From Silence to Sound - Seminole Cinema: SEHS Film



IB Film 1W18.1 The Advent of Sound, Part 1The History of Sound at the MoviesThe inclusion of sound at the movies was one of the most dramatic changes in all of film history.Dive into the early experiments of Edison trying to incorporate sound from film's inception, through the experiments in the early 1920s,?The Jazz Singer?(1927) and the film industries transformation?to sound, and finally the multi-channel surround and modern movie sound technologies.Watch This: Silence to SoundIt is difficult nowadays to imagine a time when all films were silent.Though there were astounding technological developments made in both the way films were recorded and in the magnitude of the way they were presented to the public, until the late 1920's, it was nearly impossible to have synchronous sound playback with moving images.Motion pictures had been refined into a practical, literal, and entertaining medium.Some silent films were high art - beautiful moving canvases inhabited by wonderful actors who expressed complicated emotions and ideas with the lift of an eyebrow.Some were pure slapstick, where frantic action and pratfalls were interspersed with moments of keen pathos.Previously, we looked at silent films and some of the technological challenges that had to be overcome before sound and film could be paired.Now we will look at the huge impact synchronous sound had on the movie industry and come to understand why, with few exceptions, there are no more silent films.Charlie Chaplin's City LightsBetween Silent and SoundCity Lights?One of the best, and last, films of the silent era is Charlie Chaplin's?City LightsThis 1931 film features Chaplin's beloved 'Tramp'?character falling for a poor, blind girl.The film is perfectly placed between the silent and sound eras, and though it is a silent film, Chaplin does add sound effects to a couple of scenes.Chaplin himself was not, initially anyway, a big supporter of sound films and demonstrated to everyone who saw?City Lights?that a silent film could tell a story as beautiful, lyrical, and funny as anything the brash new 'talkies' could produce, if not more so.So, given the success of silent film industry and all the money invested in silent film actors and productions, you can imagine that the advent of sound technology meant there was going to be a big shake-up in the film industry - you might say they could 'hear'?it coming.The TalkiesPreparing Cinemas for New TechnologyBrace for Change!?When the first viable sound technology was ready, the film business began to brace itself for the change.Production companies started to plan for filming 'talkies',?as they would come to be called, and the exhibitors began to prepare theatres to play films with synchronous sound.Of course the changeover was not instantaneous, and during this transition period there were two interesting developments.One was the development of sync sound technologies, and like so often happens with new technologies, there were competing interests (ask your parents about Betamax and VHS).The other was less straightforward and involved the struggle between the proponents of 'talkies'?and those who thought sync sound would be the end of the film business.?Early Sound EquipmentThe first successful sync sound system was the Vitaphone process?The Vitaphone hooked a film camera and phonograph together. While filming, a large phonograph disc linked to the camera recorded the sound.For playback, a copy of the disc was played along with the projected film. Simple, but for an audience that had never heard sync sound before, very effective.Warner Brothers used this on two very early talkies,?Don Juan?(1926) and?The Jazz Singer?(1927).?The Jazz Singer?is usually cited as the first real sound film.Fox, a rival company, used the Movietone system that recorded the sound and added it right to the filmstrip.This eliminated the problems encountered when synchronizing the discs (which also wore out after about 20 screenings) and projectors in movie theatres as well as allowing for editing of the synced film.Modern SoundThe Movietone system became the standard for sync sound filming in the 1930's?Modern film production uses a dual system where audio is recorded on a separate device.The picture and sound are then played back together during editing and finally 'married' together by printing the audio track on to the fnal cut of the film.While all this complicated technology was being figured out behind the scenes, there was a much more visible discussion happening under the lights.Actors Attitudes About Sound in the MoviesMany producers and directors were skeptical about the advent of sound in film, including some very important names of the day.We have mentioned Charlie Chaplin already, but he was certainly not alone.Sam Taylor, director of?Safety Last!, starring the great comedian Harold Lloyd, said:"The talking picture is not a rival of the silent picture…and is too big and fine a medium of dramatic expression to fear its destruction."Taylor saw silent film as the pinnacle of the form and unique in itself.The great actress and producer Mary Pickford said:"It would have been more logical if silent pictures had grown out of the talkies instead of the other way around."This is a nicely expressed sentiment, as it illustrates the idea there was nothing really missing in silent films and they should not be dismissed just because there was a cool new technology available.Filming for sound had some effect on the way directors worked.Cameras had to be shielded because they were so noisy and so some types of shots were prohibitive.The new technologies were complex tools in an already complex environment (film sets) and whole new protocols had to be established to handle sound on set.The public had to be taken into account as well. ?After all, they were paying for the tickets. So would they buy-in?And the actors themselves were very conflicted. ?In fact, some were terrified!City Lights - Charlie ChaplinWatch this excerpt from?City Lights?(1931)The boxing scene still stands up as one of the best comic sequences ever produced. ................
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