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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What was Charlie Chaplin's film persona?
(a) The swashbuckler.
(b) The ladies' man.
(c) The tramp.
(d) The baby.

2. Why did the War Department in America ban some of the political movies made during World War II?
(a) The visuals were too realistic.
(b) The filmmakers inadvertently gave away state secrets.
(c) The government wanted to keep Americans ignorant of the war overseas.
(d) Films from the War Department had been leaked to Hollywood.

3. With what film technique did European filmmakers begin experimenting?
(a) Sound.
(b) Editing.
(c) Cinematography.
(d) Special effects.

4. After what major event did film gain popularity in the USSR?
(a) Death of Rasputin.
(b) World War I.
(c) Russian Revolution.
(d) World War II.

5. Why did the independent filmmakers head for California while the Patent Company existed?
(a) Griffith held a grudge against Laemmle.
(b) They were not legally allowed to make films without the Patent Company.
(c) California promised the filmmakers they could work without taxes.
(d) A wealth of talent was discovered in California.

6. What early realization helped films develop both special effects and story lines?
(a) Reels could be cut together.
(b) The films should be longer.
(c) Filming the weather was not intriguing enough for audiences.
(d) Cameras could be operated by one man.

7. When American films began to include sound (particularly dialogue), what sound effect uncomfortably highlighted the violence in most movies?
(a) Screams.
(b) Cannons.
(c) Machine guns.
(d) Stabs.

8. How large was the tax on foreign film earning in Britain after World War II?
(a) 55%.
(b) 45%.
(c) 65%.
(d) 75%.

9. In what decade were silent films perfected?
(a) 1930s.
(b) 1910s.
(c) 1890s.
(d) 1920s.

10. What sort of performers were ideal candidates for comedy shorts in the 1920s?
(a) Shakespearean.
(b) Vaudeville.
(c) Dancers.
(d) Singers.

11. In 1947, what did the House of Un-American Activities Committee began to investigate?
(a) Nazi spies.
(b) The roles of minorities in film.
(c) Communism.
(d) Labor laws.

12. What style of art influenced Alfred Hitchcock the most, particularly in his early work?
(a) Theater of the Absurd.
(b) Theater of Cruelty.
(c) Brechtian.
(d) Expressionism.

13. What did Meissonier's conversion of Muybridge's photographs create?
(a) A projector.
(b) A sound machine.
(c) A live-action special effects device.
(d) An illusion of movement.

14. What was one of the biggest threats to the film industry in the 1930s?
(a) Salaries.
(b) Filming on location.
(c) The war.
(d) Censorship.

15. Which of the following words can be used to describe the films that were produced during the early years of the Golden Age?
(a) Experimental.
(b) Socially aware.
(c) Formulaic.
(d) Expressive.

Short Answer Questions

1. What group was formed in 1908 with the intention to further develop the Kinetoscope technology?

2. What did Griffith as a director discover that elevated films from being more than technical achievements?

3. What comedy team became popular (and necessary) during the studio's push for pure entertainment in the earlier decades of the Golden Age?

4. In what genre did RKO specialize during the Golden Age?

5. In what style did the French produce their films?

(see the answer keys)

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