Macbeth, Caesar), in radio (The War of the Worlds), and in film. I'm curious to see whether today's experimenters can make the same leap across mediums. Curry Barker is one I'm keeping a close eye on because he seems to be really passionate about film- and he's already gotten deals from A24 (Obsession and Texas Chainsaw) and Focus Features (Anything But Ghosts) before his first film is even out.
Orson Welles has ALWAYS been one of the (very few) inspirations for my own creative career. Being a quadruple threat feels for me the only way I'm able to operate. Your piece reminded me of that!
Orson Welles is such a magnificent artist that it always makes me sad and angry that the studios treated him badly. Imagine if he had the backing of a company like today’s A24 or Neon (I wonder if he’d accept Netflix’s money, though) to make his projects, and all the films we could’ve gotten.
But thank you for enjoying this piece! I’m thrilled that there are still fans of Orson Welles out there keeping his legacy alive and emulating his career.
Fun detail: he got his start in theatre in Ireland by walking in and lying to them - he said that back in the states he was an acclaimed actor, and they fell for it and cast him!
"just as YouTube is criticized for its clickbait-y, polarized, homogenized, and ‘ephemeral’ content designed for little lasting value..." this quote would have also applied to movies/films back when Orson Welles started... particularly the part about little lasting power.
It's only been since the 1980s when VCRs became a common household item that films would be viewed outside of the initial movie theater run.
I remember being a kid, going to school and hearing about movies that I didn't see in the theater... then not getting to watch them until years later when my family got a VCR, and I could rent them.
We also need to remember that for every Citizen Kane, there are dozens of movies from that same year that no one remembers like "King of the Zombies."
Orson Welles certainly would have started on YouTube, as would many others like Spielberg, PT Anderson, and many more. YouTube is just a distribution platform, just like movie theaters are. The distribution platform doesn't dictate the art.
My favorite Orson Welles film is "F for Fake," which would actually be right at home on YouTube as a precursor to "video essays"
You’re spot on about the ratio of classics: mediocre films from back in the day. We don’t even know how many films were lost due to poor storage.
And the ephemeral content applies to all the art forms, doesn’t it? For every good song, there are hundreds of bad songs; for every good book, hundreds of bad books; and so on and so on.
What I find amazing is how Orson Welles became so good at filmmaking despite having limited exposure. From a piece of research I couldn’t use for this article, he roped in the help of two women to teach him everything about filmmaking: Amalia Kent, an experienced and quick-witted continuity supervisor who briefed him on writing screenplays, and Miriam Geiger who taught him about lenses and shots. Then he toured RKO’s technical departments, and watched films every night, especially Stagecoach. The intensity and focus to catch himself to speed on a new medium is staggering.
I kind of wonder if some of his “experimenting” came from him not having been indoctrinated on how to do things a certain way up to that point. It’s easier to come up with a new way to do things if you don’t know what the old way was… we’re seeing that to varying degrees on YouTube/TikTok, etc. now - some experiments are successful, and some aren’t
I certainly believe his outsider status allowed him to approach filmmaking in a different way. But it also needs to be pointed out that Welles was extraordinarily well-read and literate in a way that today's YouTubers/TikTokers and even aspiring film students/filmmakers simply aren't. Welles delivered hits on the stage (Voodoo Macbeth, Caesar), in radio (The War of the Worlds), and in film. I'm curious to see whether today's experimenters can make the same leap across mediums. Curry Barker is one I'm keeping a close eye on because he seems to be really passionate about film- and he's already gotten deals from A24 (Obsession and Texas Chainsaw) and Focus Features (Anything But Ghosts) before his first film is even out.
Orson Welles has ALWAYS been one of the (very few) inspirations for my own creative career. Being a quadruple threat feels for me the only way I'm able to operate. Your piece reminded me of that!
Orson Welles is such a magnificent artist that it always makes me sad and angry that the studios treated him badly. Imagine if he had the backing of a company like today’s A24 or Neon (I wonder if he’d accept Netflix’s money, though) to make his projects, and all the films we could’ve gotten.
But thank you for enjoying this piece! I’m thrilled that there are still fans of Orson Welles out there keeping his legacy alive and emulating his career.
Fun detail: he got his start in theatre in Ireland by walking in and lying to them - he said that back in the states he was an acclaimed actor, and they fell for it and cast him!
Somehow, I’m not surprised in the slightest.
But also, the perks of living in a pre-Internet age. No way could he have pulled this off today.
Although… technically, he wasn’t wrong about being an acclaimed actor in the States. He was just chronologically impaired.