Silent+Films

toc =HISTORY OF SILENT FILMS= A silent film can be described as a film that has no synchronized soundtrack and no spoken dialogue. The silent era can be described as the years before sound came to the movies. From around 1880 to 1900, films became easily produced on a single reel. Before the late 1920s, most films were silent because of the technical challenges involved with including sound. “Age of the Silver Screen” is sometimes used to refer to the silent film era. (Wikipedia, 2006)

Luis Lumiere is sometimes credited as the inventor of the motion picture camera in 1885. He invented a portable, suitcase-sized cinematograph that served as a camera, film processing unit, and projector all in one. This device was easy to use and portable, and very quickly became popular all over the world; this began the motion picture, particularly silent film era. (Yankhe, 2006)

= = =COMPONENTS OF SILENT FILMS=

//DIALOGUE//
Because silent films had no spoken dialogue, onscreen text captions or “intertitles” were used. Intertitles were used for various purposes such as to narrate important points of the story, to present key dialogue, and sometimes to comment on the actions in the film. The intertitles often featured illustrations or abstract decorations, which helped to communicate the action in the film or to simply develop the atmosphere. Individuals known as title writers began to be hired as part of the film production team. Title writers were different from the scenerio writers (the writer(s) who created the story). (Wikipedia, 2006)

//MUSIC//
Live music was almost always included in the showing of a silent film. Music was included because it was thought to be very important in providing an atmosphere and in providing important emotional cues. Movie theatres began to hire a regular pianist and later, larger theatres began to have organists and entire orchestras. Early in the silent film era, the music was usually unprepared and unplanned, but later special music was sent out or prepared for specific films. (Wikipedia, 2006)

Different countries developed different ways of bring sound to silent film. For example, Brazil used fitas cantatas, which were filmed operettas with singers singing behind the screen. Another example is of Japan; Japan’s films used live music, but also used a live narrator who provided commentary and character voices for the audience. (WIkipedia, 2006)

//BODY LANGUGE & FACIAL EXPRESSIONS//
Body language and facial expressions were an important part of silent films. These components allowed the audience to have a better understanding of what the actors and actresses in the film were feeling. Because of the lack of dialogue, most body language and facial expressions were very simplistic so that the audience could easily understand them, however some were very subtly acted. The complexity of body language and facial expressions very much depended on the director and the skills of the actors and actresses in the films. (Wikipedia, 2006)

//DURATION & SPEED//
Most of the very first silent films in history were very short, usually only a few minutes long. In the early 1910s, silent films became more complex and began to be made a lot longer. Majority of silent films were shot at slower speeds or frame rates than sound films (16 to 23 frames per second compared to 24 frames per second). The speed or frame rate of silent films usually differed since they were usually hand cranked. (Wikipedia, 2006) = =

= = =LOST FILMS= There were thousands of films made during the silent era, however historians estimate that 80 to 90 percent of them have been lost. Silent films were filmed on an unstable, highly flammable nitrate film stock; this material required significant care and preservation to keep it from decomposing through time. Because the silent films were careless preserved, many of the prints crumbled into dust. (Wikipedia, 2006)

Sound films became well-developed in the early 1920’s and throughout the 1920’s more and more features of sound films were produced. The sound era began in 1929. (Yankhe, 2006)

=ADDITIONAL FACT= In 1976, Mel Brooks wrote, directed, produced and starred in a "modern-day" silent movie, as both a parody and homage to the silent film era. The film was, appropriately, called Silent Movie. It follows a movie director with a great new idea for movie that will save his film studio, to make a silent movie. The movie itself is full of typical Brooks comedy, and is an actual silent movie, there's only one word uttered in the whole movie, and it is quite funny when you realize who it's spoken by. For more info on this great film: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075222/

