One of the books I had a lot of fun working on at LB was this one on silent movies--a good mix of information and beautiful photos about that weird and magical time in movie history.
I didn't really *get it*, though, until I went to one of the launch events where they had a few different silent films from the LOC collection with an on-site accompanying pianist. In a dark theater with those giant, crazy-stark images (you wonder just how much face powder and eyeshadow went into that phase of the industry alone) gesticulating all over the place, plus the near-total absence of corny movie dialogue (except for a word card once in a while), it sank in for me that this was an almost completely different genre of storytelling than the movies I see now. And that the differences could be an asset in their own right, not just a middle-step in cinema evolution. It was really a whole different world.
That's so cool that you had that recreated authentic experience! I kept thinking how much better it would be watching it in a real theater, with real piano. God, can you imagine going back in time and really being there sitting next to people dressed like that??? (I bet people smelled funny, though.)
Anyway, thanks for you comment. You're right about it being a completely different genre of storytelling, and one that has been mostly lost - just revisited occasionally as a novelty. I wonder what those old actors of the time would think about being preserved for the people of the future on Youtube! :-O
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I didn't really *get it*, though, until I went to one of the launch events where they had a few different silent films from the LOC collection with an on-site accompanying pianist. In a dark theater with those giant, crazy-stark images (you wonder just how much face powder and eyeshadow went into that phase of the industry alone) gesticulating all over the place, plus the near-total absence of corny movie dialogue (except for a word card once in a while), it sank in for me that this was an almost completely different genre of storytelling than the movies I see now. And that the differences could be an asset in their own right, not just a middle-step in cinema evolution. It was really a whole different world.
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Anyway, thanks for you comment. You're right about it being a completely different genre of storytelling, and one that has been mostly lost - just revisited occasionally as a novelty. I wonder what those old actors of the time would think about being preserved for the people of the future on Youtube! :-O
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