The Classical Hollywood Silent Era 1908-1927

In the beginning… As an art movement, The Silent Era follows… Early Experimental Cinema 1893-1903 (the inventors) in the US and France The Brighton School 1896-1905 in England

In the beginning… Filmmaking was still in its infancy as an art—films were more money-making ventures and technological experiments Directors were not encouraged to be artists—they were thought of as factory workers

Early Edison Films The Kiss, 1896 Sandow, 1894

The Great Train Robbery (1903) First Western First to use editing as a storytelling technique One of the first to use panning and close-ups Moved from documentary to narrative Based on a true robbery by Butch Cassidy

The Silent Era as Art The Classical Hollywood Silent era is marked by the films that emerged with the first film studios Silent films began to take on a narrative structure and use filmmaking conventions D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation set the stage for modern cinematic storytelling

Birth of a Nation (1915) Based Thomas Dixon Jr.'s anti-black, bigoted play, The Clansman Its release set up a major censorship battle over its vicious, extremist depiction of African Americans. Unbelievably, the film is still used today as a recruitment piece for Klan membership.

Birth of a Nation (1915) It was one of the biggest box-office money-makers in the history of film, due to its charge of $2 per ticket. It made $18 million by the start of the talkies. Riots in Boston and Philadelphia. Chicago, Denver, St. Louis and other major cities refuse to show it

Birth of a Nation (1915) Film scholars agree, however, that it is the single most important and key film of all time in American movie history Introduces & refines camera angles, traveling shots, artificial lighting, realistic sets, flashbacks, split screens, soft focus, dissolves, fades, and irises.

Stars of the Silent Screen

America’s 1st Movie Star Florence Lawrence America’s 1st Movie Star

Mary Pickford America’s Sweetheart

Charlie Chaplin

Harold Lloyd

Buster Keaton

Fatty Arbuckle

Keystone Kops

The King of Silent Hollywood Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. The King of Silent Hollywood

Clara Bow The “It” Girl

Rudolph Valentino

Dorothy & Lillian Gish

Theda Bara

The Man of a Thousand Faces Lon Chaney The Man of a Thousand Faces

Tom Mix

Greta Garbo

Meanwhile, over in Europe… German Expressionism 1919-1926

German Expressionism WWI creates an isolated Germany in financial ruin The new and booming film industry promises financial rewards Germany can’t compete with the glamour of Hollywood

German Expressionism External representation of internal emotion – this means that if the main character is in a “dark place” emotionally, then the setting must reflect that Insanity/Obsession as a theme Crime or the criminal underworld

German Expressionism Urban settings—but in a studio! Twisted architecture – such as spiral staircases and ominous arches Chiaroscuro – heavily contrasted black and white, whether with paint, or light and shadow