Silent film

that allowed the deepest imaginations of the mind to utilize and display on screen. The transition from silent film to talkies, otherwise known as sound film, opened up new doors of cinematography and composing, and allowed works of art to be seen and heard identically globally. Although Thomas Edison created the first of what the world knows movies to be, he personally did not see how film could be beneficial to society. Even with his negative attitude towards his new invention, many others found

through the use of silent films in the 1800s and early 1900s. A silent film is that which consists of only the picture, and no sound. This was an era of truly transformative filmmaking, forcing writers and producers to have to step out of a comfort zone in order to allow purely visual expressions to touch their audiences and convey their stories. This was achieved through a greater emphasis on facial expressions and body language. Firstly, one of the greatest movies in the silent era was that by Keaton

1) Silent Film Analysis - The Immigrant (1917) - Directed by Charlie Chaplin 2) Many early films, and even films today, use what is called Freytag's Pyramid. Freytag’s Pyramid refers to the way a film is structured narratively, creating a similar pattern among the beginning, middle, and end of most films. I believe that The Immigrant mostly complies with this structure. Typically, a movie’s narrative using Freytag’s Pyramid will be laid out in a way that starts with a exposition, where the characters

types of music heard in original scores during the silent film era and cites specific examples from The Birth of a Nation. (10 points) The three basic types of music heard in original scores during the silent film era are Adaptations of Classics, Arrangements of tunes, and newly composed music. In most cases, adaptation of classics involves action and dramatic scenes. It is borrowing a large amount of an already existing composition for use in film score. In The Birth of a Nation, Mozart’s music

The Artist is a film set in the silent film era that is an almost-silent film itself and I found it incredibly effective that a film about the silent film era is practically silent itself. The lack of spoken dialogue and diegetic sound makes it ever so clear to the viewer that this movie is about the silent film era and it is attempting to make a statement about that style of film. Although the advent and surge in popularity of “talkies” has been addressed in other films, such as Singin’ in the

The Great Train Robbery was one of the earliest silent films, made in 1903. The film begins with two masked robbers bursting into a railroad station office, and binding and gagging the railway dispatcher. From the very beginning The Great Train Robbery is off to a dramatic start. It instantly engages the viewer. A person viewing this film for the first time in 1903 would have been hooked from the start. The film is about twelve minutes long and has a fully developed narrative and distinguishable

Synchrony is one of the most vital methods to film score composition. Synchrony, as many techniques, has become easier as new technology comes out. However, during the silent film era synchrony was almost impossible to master. Today we hear the film soundtrack coming out of a speaker that has been timed down to the millisecond. During the silent film era the soundtrack was a live orchestra down in an orchestra pit below the screen or an organist in the back of the theater. There are many factors

As Richard Abel observes, “The materiality of silent cinema…has become so unfamiliar to us, so different from that of our own cinema in the late twentieth century” that it is difficult to view silent film as anything but anachronistic (4). However, with 2011’s The Artist—an homage to silent film—winning Best Picture at the Academy Awards, it may be worthwhile to examine the nature and appeal of silent film. In a way, silent film does something that the modern day special effects spectaculars do

from silent film to the “talkies” in the mid 1920s transformed the face of the American film industry and of mass entertainment. “Going to the picture show” was a wondrous experience that for 25 cents, gave Americans in large cities an escape from their tedious lives and offered an evening of “crystal chandeliers, marble fountains, gilt inlay and richly upholstered seats” (Miller n.d.). They went to enjoy the “silent” film, which is not an entirely accurate statement considering that all silent films

Comedy Film History you think of the beginning, Silent films. You think of the man with a funny mustache and clothing a couple sizes too big. You also think of the man with a straight face when he should be crying in pain. Those men are Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, these aren't the only two but these are the two that are widely known in the Silent Comedy Film industry.This is a very competitive business and everyone wanted to be in it. Only the best of the best continued within the film industry