Silent Films

Today actors, artists and moviegoers have it a lot easier than in the early years of film. Film today is complex but at the same time rather simple compared to how film was created when the industry was still in its infancy. Silent films required a certain level of finesse that later was lost when sound was introduced. Silent films had to keep audiences intrigued and captivated by a plot that could only be told through short snippets of dialogue given by title cards and supported by usually a solitary piano. They also had to convey emotions, actions and sounds without the use of sound. This is why early films such as Metropolis, The General and Le Voyage Dans la Lune seemed very theatrical and overacted. Silent films also didn’t utilize different cuts or angles as much because they hadn’t developed the language yet. Most early filmmakers were theater actors or directors that basically filmed a stage performance in long continuous shots. It wasn’t until directors like Fritz Lang and G.W. Griffith came along and saw the real potential of film. Silent film suddenly became more of an art and we starting seeing directors use techniques like shutter speed, tinting and even early rotoscoping techniques. Most of the elements of silent film have been lost since the induction of sound because narratives could move forward easier. Some elements of silent film remain today; a good example is Ridley Scott’s revolutionary film Blade Runner which was even inspired by Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. Even one of the skyscrapers in Metropolis becomes the inspiration for the precinct building that is now part of what is considered one of the most memorable scenes in modern cinema. In the film the main character spends a lot of time silently thinking and Ridley Scott uses light, dust and smoke to convey his emotions and move the story forward. Ironically, both Blade Runner and Metropolis met the same fate. They were both misunderstood and were edited by the companies that distributed them to make them more audience friendly. Just a few years ago Ridley Scott released the final directors cut of the film and later this year we will get to see the full cut of Metropolis, two movies that suffered the same fate. Many noir films borrowed heavily from silent films, using light and music to create ambiance. There is still one thing that modern cinema still holds onto from the era of silent films, music. Music is key in any movie that you see, so whenever you hear a movie soundtrack, just remember that silent films are responsible for the development of that soundtrack. Silent films are now considered archaic but we can still see their influence in today’s cinema. Comedies and musicals still use the theatrics of early silent film and Pixar’s recent movie Wall-E was practically a silent film for the first half. We will never see a resurgence of silent film but we will continue to see the influence of directors like Fritz Lang, Buster Keaton and G.W. Griffith.