Silent Films Flashcards
(36 cards)
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.
