Another major contender in the comedy genre was Harold Lloyd. He had an unpredictable style of comedy at first. For a long time he wanted to model himself after Charlie Chaplin until he came into his own unique style. Chaplin’s clothes were too big for him, so Lloyd wore clothes that were too small for him. However, it was not as simple as reversing Chaplin’s style. One day someone put him in oval wire glasses and it somehow became part of his persona. Lloyd eventually evolved on his own and claimed his own unique style. “At times he would seem meek but then would explode suddenly with force and anger” (Cousins, p. 73). He became most famous for his incredible stamina and ability to perform outrageous stunts, known as his “human fly” act. In Safety Last he is seen climbing the side of a building, along the way running into many obstacles that would threaten to push him off. He was unparalleled in the way he performed such dangerous stunts all for the sake of comedy. 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 …show more content…
The Jazz Singer was the film that really set off the prosperous time period with its inclusion of sound in the first ever “talkie”. The films in the golden age of Hollywood all had a particular outline, dubbed later the “classic Hollywood style”, consisting of a clear beginning, middle, and end. Films during this time were heavily focused on mankind. A classic Hollywood narrative is usually centered on a couple of characters and their drive and psychological motivation to their actions which eventually leads to their desired goal somewhere around the end of the
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...
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.
The cameras used to film “The Talkies” as they where known, had to be kept in enormous soundproof casing. This immediately hindered directors creativity and made movies such as Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) much more rigid. Because of the fascination with the lip-syncing that this new technology achieved less attention was played to other attributes that silent films used such as the comedic elements in Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights (1931.)
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.
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, and no spoken dialogue. The silent film era was from 1894 to 1929. Even though silent films seemed boring, they were actually quite the popular hit. In the films the actors would use gestures, mime, or title cards to convey to the audience what the plot was about. “The term silent film is therefore a retronym – that is a term created to distinguish something retroactively”, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_film). Since September 2013, it has been announced by the United States Library of Congress that a total of 70% of American silent films are to believed to be lost forever. Some thought out reasons are 1.) The film companies decided to destroy the films once the silent film era ended, 2.) Natural environmental causes that caused the films to degrade over time, and 3.) there could had been fires in the vaults where they kept all the films in. Since actors couldn’t talk during the films they used body language and facial expressions so the audience could better understand what the plot was and how the character felt and portrayed on the screen. Silent films were suppose to attract audiences that were simplistic. Melodramatic acting was common in most films. Vaudeville was a very popular origin in silent films. In mid-1910s though, the vaudeville style soon dies out due to differences
Slapstick enables the beleaguered audience to stay here on earth and have the best good time; with a perfect sense of completeness, the clown’s martyrdom becomes the good time the audience is having. The significance of the silent era in film history cannot be overstated. During the first decades of the twentieth century, a truly commercial popular art emerged bound closely to the image of a modern America. Movie making luminaries such as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton lead the way of comic cinema with their unforgettable films. Regardless of the development of synchronized sound, the era drew to a close, but the modes of production, distribution, exhibition, and consumption inaugurated during the silent film era persisted, creating the film industry, as we know it
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.
...he audience. Not to mention the structure of film and timing placed in this era of films. Compared to the sound era of movies with less audience imagination and participation so the viewing experience becomes something totally different. Instead of having to imagine you are able to hear the sounds and voices of the characters and things that are going on. Plus the structure is something different than silent era films. With scenes not needing to have dialogue cards, making it so that less time is spent on having to read the plot and more time is spent on being able to let the sound help you visualize the plot. Making it more of a straight forward experience rather than something you have to think about. Syncopation with the soundtrack also creating a new addition on how animators structured the films. It's safe to say there are differences in both eras of animation.
Classical Hollywood is a tradition of methods and structures that were prominent American cinema between 1916 and 1960.Its heritage stems from earlier American cinema Melodrama and to theatrical melodrama before that. Its tradition lives on in mainstream Hollywood to this day. But what is it?
The Jazz Age was more than merely a musical revolution—“The Jazz Age denotes not only a period of early big band, but also the events and fashions of an era”. During this decade a number of modern developments were invented, which included an expanded telephone service, network radio, electric inventions, and records set in aviation. These modern developments had a profound effect on American culture, creating a rise in leisure, specifically mass leisure. Automobiles, movies, and the radio overtook the lives of Americans, becoming necessities and part of everyday routines. This period also marks the beginning of films with soundtracks, an audio component, marking the rise of the musical and giving the American people another vehicle for leisure activity. The Jazz Age shaped the culture and attitude of America, “it was the first truly modern decade and, for better or for worse, it created the model for society that all the world follows today”.
With the discovery of techniques such as continuous editing, multiple camera angles, montage editing, and more, silent filmmaking developed from simple minute-long films to some of the most beautiful, awe-inspiring films that have ever been created—in only a few decades. In Visions of Light, someone alluded that if the invention of sound had come along a mere ten years later, visual storytelling would be years ahead of what it is today. This statement rings true. When looking at the immense amount of progress that was made during the silent era of films, one must consider where the art of film has been, where it is, and where it is
Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941) challenged the traditional narrative and technical elements of classic Hollywood cinema through the successful use of mise-en-scene. According to (Wikipedia) traditional narrative focuses on chronological order of history it is event driven and tends to center upon individuals, actions and intentions. Additionally (Wikipedia) also states that the title “Classic Hollywood cinema” were terms used in film history which designates both a visual and sound style for making motion pictures and a mode of production used in the American film industry between 1927-1963. This period is also known as the “Golden age of Hollywood.”
Lev Kuleshov and his ‘effect’ « Early & Silent Film. 2014. Lev Kuleshov and his ‘effect’ « Early & Silent Film. [ONLINE] Available at: http://cinetext.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/lev-kuleshov-and-his/. [Accessed 15 February 2014].
The most memorable comedian was Aristophanes who wrote satires about war and philosophy. The part of comedy that lasted 2500 years the best were the masked used in performances. The masks often had over dramatic facial expressions which was a key part of the Greek Comedy. There were two masks that were shown at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. One depicted a man screaming but the old thing about the mask was that the mouth was going right through to the back to make a hollow hole right through. When you are up close and personal to these mask, the level of detail to unable to communicate the true talent that goes into making one of the masks. Even to the detail of the hair, you can see strands of hair with its curl at the end. That is one detail that is very clear with a personal experience but images online can not give you the full amount of work that was put into the masks. Many masks have repairs on them which is found through out the gallery. Now, in modern comedy, many still have masks for characters and so in present day we can still easily connect to what the masks are trying to depict. The odd thing is that they were made from marble which would have made it very heavy to hold and move around. Today we use little material and slowly we are changing over to special makeup. All of the masks in the Winnipeg Art Gallery had many repairs on them which is believed to be caused by the weight of them. Actors
The ‘New Hollywood Cinema’ era came about from around the 1960’s when cinema and film making began to change. Big film studios were going out of their comfort zone to produce different, creative and artistic movies. At the time, it was all the public wanted to see. People were astonished at the way these films were put together, the narration, the editing, the shots, and everything in between. No more were the films in similar arrangement and structure. The ‘New Hollywood era’ took the classic Hollywood period and turned it around so that rules were broken and people left stunned.