Film, silence, sound, stars, and stories: Hollywood s heyday

1. 1 Film, silence, sound, stars, and stories: Hollywood�s heyday January 29, 2007

2. 2 Purple Rose of Cairo What did people write about in their papers? Some other issues How do you interpret the ending? How might it be seen as a happy ending? (Cecilia still has, will always have, the movies) Was the entire Tom Baxter affair a dream?

3. 3 My take: How could it end otherwise? Cecilia does, in fact, live in the real world How could her life possibly (logically) have a Hollywood ending? Esp. after Allen goes to such pains all the way through to make clear the distinctions between movie fantasy and real life?

4. 4 Expectations Which expectations did the movie live up to? Which expectations did it thwart? Happy ending? Realism/verisimilitude?

5. 5 How did Allen use light/stock? B/W (and very silvery-blue B/W) for the 1930s film-within-a-film

6. 6 Calendar and readings

7. 7 Discussion calendar 10 remaining sessions 4 grad discussions 6-8 undergrad discussions

8. 8 Film language(s) Griffith�s new language (from Wexman�s A History of Film) Turner on signifying systems

9. 9 D. W. Griffith Leading director/producer of the Silent Screen era While planning/shooting his masterpieces (The Birth of a Nation, 1915; Intolerance, 1916; and many others) Worked out, figured out many of the now conventional aspects of film �language�

10. 10 Griffith�s innovations Planning (and shooting) films in terms of shots, not scenes Recognizing�and using�the different meanings conveyed by varying shot length Long (establishing) shot: establishes where we are, where each character is in relation to each other Medium shot: standard way of surveying action Close-up: emotionally powerful

11. 11 Griffith and editing Griffith generally edited his own films Discovered/invented editing �language� What it �means� when film cuts, dissolves, fades, wipes How to convey interaction (esp. conversation) between two characters via cutting now classic �shot/reverse shot� pattern Cross-cutting to build tension�and convey simultaneity

12. 12 Turner: it�s NOT language! Rather, think of �signifying systems� Unlike language, in that there�s not fixed, predictable, universal �grammar� or �syntax� But still, systems of codes that come to take on meaning because we, the audience, come to understand the meanings Films select and combine elements in order to communicate

13. 13 Semiotics and film Key argument: we can apply semiotic theory to our understanding of film Film images (and sounds) can be seen as signs Image consists of Signifier: what we actually see Signified: the meaning we hold in our heads Film images only signify when both elements are activated

14. 14 Unlike (linguistic) grammars� Filmic communication conventions don�t have hard and fast rules of order or structure So their communication power relies MUCH more on what we bring to the process Cultural knowledge Social knowledge Personal/psychological knowledge

15. 15 The key signifying systems Camera (cinematography): motion, angles, film stock To convey importance, direction, point of view; To establish empathy or antipathy Lighting: for mood, detail, to direct attention, create �realism� (or thwart realism)

16. 16 Signifying systems (ctd.) Sound: to convey mood; transition between scenes; provide contextual information about characters and their worlds Diegetic sound Non-diegetic sound

17. 17 Signifying systems (ctd.) Mise-en-sc�ne Set design Props and other visual components Framing Lighting Actors� positions and movements relative to frame

18. 18 Editing To establish Pace Relationships between characters, and between events/actions

19. 19 Silent film in Hollywood Movie history is broadly divided into 2 periods 1895-1927: silent films 1928-present: sound (�talkies�) Yet some form of sound WAS available well before 1927 Desire to integrate sound and picture dates to 1870s Thomas Edison, phonograph inventor, envisioned film that would include sound But it took over 50 years to perfect sound-on-film technology

20. 20 Sound before 1927 Early 1900s: films are distributed with sheet music Scores written expressly to be played (by live musicians) to accompany film Some films: actors accompany film to voice the lines Other films: phonograph records accompany By 1910, different sound systems could accommodate effects, live music, live singers, phonograph recordings

21. 21 Between 1910 and 1927 Technology advances US 1910: first sound-on-film system patented Germany 1919: sound encoded as light waves that can be recorded photographically US 1923: �phonofilm� system US 1926: �Vitaphone�: advanced version; similar to today�s soundtrack on film strip 1927: beginning of conversion process Filming, recording, exhibiting

22. 22 Before sound Directors� and actors� emphasis/focus: Facial expressions Gestures Movements No need to worry about actors� line delivery, vocal quality, memorization, foreign/regional accents And screenwriters didn�t have to worry about dialogue!

