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The silent film era
Sound in classic hollywood films academic essay
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Silent animation films became increasingly popular throughout the 1910s as they were shown prior to live action films in theaters worldwide when, concurrently, enthusiasm towards cinema as a whole became a widespread phenomenon. During the ensuing decade, sound became a prevalent part of cinema when sound-on-film technology was first innovated, culminating in the famous release and subsequent popularity of The Jazz Singer in 1927. As expected, this technology was soon adapted to animation, most notably in Paul Terry's Dinner Time and Walt Disney's Steamboat Willie, both of which were released in 1928. These, and numerous other animated shorts that incorporated sound, were soon rendered as contemporary classics, but many still believed in and argued for the value and purity of silent animations, for they were often believed to exemplify the true essence of animation and imagination. Regardless, both silent and sound treatments of animated films show a great disparity in motion design and cinematography, aesthetic experience, and film structure and plot.
With animation came imagination, especially during the silent era films. In silent movies since there was no sound involved imagination was one of the main keys of enhancing your watching experience. This is the reason why cartoons have always been steered towards children, due to them having imagination in their younger ages. Silent animation had to display the plot of the story but without sound. This made it so that characters needed to have exaggerated expressions and movement. Body language in these animations helped display what the sound would have displayed. This was especially important for when animators wanted to show emotions in a character. It is possib...
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...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.
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...
New and exciting technologies have always played a huge role in the culture of American people. When the motion picture came out it was no surprise that both consumers and producers were more than happy to get in on the action. Back in the 1920’s film was still pretty new and was only in black and white with no sound, but the films were always accompanied by orchestral pieces to help set the mood. The art of movie-making has come a long way since then with the addition of not only color and audio, but new techniques and new ideas. Both The Kid and Iron Jawed Angels are very popular films about the early 1900’s. Although they share some common thoughts, but because they were made in two completely different time periods their focuses are far off from one another and their ideas contrast for the most part.
Bergan, Ronald. "A History of Creative Sound in Film (Abridged)." The Guardian. n.p, 17 July 2008. Web. 11 Jan 2014
...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 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.
On October 6, 1927, cinema was forever changed when Al Jolson’s voice pierced the audience attending New York’s Warner’s Theatre to view The Jazz Singer. “Wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain’t heard nothin’ yet” Jolson exclaimed to the audience, cementing the first synchronized vocal performance in the history of film; and there has never been another more fitting line of dialogue in any other film to this date.1 The impact of this film was so heavy; it received Academy Award nominations for best engineering effects and best-adapted screenplay in 1929 despite the film being a 1927 release 2. Although The Jazz Singer sits as a cinema legend, the history and legacy of the film is not exactly common knowledge, as it extends past the innovative
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
The Jazz Singer created a new advancement by introducing the first talking film. The article 1920s Movies mentions “The production of The Jazz Singer in 1927 did much to change the industry’s perception of talking pictures. The technology had advanced little in the previous five years, but the production was the first feature length talking picture to feature a star singer and actor, Al Jolson, speaking and singing on screen.” The Jazz Singer was the first film to incorporate speaking techniques in a cinematic setting. “The Jazz Singer is a special historical landmark as the first Hollywood feature film in which spoken dialogue was used as part of the dramatic action” (Carringer 28). In addition, The Jazz Singer was the beginning of a new technique that is still used in today’s society. “They talk of it today with awe, because in 1927 it was as though men had landed on the moon. The shaky, abrasive voice of the movies had been heard for the first time. Talkies had been born” (Higham 72)....
In the late 30s, two beloved films, The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Gone with the Wind (1939), were expensively produced with Technicolor - what would the Wizard of Oz (with ruby slippers and a yellow brick road) be without color? And the trend would continue into the next decade in classic MGM musicals such as Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) and Easter Parade (1948). Special-effects processes were advanced by the late 1930s, making it possible for many more films to be shot on sets rather than on-location (e.g., The Hurricane (1937) and Captains Courageous (1937).) In 1937, the Disney-produced Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) was the first feature-length animated film - a milestone.
In the process of conveying emotion and feeling, people take different routes in going about such a task. Some people draw, some debate, and others write. Paul Simon, a genius
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 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.
Animations are a series of drawings, computer graphics, or photographs of objects, like puppets and models, which are different from each to create a variety of entertainment for the audiences. Animations are what brings excitement and mystery, hooking the audience in through interest. It is a form of some sort of “magic” where things that aren’t real but from the imagination comes to life in front of people who live these mundane, ordinary lives, adding color to the eyes and mind. The creators of such amazing arts and creation are animators.
The first movies were in black and white and did not have any sound. As time passed by, the way of making movies changed to where sound was implemented, then they made the movies in full color. Today, movies have special effects that are that have made them very realistic. There are two ways people can watch movies, one is at home and the other is at a theatre. Watching a movie at home is better than watching a movie at the theatre.