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Silent Film Revision - Coggle Diagram
Silent Film Revision
Context
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Buster Keaton was the most surreal of all silent comedians - Was trained in vaudeville - Had star persona
1920s was an age of accelerated change due to the second industrial revolution - Was also the Golden Age of American Film Comedy
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Main themes - Machinery, Modernity, Heterosexual Romance
Gag Based or Slapstick comedy were a popular genre - This was because of the high amount of migrants in America at the time allowing them to enjoy and understand the film
Biggest studio at the time was Keystone Studios - Common themes within their films was mocking authoritative figures
Some of Keaton's contemporaries consisted of Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Laurel and Hardy and Charlie Chaplin
By the 1920s a 'Star System' was established in American film - Studios would create personas for actors and actresses, crafting a celebrity image for each performer
Keaton was able to bypass this due to Buster Keaton Productions - set up by Joseph M. Schenck - giving him complete autonomy in his filmmaking
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Buster Keaton Film Form
Cinematography - Long shots followed by close ups - long shot encourages audience to look around the frame and see the joke, Keaton's character is often placed in the centre frame to allow the audience to focus on how how he interacts with the world around him, Uses natural flat lighting and reflectors to create an even and bright look
Mise En Scene - The sets can function as characters, Auteur signature was visual avoiding title cards and focused instead on gesture and action, Use of props
Editing - Long takes to construct stunts within the mise en scene rather than camera trickery,
Sound - Although they are silent films, early film audiences would always experience film with a musical accompaniment - There was no synchronised score therefore the musicians in the theatres would play along to the film to heighten and emphasise the comedy