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.
SILENT FILMSCharlie Chaplin
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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SILENT FILMSCharlie Chaplin
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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SILENT FILMSCharlie Chaplin
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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
THE SETTINGWhere does the scene take place?
26BACKGROUND
THE SETTINGWhere does the scene take place?
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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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SILENT FILMSMurnau. Nosferatu.
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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SILENT FILMSMurnau. Nosferatu.
There is a basic distinction in genre between
fiction and documentary
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SILENT FILMSMurnau. Nosferatu.
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 FILMSMetropolis. Fritz Lang.1927
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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
SILENT FILMSMetropolis. Fritz Lang.1927
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Young Frankenstein Mel Brooks 1974
Frankenstein James Whale 1931
SILENT FILMSMetropolis. Fritz Lang.1927
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C3P0Star WarsGeorge Lucas 1977One of the most recognized robots (droids) in the film industry.
SILENT FILMSMetropolis. Fritz Lang.1927
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Back to the futureRobert Zemeckis 1985
SILENT FILMSMetropolis. Fritz Lang.1927
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Back to the futureRobert Zemeckis 1985
Queen
Radio Ga Ga 1984
SILENT FILMSMetropolis. Fritz Lang.1927
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Internment camps / concentration camps. Spain 1939.
Internment camps / concentration
camps. Germany 1944.
Underground. Air-rair shelter Madrid 1938.
SILENT FILMSMetropolis. Fritz Lang.1927
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Kuala Lumpur XXI Century
Sydney XXI Century
SILENT FILMSMetropolis. Fritz Lang.1927
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New York
Petronas Towers
Kuala Lumpur 1998
SILENT FILMSMetropolis. Fritz Lang.1927
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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SILENT FILMSMetropolis. Fritz Lang.1927
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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
SILENT FILMSMetropolis. Fritz Lang.1927
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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SILENT FILMSMetropolis. Fritz Lang.1927
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
SILENT FILMSMetropolis. Fritz Lang.1927
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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
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