ASK & DISCUSS
INDEXContemporary silent film - anyone making it? any films to recommend?
10 years, 4 months ago - Gareth Rees
Wondering if there are any Shooters who are working in silent film production, or if Shooters can recommend any contemporary silent film makers/silent films?
My silent feature, Written In Dust, is screening in London in November and I'm interested to find out if others are working in this genre - I recently met the director of London Symphony (silent documentary in production) and he didn't know of other silent film makers. So, are there any out there?
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10 years, 4 months ago - Gareth Rees
Hi Allan. I have had a look on IMDB and possible 1950s' films with Rita in are Hannibal, The Thief, Mohawk, and Saadia (in which she seems to have the title role). Any of those jog further fond memories?
(Rita has credits dating to 1997).
An interesting point about dialogue free versus silent. For me, a silent film would use neither audible dialogue nor ambient/foley sound, but am still interested in films that are dialogue free but using ambient sound, to learn from, and enjoy, their visual communication style.
10 years, 4 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin
I'm fond of playing with the medium, and quite enjoy where an M&E track *is* the final soundtrack, when done right!
We are in a principally visual medium, but you can ascertain about 85% of most TV drama without pictures (and you can usually predict that the montage is the 'science bit' on CSI , for instance.
I once read a script for a first-time director who had plenty of experience of film, just not direction. I noted how little dialogue he had (half a dozen lines over 8 mins), so I suggested removing those as well - his short became very popular in the international festivals world as it became universal.
Truly silent film is not something I've tried, as music is so important, carrying all the emotion of a scene. I an imagine your working with different composers interpretations could be fascinating. If, however, you ever change your mind and want to record an orchestral score, I've got some of the big name players in Prague classical recording in whatever combination you want, massive savings to be made :)
10 years, 4 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin
@Gareth Rees I can't place it Gareth, it was many years ago!
Orchestral recording - no worries, just PM me and I'll help you with the whole process as there are a couple of 'gotchas' - for instance making sure you get a buyout with no residuals payable :-) But top quality is affordable - for instance the conductor we use conducted the recording of the score for 'District 9' and hundreds of other TV and films :-)
10 years, 4 months ago - Gareth Rees
Do you remember the name of that short and the director? A nice point about how the dialogue free film becomes more universal.
Thanks for the offer of help with a classical recording; should finance and the plan appear, I'll be sure to follow that up :-)
10 years, 4 months ago - A D Cooper
Enjoying this discussion. I made a short called "Ace" with just sound effects and music (well it's got a couple of words along the way but they're more like sound effects). Here's the trailer https://vimeo.com/82369665
9 years, 12 months ago - Rick Antonsson
I realize I'm just a bit late here but I enjoyed reading the above. I'm a big fan of silent films. The first couple of short films I made, I decided to do them silent to test myself on how attractive I could make the whole thing look whilst still telling a story. I found it very useful in putting more energy towards the aesthetics and learned a lot from it. Funnily enough, the first thing I've actually released is a music video - shot silently for obvious reasons - with a new one being shot on the 27th September.
10 years, 4 months ago - Dan Selakovich
While not silent, the opening of the animated film "Up" does a brilliant job of telling the story with no dialogue. And if memory serves, there's a segment in the beginning of MicMacs that tells the story completely visually. And of course there's "The Artist." And for a more "experimental" film, "Koyaanisqatsi."
I'm curious by what you mean by "silent". Do you use dialogue cards as they did in the silent film days? Do you use music?
10 years, 4 months ago - Gareth Rees
Hi Dan. Thanks for those film suggestions - Koyaanisqatsi has long been an inspiration for me in my documentary work. I'll get a look at 'Up'.
In Written In Dust (WID) I decided to use title cards for a few reasons, one being to match probable audience expectations of a silent film (I started the project before The Artist appeared and, at that time, felt it would help people settle into the idea of a silent film that was contemporary). Having said that, as a film maker, I also wanted to engage with the traditions of silent film storytelling, and in general I am keen to explore the role/use of text in film. Intertitle cards (or text appearing in other ways) offer a lot to a film, including their graphic element (In WID I wrote the intertitle cards directly onto the walls in Beijing, which allowed another way to bring the city into the film, and then the various surfaces are also used metaphorically).
With regard to music, that is a huge reason why I am exploring silent film making, and, at the moment, I only screen my films with live music performance. I am interested in how the film is interpreted and responded to by different musicians working in varied genres, and I encourage the musicians to work improvisationally. Also, a lot of my earlier work looked at liveness in cinema (editing the films live for the audience) and using live music performance ties in with that, and the concept of event cinema.
10 years, 4 months ago - Dan Selakovich
@Gareth Rees Love your idea of title cards on walls.
I taught directing for a bit, and one of the exercises for students was to figure out how they'd shoot a scene if the dialogue was removed, and still relay the story. I love what you're doing. It's such a forgotten art.
10 years, 4 months ago - Alève Mine
For lack of microphones and operator, most of my stuff is at least partially silent. :)
10 years, 4 months ago - Gareth Rees
I look forward to seeing it. Any word on festival/other screenings yet? Sloth a silent film in the sense that there are no dialogue scenes or silent in the classical sense?
10 years, 4 months ago - Ben Rider
Quite proud to say the segment for Sloth in 'Seven Devils' (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3407562/) was a silent short.
10 years, 4 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin
That said, I think dialogue-free can be hard to get right. We've had a recent example in the UK, Matt Lucas made a series 'Pompidou' which attempted a 'Mr Bean'-like low dialogue soundtrack, chasing that international sales. Maybe it'll sell internationally, but it bombed here - it turned out his comic instincts just weren't up to the level of physical nuance that means you can bypass words.
10 years, 4 months ago - Marlom Tander
This discussion has to reference Silent Movie by Mel Brooks, which I have seen exactly once, in my teens and loved. But not sure if I should revisit, (did that to Blazing Saddles, big mistake).
Also vaguer memories of Eric Sykes with a plank and talking rhubarb...
10 years, 4 months ago - Allan (Mac) McKenna
I remember a feature film in the 50s - these were the days when everyone went to the dollies - from the States which made a 'thing' out of being silent - or rather no dialogue, not quite the same thing - with a one-word title which I can't remember. Being in the full flush of puberty at the time I remember having the hots for the female lead called Rita Gam. I think she was the director's girl friend. Does anyone remember the title? It made quite a ripple at the time but whether it made money or not I don't know.