Modern Times (Conclusion); Sound in Film; Laurel & Hardy & Hal Roach

We will screen the last minutes of Modern Times during period 1. After that, let's look at the invention of sound in film. It's about to become more complicated.

The Invention of Sound in Film

Joseph P. Maxfield (AT&T’s Bell Laboratories) invented the first phonograph linked to film (licensed by Victor as the Orthophonic Victrola) which became the basis for the
Vitaphone sound-on-disc system.

The Vitaphone allowed actors to lipsync their performance while the sound was recorded after; (This helped to popularize animation!) An example is from the very young Disney Studios: Steamboat Willie (1928. The first Mickey Mouse cartoon--based on Buster Keaton's Steamboat Bill).

The first sound film was Don Juan in 1926. The Jazz Singer (cantor scene);  The Jazz Singer (1927), directed by Alan Crosland, starring famous vaudeville actor, Al Jolson is popularly given this award. Really both films were songs (or just music in Don Juan's case) that were played along like a record as sounds were synched with the film. The Jazz Singer gave birth to the Hollywood musical genre.

Warner Bros. and Fox Film began wiring their theaters for sound as early as 1926. By 1928, Western Electric developed a sound-on-film system, which later developed a new competitive major studio: Radio-Keith-Orpheum or RKO.

The conversion to sound created both positive and negative effects for film:

Positive:

A. Led to a revival of national film elsewhere in the world
B. Cinema owners did not have to hire musicians for an in-house orchestra
C. Silent films were easier to distribute across the world (no need to translate) which later creates the need for dubbing (1932 -- ex. Paramount studios); before this, multi-lingual films make stars like Marlene Dietrich, Maurice Chevalier, Bela Lugosi, Ingrid Bergman, Greta Garbo, and Peter Lore more important--since they can speak different languages (and therefore sync their voices to film).
D. Film became a single media event
E. Films came to the theatres as final products, whole and complete
F. The immersive qualities of film and the viewer become inseparable
G. Dialogue became a necessity to tell the plot of a film

Negative:

A. Produced panic and confusion in Hollywood
B. Many musicians lost their jobs
C. Early sound films from America were boycotted by certain countries; films were not as widely distributed, more costly to translate.
D. Silent film culture was destroyed
E. Films did not require additional music, some ambiance was lost -- sound film was seen as the killer of “film as the seventh art form”
F. Film was no longer a “theatrical” or “artistic” event
G. Dialogue became a necessity to tell the plot of a film

SOUND VOCABULARY:

• Diegetic sound: Sound that occurs in the universe of the film. Character dialogue or sounds that a character can hear that occur in the setting or location, etc.
• Internal Diegetic Sound:  Sound that only we (the audience) can hear in the mind of a single character. The internal thought process of a character (like 1st person POV in fiction). 
• Non-diegetic sound: Sound that only the audience can hear. Music scores and themes, the voice over of a narrator that is not present, etc. (generally 3rd person omniscient POV)

For more details and examples check here.

Sound Film Comedian Stars

Hal Roach was born in Elmira, NY (near us!), before moving to Hollywood. He worked for the Pathe Exchange Co. before working for MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) as a producer. He is best known for producing the comedy teams of Laurel & Hardy and The Our Gang comedies (or Little Rascals).

Laurel and Hardy
Not all silent film stars made the transition to talkies. One comic duo that did, however, was Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. This iconic duo made over 100 films together, initially short films, before expanding into feature length films by the end of the 1930s. More can be examined by clicking on the link of their name above. Here are a few clips/films:

• Angora Love (1929) an example of a short, silent film
• The Music Box (1932) Winner of the Academy Awards for Best Short Subject
• Sons of the Desert (1933) full film
• Babes in Toyland (1934) full film
• Way Out West (1937) (clip/song)
• The Flying Deuces (1939) (full film)
• Nothing But Trouble (1944) (trailer/clip)
• Utopia (1951) (full film)

The Little Rascals (sample short films):

• Pups is Pups (1930)
• School's Out (1930)
• Love Business (1931)
• Free Eats (1932)
• Birthday Blues (1932)
• Mush n Milk (1933)
• Honkey Donkey (1934)
• Spooky Hooky (1936)
• Hearts and Thumps (1937)
• Waldo's Last Stand (1940)

Little Rascals (Greatest Hits, 1) & Whatever Happened to the Little Rascals (information, although a bit grim)

HOMEWORK: None. You should complete your film journal papers or projects due April 10 (or April 12, for film/script projects) See previous posts for details. 

