SILENT FILMS

SILENT MOVIES (1895-1929)

• FOR THE WORKING-CLASS WHO WAS ILLITERATE BECAUSE OF MANY IMMIGRANTS.

• TOLD STORIES WITHOUT WORDS.

•AFTER 1900, FILMMAKERS USED FILMS TO TELL STORIES FROM BOURGEOIS BOOKS.

•WENT FROM WORKING CLASS TO MIDDLE CLASS.

SILENT MOVIES (1895-1929)

•UNTIL 1914, THE MAJOR NATIONAL FILM INDUSTRIES WERE IN ITALY, FRANCE, AND THE UNITED STATES.

•WORLD WAR I DEVASTATED THE ITALIAN AND FRENCH FILM INDUSTRIES. AMERICAN PRODUCERS GAINED THE UPPER HAND ON THE GLOBAL MARKET.

• FROM 1907–1913,PRODUCTION COMPANIES MOVED FROM NEW YORK CITY TO LOS ANGELES SINCE IT WAS WARMER. ABLE TO FILM OUTDOOR YEAR LONG. BIRTH OF HOLLYWOOD FILM INDUSTRY.

SILENT MOVIES (1895-1929)

•GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM: INFLUENCED BY THE ART MOVEMENTS OF EXPRESSIONISM AND CONSTRUCTIVISM. SERIES OF IMPORTANT FILMS FROM 1919–1933, UNTIL HITLER CAME TO POWER.

• THESE FILMS EXPRESSED PEOPLES DESIRES FOR MORE THROUGH CHIAROSCURO LIGHTING, IRREGULAR SET DESIGN AND CAMERA ANGLES, BOLD COSTUMES, MAKE-UP, AND MELODRAMATIC GESTURES.

SILENT MOVIES (1895-1929)•SOVIET MONTAGE: SOVIET FILMMAKERS SAW EDITING AS KEY.

•USED THE SHOT, NOT THE SCENE, AS THE PRIMARY UNIT OF FILM LANGUAGE AND MEANING.

•SOVIET FILMMAKERS USED DIALECTICAL MONTAGE TO GET SPECIFIC INTELLECTUAL AND EMOTIONAL RESPONSES.

• THEIR FILMS SOUGHT TO PORTRAY BOTH THE INHUMANITY OF CZARIST RULE AND THE REVOLUTIONARY POTENTIAL, DAILY LABORS, AND COMMUNAL BONDS OF THE SOVIET PEOPLE.

SILENT MOVIES (1895-1929)

•FRENCH AVANT-GARDE: INFLUENCED BY DADAISM, SURREALISM, AND POETIC NATURALISM.

• FRENCH EXPERIMENTAL FILMMAKERS EXPLORED THE MEDIUM AS A PURELY VISUAL FORM.

•CONSTRUCTED SURREALIST NON-NARRATIVE DREAMSCAPES AND USED SYMBOLISM TO EXTERNALIZE THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THEIR CHARACTERS.

SILENT MOVIES (1895-1929)

•ORIGINALLY FILM WAS FOR DOCUMENTING. MÉLIÈS IS CONSIDERED FIRST TO EXPLORE FILM AS A FICTIONAL STORYTELLING MEDIUM.

•A SILENT FILM IS A FILM WITH NO SYNCHRONIZED RECORDED SOUND. WITH NO SPOKEN DIALOGUE.

•DIALOGUE IS TRANSMITTED THROUGH MUTED GESTURES, MIME AND TITLE CARDS.

SILENT MOVIES (1895-1929)

•ONSCREEN INTERTITLES: NARRATE STORY POINTS, PRESENT KEY DIALOGUE AND SOMETIMES COMMENT ON THE ACTION FOR THE AUDIENCE.

•BECAME GRAPHIC ELEMENTS THEMSELVES, FEATURING ILLUSTRATIONS OR ABSTRACT DECORATION THAT COMMENTED ON THE ACTION.

SILENT MOVIES (1895-1929)

• FROM THE BEGINNING, MUSIC WAS RECOGNIZED AS ESSENTIAL, CONTRIBUTING TO THE ATMOSPHERE AND GIVING THE AUDIENCE VITAL EMOTIONAL CUES