The silent-to-sound transition did not only affect the stars; it ushered in a new breed of directors who had experience working in theatre and thus had a better understanding of the power of voice; it gave great importance to newly-hired, all-powerful sound technicians who shushed the Old Hollywood directors as they ...
What effect would the talkies have on the silent era movie stars?
The shift from silent films to talkies was a huge deal for actors in the late 1920s. Many silent film stars found it difficult to “find their voice” and place in this new Hollywood medium, which completely changed the game of on-screen performance.
The transition from silent fils to talkies happend in the mid 1920's, it transformed the american film industry and entertainment because without dialague actors could only use body language and expression to let the audience feel what they were talking about but now that sound has been added it makes it easier to ...
Silent movies provided cheap entertainment that overcame the language barrier for the millions of immigrants coming to America in the early 20th century. The Silent Film era was characterized by significant power struggles, as individuals and corporations fought to capitalize on the burgeoning industry..
How did talkies differ in their content from earlier silent movies?
Sound movies had much less movement and action than silent movies, and since they were mainly filled with scenes of actors talking, people began to call the new movies "talkies." It was much harder for people who couldn't hear well to enjoy the talkies.
What was the significance of the transition from silent movies to talkies in 1929?
The silent-to-sound transition did not only affect the stars; it ushered in a new breed of directors who had experience working in theatre and thus had a better understanding of the power of voice; it gave great importance to newly-hired, all-powerful sound technicians who shushed the Old Hollywood directors as they ...
Why did immigrants continue to watch silent films even after the talkies were invented?
Often the immigrants did not know English, but these films, with their exaggerated gestures, were lessons in language and culture. The stories soon became part of their social lives and their conversations.
The gradual transition from silent films to talkies took place between 1926 and 1930 and included many small steps — both technological developments and adjustments to audience expectations — before it was complete.
The largest cause of silent film loss was intentional destruction. Before the eras of home cinema, television, and home video, films were viewed as having little future value when their theatrical runs ended. Similarly, silent films were perceived as worthless after the end of the silent era.
Nitrate film stock's vulnerability to fire and deterioration contributed to the losses, along with the movie industry's practice of neglecting or destroying prints and negatives, Pierce wrote. Of the major film studios, MGM stood out for its early work to preserve silent films.
In addition, the talkies dramatically changed the movie-going experience, especially for the working class. Where many working class audiences had provided silent films with a spoken dialogue, movie-goers were now expected to remain quiet.
What silent film stars didn t transition to talkies?
Those who failed to make the transition to sound included Vilma Banky, Mae Murray and Norma Talmadge. Comic legend Charlie Chaplin had yet to talk on film. Roles for Rudolph Valentino's romantic rival John Gilbert dried up, Douglas Fairbanks became disillusioned and audiences avoided director D.W. Griffith's talkies.
The rise of "talkies" from the late 1920s onwards led to a radical shake-up of the entertainment industry. Live entertainment went into decline and variety theatres became movie palaces, where eager punters could see exactly the same entertainment as their fellows in Los Angeles, Berlin or Bombay.
What was the downside of adding sound to movies and ending the silent movie era?
Early sound films were very static because the actors had to speak through a static mic. One of the non-technological problems they had was that some actors did not sound the way they looked on the silent screen. It was also difficult for silent scene writers to find the correct balance in sound scripts and dialogue.
What are two of the ways silent film stars had difficulties in making the transition to talkies?
Directors could no longer vocally direct actors while filming, since the microphones would pick up the sound. Furthermore, many actors' voices didn't fit their onscreen image or were heavily accented, leading to many silent film stars being unable to transition to talking films.
Intertitles. Since silent films had no synchronized sound for dialogue, onscreen intertitles were used to narrate story points, present key dialogue and sometimes even comment on the action for the cinema audience.
The movie business has very humble beginnings. In the 1800's, many inventors, such as Thomas Edison and the Lumiere Brothers worked on machines that projected images. This led to the silent movie era which ranged from 1894 to 1929.
While fire may be responsible for destroying entire vaults of film history, it does not account for all lost silent films. An enormous number were junked as valueless in the sound era; some were snipped to pieces, others cannibalized for their set pieces that were repurposed for talkies.
The technology to capture and record sound on film along with the images was not mastered until the mid-1920s, and it wasn't in common use until later in that decade. That means that for most of the first 35 years of motion pictures, theaters had to provide their own accompaniment with the films.
In 1927, The Jazz Singer was the first feature length film to include sound. By the early 1930s, the silent film era was over as “talkies” became a theatre sensation.
Sound-on-film, however, would soon become the standard for talking pictures. By the early 1930s, the talkies were a global phenomenon. In the United States, they helped secure Hollywood's position as one of the world's most powerful cultural/commercial centers of influence (see Cinema of the United States).
Why do silent films often seem to move faster than modern sound films?
Silent films were shot at 18 frames per second. There was no dialogue tracks at that time. “Talkies” needed 24 frames to allow a smooth audio track. So when a silent film was projected on the new 24 frame per second projectors, it was one third faster than they were shot.
But it was The Jazz Singer that really spelled the end of an era. Even though the movie was still only part-talkie and was largely silent with intertitles, it showed exhibitors and producers that audiences craved talking and singing and crying and laughing. They wanted sound pictures.
The silent motion picture provided an inexpensive and accessible form of entertainment for America's new immigrants. The lack of spoken language was an advantage in that actors in the early cinema used body language and facial expression to their full impact.
Silent films and sound films clearly hit different nerves with different actors. Some actors used “talkies” as an opportunity to show off their powerful voices and were seen in a new light and sound. Others felt more comfortable acting using movements and animated facial expressions.