23. 23 This all changed with sound Directors couldn�t talk while directing (until mid-�30s�) Sound of movie camera itself was audible; had to be muffled Sound recording equipment: bulky, heavy, immobile No portable booms or microphones Actors couldn�t move: had to stay anchored to microphones Camera movements were equally limited

24. 24 Scott Eyman argues Talking pictures weren�t simply an evolutionary step forward They were an entirely new creation And led to the end of a previous creation And the unemployment of many actors, directors, and technicians

25. 25 Only in the mid-1930s� Unidirectional microphones That pick up sound only from desired direction Bidirectional microphones Pick up sound from front and back, but not sides Omnidirectional microphones Pick up sound from all directions

26. 26 And� Post-synchronization Printing image and sound on SEPARATE pieces of film that can be manipulated independently Sound stages Insulated studios allowing control over noise After WW2: shift from optical to magnetic sound recording

27. 27 But before sound-on-film (1927)� Silent film had invented and refined an art form with its own language Narrative, composition, shots, movement, lighting, editing, special effects Moving camera had demonstrated its limitlessness Silent-screen acting had subtlety and depth unseen in theater Thanks to the close-up shot And the ability to shift from close-up to wider-angle shots

28. 28 Silent film: universal language? Let�s watch a few superstars of the silent era Mary Pickford Charlie Chaplin Buster Keaton

29. 29 The movie musical One of the U.S.-originated movie genres Along with film noir, gangster films, and westerns Particularly popular in 1930s-1950s But not entirely extinct! (viz. Moulin Rouge) Many were adaptations of Broadway (theatrical) musicals Others created originally for the screen

30. 30 Musicals and film history First major �talkie� was actually a musical With little recorded dialogue: The Jazz Singer (1927; dir. Alan Crosland) Many early musicals were revues Collections of musical numbers with no connecting story Others were �backstage musicals� Story was about singers and dancers putting on a show

31. 31 Musicals: always fluffy? Not always Consider The Wizard of Oz For children, but all sweetness and light Consider West Side Story A tragic, violent love story based on Romeo and Juliet

32. 32 Musical as satire Singin� in the Rain (1952; dirs. Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen) Takes place in 1927 Not coincidentally, same year first �talkies� came out About the coming of sound to movies A gentle parody: makes fun of both pre-sound Hollywood post-sound Hollywood

33. 33 Singin� in the Rain (1952; dirs. Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen) Considered a top US musical of 20th century One of first 25 films selected by Library of Congress for its National Film Registry (movies that are part of American heritage)

34. 34 About the movie Most of the songs pre-existed the movie Including the title track They�d come from vaudeville shows, Broadway shows Co-director Gene Kelly is also its star Singer, actor, dancer, choreographer Had been a Broadway performer Directed, acted, produced into 1990s Female lead: 19-year-old Debbie Reynolds

35. 35 Stars and studios Crowley ch. 25 Stars as response to urban anomie Stars provided identities/personalities to emulate And movies (with emphasis on close-ups) allowed us to study them Up close and personal

36. 36 Studio system Through the 1940s Hollywood studios were self-contained worlds All employees�including actors�were under exclusive contract to one studio Star system was central to studio system Studios sought, groomed, trained, and controlled their stars (most important assets)

37. 37 Sunset Boulevard (1950; dir. Billy Wilder) About an aging former star of the silent film era (1910s-late 1920s) Critique of both �new� (post-silent era) Hollywood AND silent-era

38. 38 Academy Awards Winner (3) Best screenplay Best black-and-white art direction Best score Nominee (8) Best picture, actor, actress, supporting actor, supporting actress, director, black-and-white cinematography, film editing

39. 39 What you need to know (that 1950 audiences would have known) Main character �Norma Desmond� played by Gloria Swanson Swanson was an actual silent-era star whose career dried up around 1930 (with advent of sound) Character �Max� (Norma�s chauffeur/butler) played by Erich von Stroheim von Stroheim was an actual silent-era director whose directing career also dried up around 1930 von Stroheim directed Gloria Swanson in several silent movies

40. 40 People playing themselves Cecil B. DeMille: real movie director and producer Worked between 1914 and 1958 Directed Gloria Swanson in many (silent) movies (1919-1930) Hedda Hopper: leading Hollywood gossip columnist Card players: Buster Keaton, Anna Q. Nilsson; H. B. Warner (real silent film stars)

41. 41 Locations �playing� themselves Hollywood Sunset Boulevard Paramount Pictures

42. 42 Reaction paper #2 Sunset Boulevard is in many ways an �old� movie: Released in 1950 Story set in 1950�and is unlike many today Concerns people, issues, worlds that no longer exist Hollywood (and its inhabitants) during the later years of the �studio system� era Silent-screen stars (and their negative attitudes toward �talkies�) Film�s stars are (probably) unfamiliar today Shot in B/W (even though color technology had been available since late 1930s!)