Birth of a Nation was made only 50 years after the end of the Civil War, but used hundreds of extras and detailed costuming to pull off historical authenticity and accuracy. The film includes the events leading up to the nation's split; the Civil War era; the period from the end of the Civil War to Lincoln's assassination; the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era, the actions of the Radical Republicans to enfranchise the freed slaves, and the rise of the KKK.
D. W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation was one of the first silent movies to use techniques such as its own original musical score written for an orchestra. Each major character had their own musical theme. Lillian Gish chose her own, or Elsie Stoneman's, theme for the movie; which later became known as "The Perfect Song". Also Birth of a Nation used parallel action and editing in a sequence. This can be seen during the scenes in the Ballroom and the Bonfire outside on the streets. As well during the scene where Gus' attempts to rape Flora he cuts between those two characters to Flora’s older brother Ben looking for her. It was the first time the audiences had seen something like that in a movie. Not only was Griffith using parallel editing he was also using fades, still shots and the "iris" effect. Special effects where also used in Birth of a Nation; such as smoke to hide the fact that most of the battle fields where empty. It was also the first film to run over 100 minutes.
There was a minimum use of title cards or subtitles which meant that audience would have to really rely on the actor’s ability to convey what was going on in the scene. Griffith chose actors such as Lillian Gish who worked in theatre for 13 years before filming her first movie. By using actors with extensive theatre experience and close-ups to reveal intimate expressions the audience has no problem knowing what is happening on screen. He also used the “iris” effect to close into anything that would be important for the audience to see, and to close off the screen to anything that was not important for the audience to see at that moment. Even though Griffith never did write a script for Birth of a Nation his expert story-telling, and the cumulative building of the film to a dramatic climax keeps the audience enthralled by what they are seeing on the screen. By using these techniques and having actors who knew how to communicate effectively without sound Birth of a Nation becomes an incredible story love, hate, death, and re-birth.
