Milestones in Sound Recording

These technological advances helped make sound a necessity in films because they created this sensation that got better over time, and could be manipulated to the likes of the producer. I think the three most important advances to video and film are audio manipulation, layering audio, and digital audio. Audio manipulation allowed for sound to be versatile, which inspired sound engineers to create more unique sounds, which eventually lead to sound effects in cinema. Another important advancement was the ability to layer different audio tracks, as it allowed for vocal and instrumental parts to be overdubbed over each other, which is a technique used everywhere in sound editing to create depth in the audio. In addition, digital audio was crucial for the development of modern films because it put workstations in the hand of consumers, and any household could record and edit their own music, which raised the bar for movies and got more people into creating sound for the big screen.

History of Sound Questions

In terms of the history of sound at the movies, I would like to learn more about...
1.When did films transition from musical scores to actually having dialogue and sound effects?
2. In what era did foley start and how was it first received?
Of the majority of early films we've seen, they only have music in the background or no sound at all, so I'm curious about when films started to incorporate dialogue. I know that slates on the screen had been used in the early silent film to show someone's words or thoughts, but I think that actually having audio with the actor's voices would make it easier to tell stories. Also, I'm fascinated by the work of foley artists and their role now in Hollywood, and I'd like to learn when and how they got their start in the industry. I feel like that position is something people might've looked down upon, as it involves using everyday objects and doesn't fit the glamorous jobs that people usually associate with movies. With that said, I'd like to learn about some of the earliest foley artists, and get a sense for their stories and opinions on the industry back then.

Frequency

Frequency in audio is the speed of the oscillating sound waves as they travel back and forth. It's measured in the unit, hertz, or cycles per second. When viewing frequency on a graph, it's described by the rate of change in amplitude, or essentially the number of cycles the waveform makes per second. For example, a tone of 100 Hz would push a speaker cone back and forth one hundred times in a second, because 100 Hz translates to 100 cycles per second. When frequency increases, the pitch of the sound wave also gets perceived as higher. In contrast, a lower frequency will create a lower pitch, which is a lot harder to hear with our eardrums, but can be felt because of the vibrations.
With age, we prematurely damage our hearing, and our ability to hear high frequencies is reduced, so it's important to protect one's hearing from noisy environments, so they can experience a larger field of sound and hear all types of frequencies.

Bit Rates

When comparing the bit rates, it's evident that as it gets smaller and smaller, the sound quality is affected and the whole piece sounds worse. The first two versions had high bit rates of 320 kbps and 192 kbps, and it was hard to notice any differences or flaws with them. Based on this, I can assume that high bit rates in general work well for audio, and you only start to have problems when you go lower than a certain point. This theory was supported in the versions of the song that were 96 kbps or less, because they gradually sounded more muffled, and as if a poor recording of the song was playing. I don't think that bit depth has an effect on sound quality because they all had 32 bits, but another difference was observed in file size. Those versions with high bit rates also required large file sizes, so a good use of thumb is the less bit rates you use, the less file space you'll need to have.

Seeing Sound

I found it interesting that in order to show the sound disturbances in the air, a technique was used that's also common in lighting a film. The technique involves using two parabolic mirrors to reflect light rays and recoup it down to a single focal point, that's partially blocked by a barrier. When something is placed to distort the air like a candle, its rising heat bends the light rays, and they now become blocked by the barrier. This creates a darker picture and a silhouette, which allows us to see sound coming from any kinetic reaction like a clap or sneeze. By seeing sound visualized, it's easy to understand what it's made up of, as that can't be perceived by the naked eye. With this visualization, you can understand that it's essentially just traveling compression waves, which similar to heat, create a change in air density.  

Early History of Cinema Reflection

During the scope of this unit, I learned about Muybridge's contribution to the invention of motion pictures, the importance of the cinematograph, and why the movie industry ended up in Hollywood. Muybridge was a photographer and inventor who took successive pictures of a horse in motion as part of a bet. His series photography created the illusion of motion when shown in rapid succession, and they proved the principle of persistence of vision. The Lumiere brothers invented the cinematograph, and it was revolutionary because it made films a spectacle that could be shown to entire audiences, thus creating the need for theaters. In terms of the movie industry, it moved to Hollywood because independent filmmakers wanted to get away from Edison and his lawsuits, and so they moved to the other coast which had lots of terrains and sunshine. I still have questions about William Greene because I don't feel like we covered him that much, as well as the significance of color in the early films because I'm still confused on whether they were made with it, or it was added later. To improve the overall unit, I think it'd be cool to have a demonstration of the historical devices we have in the class when we get to the slide about it, because people don't really check them out on their own but would probably be interested from seeing it in person.

Women in the Silent Film Era

During the silent era, women had roles in producing, directing, and running studios, and they wrote the outlines for about half of the films that were produced. Many were pioneers of film technology, but they didn't get recognition for their efforts before the devices became popular and other people took credit for them. In hindsight, women of the industry often got paid more than men, like Frances Marion who was the country's highest-paid screenwriter and also the founding vice president of the Screen Writers Guild. It's important to point out that most of these women in the industry were white, as any women of color were kept out of the industry, unless they got involved in an independent film. Only ten black women are factually known to be apart of the industry during this time, but even they held positions of creative control and some even managed their husbands' careers.

