The Introduction of Sound in Hollywood Cinema - Research Paper Example

Classic Hollywood cinema is a title was basically drafted by three people namely D. Bordwell, J. Staiger and K. Thomas. This was during a seminary study known as the classical Hollywood cinema. During the seminar the author played a total of a hundred films from Hollywood, this was a formalist analysis ranging the year 1917 to 1960. It was during this range of years they settled for a common conclusion that all the films produced had a common style and characteristic featured referred to as the classical Hollywood. Additionally the style had spread worldwide due to the dominance nature of the cinemas of Hollywood. On the other hand there has been a restriction of choice to a total limit of alternatives by the film makers, ideally they had to make the choice of ether strictly following the rules and regulations involved in the production of Hollywood films or come up with their own rules of film production. Hollywood has a number of very vital components which are used for differentiate them from other forms of film production. The first distinguished aspect of Hollywood film is narrative. In the entire classic of Hollywood cinema, narratives are very essential and they follow specified blocks which are meant for building the films. These blocks are regarded as the basic part and parcel of the whole film production process. Most of narratives of the western world range from events, actors to agents. The structures of the narrative are runs from the start of the film up to the very end. The major purpose of the narrative is the provision of the basic resolution at the very end of the film (Benshoff & Griffin 2004). Over time the classical Hollywood cinemas have been edited severally to enhance accuracy and attractiveness of the films. Basically, editing is one of the most important aspects of film production in Hollywood, this plays the vital role of on film production especially by hiding all the cuttings involved during compiling of the whole film. During this process there are several techniques involved to ensure that editing is carried out in a very successful manner, on the other hand a number of devices are also deployed to ensure that nothing goes wrong. Most commonly used devices are the reverse-shot or the shot and the eyeline match. Editing allows subservient to the entire flow of the film’s narrative, ideally it is designed in a way that it does not contradict itself or too much attention to be directed to it (Cameroon 1997). The creating of both time a and space in the film or cinema is very common, basically style, time and space are part of the major components of classic Hollywood cinema which are totally compressed into a single aspect of cinema production. The main reason behind this unification is to make both space and time a reality to the viewer. Motivation and conventions is regarded as the major unifying factor of the Hollywood cinema. During several incidents motivation plays a very crucial role in developing every form of narrative involved in every eventful moment, in other words there exists a relationship between this two which is very casual in nature, on the other hand the style used in cinema is at large motivated by the main narrative. Generally, there is no place in the entire world where there is total correspondence between the introductions of sound to documentary and the introduction of sound as a feature of film production. Sound was generally considered a mission possible in cinema long time before it was introduced; this implies that is it existed before official introduction to Hollywood cinema. “Gone with the wind” is one of the common films which apply this aspect of sound. Sound in cinema was made possible due to the emergence and growth of technology, aesthetics, financial support and mostly the higher expectations by the audiences who eagerly anticipated for something different in the cinema (McCarty 2004). However the introduction of sound was considered to be a common aspect of cinema and film production but it was only presented in a different sway which was more entertaining and appealing to the viewers. Previously the introduction of sound resulted into a number of heated debate however the re-introduction of sound in cinema has resulted into a variety of alternatives to the all viewers in general. There was a variety of items which applied sound in their presentation; they ranged from evocative portraits to narratives of poetry, from actual speeches to commentary produced in studio. The choice made to choose of the sound options greatly impacted on the quality of cinema and the massage delivered to the audience on the other hand other film producer worked tirelessly to come up with film documentaries which were equivalent to classic Hollywood cinema production standards (MacDonald 2000). Previously before the introduction of sound in Hollywood cinema, there existed films in the form of documentary. The way of presenting ideas and massages in the films was totally different, additionally the information contained in these type of films was historical in nature therefore they were specifically inclined towards a certain framework of institution and the main or major community which participated fully in the production of the historical documentary, ideally those who took part in the entire film build up were literally armed specified convictions related to different expectations from the audience. There is several written material and other documented about history which were produced before introduction of sound in cinema, however we now project them and produce them with modified sound effects with putting into consideration the taxonomic effects which lacked in the cinema thus rendering them inevitable. The core importance of addition of sound effects to cinema of films is to pass the exact massage which was intended for the audience and the whole society in general. There is a number of purposes served by films produced with sound; specifically sounds plays a critical role in passing the indented information to the audience which can be entertainment, warning against abdominal behaviors, giving specific education to members of the society or portraying certain cultures. The previous cinema had several blends of actors; actors who took part in the actual stage participation and they played different