Christmas Firsts #7

Christmas Firsts #7 - Movies

What is your favourite Christmas movie? Perhaps one of the old classics of the 1940’s like “Miracle on 34th Street” or “It’s a Wonderful Life” or even more modern 1990’s classics from The Muppets Christmas repertoire?

Long before, there was Santa Claus, the first Christmas movie Santa Claus was the creation George Albert Smith, a British pioneer film maker. Produced in 1898, this short film was one of the first on any theme, not only Christmas. Because of its clever editing techniques it has been hailed a technical marvel of its age.

"What makes this treatment considerably more interesting than a conventional piece of editing is the way that Smith links the shots in terms of both space and time, by placing the new image over the space previously occupied by the fireplace, and continuing to show the children sleeping throughout (their bed occupies the left-hand side of the screen throughout the entire film). Santa then emerges from where the fireplace used to be, distributes the presents, and disappears via another jump cut.

This is believed to be the cinema's earliest known example of parallel action and, when coupled with double-exposure techniques…, the result is one of the most visually and conceptually sophisticated British films made up to then. ( from neatorama.com )

While this short silent film may not appeal today when we are so used to technological advances in filming and so many amazing special effects, I think there is such authenticity to this little film - just like a home movie of the past!

Obviously Christmas is a theme many film makers, amateur and professional explore. Some of these suggest that Christmas might be just an excuse to make a bad movie. You can tell just by the title that the reviews aren’t going to be five stars, for example, Santa’s Slay, Santa Claus Conquers the Marians, Revenge of the Mutant Snowman, and the series of horror movies, Silent Night Deadly Night. If you are interested, I found this list of ‘every Christmas movie ever made - will almost.’ And I am sure you will find your favourite Christmas movie there.

OK, I am admitting I favour the schmaltzy, happy ending Christmas movies. When I was young (an impressionable 13 year old ? ), my favourite feel good movie was ‘Lilies of the Field’ and I still love it, so of course, on my long list of Christmas movies I enjoy, the sequel, “Christmas Lilies of the Field” very narrowly goes to the top above other sentimental favourites like “The Bells of St Mary’s”, “Holiday Inn” and “Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence”.

Now here’s a great Advent/ Christmas activity, make a list of your favourite Christmas movies and relax and and watch at least your top ten this festive season!

http://www.neatorama.com/2012/12/25/1898-The-First-Christmas-Movie/

Countdown to Christmas 20 - Fruitcake song!

There are many songs about fruit cakes - not all of them referring to the Christmas cake we know and love.It is really surprising to learn via Google that there are 89 listed songs with references to Christmas cake or fruit cake - not all of them complimentary. Probably one of the most famous folk songs about Christmas cake is Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake (a favourite sung by The Irish Rovers). This first recorded comical Christmas song was written by C Frank Horn in 1883 in Pennsylania, as a variation of an Irish folk song, 'Miss Mulligan's Christmas Cake' . The chorus might give you the hint that Miss Fogarty's cake was not for the faint hearted or those who suffered from a weak stomach. Chorus : There were plums and prunes and cherries, There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too There was nutmeg, cloves and berries And a crust that was nailed on with glue There were caraway seeds in abundance Such that...

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks .... The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or my husband or from off cuts gifted to us from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks. Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as w...

From my workshop page....

Current Workshops Offerings Thinking of a workshop for your group in 2022? Art Doll Workshops : - Garden Thread Dolls (one day workshop - WoW -(Woman of Wisdom) - embellished stump doll with either cloth head or clay head. This is an a rt doll workshop .... either offered as a series of workshops or 2 full days days! - Message/Story Stick doll - doll made with found objects and upcycled cloth. ( one day) - Elemental totems - stick doll variation , with sculpture ( one or two days, depending on surface decoration of fabric) TEXTILE AND MIXED MEDIA WORKSHOPS Temari - embroidered wrapped balls in traditional style. - Dipping Into Tea - tea and embroidery on canvas with photo transfer on fabric. ( two days) work by Judith Bee, workshop participant. - Tea Bag sculpture : ...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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