Silent Film
The definition of a silent film should be pretty clear. It's a film without sound! Well, that's mostly accurate. The earliest silent films had no sound. For example, The Haunted Castle by George Melies, one of the world's first filmmakers. You can watch it below. As the art form progressed, filmmakers added title cards so we could understand what people are saying, then accompanying music. Sometimes the music was performed live rather than recorded. Some venues continue the practice of live musical performance to silent film even today! But silent film is "silent" in the sense that we don't hear the sound of what's happening on screen. There's no audible dialogue, location sound, or realistic sound effects.
It's a misconception that silent films are always black and white. Color filmmaking techniques had been around for about 20 years before the release of the first commercial sound film in 1923. But it's certainly safe to say that nowadays, black and white (or at least sepia tone) goes hand in hand with silent filmmaking. This has been reinforced by The Artist, an Oscar-winning film from 2011 that is almost completely silent. I highly recommend seeing it. You can check out the trailer for it below.
It's a misconception that silent films are always black and white. Color filmmaking techniques had been around for about 20 years before the release of the first commercial sound film in 1923. But it's certainly safe to say that nowadays, black and white (or at least sepia tone) goes hand in hand with silent filmmaking. This has been reinforced by The Artist, an Oscar-winning film from 2011 that is almost completely silent. I highly recommend seeing it. You can check out the trailer for it below.
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