Unit Test; Modern Times (conclusion)

Period 1:

We will be taking our unit test on the origin of film through the silent period.

If you finish early, please work on your film journal paper or project, or homework. See below.

Period 2:

We will screen the rest of the film Modern Times by Charlie Chaplin.

Film Paper/Analysis Advice

Some reminders when you are writing your film papers or any formal essay/analysis for any English, Creative Writing, or Humanities courses:

• Italicize titles of major or full length works
• Quote titles of shorter pieces (poems under 1000 lines, short stories under 50 pages, short films under an hour, television show episodes, essays, articles in newspapers or magazines, 10-minute or one act plays, etc.)
• Introductions should generally start with a hook, followed by a lead-in, followed by your thesis. 
• Your thesis should be concise, well written, and usually contain an arguable position.
• Periods go at the ends of sentences. Sentences should not contain so much information as to make them confusing. Separate ideas into clear and concise statements. 
• Use transitions between ideas or paragraphs.
• Use the vocabulary I am teaching you regarding film (narratology, for example)

Hollywood & Beyond; Last Glimpses of the Silent Film Era; Modern Times: Part 1

We've barely scratched the surface of the first 30 or so years of film history. What's been left out, sadly, are many of the important men and women who made film one of our greatest pastimes and entertainment industries. Use the lab time today to get to know some of these famous names.

Various famous Hollywood (and some German) actors/directors:

• Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in the Thief of Baghdad (1924), The Mark of Zorro (1920); the full version of The Thief of Baghdad can be found here. It's really a good film, all told. Douglas Fairbanks was known for doing his own stunts. Along with Chaplin and Pickford, he helped establish United Artists. Full film: The Black Pirate (1926); The Mark of Zorro (1920); The 3 Musketeers (1921); Robin Hood (1922)
• Rudolph Valentino's The Son of the Sheik (1926) & the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), Blood and Sand (1924); Camille (1921)
• Mary Pickford (1917) The Poor Little Rich Girl; Full films: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917); Poor Little Rich Girl; Pollyanna (1919); Daddy Long Legs (1919)
• America's Lovebirds or America's Sweethearts: Janet Gaynor & Charles Farrell; 7th Heaven (full film 1927); Lucky Star (full film 1929); Sunnyside Up (full film 1929, a talkie!)
• Clara Bow in It (1927); It (full film); Get Your Man (full film 1927) 
• Conrad Viedt (mentioned in German Expressionism post): Different From Others (film no longer available on Youtube); The Man Who Laughs (full film 1928)
• Erich von Stroheim: Greed (1924); Last scene from Greed (clip)
• The Man of a Thousand Faces, Lon Chaney, The Phantom of the Opera (complete silent film, 1925), The Unmasking Scene from Phantom (clip), Color sequence from The Phantom of the Opera; The Hunchback of Notre Dame (full film 1923); Shadows (full film 1922); The Shock (full film 1923); Oliver Twist (full film 1922)
• And a few others: The King of Kings (full film 1927, Cecil B. DeMille)
• Gloria Swanson in: Male & Female (full film 1919, Cecil B. DeMille)
• Fritz Lang: Metropolis (1927); Woman in the Moon (1929);  Destiny (1921); Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (1922); The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) M (1931, with Peter Lorre)

Then watch: Breaking the Silence (crash course #10)

See the test review post below to study for your exam next class. 

Period 2: (8:00)

Resisting Sound on Film: Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times (1936) - the last silent film (for the period). That is until Call of Cthulhu (2005) and The Artist (2011)--will be the last silent film I will force upon you this year.

This film marks the last appearance by Chaplin's tramp character. Chaplin wrote, directed, starred, composed and produced this film 9 years after the first talking film (film synched with sound technology--see crash course #10 above). It is a film satirizing and protesting the progress of technology on the modern man. Perhaps Chaplin was alone in his viewpoint, as talking films overtook the outdated silent films of that long ago golden age of early film era.

The film is set in the 1930's, during the Great Depression. The film's main themes echo the frustration and extreme poverty and loss of the people at the time. Unemployment was at its highest in American history, poverty and hunger were known to many. As you watch, look for this fond farewell to better times as the Industrial Age dehumanizes and alienates the working class.

HOMEWORK: Study for your exam. There is no class on Friday, due to the early dismissal. Only periods 5-9 will be held. Your journal paper deadline has been extended.

