Silent Film - Theory

Realist vs Expressive
Using Critical Theory

Andre Bazin (the guy who came up with auteur theory) - French theorist and critic
Distinguished between directors who put faith in reality and those who put faith in image
He believed un objective reality - like documentaries
Father of auteurism - he believed cinema is the director's personal vision

Realist isn't in terms of how realistic it is, but in key elements of film form. Expressive is using sound and angles to create meaning, where realist is just showing (common in social realism)

Tom Gunning - 1986 - The Cinema of Attractions
Cinema from 1895 to 1907 is primarily concerned with spectacle. Chase, trick films. Narrative plays a secondary role

Cultural Contexts
Rube Goldberg cartoons - seem to focus on mechanical comedy - ie the Rube Goldberg Machinem which is similar in themes of machinery and overcomplicated simplicity to silent films

Mechanical development/transport - cars have appeared, railways define America, planes are now a possibility
Cubism - art movement all about symmetry, which can be seen in Keaton and realist films. A more interesting way to look at everyday life. As, back then, art was almost an entertainment form in itself


Consumer culture greater - buying instead of making
Modernism - consumerism more popular, pop culture rising, the system of editing etc. How things are. Tech age comes in to this, as separate mediums such as radio and cinema came into their own it created celebrities

Wolfe's Conventions of American Silent Film

• Falls and chases played for big laughs
• Stunts that thrill the audience
• Star comedians with intriguing personalities - Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd - everyman personalities - childlike, idiot savant. Passive characters. Stars as we know them first developed. Groomed or success by studios
• Implausible scenarios - flat packed house, accidental assassin
• Stories told efficiently and clearly - no ambiguity or unresolved narratives
• Evoking of dream-like states - bits of surrealism. Silent films are almost inherently dream like states because they have no sound
• Critiques of American society - authority figures are butts of the joke, incompetent and bullying idiotic antagonists who are set against the 'everyman' protagonists
• Men and Women representation - women are motivation, the Treasure chest in Propp Theory, but is active in One Week. Masculinity is a physical thing Brett Carroll wrote American Masculinities, said definitions of masculinity is through body. Joe Roberts - tall antagonist compared to small Keaton, big aggressive movement, anger, facial hair. Encompassed by antagonists but not the protagonist

In Keaton's world, the laws are governed by what the camera can see and not what's logical - ie people standing behind large man gag. He can go up, down, left and right, but that's really it. He uses shape a lot.


Keaton has no use of expressive cinematography - long shots, framing used to show gags. Rule of thirds coming into play which it hadn't yet. Mise-en-scene favors gadgets and engineering. There are multi-featured sets and props. Keaton's costume - the baggy trousers, black jacket and straw boat hat iconic. Fast paced action editing, ie the dog at the gun range. Iris shots - vignette, instead of close up or POV, but these happened in European cinema. 'Stone face'. Emphasis on physical expression.
Aesthetics - symmetry, surrealism (impossible gags, ie the paint coat hook), parallel lines - train tracks etc. working within the frame. Circular imagery