"Liberty and union, one and inseparable, now and forever!"

Another important film in the advancement of film techniques was DW Griffith's Birth of a Nation (1915). DW Griffith invented or popularised many film techniques still used today. For example in Birth of a Nation, closeups (for psychological impact), the flashback, cross-cutting and moving camera shots were used.
Birth of a Nation, although quite long and slow in terms of cinema today, is an important film in the history of cinema because of it's influence it had on the advancement of cinema. The acting in Birth of a Nation also shows the development of cinema. The large movements that were needed for stage acting had to be altered for the screen. The movements are still quite dramatic as the story is still being told through visuals only, however, the acting is more realistic and natural than in previous films. Like other films of the silent era, people today may look at them as naive. The story-line stands as an interesting and powerful piece of propaganda with a strong political message although is quite racist for todays standards. Although people today would expect more from a movie, in the time of Birth of a Nation it would have seemed really realistic and awe-inspiring. To watch it today it is interesting because of the historical content (events, fashion, dance etc) and the techniques that are still applied to film today. Another must see film if interested in the history and development of film.