Your originally scheduled Journal Paper #2 (due April 2) will be due April 10th. Students may instead opt for a 10-minute short film script project or a silent film short.

• option A: You may write a short film. Use proper film format to write or adapt a short story. Due April 10. See Amazon Storywriter (and the handouts for formatting)
• option B: You may write the scenario and create a short silent film. Film, edit, and prepare your film (this option's deadline is the end of the marking period (April 12), as opposed to April 10).

Plan to go see the 10-minute Play Festival (extra credit) this Thursday or Friday (7:00, Ensemble Theater).

Film Exam: Origin Through Silent Film Period

Your unit test will cover the following material.

You should be familiar with the term, device, person, or concept, and be able to explain why this thing was important or significant or how it influenced or helped contribute to early film history.

All material mentioned was either referenced and discussed below in the blog (check and review blog entries), the handouts from Turning Points in Film,  additional printed sources (handouts), films we watched in class, or from Tim Dirks website (Film History). Please refer to your notes and study. This test covers a lot, please study. Please. No. Really. Study. Review your notes. And study those notes--that's why you took them!

• Styles of film: realism, classicism, formalism
• Early film invention: Magic Lantern, Daguerreotype, Celluloid, Kinetoscope, Mutoscope, Praxinoscope, Thaumatrope, etc. You should be familiar with these devices and how they utilize persistence of vision, or how they influenced early film making. 
• Edweard Muybridge, photography, & the Zoopraxinoscope
• The Lumiere Brothers & their films (The Sprinkler Sprinkled, Arrival of a Train, etc.)
• Pathe Frere Manufacturing Company (Charles Pathe)
• Pathe Films:  Onesime the Clock Maker; Slippery Jim; Aladin; The Policeman's Little Run
• Thomas Edison and the Edison Manufacturing Company: various films (Sandow the Strongman, Serpentine Dances, Frankenstein, The Wizard of Oz (1910), Life of an American Fireman, etc.
• The Black Maria
• Augustin Le Prince & the "Roundhay Garden Scene"
• W.K.L. Dickson & his works
• Hepworth Manufacturing Company (Cecil B. Hepworth)
• Hepworth's films: Rescued by Rover ; How It Feels to be Run Over; Explosion of a Motor Car; That Fatal Sneeze; Alice in Wonderland
• George Melies & A Trip to the Moon
• Persistence of Vision
• Etinnene-Jules Marey & the photographic gun
• George Eastman
• Ferdinand Zecca
• Edwin S. Porter & his films: The Great Train Robbery ; Dream of a Rarebit Fiend Life of an American Fireman
• Actualities
• D.W. Griffith and his contribution to film (also his Intolerance, Way Down East, and Birth of a Nation, etc.)
• Billy Bitzer & contributions to cinematography/photography
• Lillian Gish
• Thomas Harper Ince
• Early film comedy and comedians (particularly Mack Sennett, Mabel Normand, Harold Lloyd, Harry Langdon, Billy Bevan, Fatty Arbuckle, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, etc.)
• Slapstick comedy & comedic techniques
• Charlie Chaplin (various films; we watched clips; The Idle Class in class, but others were mentioned)
• Buster Keaton (we watched One Week & The General in class; but view other examples of the great "stone-face")
• Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle & his scandal (Hays Code chapter)
• Hollywood (the origin and development of)
• United Artists
• Eisenstein & Montage & Battleship Potemkin (Odessa Step sequence)
• The 5 types of montage & how it works
• Dziga Vertov: "Man With a Movie Camera"
• Nanook of the North & Robert Flaherty
• Types of Shots (close up, medium shot, full shot, deep focus shot, long shot, extreme close up and long shots, panning, dolly/tracking shot, etc.) and how and why they are used
• Types of Angles (high, low, bird's eye, oblique, etc.) and how and why they are used
• Advice about Camera shots and editing
• Lighting: high key, low key, and chiaroscuro
• Sound: Diegetic & non-diegetic
• Early independent film studios/the Hollywood Studio System
• Early major film studios (1920-1930)
• Goldwyn, Fox, & Warner Bros. (studios)
• Blockbooking
• Sid Grauman & the Chinese Theater
• MPPC, MPPDA & AMPAS
• The Academy Awards
• The Hays Code
• German Expressionism & its influence (expressionism)
• F. W. Murnau & Nosferatu; Sunrise
• Robert Weine & The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
• Carl Laemmle
• Birt Acres
• R.W. Paul
• Alice Guy-Blache
• Mack Sennett
• Douglas Fairbanks
• Rudolph Valentino
• Mary Pickford
• Lilian & Dorothy Gish, & Mae Marsh
• Clara Bow
• Janet Gaynor & Charles Farrell
• Cecil B. DeMille
• Oscar Micheaux
• Minorities in film 
• Conrad Viedt
• Lon Chaney, Man of a Thousand Faces
• Lois Weber
• Frances Marion & Anita Loos
• John Barrymore
• Gloria Swanson
• Nickelodeons & early Movie Palaces
• Kinemacolor & early "special effects" such as tinting or painting celluloid
• Steven Spielberg; Jaws (1975)
• George Lucas & Star Wars (1977)
• Characteristics of Blockbusters
• CGI (computer generated imaging) & its contribution to contemporary film
• Elements of narrative film (narratology)
• Film vocabulary: 
• Auteur, Story, Plot, Order, Narration, Narrative Form, Narratology
• Diegesis, Scene, Frequency, Motif
• Space, Viewing Time, Duration