roles in the cinema, and a different group of actors who did not take part in direct stage acting but they played a vital role in ensuring that the whole process is successful (Francke 1994). During early cinema, the main dominant form of film was the fiction documentaries which were common therefore other forms were completely marginalized mainly because they did not attract a very huge number of viewers. There are remarkable features of early cinema which are offered to the current cinema, however some of them are not considered important while others are totally forgotten, others adopted, ignored, praised while others are rebuked. But with the introduction of sound in classic Hollywood cinema there are high chances of these early historical cinemas to be embraced and produced again with sound effects. This will transform them into new forms of cinema production but in real sense they would be the actual old but modified by the current technology and fresh introduction of other aspects. It is very unfortunate that numerous material praised from the historical cinema have been completely ignored by the current cinema, however they comprise of meaningful documentary information which can be incorporated in the modern cinema. There was one aspect in historical cinema which was clearly the a ability of identifying the entire world we dwell in, the photographers were excellent in taking the slices which comprised certain reality and unified them with matching frames which enhance proper motion retention. This implied that images practically restored motion and they were granted back life thus unfreezing them. The introduction of sound incorporated very well with camera capture achieves therefore lightening up the classic Hollywood cinema more thus it attracted more viewers with totally different needs, it brought out different emotions to different people; with a fraction of people being able to identify exactly the real historical events featured while other s were unable to recognize them (Dyer 1993). The major impression solely depended of the ability of this reality to be portrayed in the cinema; generally this gave the early cinema a distinctive feature which will firmly remain in the heart of many people especially with the vast historical events featured in the films. The historical cinemas which were most probably without sound effects had no greater impacts to the viewers , however when sound was introduced many people come to love the cinema due to the information presented to them by the film. In some instance the films contained sensitive information which could have help the audience; for instance there were cinemas which there main idea or information indented to be put across was about the grievances of workers who either went on streets to demonstrate for better working conditions or basically an increase in their wages. This information was later resurfaced and introduced again in cinemas thus giving the audience to have a clear clue on what was exactly happening during those time (May 1981). Later back in the year, film production was basically diverted in specific areas of concentration with the inclusion of politics. It largely diversified the adventure of filmmakers as they ventured deeper in the field of politics to eventually come up with cinemas with a political overview. On the other hand this enhances competitiveness in the entire field of film production as many other feature of film making was incorporated. Despite of entrance in the filmmaking field by political figures, there was no total support from either the government directly or other stakeholders affiliated to the government thus this work was not controlled by the government but instead it was done taken care of by stakeholders in the field of film production. Some cinemas have their initial images of pictures which represent the historical background, however filmmakers have come with their own appropriate was of introducing sound or voices in them to make them more attractive to the viewers. Therefore these represent a complex zonal view where several elements of art are embraced; ideally listening observing and responding must be closely incorporated with other forms of art which include arguing, shaping or interpreting of the information which is conveyed in the cinema. Viewers realized that what is basically watched in the cinema was a complexity of semi-visual combinations of the real history and the sound which was created, a part from sound there were other aspects which were introduced to enhance specific meaning; they ranged from moral values expected in the society, exhortations related to politics, spiritual teachings, tales which are meant to caution people over certain issues and romantic genes (Maltby 1990). On the same note the introduction of sound or voice to cinemas greatly attracted a very large number of people from the political arena due the value it added especially on historical documentary. Poetry also joins hands to play part in this field of film production which was unified with sound. The main reason behind introduction of sound in cinemas was to give viewers a clue of what real happened in the past and what they had never seen before. There were a number of issues of concern with regard to introduction of sound to cinemas which was at a very higher level noticed due their ability to take center stage a head of fictional films and documentaries. This meant that voice or sound was very vital in enforcing the massage passed across from the cinema to the audience. On the other hand voice played a very crucial role in informing exactly what the film was about to the audience. Most commonly the information presented in the films had hidden meaning especially when it was indented to scold certain people. Sound was also crucial just like it is in our daily life. It matters a lot on how we communicate and the type of information that we pass across. Sound variation also played a very important role in ensuring that the information exchanged was appropriate. It is also evident that similar sound played the same role in film and cinemas. Color was another aspect of film production which played a very vital role in conveying the massage. For instance “Roman Holiday 1953” is one of the films which was produced in black and white. Basically, many film directors used color as one of the means of passing across a specific