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The silent film era
The silent film era
Silent movie era filmmaking essay
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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. …show more content…
From the silent era, I chose the movie, The Great Train Robbery, which was directed by Edwin S. Porter. It is a great example of a film that introduced new camera techniques, composite editing, and on-location shooting. As for the sound era, the movie I chose is Á bout de soufflé, also titled Breathless, which was directed by Jean-Luc Godard and was known for its visual style using its jump cuts. It also was the earliest and most influential examples of French New Wave
The Cameraman (1928), an MGM Buster Keaton feature, is one of the last truly great feature films of the silent era. From the artistic balance it finds between the simplicity of an all-too-familiar storyline and the complexity of technique and cinematography, to the very-entertaining and captivating performances of its actors, the film that was nearly lost to the annals of motion-picture history is a multi-faceted gem that is joyous to watch.
Sound was first introduced into film by the film The Jazz Singer (1927). The transition for silent films to talkies was an experimental period in film history considering that, “[m]ost of the early talkies were successful at the box-office, but many of them were of poor quality - dialogue-dominated play adaptations, with stilted acting (from inexperienced performers) and an unmoving camera or microphone” (Kirk). When film was transitioning into sound a lot of silent film aspects disappeared. Many of the early talkies lacked in visuals because most of the filmmakers' attention was on sound. Another aspect of silent film making that was lost were the stars. Some stars transitioned into talkies; while others did not transition. The character Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard reflects the struggle many of the silent film actors and actresses faced because of talkies. There are many reasons as to why some silent film actors didn’t transition into talkies. Some reasons actors did not transition include: audiences did not like actor’s voices, actors did not like making talkies, and some actors could not speak english. In Sunset Boulevard, there are many silent film stars who did not transfer into talkies such as, Buster Keaton and Gloria Swanson.
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...
Orson Wells’ film Citizen Kane received terrific reviews as soon as it opened in 1941. While the average movie buff would not value Citizen Kane as much, for the critics, directors and film students: it provides a technical handbook as to the nuts and bolts of how a film is to be assembled. It has now been chosen as the greatest American film in a number of polls due to the many remarkable scenes and performances, cinematic and narrative techniques and experimental innovations in photography, editing and sound.
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
Even thought the most produced films were silent, film studios were working for a sound film. They managed to do that with The Jazz Singer (1927). However, they discovered that they should deal with the surrounding sound and with the sound of the camera, so at the end of the 1920s films were produced in two version, sometimes with slightly different plot, a silent and a sound
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
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.
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
A great example of this would be the film Breathless, directed by Godard. This is a story of the love between a small-time crook who is wanted for killing a cop, and an American woman who works for a French newspaper. Their relationship develops as the man hides out from the police. Breathless uses the famous techniques of the French New Wave: location shooting, improvised dialogue, and a loose narrative form. Godard also uses cuts that seem, to jump from one scene to another, with what seem to be deliberate \"mismatches\" between shots. This is what makes this movie so special. It could never have been made before it had been. It was made in the post worlds War II era in the year 1959. The plot and subjects reflect this, because there really is no major plot except for the one that I have already described. This was a revolutionary movie in that aspect. This movie was made in France, partly because that was where it was set, but mainly because that is where the new director could afford to make such a makeshift movie.
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.
Christie, Ian (1 August 2012). "The Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time". Sight & Sound. British Film Institute. Retrieved 12 May 2014
Film was not always as it is today due to the digital sounds and graphic picture enhancements of George Lucas's THX digital sound in the late 1970s to enhance the audience's perceptions. Sound was first discovered in 1928 and the first films before that were silent. There is a social need to heighten an audience's film going experience and it allows each person to color their own views of what they see and presents either directly or indirectly society's moral values.
The 1920’s and 1930’s was considered the golden age for movie production. In the 1920’s the production code started censoring the film makers. This stated that any movie written had to pass a certain criteria examples included: if containing sex, violence, and killing. Early silent movies were often accompanied by live piano or organ music. Films were black and white. According to A Short Stories of the Movies, D.W Griffith, never had the intention to make movies, accidentally writing and reporting for a Louisville newspaper led him to become a movie producer, and writer. He is known as the inventor of Hollywood for using close-up shots, which tightly frames an object; today is known as “zooming”. He also used cross-cutting, in order to make
(YO REMEMBER TO PUT IN A HEADER THING)Films are the most widely enjoyed artform in the modern era; they give beautiful scenery, gripping stories, enthralling characters and, above all, they teach to feeling. Though mMuch of what is felt may not be around were it not for a specific pioneer in this artistic industry. His name was Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin, but his more recognizable stage name was Charlie Chaplin. At a glance he may seem to be just a funny performer, but his material would change the world forever. Charlie chaplin is the most significant filmmaker in history. (Add why by stating what you talk about in your body paragraphs)