ENTRY #3

Second Lecture, Part 2 of 5.

Silent Cinema

In this lecture the teacher pointed out that in order to understand the transition to sound from silence in cinema we first have to appreciate silent cinema. He said something I found really accurate: “Artist created art without sound effects”. It was a matter of turning internal problems into physical expression because emotions could be transmitted only through image. Moreover, light and shadow were extremely important due to the changes in image they were able to produce aimed to create certain feelings, emotions and atmospheres. He also highlighted the importance of understanding the value of silent films and cited Jeanine Basinger, a film historian, who said that in this type of cinema there was no noise to distract us from our feelings. He also referred to James Card, the author of Seductive Cinema, who declared that Silent Cinema demanded a different kind of participation from the viewers, an active one. To sum up, I have experienced this cinema and I can say it is wonderful to discover different means to communicate; sometimes I feel more touched or I get to understand much better the messages the director tried to communicate by using the actors and the scenery in a very theatrical way.