FORGOTTEN FILM FROM BEGINNINGS TO “TALKIES” UNIT 2. THIS IS CINEMA! LESSON 2. SILENT FILMS.

FORGOTTEN FILMFROM BEGINNINGS TO “TALKIES”

UNIT 2. THIS IS CINEMA!

LESSON 2. SILENT FILMS

SILENT FILMS

What are silent films?

- We call silent film all those films made between the birth of cinema and 1927.

- A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, with the recorded image.

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SILENT FILMS

- Despite many attempts to synchronize sound and image, it was not possible until 1927.

- From the start, film techniques were a challenge and many filmmakers developed what not many years before the Lumière brothers had started.

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SILENT FILMSBROKEN BLOSSOMS. D. W. GRIFFITH 1919

4http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9853ozGcsY

SILENT FILMS

Why do silent films need a greater emphasis on

body language and facial expression?

So that the audience can better understand what actors feel and what

they want to express on screen. 5

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Actors in these films may seem to be overacting

SILENT FILMS

Overacting:

Is the exaggeration of gestures and speech when acting.

It may be unintentional, particularly in the case of a bad actor, or be required for the role.

In silent cinema it was necessary.

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?

SILENT FILMS

Why was music an essential part of any film?

Because it gave the audience

emotional cues for the action

taking place on the screen.8

SILENT FILMS

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INTERTITLES/

TITLE CARDS

SILENT FILMS

What were intertitles for?

They were really important in silent films when films became longer and

had more detail.

They were necessary to understand dialogues and the story.

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SILENT FILMS

Gradually:

- Silent films became longer.

- The narrative or storytelling became more complex.

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SILENT FILMS

By the 1920s, the U.S. produced an average of 800 films annually.

Among these films there were drama adventures, and romances, but comedy was the most successful.

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SILENT FILMS : COMIC FILMS

Comic films began to appear during the “silent era”, roughly 1895 to 1930.

The visual humour of many of these silent films is based on slapstick.

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It is when particular experiences

provoke laughter and provide amusement, fun

or entertainment.

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SILENT FILMS

Silent comedy emphasizes visual and physical humor, and what are known as “sight gags“ and “slapstick”.

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Examples of slapstickSomeone slipping on a banana

skin, being soaked in water, wild chase scenes with trains and cars, or throwing pies at

someone’s face....

It is a type of physical comedy characterized by humour,

absurd situations and usually violent action.

SILENT FILMS

In comedy there were actors of outstanding talent and different styles.

Max Linder (F)

Charles Chaplin (UK)

Harold Lloyd (UE)

Buster Keaton (UE)

Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy (UE)

They had great success throughout the world.

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SILENT FILMSCharlie Chaplin

Charles Chaplin. London 1889 - Switzerland 1977

He used mime, he was an actor, a filmmaker, a composer and a songwriter.

Chaplin was one of the most creative and influential personalities of the silent-film era.


He was influenced by his predecessor, the French silent movie comedian Max Linder, to whom he dedicated one of his films.

Chaplin directed and edited his own films and he had a strong affinity for sentimentality.

He could make audiences feel and think, as well as laugh. He combined comedy and drama.

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Chaplin quickly became the most popular star when he created his “Little Tramp” character.

The physical attributes of the Tramp which include a pair of baggy pants, a tight coat, a small derby hat, a large pair of shoes, a cane and the famous small mustache.

In most European countries he was known as “Charlot”.

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The Rink 1916http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xBXYn-jjzE 2’56’’The fireman 1916. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eosak_0rRfc 10’15’’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS52AeRKHYo&feature=related 10’15’’The cure 1917 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRHGd7P4oGI 8’33’’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9kVXwAD0So&feature=related 9’21’’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2VJjbs0CVw&feature=related 5’55’’

The circus 1928. Part 10’14

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjGXaA9xGAY&feature=related

The Gold Rush 1925

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtZTIwSIuGw 13’47’’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZGHR7J1lUQ 3’53’’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faS7YLWSEVM 1’31’’

SILENT FILMSHarrold Lloyd

Harold Lloyd

UE 1893-1971

Lloyd made nearly 200 comedy films, both silent and “talkies", between 1914 and 1947.

His films frequently contained "thrill sequences" of extended chase scenes.

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SILENT FILMSHarrold Lloyd

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He is best known for his optimism and the character he created: the “Glasses Character” that represented the ordinary guy up on the screen, a guy with faults and fears, “the boy next door”.

Safety last 1923. 7’35’’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEcTjhUN_7UBunch of scenes from different films 4’05’’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zkryy5eru6k&feature=fvst

SILENT FILMSBuster Keaton

Buster Keaton

UE 1895-1966

He is considered one of the greatest actor-directors in the history of film.

He had great success although sometimes he was misunderstood by the audience. He is more suited to modern audiences.

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SILENT FILMSBuster Keaton

He created his character as himself: he had a beatutiful deadpan face, with eloquent large deep eyes. His nickname was “The Great Stone Face”

Batlling Butler 1926. 5’02’’

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=buster+keaton+boxing&aq=f

Secene from “The general” 1926. 3’25’’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3xh108cLbo

Scene from “The college” 1927. 3’48’’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48-WV9jJEwY

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THE SETTINGWhere does the scene take place?

