Media

What impact did the introduction of sound have on the film industry at the levels of production, distribution and exhibition' Due to the increase of advance technologies there were many changes towards Hollywood film industry during the late 1800s and early 1900s. One of the largest impacts was the introduction of sound in the film industry; with the drastic changes it highly affected on the actors/actresses, the production crew and brought new emotions towards the audiences. History of film has been dominated by the discoveries and the testing’s of the paradoxes inherent in the medium itself. Films started with the machines recording still photographs to give continuous motions. The motion pictures were then developed in the 1890’s . Then multiple attempt but the Lumière brothers were eventually able to produce their first film to the public and lead to many more inventors to improve such technology to the Hollywood industry. Although there were multiple failed experiments of attaching sound and images together, the Warner Brothers Company effectively invented the vitaphone, which was able to record the dialogue and the music separately and played as the film went. Don Juan was one of the first Hollywood films with syncrinised sound. With such successful achievement the audience were pleased with the results thus leading to many more successful attempts of producing films with sound. When Edison invented the kinetoscope in the late 1800s it permitted only one viewer at a time. Nevertheless each consumer was able to enjoy the short films alone and share their opinions later to their fellow companions. The newly invented technology brought the audience to share their emotions together with only a small fee to pay, thus allowing every member in all classes to share the experience. Yet combining sound and images together in a larger theatre allowed the consumers to communicate with one another as the scene is played thus not missing out on any information and enjoying the film more. This also meant that the fees to view such film rised since the kinetoscope, which slowly separated the classes. With the impact of the sound technology the shots of films lengths has increase in Hollywood cinema. The first movies were only a few minutes duration, however in the early 1900s Nickelodeon appeared where theatres were able to seat approximately 200 people and were situated in large consuming areas to gain attractions for the new improvements of films. With the nickelodeon it brought people from different classes, religion and gender together. With the introductory of the Nickelodeon it highly affect many personal appeal. As belief that there were threats in the publics physical well being and the creation of the public spaces were unpleasant especially to those in the upper class. New technologies being introduced increase the expenses with the industry. At start the machines were so loud that companies were required to place the machines in a sound proof cabinet to have a clear sound of the actors voices. Also the difficulties of having the camera remaining within the same position thus limiting the actors ability to move around the spaces in a comfortable manner. Such changes were not as admire from the production crew as difficulties were handles on holding the microphone in a level where actors were heard however remaining off scene. The introduction of sound changed the entire field of cinema. As prior to sound actors are only required the ability to perform and express their emotions through their movements. Silent films were famous for the use of lighting system, the harsh makeup and the use of inter titles to show some dialogues. Stars were required to show their exaggerated expressions and the use of mise en scene to express the plot of the stories. Later with the introduction of sound actors were also obliged to speak within the performances. This caused a huge change within the production crew as careers for some stars were about to end. Some of the public were unable to handle such changes within the industry as film critic Rudolf Arnheim was originally a fierce opponent of sound cinema. Nevertheless he later recognised that ‘sound arouses an illusion of actual space, while a picture has practically no depth’ the ability to have actors speak rather than just mime allowed the audiences to hold a great connection with the scenes. With all successful innovation of the film industry, allowing actors to speak brought the audience further into the world onscreen. With the advent of talkie it lead many famous actors of the silent era to retire. Those with heavy accents or discordant voices were at risk in their position. Norman Talmadge was a huge star during the silent era, however with his uncooperative voice it lead his career to an end. Leading many catastrophes in many stars lives as there were new star systems applied with the introduction of sound film. With difficulties in keeping their careers they were easily replaced as the audience preferences was to hear the actors creating a stronger bond between them and the stories. “The demand is that sound film should not merely contribute sound to the silent film and thus make it more like nature, but that it should approach the reality of life from a totally different angle and open up a new treasure” as Balaz expresses the use of sounds within films underestimates the silent qualities and the expressivity of the silent films. Balaz belief was that the silent cinema itself was able to express sound in their uniquely aesthetic expressions, as the observations of the moving objects were so strong that it was able to perceive sound in the audience’s minds. With the ability of producing large screens large theaters allowed the audience to share their emotions and thoughts with each other. Bringing background music adds emotions and rhythm to films. This helps the audiences understanding by liking the scenes. With the beats affect their whole body rather than just their ears changes their thought and impressions of the films. Background music allows the audiences to view the films in a whole new level mingling all emotions together. The cinema is a learned language with the addition of sounded film it can lead to an extension of the grammar of this language. The extension of this grammar offers an insight into ideas of a ‘pure cinema’. A ‘pure cinema’ is therefore not a cinema that removes sound but rather a cinema that uses the extended palette of sound and image to communicate on a new and unique level. Thus it reaches its greatest sophistication in the communication level from the artist to their audiences. With the stars speaking within their roles of the films many more employment were needed in the film industry. Screenwriters were also affected with the new improvements. This required screenwriters to ass more deeper meanings in the characters that are played and storylines were able to become more complex with such advance technology. Convert films to focus more on the mental situations of the characters and move away from the physical. Synchronized dialogue led sound remains the most dominant representations in the cinema. As with the overlap of the sounds images weren’t as memorable as the audience were then able to replay the background music of the film over and over again leaving a huge impact on the society. Thus aiding the industry to gain more view rates as the spread of word of mouth were a high promotional act. With such increase rate of viewers many more companies continued the creation of syncronised films and some even commenced this successful production. Many film theorists argue that the absence of sound actually shows the presence of a cinema. The cinema however shows the unique expressive qualities of the sound track of films. The silent theatres were a representation the world that was fenced in by its technological capabilities and thus the filmmaker had to launch a cinematic language through imagery which the audience learned to interpret. The audience learned to create their own imagination of what couldn’t be heard. “The majority of todays audience would find little enjoyment in silent films” as Arnheim explains the arts of the past would never be acknowledged to the average people today. Synchronised sound film has caused to limit the audience’s imagination. Bordwell and Thompson “ sound can actively shape how we interpret the image” as with silent films audience can interpret the scene in their own unique ways, but with the help of sound similar predicaments were made as the sound draws the audience attentions to some specific objects and scenes. Leaving audience to have the same impression of the film due to obvious focus was drawn within the film. By the end of the decade, “talkies” had completely taken over the silent film industry, and brought changes to the history of the film industry and the public lives. Not only were there an introduction of the advance technologies but also there were mass changes in the whole media production. Syncronised sound films helps the audience to have different impressions of the film as it has created a simpler way of understanding the stories. Even with mixed emotions from the changes in the industry that causes an impact on the society, people were able to accept such improvement and continue with much more innovative ideas for the mere future. Bibliography Arnheim, R, 1933, The Art of Sound London: Faber and Faber Balazs, B., Theory of the Film. Character and Growth of a New Art, London: Dennis Dobson Ltd, 1952. Bordwell, D, and Thompson, K. 1979 ‘Sound in Cinema’ in Film Art. An introduction: Addison- Wesley Bordwell, D, Staiger, J and Thompson, K, 1958, The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style and Mode of Production to 1960, (pg.157-173, 194-213) Lev, P 2003, Transforming the Screen, New York: Scribner, vol. 7 Pudovkin, 1929, Asynchronism as a Principle of Sound Film,. Thompson, K and Bordwell, D, 1994, Film History: An Introduction, New York: Addison Wesley