DIRECTORS
The silent-to-sound transition did not only affect the stars, but it brought in a completely new variety of directors who had experience working in theatre and thus a better understanding of the power of voice.
Most of the top silent directors being Borzage, Ford, Stoheim, Sternberg, and Vidor were sad to see the onrush of sound. They had a feeling it would both destroy a unique art form and lessen the commercial value of Hollywood films in the European market. None of them intended to rush into talkies, partly because they disliked them and most for the more practical reason that their reputations might be lost easily and quickly.
When sound was introduced, the silent film was at its peak of visual sophistication. But during this
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Now sound muted him. During a take, he was forced to take the role of a critic, only being a director when they were not filming. Now being forced to instruct actors, watch a take, and then reinstruct them. This had a detrimental effect on the directing process, and particularly the overall speed of production.
Most of the early directors and producers were visually trained, but there were some, for example Frank Capra and Val Lewton, who realised that sound could be used creatively. From 1926 onward, demand for a director capable of supervising actors and actresses in talking roles meant many people from theatre were brought over from Broadway to Los Angeles.
A large amount of films ended up being directed by cameramen and editors as a lot of the Broadway stars had no experience in the motion picture technique. Some silent directors never managed to grasp sound, and therefore dropped out of the industry for good. Whereas on the other hand, the ones that had adapted successfully, started experimenting and playing around artistically with their very first sound
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Firstly, it was clear the silent movie had no future but was still a temporary necessity. It would be a long time before all the theatres, especially the smaller ones had converted to sound. They still needed product; and although audiences were quickly sold on the idea that talkies were modern and silents old fashioned, they were still loyal to favourite stars, many of whom were not ready to take the plunge into sound. Furthermore, many silent films had been in preparation for such a time that to abandon them would be a total loss, but to go ahead and produce them, as economically as possible, would entail a smaller loss and perhaps the chance of a slight profit.
The introduction of sound destroyed careers of numerous creative filmmakers and countless successful actors. It bankrupted investors and disillusioned many others. By 1931 the silents were definitively over, and it is safe to say that anybody who had not adapted to sound by that point was, figuratively and literally, out of the
Bergan, Ronald. "A History of Creative Sound in Film (Abridged)." The Guardian. n.p, 17 July 2008. Web. 11 Jan 2014
The silent era in film occurred between 1895 through 1929. It had a a major impact on film history, cinematically and musically. In silent films, the dialogue was seen through muted gestures, mime, and title cards from the beginning of the film to the end. The pioneers of the silent era were directors such as, D. W. Griffith, Robert Wiene and Edwin S. Porter. These groundbreaking directors brought films like first horror movie and the first action and western movie. Due to lack of color, the silent films were either black and white or dyed by various shades and hues to signal a mood or represent a time of day. Now, we begin to enter towards the sound era and opposed to the silent era, synchronized sounds were introduced to movies. The classic movie, The Jazz Singer, which was directed by Alan Crosland, was the first feature length film to have synchronized dialogue. This was not only another major impact in film history, but it also played a major part in film technology and where film is right now.
...ee dimensional animation, and stereophonic sound are all commonplace in today’s times. One can question a group of young people and find that most are unaware of the existence of silent or black-and-white movies. We can thank Disney for his work and the revolution it spurned that continues to evolve today’s media almost one-hundred years later.
The roaring twenties would be nothing without the roar of the MGM Lion. “If Hollywood had no other studio than Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the town still would have been the movie capital of the world” (Fricke para 1). MGM enchanted audiences with its high-budgeted films and glamorous list of stars (Hanson para 1). Three failing movie companies came together in 1924 in hopes to make it big in the motion picture industry, and it did (Fricke para 3). Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer created spectacles of movies after its merging which made MGM one of the most prosperous motion picture companies in the 1920’s (Hanson para 2).
Frank was at first an amateur with silent film-making, but working as an apprentice with producer Henry Cohn, he began more adept at it. He started with gags and comedy humor movies, but the emergence of fil...
The decade was largely dominated by silent films, but the creation of movies with sound followed afterwards. These innovations greatly improved the movies and made them more immersive and exciting for the viewer. Soon after the invention of sound in movies, the silent era movies...
Relying on the conventions of the silent film era, The Philadelphia Story uses “the expository intertitles to convey crucial information” relevant to the...
It is true that movies have a certain connection to the time period in which they were created. For example, during the Depression, movies like The Wizard of Oz (1939), Gone with the Wind (1939), and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) were a way for people to escape worry from everyday life surrounding the economy. In this way, silent films in
Silent movies made people laugh instantly. Stars such as Mary Pickford were a hit in the silent picture “America sweetheart”. Other movies with sound promoted Canada and the benefits of settling in the west. Many movies in the early 1920’s focused on fiction and the number of Hollywood films with Canada increased.
Watching a movie in the 1920s was a cheap and easy way to be transported into a world of glitz and glamour, a world of crime, or a world of magic and mystery. Some of these worlds included aspects of current events, like war, crime, and advances in technology; while others were completely fictional mysteries, romances, and comedies. Heartbreakers, heartthrobs, comedians and beautiful women dominated movie screens across the country in theaters, called Nickelodeons. Nickelodeons were very basic and small theaters which later transformed into opulent and monumental palaces. When sound was introduced into film by Warner Bros. Pictures, “talkies” took top rank over silent films. “Movies were an art form that had universal appeal. Their essence was entertainment; their success, financial and otherwise, was huge” (1920-30, 3/19/11). Films offered an escape from the troubles of everyday life in the 20s, and moviegoers across the country all shared a universal language: watching movies.
Brownlow, Kevin 1994, ‘Preface’, in Paolo, C, Burning Passions: an introduction to the study of silent film, British Film Institute, London: BFI, pp. 1-3.
Amongst the numerous great silent film directors, the three that are commonly mentioned surrounding that discussion are Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Charlie Chaplin. Having seeing a greater amount of Charlie Chaplin’s magnificent work than the others, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd most certainly still got my consideration. In spite of every one of the three delivering awesome pieces of visual artwork, they shared some comparable attributes, however they each had unique differences which contributed to their each distinct style of silent film production. From seeing films produced by all three of these directors, it is evident that comedy works magnificently well with the silent movie format.
Thinking Sound. (2011). Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola Talks about the Evolution of Movie Sound. [Online]. Available from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-fNpE9vQJw [Accessed 05 February 2012]
Topic: How did critics respond to a specific silent era film when it first appeared, and how has the critical response changed over time?
The introduction of sound to film started in the 1920’s. By the 1930’s a vast majority of films were now talkies. ‘If you put a sound consistent to visual image and specifically human voice you make a “talkie”’ (Braun 1985 pg. 97). In 1926 Warner Brothers introduced sound to film but, other competing studios such as FOX, didn’t find it necessary to incorporate sound to their motion pictures production, as they were making enough money through their silent movies. Warner Brothers decided to take what was considered a risky move by adding sound to their motion picture, a risk taken, as they weren’t as successful in the silent movie department. But this risk paid off with the hit release of ‘The Jazz Singer’ in 1927. Though sound in films was then acceptable and successful it wasn’t until the 1950’s that it became feasible to the public as sound was introduced to cinema by the invention of Cinerama by Fred Waller. The Cinerama used 35mm film strip and seven channels of audio.