Silent Films Flashcards
Name 8
Buster Keaton films?
One week The Scare crow Cops The High Sign Seven chance The General Neighbours The cook with Fatty Arbuckle
Who were the Pioneers of the silent film movement?
Buster Keaton & Fatty Arbuckle
Charlie Chaplin
Harold Lloyd
What devices reflect the silent film movement?
Expressionist mise en scene
Cinematography
Realist concepts ~ comments on America.
Technology
What film does Buster Keaton break the four wall?
One Week
Long shot · Sybil ~ bath ~ picks up soap. Director covers camera ~ hand. Sybil gestures thank you.
= awareness of the audience ~ blending modes.
In Buster Keaton’s silent film Cops, what concept does it adhere to?
Realism = Los Angeles _ cheap. Real neighbourhood/neighbour’s.
In Cops (1922) how does Keaton illustrate expressionism and what does it comment on?
Hundreds of extras.
Sense of the media coverage on Fatty Arbuckle’s case.
Cultural self _ massive scandal rape and slaughter. Ostracised couldn’t recover even after _ innocence
How does Keaton create a sense of surrealism in Cops 1922?
Pairs expressionism + realism
Use of props an oversized ladder.
Balancing like a seesaw on a wooden fence.
Stunt crawls across the ladder smacks the coppers in the face.
Why are Keaton’s stunts and slap stick comedy associated with Silent Films?
Lack of cinematography devices
Lack of music each cinema would play live music to accompany the film.
What devices did Silent Films use to enhance the passive spectators viewership?
Deep focus
Long shot sequences
Iris shots
What do the opening sequence of the Scarecrow (1920) comment on?
Technological advancements of 20’s America.
How did Scarecrow (1920) comment on America’s technological advancements?
Constructed props.
Levers hanging from the ceiling = salt + pepper.
Napkin on a string at the side of the table.
Table top = sign what's home without without a mother.
Bookshelf fridge
Sink poured out into a pond for ducks.
In Scarecrow (1920) what device adheres to André Bazin?
Deep focus
Expressionism
Mise en scene
Stunts
Who’s André Bazin and what was his theory?
French film critic
Objective reality
Deep focus and lack of montage are linked to his belief that the interpretation of a film ot scene should be left to the spectator
Where does Buster Keaton’s silent films lie in terms of André Bazin realist and expressionism?
A blend of the two surrealism talks about what’s going on in America
What was Keaton known for?
Limited cinematography, sound ➕ editing
So long shots iris shots dialogue cards colour
What did the 2 reelers allow Buster Keaton to do?
Elaborate sets, props, extras, stunts and a fun and interesting narrative
What did the introduction of 4 reelers do Buster keaton films?’
Lacked expressionism
Showed the death of the iconic silent film movement
What is Buster Keaton’s most famous film?
The General
Only four reeler
How is The General realist in form?
Loss of aesthetic expressionism
Realist through creation of Spectatorship
Narrative
How did Buster Keaton’s film The General differ from his other films?
Larger lense
Wide angel shot
Close ups
Lack of aesthetic expression
Which film has the fixed narrative of the Southern who is swept up in the civil war and who travels south by steam train?
The General
What was the visual metaphor in The General?
The sequence of Sibyl stocking the train and she picks up a long piece of wood with a natural circle hole and she gestures to Keaton and he says to through it.
Illustrates the dismantling of the aesthetic qualities associated with film movement.
Iris shot
What was Buster and what did he do?
Auteur
Inspiration for many silent film movements
What did studios usually do with Stars?
Create personas for them.
Fatty Arbuckle - he hated name
Keaton persona based on stereotypes ans gender.
Was Keaton’s persona of a non-conforming man in 1920’s.
How does Keaton reflect the stigma of lower class America in the medium shot of Keaton behind bars in Cops?
Trapped inside the classist system unable to reach his love interest.
Zooms out and reveals gigantic gates with a big drive
How does Buster Keaton’s Neighbours pay homage to to his theatrical upbringing?
Vaudeville (1880’s-1930’s)
3 Keaton’s - was hit and thrown across stage when he was a child
Influenced his stunts ➕ slapstick.
Analyse a sequence in Neighbours?
BK’s father was in the film Joe.
Long shot sequence Joe pulling Busters head out of the drain.
Title card - ‘he’s my son and I’m the only one who can break his neck’
Life threatening stunts he sustained an injury from The General the water pipe knocking him off his feet to the tracks
What film does BK parody the Ford advert Home Made 1919 and addresses the technological advancements?
One Week
Medium shot - Newly wed couple building a portable home in 7 days
Long shot - ‘a for sale sign’ on the destroyed house.
Long shot sequence - keaton cutting a plank on top of the framework of the house cutting the part he was sat on and fell to the ground.
Long shot sequence.- cubist house comments of the popularity at the time
How does the Scarecrow and 7 Chances present marriage?
Not worth it.
Long shot sequence littered with cheesy iris shots - Sybil ➕ Keaton rival expressing glee for one another only to be snatched away by her father
Analyse a long shot sequence in Keaton’s The High Sign?
House spilt into 4 Chased through windows Trap downs trap walls Reflects in modern society the influence on Cartoon Tom and Jerry and Tom Cat
How does The General reflect the change of Silent films to Talkies?
Dismantling of the Silent films through new 4 reelers. Lack of aesthetic expressionism.
Realist in every aspect
Two reeler 8 mili meter to 4 reeler 16 mili meters
Budget
More expressive acting a fixed narrative
Films that changed the course of Silent films?
That seems to have made Buster Keaton have to conform?
The Jazz Singer 1927 1st talkie
The Passion of Joan of Arc 1928 (Carl Theodore Dreyer)
The Birth of Nation 1915 (D.W Griffith) Controversial.
All birthing a more modern approach to acting cinematography
List the cast and crew of High Sign (1921)
Director - BK - Edward F Cline Producer - Joseph M Schenck Writer - BK Edward F Cline Starring - Buster Keaton Cinematographer - Elgin Lessley Editor - Buster Keaton Distributor - Metro Pictures Time 21 Release date 12 April 1921
List cast and crew of The Scarecrow 22/12/1920
Director - BK Edward F Cline Producer - Joseph M Schenck Writer Bk Edward F Cline Starring BK Joe Roberts Sybil Cinematographer Elgin Lessley Edited by Buster Keaton Distributor Metro pictures Time 19
List The Cops cast and crew
11 March 1922?
Distributor BK Edward F Cline Producer Joseph M Schenck Writer BK Edward F Cline Starring BK virginia Fox joe Cinematographer Joseph M Schenck Editor Elgin Lessley Distributor first nation pictures inc Time 18
List cast and crew of One Week
1/ sep 1920
Director - Buster Keaton Edward F Cline Producer - Charlie Chaplin Joseph M Schenck Writer - Edward F Cline BK Starring - BK Sybil Cinematographer - Elgin lessley Editor BK Distributor Bk Productions Time 19
