My “right brain theory” about silent film resonated with a journalist recently. It doesn’t usually happen, and I was pleased as punch that this core aspect of the Silent Film medium got included in the video profile made by the… Read More »Talking About Silents with the New Yorker
Several of us classic comedy film fans have been trying to dispel the myth of pie fights and custard pie-throwing in silent movies. I’ve been pondering the myth’s origins for a while and have a theory. No factual or documentary… Read More »Pie-Eyed – In Search Of The Pie Fight’s Origins
On Tuesday night I rolled the dice and presented yet another obscure, unknown silent comedy film I’d taken a liking to at a show I was accompanying. Sure, I liked the wacky adventures and Fairbanksian enthusiasm of Douglas MacLean in… Read More »Enjoying Douglas MacLean – It’s Not Just Me
About a month ago I went from being a fan and regular listener of Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast to being a guest on the show. Josh Mills and I were on the show’s 294th episode to talk about Ernie… Read More »Gilbert Gottfried, Silent Film Narrator
The question I am asked most often at show Q&A’s, social situations and in press interviews is one I still don’t know how to answer. “Do you have a favorite film that you like to accompany?” After 38 years of… Read More »My Favorite Silent Film to Accompany Is…
Buster Keaton, along with Larry Semon, made the best use of taking different shots at different cranking speeds within a scene. This part of the Silent Film language was available and used by everyone in the silent era. Since the… Read More »Undercranking Study: Buster Keaton Trails a Suspect
I think it might be useful that DVD authoring be taught in film schools and film preservation programs. Not to everybody, and not as a requirement. But it would be a useful elective to offer, or as a sub-section of… Read More »Author! Author!
The year is winding down and I wanted to take a moment to thank you for reading my blog during the past several months. I’ve gotten a lot out of blogging, and found that what I’d heard about blogging from… Read More »Thanks for Reading My Blog in 2019
If a venue and I are looking at a December date, I get asked the same thing other film accompanists get asked. Is there a good Christmas silent movie we can show? It’s easy to program to the calendar with… Read More »There Ain’t No “Santa Claus” Silent Film
The pause between songs on a record album or CD is usually four or five seconds. I don’t know how this was determined back in the early days of long playing records, but it is just enough time to mentally… Read More »Four Seconds