While reading Jacobson’s research into the physical spaces of the early film studios it made me question how the shift from filming en plein air to inside a controlled environment contributed to the development of the early film crew. The early cinema we have been studying from people like Guy-Blanche and Méliès have been created by a film crew of very few or even just themselves because you can’t have a whole group of film people standing on the street. There was also no purpose to have many people because the only job was camera operator. The travel films necessitated an extremely small crew due to difficulty and cost of international travel. As the film studio shifted to an environment that was not only controlled but extremely large there was a new option to have more crew members on set. As Jacobson discussed in class, as the films progressed and electricity was more widely available in these designated studios, a whole new department was born, the electric department. I question how early there was a designated gaffer (or early predecessor) on set in addition to the camera operator. I enjoyed his essay but I do wish that Jacobson had contextualized these advancements of studios by discussing how it effected the workflow of filmmaking. 

The aspect of his essay that struck me the most was the persistent fear of technology present in his films. When discussing Chomón’s 1908 film “Hôtel Électrique” Jacobson writes “This charming movie shows the dream/nightmare of a fully automated hotel where everything is electric and does its job without human intervention. Shoeshine kits polish boots and combs fix a woman’s hair. Things move along efficiently until a drunk engineer pulls the wrong switches and everything goes haywire.” (171) 

While there is the fear of the technology going wrong, behind that malfunction there is a human error. Reminds me of how most technology oriented movies still have some sort of human behind the chaos, typically the creator. It is not the technology itself we fear, it is the human with that unnatural power that the technology affords. Throughout film history this theme is consistent. From this 1908 film to Dr. Strangelove (1964) to the Matrix (1999) to Her (2013) this human fear is ever-present in society and therefore ever-present in cinema.