Early Years of Sound

Great Depression & the Movies Depression (began 1929) – Movie theaters lowered prices to draw in larger audiences – Double or triple features – Give-aways

Challenges from Sound Theaters didn’t have speakers or sound systems Actors had to take speaking lessons and limit movement Cameras became less mobile and were put in glass booths to hide their sound

How dialogue affected the music: Couldn’t mix sounds in post-production – All dialogue, sound effects, and music had to be recorded at the same time As a result, most early sound films have little music Blackmail (1929) – Made by Alfred Hitchcock – England’s first “talkie” Originally shot as a silent film and then converted to sound mid- production Silent scenes have synchronized music and dialogue scenes have none

Good Use of Music Hallelujah (1929) start at 13:00 Hallelujah -dubbed all music and dialogue in during post- production -First film by a major studio using an all-black cast The Blue Angel (1930) start at 1:45 The Blue Angel - Singing recorded live (like a musical)

Musicals Musicals became popular Musicals – So many were made that for several years they were box office “poison” until 42 nd Street revived the genre in nd Street

Cartoons & Music Steamboat Willie (1928): fully exploited sound technology using music and sound effects Steamboat Willie Silly Symphonies: short stories set to music (no dialogue—sometimes singing) Silly Symphonies: Carl Stalling: created music for many early Disney cartoons and then moved to Warner Bros. and composed for Looney Tunes and Merrie MelodiesLooney Tunes Merrie Melodies

King Kong (1933) Score by Max Steiner – Steiner hired to make the monster scary – Established the practice of using “leitmotifs” for specific characters

Sacrifice