massage to the viewers. Ideally, each color stands for specific idea of information (Christensen 1987). Whenever the director does not intent to pass the massage in form of sound them the same massage can be depicted in color form. On the other hand color used in cinemas or films is used to show a certain or specific atmosphere of a place thus color in this context is specifically used to show the depth of volumes it covers. In the classic Hollywood cinema were more attractive because of the color effect applied either in the films or within the cinema , more people got attracted to the cinema as opposed to the number of fewer people who turned up for the earlier cinemas which lacked color. Unlike cinemas done in black and white, the colored cinemas probably come with beauty thus giving the viewers a chance to distinguish between the colors presented. The choice of color also plays a role in identifying an interesting or less infesting cinema, therefore when choosing color it is advisable to select the best colors to be applied in the entire cinema or to specific parts of the cinema. Before introduction of color and sound to the classic Hollywood cinema, the films totally lacked life and they were not interesting however after this two aspects were incorporated into classic Hollywood cinema there has be more life in the films thus attracting more people who come to watch the films. There are so many aspects which are usually involved in film production with regard to color and its effects to the cinema. The aspect of alignment is also evident in all films however color choice maters; alignment portrays images in the film to look as if they a real. This implies that color plays a role in ensuring that the sense of reality prevails in the film; it relates the information in the film to the actual life on the other hand historical life is presented in form of color. This implies that fade colors or colors which are not very bright can be used to represent certain history events or life. This is one of the main factors which lacked in the previous films or documentaries which had been produced earlier. A very huge number of classic Hollywood audiences got attracted more to the beauty presented in the films. There are many characters in every single film, and every actor has his or her own distinct role to play thus colors plays a crucial role in helping the viewers in identifying different characters and the roles they play in the entire film, in addition there are numerous details which are summed up to come up with the part of the film therefore identification of details is another major role played by color. In the classic Hollywood cinema there are a lot of films viewed and each has different emotions and probably different types of feelings brought out at different stages, different colors are generally used to bring out different feelings therefore a film which is done in natural black and white does not bring out clear ideas and feelings. Just like the usual life where different signs are painted in different colors to signify specific ideas, warning or to give instruction, for instance the road signs (Lewis & Smoodin 2007). The same purpose is applicable in films where the audience can be able to identify specific signs which a colored using respective color, therefore color plays a vital role in identification of objects in films. There are numerous colors and each color when used in a certain film it signifies a specific idea, information or it give a warning related to a particular situation “Gone with the Wind, 1939”. In most cases when the combination of black and white colors is used in a film they signify difference in either history or age “Roman Holiday, 1953” (Barrios 1995). Most films which were produced in early years are normally in black and white on the other hand when a director of the film wants to bring out a historical event in a fraction of the film then most definitely that section will be portrayed in black and white. A combination of props of the same colors in a film by the director especially in the same scene mostly influences the moods of the viewers. In this case blue is used to imply depression or loneliness. On the other hand some films applying paintings in some of their scenes to signify either goals which are unrealistic or simply fantasy “Gone with the Wind, 1939”. For instance the painting a flower in the whole film while the rest of the film remain unpainted. Colors which are desaturated are used in films to imply the state of poverty or in some situations age; in this case bright colors are completely omitted and dark colors are introduced in their places, on the contrary saturated colors are used in the film to portray or accent to a specific object or scene (Bansak 1995). Saturated colors are the colors which are brightened. Generally the introduction of sound and color in classic Hollywood cinema impacted positively due to the eye catching ability and the beauty which was evident in all films. On the other hand the choice of sound to be applied in the film matters a lot; different sounds stands for specific situation, incidents or occasions therefore their application in the film should be inclined to the main purpose they intend to serve thus if the sound is used inappropriately then the whole scene would be rendered irrelevant. On the other hand the choice of the color to be used in the film should correspond to the main purpose they intend to serve in the film. Good color application and display will enhance beauty and appropriate interpretation of different scenes and incidents however poor color choice would most definitely lead to misinterpretation of scenes in the film thus the entire film will loses its intended meaning. References Bansak, E. G 1995, Fearing the dark, The Val Lewton Career, McFarland. Barrios, A 1995, Song in the dark: The birth of the musical Film, OUP, London. Benshoff, H. M. & Griffin, S 2004, America on film: Representing race, class, gender and sexuality at the movies, Blackwell, New York. Cameron, K. M 1997, America on film: Hollywood and American history, Continuum, Boston. Cavell, S 1981, Pursuits of happiness: The Hollywood comedy of remarriage, Harvard University Press, New York. 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McDonald, P 2000, The star system: Hollywood’s production of popular identities, Wallflower Press, Boston. Read More