Planning - The Silent Film Era

Silent Films
History of the Silent Era
"The silent film era extends from the late nineteenth century, with the earliest work by the Lumière Brothers in France and Edison in America, into the early 1930s, when silent film gave way to “talkies.” However, most scholars situate the silent era in America during the 1910s and 1920s, when it matured as a tightly organised industry privileging the multi-reel feature film after the waning of the nickelodeon, the move to Hollywood from earlier production headquarters in New York and New Jersey, and the decline in competition from European filmmakers caused by World War I. D. W. Griffith's twelve reel feature The Birth of a Nation (1915) was a major commercial and cinematic success showcasing many of the directions the industry was to take into the 1920s."

A silent film is a film with no synchronised sound and no dialogue. A silent film is very pantomime and exaggerated. The only text in silent movies is the title cards that comes up during the film. During that time there was no way to capture audio so all films that were created were silent. However after a while audiences wanted more and become less entertained by the silent films. So they eventually led to sound being incorporated for audience satisfaction. Therefore to fulfil this void, films would often be played alongside bands and orchestras. The bands and orchestras would supply music and audio that would provide tension and a more enjoyable experience for the audience. However, having music had its advantages and disadvantages , the music needed to be played over and over again until the film was over  and this meant that the band could make mistakes which can be unpleasant for the audience. This eventually formed the creation of the music video, as prerecorded audio can be added on top of moving image. As these music videos couldn't be accessible to everyone the artist or band would usually put on a drama production on stage. More and more artists used the structure of silent films, and began to write more songs to perform and play along-side a stage production. This ultimately laid the bases for the music videos that we see today.