Silent Film Flashcards
Silent film- Social change: Intro
Silent film was a new emerging art form in the 1920’s, this allowed different cultures to create their own styles and methods.
In American cinema silent film comedy was a significant movement.
Slapstick and gagbased comedy lent itself to the silent film medium due to it’s easy translation, as visual gags vould be easily understood and crossed language barriers; appealing to working class and immigrant audiences.
The short film length of 20 minutes was typical of the ‘two reelers’ which were popular at the time.
Silent film- Social change: para1
Cops (Buster Keaton, 1922) included many scenes where policemen were mocked or were victims of the jokes, which had it’s history in the popular Mack Sennett Keystone Cops series.
Due to the rise of ‘modern’ transport in this era Keaton was able to incorporate this into his jokes.
For example, when Keaton’s man-made indicator punched a traffic policeman multiple times, knocking him to the ground. Keaton also makes fun of authority in The High Sign (Buster Keaton, 1921) when the policeman’s gun is swapped for a banana.
These are conventions that proved to be extremely popular with audiences as they poked fun at incompetent authority figures.
Silent film- Social change: para 2
The 1920’s was also a period when star systems in Hollywood began to develop, as studios created publicity materials around stars and developed star personas. Many of the great silent film comedians had a distinct persona, Buster Keaton’s being his ‘stone face’ persona, as he learnt a gag worked well when he stayed expressionless, and this became a recognition to the audience.
Keaton developed this persona and his craft in Vaudeville as part of a family act, doing comedy acrobatic routines.
In The High Sign we see Keaton bounced over the counter of the shooting gallery after being hit by an open door, only to stand up and dust himself down with a blank expression.
These persona’s started to attract the large audiences that would develop further in the Classical Age of Hollywood.
Silent film- Social change: para 2
Many of Keaton’s films incorporated the development of gadgets in the mechanical age. In The Scarecrow, (Buster Keaton, 1920) all the objects in Keaton’s home have a multipurpose for comedic effect.
For instance, many of the household items are on pulley systems and cranks to heighten the surrealist aspect and make the audience laugh.
The mechanical age also offered new transport, in One Week a train narrowly misses their flat packed house, only to be destroyed by one coming in the opposite direction. Keaton’s comedies made use of emerging technology of the age, making the films modern and relevant.
Silent film- Social change: Conclusion
Overall, Keaton’s short films responded to significant social change in technology and star persona’s of Hollywood comedians.
