Walter Kerr opens his book The Silent Clowns with five chapters on the core aesthetics of Silent Film itself. Perhaps not an obvious choice for a tome on comedy films from the ‘teens and ‘twenties, but I believe that understanding… Read More »More Logical The Other Way Around
We’ve all heard of or referred to Silent Film as a universal language. It’s not just because the films are wordless, although that certainly levels the playing field. But it’s true. But it’s because of that same leaving-out that is… Read More »A Universal Non-Spoken Language
We use our imagination to fill in the elements left out, with Silent Film. As obvious as this may be to adults who’ve seen silent film, it’s ironic that there’s an assumption that kids won’t go for silents. Ironic, because… Read More »That’s Not a Real Car
People who haven’t seen Silent Film — or experienced it — are always surprised to know there’s an interest in it. When I tell people kids eat it up when I show Keaton in schools they are amazed. They shouldn’t… Read More »The Reason Silent Film “Still Works”: Your Brain
I wasn’t sure when I first heard about Patreon, but a recent NPR piece about it that interviews its founders Jack Conte and Sam Yam mentions their launch year of 2013. So, this was during the time in the early… Read More »Brandy Snifter on the Cocktail Bar Piano
Over the last several months of doing live-accompanied live-streams of silent films, I’ve noticed the validity of something I’d read that Charley Chase once said. That he’d learned from his years in vaudeville that every seven years you get a… Read More »Re-release Everything
“Adventures In Sound!” – Ben tracks his own journey to find the digital devices that best re-create or at least evoke the classic theater pipe organ experience under modern screening conditions. Topics Ben discusses the “temporary” theme for the podcast,… Read More »ep. 39: “Adventures in Sound!”
I often bring rugelach from Zabars as a professional gift. People really like it, and Zabars is 8 blocks away from our building. When I tossed bags of the stuff to Frank Santopadre and Gilbert Gottfried while unpacking my keyboard… Read More »Rugelach and Gilbert Gottfried: the Gifts that Keep on Giving
Ever slam your hand in a door? This is what we played with in the last of the five videos. There’s a way to do this safely and make it look real, using the ersatz sleight-of-hand of the speed-up of… Read More »Exploring the Speed of Silent Comedy Film – test #5
One of the facets of silent film, and silent film comedy, is that since the film overall is being projected faster than taking speed, you can take individual shots at different speeds. When run together, the viewer won’t see the… Read More »Exploring the Speed of Silent Comedy Film – test #4