Part 1
“Motion pictures will do for the eye what the phonograph has done for the ear.”
– Thomas Edison
When separate, these two do benefit the anatomy described in Edison’s perspective, but the proper combination of both creates the cinema we enjoy today.
Edison understood the potential of sound and film, and in the spring of 1895, began offering forms of Nickelodeons he called “Kinetophones.” The viewer had rubber ear tubes connected to a phonograph that was activated in sync with the motion picture. This was soon followed by another variation of the Kinetophone, operating on the same principle, with the image projected on a screen. One of the earliest experiments with sound, Edison’s Kinetophone had not developed to the full potential in its association with film; spoken dialogue until 1913. Nonetheless, once spoken text was introduced, the concept was quickly omitted, as syncs of audio to visual were not always achieved by the unexperienced workers manning the Kinetophones. Other than being annoyed at lack of synchronization, many viewers were shocked at hearing the actual voice of some of their actors, who did not match their expectations. Additionally, actors could no longer receive coaching during shots, and thousands of dollars were to be spent on the sound stages. Studios therefore remain confident that consistency and silence was the best solution, as they still were attaining reasonable profit with the production of silent films.
Yet during the early 1920s, developments continued, and commercialization began during the late 1920s, in many short films. The first major, feature-length film to be produced as a “talkie” was The Jazz Singer, in October 1927. Being a major hit, other large studios began to understand the potential of dialogue in film. Paramount, Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer, Universal, First National, and PDC (Producers Distributing Corporation) signed and agreement in 1927 to use the same sound converter for continuity. Warner Brothers, not in the agreement, began undertaking talkies after the Jazz Singer, all very marketable. The other two movies were Lion and the Mouse, as well as the Lights of New York. Both profited more than 5,000%, costing $23,000 and receiving $1.25 million. Following Warner Brother’s example, many other studios began integrating sound into their films, and Paramount released Beggars of Life, with a few lines of spoken dialogue. In May 1929, Warner Brothers took once again the initiative and released an all color, all-talking movie On with the Show!
Even with the progressions occurring, many smaller movie theaters fell behind, intimidated by the prices of upgrading their equipment. Nonetheless, the urban movie centers were soon overcome by demand, and this began the movie industry as we know it.
Some studios had doubted the “talking” industry, as they worried that many stylistic preferences could be lost. Silent films allow for a deeper perspective on characters without worrying about character’s dialogue.
Part 2
Spiked with potential profit, many studios set out to mass produce film. From a certain angle, such technique helped the movie studios improve their techniques at quickly producing films; yet causing these films to depreciate in production value. This studio system was set up to facilitate movement from the production to the movie theater. Effectively monopolizing movie theaters, major studios were able to ensure viewership for their movies. Positive aspects of such a system was that prices were kept constant for viewers, yet block booking occurred, as the studios wished solely for maximum profit.
Links:
No comments:
Post a Comment