HOMEWORK: Please study for your exam, please study for your exam, please study for your exam.

The General (Screening); Day 2

Today, we will screen the rest of Buster Keaton's slapstick masterpiece The General.

Please complete the handout/notes for the film. These will be collected at the end of class today.

NOTE: We will not have our class Friday, March 23 as this is a 1/2 day with only periods 5-9. Classes end at 11:00.

A little change in due dates/scheduling. Our midterm/end of marking period exam on the origin of film through the silent era will take place when we return from Spring Break (March 30-April 8). Details about what will be covered on the test will be posted next class.

Your originally scheduled Journal Paper #2 (due April 2) will be due April 10th instead. Students may also opt for a 10-minute short film script project or a silent film short instead.

• option A: You may write a short film. Use proper film format to write or adapt a short story. Due April 10.
• option B: You may write the scenario and create a short silent film. Film, edit, and prepare your film (this option's deadline is the end of the marking period (April 12), as opposed to April 10).

Plan to go see the 10-minute Play Festival (extra credit) this Thursday or Friday (7:00, Ensemble Theater).

HOMEWORK: None. See journal paper projects & alternatives above. You may start working on these.

Slapstick & Silent Film Comedy; Buster Keaton

Slapstick & Silent Film Comedy

The name "slapstick" comes from the bataccio — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in commedia dell'arte. Actors using the slapstick may hit each another repeatedly with great audible effect while causing very little actual physical damage. The term "slapstick" became synonymous with the style of silent film comedy most frequently found in the comedic silent films of Mack Sennett, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Hal Roach, and other comedic directors.

Later, the animated films from Warner Brothers Studio and Walt Disney will utilize many of the common gags found in comedic silent films. Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tom & Jerry, and Donald Duck are just a few examples.

Slapstick is characterized by broad humor, absurd situations, comedic or farcical action such as chase scenes, and, of course, physical violence. Watch various clips below and note the actor/director where appropriate. Take notes on the film styles and view the films for ideas for your own stories, plays, and films.

Mack Sennett: comedian Billy Bevan (scene from Wandering Willies - 1926) and another clip with Vernon Dent & Billy Bevan
Mack Sennett: Black Oxfords (1924) with Vernon Dent & Sid Smith
Mack Sennett: comedian Harry Langdon (scene from Fiddlesticks - 1927)
Mack Sennett: comedian Harry Langdon (scene from Smile Please - 1924) & another scene (the skunk) from the same film.
Mabel Normand: The Extra Girl (clip, 1923)
Fatty & Mabel Adrift (1915) Mabel Normand & Fatty Arbuckle
Fatty Arbuckle: Coney Island (1917)
Fatty Arbuckle & Buster Keaton: The Butcher Boy (1917), The Cook (1918) The Garage (1920) 

Harold Lloyd: from The Freshman (1925)
Harold Lloyd: from Safety Last (the clock scene) (1923)
Charley Chase: Accidental Accidents (Hal Roach directing)
Ben Turpin: Seein' Things (1928), part one; Seein' Things (part two)   

Buster Keaton: known as the great "stone face" because of his deadpan expression. Along with Charlie Chaplin, he is one of the most beloved and skilled silent film comedians of his day. Let's read about the film "Steamboat Bill"--although we will screen "One Week" (1920) and "The General (1927)." Look for examples of silent film comedy techniques and narrative in The General (1927).

Buster Keaton: One Week (1920); Sherlock Jr. (1924), The Paleface (1922) 

 HOMEWORK: None.