Hi Friends,
Though April's character is a stark contrast to Kitty's but we empathize with both of them on a different plane altogether - though Kitty's profession as a burlesque is out of need and sustenance for survival while April's innocence and conflict of emotions move you when she is suddenly acquainted with the real world!
How are you doing? Trust you're doing fine and I do hope you're enjoying reading my blog post on "The Language of Hollywood: Storytelling, Sound, and Color" as well. In Part-I of the series, you must have watched the two films - Street Angel and The Docks of New York and the notes I'd shared in last month's blog post on the course I had undertaken which was conducted by Professor Scott Higgins of Wesleyan University.
Of course in both the silent films you must have observed how the directors creatively used 'motifs' to bring out the essence of a scene and engage viewers attention towards it. And well, if you thought that motifs were restricted to just silent films...think again! In the coming months post watch out on how sound and color films too used motifs in different ways to highlight moments, scenes and even establish characters.
Now, in Part-II of this series, we focus on the coming of sound and understand how the narrative of film-making changed with the coming of this new technology.
The advent of sound - A brief timeline
1891 - Experiments were already on as Thomas Edison performed tests when he tried to combine kinetograph and phonograph i.e. images with sound.
1894 - The next important test Edison and engineer Dickson did was a sound film test for amplification and sync. Now, once they had overcome these technical hurdles, the film industry moved very swiftly.
1926 - Warner Bros. debuted with the Vita phone which was the first commercially viable method to combine sound with image.
1929 - Majority of films were produced in sound
1930 - 80% of theaters were wired for films (i.e. in terms of sound acoustics and equipment)
1932 - All the theaters were wired and equipped to exhibit a sound film
Some of the challenges early sound films faced was:
1) No editing/ cutting of the soundtrack was possible as it would cause flumping.
2) All sounds were to be recorded simultaneously and continuously within a synchronized scene. For example - suppose if I were talking in a given scene and you needed an orchestra playing in the background,you would have to do it all together during the recording of the actual scene.
3) Hence in view of the technical limitations, here were some of the options film-makers explored while shooting films during the early days of sound:
a) Shoot Action in one take i.e. one camera without editing in a single take
b) Cut between Multiple Cameras
c) Integrate Silent Footage - It gave film-makers the option to cut the image track and insert silent footage track in between the audio to give it an impression for fluidity and flexibility.
d)In rare cases, film-maker's chose to ignore synchronization between image and sound in the dialogues
Now the two sound films Prof. Scott Higgins had asked us to watch was Applause (1929) directed by Rouben Mamoulian and Monkey Business (1931) directed by Norman Z. McLeod that starred the famous Marx Brothers.
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| One of the early sound films |
My notes on the film, Applause starring Helen Morgan and Joan Peers -
I immensely enjoyed watching Applause, one of the early sound films (thanks to the course!). I liked the way how Kitty's character is established within the first few frames of the film - her life as a burlesque, the birth of her child, her desire for marriage,hope for a better life after her debut at the Broadway and the bond she shares with her daughter, April. And of course in the film we also see April's early upbringing in a convent and how her spiritual beliefs are shaped,her firm resolute on not becoming a burlesque and her ultimate triumph when she finds love not without a twist of circumstances.
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| Applause: the story of a burlesque |
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| Observe the use of shadows... |
As Prof. Higgins explained that Rouben Mamoulian was one such director who did not bother about sync, hence in my observation of the film, I saw that the director has used shadows, long shots and side shots - perhaps these were some creative methods the directors must have used to overcome the shortcomings of technology (i.e. sound).
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| and the use of silhouettes |
In some instances he has also shown the lower half of two individuals body in a frame having a conversation.
I also liked the top angle shots of the stage, OS shots and the beautiful panoramic shots of the sea and the dock. Interestingly we also see a plane in the scene as the two lovers - April and Tony watch on where their dreams take flight!
There's a particular scene where the director has used a wipe effect in a scene to draw a contrasting situation where Kitty is singing happily on finding the man whom she wants to settle with and the wipe goes 180 degrees to show her lover cheating with another woman.
All in all it was a well structured and well meaning film!
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| The famous Marx Brothers |
My notes on the film, Monkey Business starring the famous Marx Brothers - Groucho, Chico, Harpo and Zeppo
I enjoyed watching Monkey Business and found it hilarious in parts! Of course what's interesting to note here is that the film may have a loose plot (which the viewer is unaware of till the first half of the film), hence it gives immense scope for the Marx brothers to present their Vaudeville acts to fill in the space.
But overall, what's important is that the Marx Brothers kept the audience (which is me at least!) engaged so long as I watched the film with their never-ending gags (though it could have been shorter)!
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| known for their gags... |
Effectively, the whole narrative of the film was confined to fewer locations, revolved around gags and 'shticks'. Shticks were nothing but self-contained acts which the Marx Brothers had perfected with their attention-grabbing idiosyncrasies after long being a part of Vaudeville circuits and Broadways So each of the brothers performed their acts which the audience eagerly looked forward to as they had a fine grasp of timing, tempo and knew how to control audience reaction.
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| and their 'shticks' |
While I was watching this film, I was wondering that perhaps sitcom could well have taken a cue from the Marx brothers...any idea about this? I have mentioned sitcom because, the Marx Brothers weaved comedy around different situations and places in the film. Also since this film relies on shticks (as Prof. Higgins rightly said), in my view this film could stretch on and on if it were to be made for television over a number of episodes!
Here's some more you'd like to know about the Marx brothers-
1) The success of Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo and Zeppo) on the Vaudeville circuits as performers led them to Broadway and subsequently it was not long before that they were acting in films produced by Paramount where their Broadways were made into films which were - Animal Crackers and Coconuts.
2) Out of the four Marx Brothers only three were really funny - Groucho, Chico and Harpo. Zeppo was a straight man but he could imitate his brothers very well and take their place on stage.
3) Now, if you watch the film you'd observe that scenes of Groucho are generally with a straight/unfunny man where he creates a funny situation like running around them and parodies of romance with girls. Chico on the other hand likes playing the piano and was a more verbal kind of a comedian, so in the film you'd observe him butchering the English language that are half intended puns and entendre. And of course when it came to Harpo, watch out for the harp...you'd surely see him playing one and find him act like an innocent four year old! Now these three were 'shticks' and in a given scene they performed well either solo,in pairs or even in groups.
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Hope you enjoyed reading this month's blog post? And if you did...then do write in your comments! Shall be eagerly awaiting to read them all.
Take care and ciao until next month!
Love,
Sonyaa
2 comments:
Thank you for sharing~^-^
It's really useful to understand the lectures!
Thank you for sharing~!
It's really useful to understand the lectures!^-^
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