Related Research Articles
A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound. Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements or key lines of dialogue may, when necessary, be conveyed by the use of inter-title cards.
Carl William Stalling was an American composer, voice actor and arranger for music in animated films. He is most closely associated with the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts produced by Warner Bros., where he averaged one complete score each week, for 22 years.
Silent Running is a 1972 American environmental-themed science fiction film. It is the directorial debut of Douglas Trumbull, and stars Bruce Dern, Cliff Potts, Ron Rifkin, and Jesse Vint.
Steven John Bailey known professionally as Steven Severin, is an English songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer. He is best known as the bassist of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees which he co-founded in 1976. He was also the co-founder of the short-lived band the Glove. He took the name "Severin" from the Leopold von Sacher-Masoch character who is mentioned in the Velvet Underground song "Venus in Furs". After the split of Siouxsie and the Banshees in 1996, Severin created his own label RE: and released several instrumental albums via his official website. In the late 2000s and the early 2010s, he regularly performed live in solo, playing music over footage of silent films.
Beverly of Graustark is a 1926 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Sidney Franklin and starring Marion Davies, Antonio Moreno, and Creighton Hale. The film's screenplay was written by Agnes Christine Johnston based on the novel by George Barr McCutcheon, and set in the fictional land of Graustark. The film features a final sequence in Technicolor. It was the first film by Sidney Franklin for MGM.
Neil Brand is an English dramatist, composer and author. In addition to being a regular silent film accompanist at London's National Film Theatre, Brand has composed new scores for two restored films from the 1920s, The Wrecker and Anthony Asquith's Underground.
A part-talkie is a sound film that includes at least some "talking sequences" or sections with audible dialogue. The remainder of the film is provided with a synchronized musical score with sound effects. These films more often than not contain a main theme song that is played during key scenes in the film and is often sung offscreen on the musical soundtrack. During the portion without audible dialogue, speaking parts are presented as intertitles—printed text briefly filling the screen—and the soundtrack is used only to supply musical accompaniment and sound effects.
Dennis James is an American musician and historic preservationist. Beginning in 1969, he presented historically informed live accompaniments for silent films, with piano, theatre organ, chamber ensemble and full symphony orchestras, throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and overseas. He is now primarily active as a noted multi-instrumentalist, specializing on Franklin glass armonica and the theremin, prominently performing in New York at the Metropolitan Opera, for Hollywood film scorings, and repeat performances at Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival plus performing at the Tanglewood Festival with the Boston Symphony Orchestra performing the intricate glass armonica complete part in the U.S. debut of George Benjamin's opera "Written on Skin".
Steven Sater is a Tony Award, Grammy Award, and Laurence Olivier Award-winning American poet, playwright, lyricist, television writer and screenwriter. He is best known for writing the book and lyrics for the Tony Award-winning 2006 Broadway musical Spring Awakening.
Gaylord Carter was an American organist and the composer of many film scores that were added to silent movies released on video tape or disks. He died from Parkinson's disease.
The Club Foot Orchestra is a musical ensemble known for their silent film scores. Their influences include Eastern European folk music, impressionism, and jazz fusion; The New Yorker described their style as "music that bubbles up from the intersection of aesthetics and the id."
Robert Mitchell was an American organist and choir director whose career spanned 85 years, from 1924 to 2009. He was one of the last original silent film accompanists, having accompanied films from 1924 to 1928. Mitchell revived the art from 1992 until his death in 2009, usually to wild acclaim. During the 1930s, he organized the Robert Mitchell Boys Choir, who were cast in many films from the 1930s to the 1960s.
Bernie Anderson Jr. is a silent film music composer, organist and orchestrator. He has presented live accompaniments for silent films, with theatre organ and piano since 1995. He is also active in the preservation and restoration of Movie Palaces, Theatre organs and Classic Film.
The Alloy Orchestra was a musical ensemble based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It performed its own accompaniments to silent films of the classic movie era on an unusual collection of found objects, homemade instruments, accordion, clarinet, musical saw, and a sampling synthesizer, the group scored and performed with 40 feature-length silent films or collections of shorts. The group is often credited with having helped revitalize the art of silent film accompaniment.
The Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum is located in what is now the Niles district in the city of Fremont, California. The museum is housed in the Edison Theater building, a century-old Nickelodeon movie theater, just half a block from the former site of the Niles Essanay Studios where Broncho Billy and Charlie Chaplin made films in the 1910s. It is dedicated to preserving and showing silent films and their history.
Harry Watson Jr., also known as Harry B. Watson, was an American actor and comedian. Before his Vaudeville, Broadway and film careers, he was a clown for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Among his Broadway shows were the musical Tip-Toes and five editions of the Ziegfeld Follies.
Bunny Dips Into Society, also known as Bunny and the Bunny Hug, is a short American silent comedy film.
Robert Israel is an acclaimed film score composer who works primarily on silent films. Israel was a winner of Turner Classic Movies' first annual Young Film Composer's Competition in 2000, for his score on the silent film, Tell It to the Marines (1926). He is an organist and pianist, and Israel has been described as following in the footsteps of other great film scorers, Arthur Kleiner and Gaylord Carter. He has also been described along with Dennis James as "one of the most respected and sought after accompanists in the business." In 2001, he was featured as the live piano accompaniment to 10 short silent films shown at the Niles Broncho Billy Film Festival in Fremont, California.
Raymond (Ray) Turner was an American pianist, session musician and recording artist.
Tom Roberts is an American pianist, composer, and arranger, a specialist in the stride piano style, and a expert on early jazz piano and jazz recordings. Tom is a master of all early jazz piano styles including ragtime, boogie woogie, swing, New Orleans jazz, and Harlen Stride piano.
References
- 1 2 Creteau, Arianna (11 February 2020). "Silent Film Musical Accompanist Ben Model Returns to Boise". Idaho Press.
- 1 2 "Cinematheque's anniversary celebration features Buster Keaton's silent classic 'Three Ages' streaming with live musical accompaniment". cleveland. August 5, 2020.
- ↑ Holmes, S. Whitney (31 October 2019). "How Live Accompaniments Make Silent Films Interactive | The New Yorker". The New Yorker.
- ↑ Accomando, Beth (8 May 2020). "Silent Films With Live Music Every Sunday On YouTube". KPBS Public Media.
- ↑ "Classic slapstick and other silent films for home bingeing: A few suggestions from Cinema Studies' Jennifer Bean".
- 1 2 Leonard, Kendra Preston (November 24, 2016). Music for Silent Film: A Guide to North American Resources. A-R Editions, Inc. ISBN 9780895798350 – via Google Books.
- ↑ Massa, Steven; Model, Ben (November 27, 2013). Accidentally Preserved: Notes on the Films. Undercrank Productions. ISBN 9780615916002 – via Google Books.