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THE SETTING Where does the scene take place?

25FOREGROUND


26BACKGROUND


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AT THE TOP IN THE MIDDLE

IN THE TOP RIGHT- HAND

CORNER

IN THE TOP LEFT- HAND

CORNER

IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT- HAND

CORNER

RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE

IN THE BOTTOM LEFT- HAND

CORNERAT THE BOTTOM

IN THE MIDDLE

JUST HIGHER THAN THE

MIDDLE

ON THE LEFT

ON THE RIGHT

COMING FROM THE

BACKGROUND TO THE

FOREGROUND

SILENT FILMSLaurel & Hardy (UK 1890 – 1965) (UE 1892 – 1957)

They were one of the most popular comedy teams in the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, composed of thin Stan and heavy Oliver.

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They became well known during the late 1920s to the mid-1940s.

The team also appeared on stage throughout America and Europe. In Spain they were known as “el gordo y el flaco”.

...

SILENT FILMSLaurel & Hardy (UK 1890 – 1965) (UE 1892 – 1957)

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The music box 1932. 27’51’’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94nxnNdJzQI

The Devil’s brother 1933http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiFEFL6ThRI 1’46’’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yoPb-amgbs&feature=related 9’09’’

Hollywood party 1936. 8’55’’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3cvUuRQtSc

Busy bodies 1933.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvn1NValjWA&feature=related 8’30’’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ8D-bnwBK0 6’6’’ Coloured

Their performances reminded the audience of traditional clowns and they were the best representatives of slapstick humour.

Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy

SILENT FILMSMurnau. Nosferatu. 1922

NOSFERATU. Murnau http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=patgT_qG65U

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SILENT FILMSMurnau. Nosferatu.

Which is the main difference between

Laurel & Hardy’s films and

Murnau’s film?

The genre

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In film theory, genre is based on similarities in the narrative elements from which films are constructed.

Synonymous:

category, class, group, kind, style, type...

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There is a basic distinction in genre between

fiction and documentary

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Film genres can be

categorized in several ways:

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COMEDY

SCIENCE FICTION

THRILLER

WESTERN

MUSICALACTION

DRAMA

HORROR

GenreROMANCE

BIOPICS FANTASY

ADVETURE

FICTIONHORROR

HISTORICAL

SILENT FILMSMetropolis. Fritz Lang.1927

Metropolis. 1927

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PAdQ5anhZE&feature=related 4’28’’

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METROPOLIS 1927 FRITZ LANG

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SILENT FILM

BLACK & WHITE

COMEDY

SLAPSTIC

INTERTITLES

EMPHASIS ON BODY LANGUAGE

EMPHASIS ON FACIAL EXPRESSION

SCIENCE FICTION

EXPRESSIONISM

POLITICAL IDEOLOGY

OTHER FILMS COMMON FEATURES METROPOLIS


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Young Frankenstein Mel Brooks 1974

Frankenstein James Whale 1931


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C3P0Star WarsGeorge Lucas 1977One of the most recognized robots (droids) in the film industry.


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Back to the futureRobert Zemeckis 1985


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Back to the futureRobert Zemeckis 1985

Queen

Radio Ga Ga 1984


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Internment camps / concentration camps. Spain 1939.

Internment camps / concentration

camps. Germany 1944.

Underground. Air-rair shelter Madrid 1938.


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Kuala Lumpur XXI Century

Sydney XXI Century


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New York

Petronas Towers

Kuala Lumpur 1998


Fritz Lang was ahead of his time His film shows inventions such as,

robots (droids), television,

trains on elevated tracks,

urban motorways, impressive skyscrapers…

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First World Second World

luxury

skyscrapers

rich

wealthy

futurism

elite

privileged

poor

oppressed

Enslaved /slave class

nameless

underground life

industrialists

Art Déco

exploited

luxury skyscrapers poor oppressedexploited workers Wealthy futurisimenslaved/slave class privileged elite Art Déconameless powerful industrialists underground liferich


1. The film exhibits the influence of historical events occurring during its time.

1. A time of economic misery and the rise of fascism in a pre-Hitler Weimar Republic Germany following the First World War.

2. The rise of the American labor movement and unions during the 1920s due to oppressive working conditions.

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3. The rise of immigration into the US and exploitation of workers.

4. It also reflects the ongoing modern science.

5. The 1917 communist revolution in the Soviet Union.

6. The contrast of poverty with the upper classes of the Roaring 20s.

7. The class struggle. 48Adapted from:http://www.filmsite.org/metr.html


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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j8Ba9rWhUg&feature=related 2’38”

Queen. Radio Gaga 1984http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEI4U5KyAS0

Bibliographyhttp://www.filmsite.org/metr.html http://home.comcast.net/~flickhead/Metropolis.html

FORGOTTEN FILM FROM BEGINNINGS TO “TALKIES” UNIT 2. THIS IS CINEMA! LESSON 2. SILENT FILMS.

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