Silent Films

My next stage of research was in to Silent Films. 'Silent film' is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In these films, dialogue was transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards.The first silent film can be traced back to around 1891 but the most well know ones are those probably starring Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Silent Films were created up until 1927 when the first non-silent film, The Jazz Singer was released but there are instances of silent films being released since then. For example, in 1931, City Lights was released and in 1936 Charlie Chaplin released his last silent film which included some spoken dialogue. Quite recently, in 2011 a silent film was released, The Artist. The Artist was set in the late 1920s, just as silent films were being replaced by films with synchronised sound and tells the story of the changes. The story is mostly silent with a non synchronised musical score until the very end scene where the main actor speaks. The Artist has won three golden globes and seven BAFTAs this year.


Silent Films were often either dramas, epics, romances or comedies (often slapstick). They were often one reel (10-12 minutes) in length but this soon gave way to four reel feature length films.  Silent Films, as ironic as it sounds were often accompanied by live music in cinemas. From the beginning it was obvious music was essential to these films, often providing emotional cues to the audience and contributing to the atmosphere. It was often the music that narrated sound effects such as galloping horses or rolling thunder. Originally silent films would have an in-house interpreter who explained parts of the films to the audience but as they increased in length it was necessary to replace them with title cards. These inter-titles would narrate key points and dialogue and they were often quite graphic in style, featuring illustration or decoration.


 I have looked at some stills (seen above) of actors. In these images I noticed that some of the twelve principles of animation have been used to portray emotion such as exaggeration, timing and appeal. I feel exaggeration is the key principle used in the first three images, exaggerated facials expressions, posing and body language. The final image shows how title cards were often used for dialogue purposes. My final animation will be based on Charlie Chaplin and I will use the exaggerated movement, title cards and music often used in his films to create the desired effect. Furthermore, I will also add other effects to my animation to create a ‘Silent Film feel’ such as a grainy, flickering background, a pin hole camera effect around the edges of the frames and also a circular wipe out as my character walks in to the distance. I love the style of silent films, particularly the idea of the distressed old footage and the music creating atmosphere. I will be using sad music to accompany my final animation to create that feeling.