Talking Silents

Category: Uncategorized

Director of Babylon on the “catastrophic “ end of silent film

www.slashfilm.com/1092449/director-damien-chazelle-found-the-early-talkies-to-be-a-catastrophic-loss-for-cinema/

Anyone looking forward to the movie Babylon? I’ve heard some complaining already that it’s not historically accurate, but I’m prepared to give it the benefit of the doubt.

Here’s an interview with the director, Damien Chazelle, that’s worth a read.

Damien Chazelle:

Comparing some of the last silent films to some of the first sound films, you see right away just how brutal the shift was — that suddenly the open-air freedom and expansiveness and experimentation of silent film gets sandwiched and cloistered onto very confined soundstages where you can barely move because they hadn’t quite figured out yet how to move the camera easily with sound. The early talkies are really hemmed in, and it feels like this total, catastrophic loss.”

Read More: https://www.slashfilm.com/1092449/director-damien-chazelle-found-the-early-talkies-to-be-a-catastrophic-loss-for-cinema/?utm_campaign=clip

November 10, 2022
Interesting article about Nitrate Film

Original Article at BFI

Nitrate film is mostly discussed because of its flammability and the need for careful preservation. Here’s an interesting article I came across about how the BFI has been working to preserve films originally on this stock, as well as what exactly IS nitrate? If you’re interested in the technical aspects of film and film restoration, it’s worth a look.

August 28, 2022
News: Academy Exhibit on Black Cinema History

Link to source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/academy-museum-black-cinema-180980636/

Early Black Filmmaker Oscar Michaeux

Another reason I wish I lived in Los Angeles: The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is currently exhibiting “Regeneration: Black Cinema, 1898–1971” for a limited time.

If you are in the area, this looks like a great chance to explore the works of silent film pioneer Oscar Michaeu x, as well as later filmmakers.

If any of you happen to catch this exhibit, let me know in the comments!

More on NPR:

https://www.npr.org/2022/08/21/1118604068/a-new-exhibit-in-la-explores-the-complicated-history-of-black-cinema

Academy Link to the Exhibit:

https://www.academymuseum.org/en/exhibitions/regeneration-black-cinema

August 27, 2022
A Tribute to Rudolph Valentino

For the first video on my channel, I decided to focus on someone I had never really paid much attention to in film school: Rudolph Valentino. From just watching a few clips and hearing about how women lost their minds over his untimely passing, I figured he was just an overrated sex symbol; all sex and no substance.

A Tribute to Rudolph Valentino on Talking Silents

However, after watching as many of his films as I could get my hands on recently, my thoughts have changed. Rudolph Valentino was truly made for silent pictures. I hope I have captured in this video how much emotion he could portray with just a look…a look that could melt butter. He wasn’t just a pretty face, but a face that could say in a glance what might today require a whole paragraph of dialogue.

I was very impressed with his charisma and charm. It’s hard to look at the other actors in the screen because he pulls focus every time unintentionally.

His best known role is probably as the Sheik in the aptly titled, “The Sheik,” but he showed a lot of versatility in a variety of roles, as you’ll see here. One minute he’s wooing a lady, the next he’s shooting a gun or dancing flamenco.

I hope this video encourages you to check out some of films, which can easily be found on the internet for free, or on my channel. Watch, like, and subscribe!

June 27, 2022