Wrapping Early Cinema History

Some of the biggest things I've learned from this unit are that Edison was pivotal in advancing the motion picture, although he created a monopoly on the industry and tried to sue anyone who used similar equipment. I also learned that the invention of photography was crucial to the age of motion pictures, because it created technology that highlighted the persistence of vision principle, and made motion films a possibility with the right adjustments. These adjustments came around with new inventions, like Kodak and his creation of flexible film, as well as a shutter and mechanism to increase the frame rate. The video shows me that the evolution of filmmaking started with low quality black and white films that gradually improved to have sound, then color, and eventually crazy sound effects and CGI that are used everywhere today. It's crazy to think that the whole phenomenon of motion pictures started with a couple guys who experimented with series photography and realized that when you put the photos together, it gave the illusion of motion. We've come a long way since then, and I think we're headed to an age in cinema where everything is shot digitally and film becomes nonexistent, as it's a more grueling process and people are always looking for ways to improve their lives.

Asian American Pioneers

At the time of the birth of Hollywood, Asian actors and characters were treated as stereotypes of their culture and they were often cast in roles that played them off as a villain, and had little ethnic relevance. There were several anti-miscegenation laws active during the early 1900's, and so Asian actors were prevented from taking on roles that involved romance with a white lead. Even when a script called for an Oriental lead, white actors were often cast in that place with yellow face, which prevented many Asian actors from landing roles mean't for them. After reading about some of the biggest Asian American stars at the time, I can most relate to Hayakawa's story because he was introduced to the world of theater and cinema after watching a theater performance, which is a similar way I got intrigued by the arts. I found his achievements to be significant because he went from flunking out of school to landing several roles with legendary directors like DeMile and Ince, as well as being the first Asian American to open and operate a Hollywood studio, known as Haworth Pictures Corp.

African American Silent Film

Micheaux was so important in film history because he tackled many controversial issues like lynching, interracial relationships, and most importantly racism, which he examined in D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation. Although he came from a modest background, Oscar Micheaux started as a writer and he raised enough money to start his own production company. He usually worked with marginal budgets, and he was known for taking on all aspects of production, including releasing his films out of the back of his car. Some of his achievements include being the first African-American to have his work shown in "white" theaters, as well as the first filmmaker to direct a talkie. His films were based on portraying real people with everyday concerns, instead of just stereotyping certain characters. During the time period, his achievements were so significant because cinema was dominated by white ideals and values, and his films were unique in giving a voice to those who were marginalized.  

Charlie Chaplin

Chaplin got his start on the stage at the age of thirteen, and he went on to join a pantomime troupe six years later. During one of his tours, he landed a film contract with Mack Sennett and his Keystone Film Company, which prompted him to move to Hollywood and try his hand at movies. After being a Keystone actor, Charlie Chaplin moved to the Essanay Film Company and became a mega-star in films that he had total control of. His talents included comedy and visual storytelling as his portrayal of a tramp character was beloved by millions of Americans. I admire that Chaplin spent several years perfecting his tramp character, as well as had the motivation to do more in the film industry than just act. Later in his career, he formed United Artists with three other prominent filmmakers in an effort to gain more control over his work. I find it unique that despite all his success, certain politicians still considered Chaplin a war monger because of some of his films, and he had his U.S. Visa revoked some years after making "The Great Dictator".

Women Pioneers

Mabel was famous for being a slapstick comedian and starring in over a hundred fifty short films, and then being one of the first silent film actors to transition into a director, with most of her work at Keystone Film Company. Some of her most significant films were Mabel's Dramatic Career, where she solidified her career as a Keystone actress, Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life, in which she portrayed the iconic women tied to the tracks, and Tillie's Punctured Romance, a slapstick comedy where she starred alongside Charlie Chaplin. Her downfall occurred when her come-back film got spoiled by Fatty Arbuckle's rape trials, and other scandals emerged including the murder of her close friend, William Desmond Taylor. Mabel was also known to suffer from alcoholism and drug use, and she had some interesting romances that are still being speculated about today. I'm surprised that she had no previous background in theatre, and yet became a leading performer and studio owner, especially considering her background was in modeling.

Nickelodeon to Movie Palace

Nickelodeons usually consisted of small rooms, a white screen tacked to the wall, and row benches for seating, which wasn't terrible considering they only cost a nickel. On the contrast, movie palaces were designed to attract citizens through their beauty and new features, like a lobby, orchestra, ushers, and regal draperies. The first movie palace was opened by a pair of brothers in Times Square, New York in 1914. It was named the Mark Strand Theater, and its new upscale amenities attracted the upper and middle classes. The move to movies palaces was influenced by large movie studios and their decision to buy existing theaters and revamp them, thus making the experience of going to the movies more appealing. These movie palaces were so important because they changed the stereotype of who could go watch movies, and inspired a new audience for the next wave of films.

The Patent Wars

Thomas Edison and his plan to monopolize on the film industry led to its transfer from New Jersey to Los Angeles. His mission was to hijack the industry by assembling representatives of the nation's largest movie companies, and then filing patents on every essential motion picture camera system. He named this new company the Motion Picture Patents Company, and they set out to prosecute the smaller movie producers who used similar equipment on the grounds of patent infringement. Edison's empire grew as he overwhelmed his rivals, and so a small group of independent film producers decided to move their work to Los Angeles to get away from the MPPC, and enjoy the benefits of sunshine. At the time, motion pictures were being screened at an all-time high in about 14,000 Nickelodeon theaters across the country, but these film projections were slowly merging into "real" theaters that held more patrons and catered to the upper class.

The Latham Loop

The Latham loop is a process of pulling film through the threading device of a camera so the sprockets didn't tear. It's used in film projection and it changed cinema by allowing films to be projected for extended periods of time. This feat was possible because the film could gently spool over from the back of the camera to the front, and the film strip didn't tear because it was isolated from vibration and tension. The loop was created by a father and his two sons in their quest to film and screen a boxing match. After their initial success, they teamed up with Edison to create a device that would indefinitely allow for longer pictures, so more boxing matches could be projected for admission. They were successful with Edison and continued to to screen spectacles until their money ran out, although they received a patent on their mechanism in 1902.