American Film Study E. Niemi + D. Summerlee

 Silent films were never truly silent ◦ Musical accompaniment  Piano player in smaller movie theaters  Full orchestras or giant organs in more opulent movie palaces, including sound effects

 1922, developed a method of recording sound on the upper ridge of the film itself ◦ Tri-Ergon ◦ Developed by German inventors ◦ Fox Films acquired the rights a few year later and called it Moviephone ◦ Simplified the editing of a sound film

 , sound-on- disc system ◦ Vitaphone ◦ Like a record ◦ Developed by Bell Telephone Technologies + Western Electric ◦ Warner Bros. ◦ Don Juan ◦ Jazz Singer ◦ Steamboat Willie

 1929, a need for more natural sounds  1933, altering speed ◦ King Kong used lion’s roar, slowed down 1 octave  1935, stereo  1940, surround system + multiple tracks

 Warner Brothers in financial difficulties ◦ Looking for a “gimmick”  1 st talking picture, though still basically silent  Contained snatches of dialogue + 4 singing numbers  Actor Al Jolson  Saved WB studios and the film industry as a whole  1 st full length, all talking motion picture: The Lights of New York (1928)

1927 The Jazz Singer

 With the release of The Jazz Singer, all silent films in production were converted to talkies  Smaller, independent studios buckled ◦ Control in industry left to: Paramount, Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer (MGM), Twentieth Century-Fox, WB & RKO (The Big 5)  Microphones  Talkies meant success for new people, but ended the careers of others  End of title writers, new type of writers needed, plot + dialogue matter even more now

 Steamboat Willie (1928) ◦ 1 st film to have a completely synchronized soundtrack including sound effects, music, + “dialogue”  Flowers and Trees (1933) Flowers and Trees ◦ Disney’s 1 st three-color Technicolor film  The Three Little Pigs (1933) The Three Little Pigs ◦ gave hope for the nation during the GD  Other animated features had a similar effect making audiences feel young and happy.

1928 Steamboat Willie

 Films used as an escape  People could momentarily forget their troubles  Other things to remember ◦ Musicals very popular 1930’s-1950’s ◦ Experiments with 2 & 3 color films ◦ First full length, full color film Wizard of Oz, then Gone With the Wind

 1928 ◦ ENORMOUS popular demand for talkies ◦ Tacky talkies earned more $ than good silent films ◦ Theaters w/ silent films played to empty houses  1929 ◦ All studios stop producing silent films ◦ Chaplin had one more in 1931

 Shared experience changes ◦ Talking during movies is frowned upon.  Studio contract stars started to guarantee box office success for any motion picture in which they appeared.  Success of a particular type of movie at any one studio would result in a cycle of similar movies from other studios.  Public started demanding a greater degree of realism. ◦ (A manner of treating subject matter that presents a careful description of everyday life, usually of the lower and middle classes.) Are any of these relevant today?