=POPULAR SILENT FILMS= 1915- Birth of a Nation- D. W. Griffith, USA 1919- Broken Blossoms- D. W. Griffith, USA 1919- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari- Robert Wiene, Germany 1922- Nosferatu- F. W. Murnau, Germany 1922- Nanook of the North- Robert J. Flaherty, USA 1924- The Last Laugh- F. W. Murnau, Germany 1925- Strike Sergei- Eisenstein, Russian 1925- Potemkin Sergei- Eisenstein, Russian 1925- The Gold Rush- Charlie Chaplin, USA 1925- The Street of Sorrow- G. W. Pabst, Germany 1926- Metropolis- Fritz Lang, Germany 1927- Sunrise- F. W. Murnau, Germany 1929- The Blue Angel- Josef Von Sternberg, Germany 1930- All Quiet on the Western Front- Lewis Milestone, Germany 1931- M- Fritz Lang, Germany 1931- City Lights- Charlie Chaplin, USA 1936- Modern Times- Charlie Chaplin, USA (Yankhe, 2006)

=DIRECTORS= (Silent Era Media, 2006)
 * Frank Borzage
 * Clarence Brown
 * Tod Browning
 * Frank Capra
 * James Cruze
 * Cecil B. DeMille
 * Allan Dwan
 * Sergei M. Eisenstein
 * John Ford
 * Sidney Franklin
 * Abel Gance
 * D.W. Griffith
 * Howard Hawks
 * Alfred Hitchcock
 * Rex Ingram
 * Henry King
 * Fritz Lang
 * Leo McCarey
 * Oscar Micheaux
 * F.W. Murnau
 * Marshall Neilan
 * Fred Niblo
 * G.W. Pabst
 * Victor Sjöstrom
 * Edward Sloman
 * Josef von Sternberg
 * Mauritz Stiller
 * Erich von Stroheim
 * Maurice Tourneur
 * King Vidor
 * Raoul Walsh
 * Lois Weber
 * William Wellman

=ACTRESSES= (Silent Era Media, 2006)
 * Mary Astor
 * Theda Bara
 * Ethel Barrymore
 * Clara Bow
 * Mary Brian
 * Louise Brooks
 * Joan Crawford
 * Jane Darwell
 * Marion Davies
 * Greta Garbo
 * Janet Gaynor
 * Lillian Gish
 * Jean Harlow
 * Mary Miles Minter
 * Mabel Normand
 * Mary Pickford
 * ZaSu Pitts
 * Edna Purviance
 * Gloria Swanson
 * Blanche Sweet
 * Constance Talmadge
 * Norma Talmadge
 * Fay Wray
 * Loretta Young

=ACTORS= (Silent Era Media, 2006)
 * Roscoe Arbuckle
 * George Arliss
 * George Bancroft
 * John Barrymore
 * Lionel Barrymore
 * Richard Barthelmess
 * Wallace Beery
 * Francis X. Bushman
 * Harry Carey
 * Lon Chaney
 * Charles Chaplin
 * Charley Chase
 * Ronald Colman
 * Jackie Coogan
 * Gary Cooper
 * Douglas Fairbanks
 * Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
 * W.C. Fields
 * Francis Ford
 * John Gilbert
 * Neil Hamilton
 * Oliver Hardy
 * William S. Hart
 * Sessue Hayakawa
 * Jean Hersholt
 * Emil Jannings
 * Buck Jones
 * Boris Karloff
 * Buster Keaton
 * Harry Langdon
 * Stan Laurel
 * Harold Lloyd
 * Bela Lugosi
 * Tom Mix
 * Ramon Novarro
 * William Powell
 * Wallace Reid
 * Ben Turpin
 * Rudolph Valentino
 * Conrad Veidt

=EXTERNAL LINKS= http://www.silentera.com/ http://silentladies.com/ http://www.welcometosilentmovies.com/ http://www.goldensilents.com/ http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/silentfilm.html http://www.reel.com/reel.asp?node=features/millennium/silent

=**MODERN DAY EXAMPLE OF A SILENT FILM**= = = =media type="youtube" key="0SteGRc4PF8"= (YouTube, 2006) = = = = = =

=REFERENCES= “Silent Film.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 28 Nov. 2006 <[|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_film>.]

Silent Era. 2006. Silent Era Media. 28 Nov. 2006 <[|http://www.silentera.com/>.]

Yankhe, Robert. “Cinema History: Films from the Silent Era.” University of Minnesota. 29 Nov. 2006 <[|http://www.tc.umn.edu/~ryahnke/film/cinema1.htm]>.