Research

The main inspiration for this production is from Charlie Chaplin and his silent comedy sketches that often had him in a strange situation, specifically looking at The Lion’s Cage scene (1928). The way he presents himself in these videos reflect want we want to do with our one, focusing on the exaggerated acting and emotions.

When silent films were made (1994-early 1920s), editing was limited to what they were able to do to the physical film. They cut off portions that were not needed and starting around 1903, many inserted drawn or printed frames of text throughout the reel to act as title and speech cards. Film makers had to be careful with the amount that they filmed as film was/is very expensive so had to plan out each shot, making sure very little takes were done and the amount of film cut off was reduced.

Another silent film we looked into was The Great Train Robbery (1903) by Edwin S. Porter. In the first scene we see a train pass in the background which was done using a projector showing that there were already ways of adding effects, only before post production, which was done again a few minutes later when we are inside the train to make it look like it’s moving. Learning the challenges that film makers in this era had to face is very interesting to think of how it has changed and that it can keep changing. For example again in this 1903 film, cameras were extremely heavy and difficult to move around so a lot of the shots are long shots. In order to change the type of shot, usually the actors would move forward or backwards instead of the camera which is why at the end of The Great Train Robbery the last shot had the actor close to the camera holding up his gun, creating a medium close-up; this technique of having one different shot at the end was very popular as it would give a little variety in their film.

As sound could not be recorded during shooting, music along with Foley sounds were put on top in post production helping to set the mood or even exaggerate the movements of the actors. For my film I want to portray a bit of a comedic atmosphere with the music by making it reflect one of the characters’ skittish traits, working together with the amplified acting.

The Lion’s Cage scene (1928) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0a998z_G4g&ab_channel=CharlieChaplin
The Great Train Robbery (1903) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11PBAUkrg54&ab_channel=npatou

Practice

Before producing a larger 6-person film, the class was split into groups of 3-4 to film a quick silent video and edit it. We were not able to put a lot of planning into it but it taught us to apply the basic techniques, like static shots. The post production I felt was the most helpful for preparation as I had not created a simple black and white film that reflected what those from the early 1900s look like. I changed the aspect ratio to 4:3 to mimic the look of most of them, changed the footage into greyscale and created title and speech cards. Doing this made me think more about the timings of having the text appear on screen as well as the durations. Overall, although it wasn’t a fantastic production or outcome, it did allow me to practice these aspects to apply for this specific genre.

After changing classes, we were able to re-do this film in a group of 6.

Crew

• Adam – Leader, lighting, assisstant camera
• Ellie – Props, assisstant camera, actor
• Jack – Actor, set design

• Gareth – Leader, director
• Harley – Actor, writer
• Charlie – Writer, actor

Script/Shot List

“The idea for our 30 second B&W silent film is to do a slapstick musical chairs final round where there are 2 people left fighting for the last chair left. At the start one person (Ellie) is carrying a chair out while the announcer (Charlie) says this is the last round and “play the music” which will be shown on a board thing on screen. Jack and Harley will be the last two fighting for the final chair. When the music ends Jack attempts to sit down on the chair and Harley grabs the chair from under jacks unsuspecting behind as jack then comically falls down and Harley succeeds as Adam then walks back on and lifts one of Harley’s arms up as he won.” 

• Charlie: This is the final round, place your bets and and start the music!

   Actions/shot(s): 

• Starts with long shot of the scene showing the floor so that Jack can be seen when he falls over.
• Scene starts with Jack and Harley staring each other down making threatening gestures.
• Ellie is carrying a chair off screen to the left at the start.
• Charlie is centre screen as he announces “This is the final round, Place your bets and start the music!”
• Charlie walks off screen to the right and then the music starts.
• Harley and Jack start walking around the last chair.
• A few seconds later the music stops and as Jack attempts to sit down Harley pulls the chair out from under Jacks unsuspecting buttocks and he falls over in a comical fashion.
• Harley sits down on the chair in a similar way as to Bethesda games.
• Next shot is a medium long shot of Harley as Charlie comes back and holds up Harleys hand as Charlie explains “WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!”
• Jack sits up in bottom corner of screen looking very upset.
• Fin 

Script/Shot List

• 2x chairs
• Whiteboard/pen
• Blue roll (decoration)
• Door handle
• Sony camera
• Lights

Risk Assessment

Editing Capture

From the original footage, I changed the aspect ratio to 4:3 as this is what films from the black and white era where filmed in. I was careful to not cut any of the props or actors out which was easy to do due to the action being in the centre of the frame, however the speaker is slightly out of shot right at the end of the video.

After turning the videos to black and white, I decided to overlay a video of old film scratches to make it look even more authentic.

The title cards were made from inserting an image of an existing blank design and placing a separate layer of text on top so I could alter it for each section of speech. Making sure to keep up the old look, I carefully chose which font to use which ended up being Freestyle Script.

Evaluation

I am very happy with the outcome of the production. I think it looks like an authentic silent film from the early 1900s from the static camera angle, set design and exaggeration in the acting. The only two things I would change if I were to repeat this are the costumes of the actors and the framing.

I think specifically the jumpers that the actors are wearing modernises the film a bit as they aren’t something that teenagers would be seen wearing in the era it’s set; just changing this aspect would make a huge difference to the audience actually believing that the film is from back then. In the future I will do more research on the kinds of clothing that my characters would wear. Looking at the composition of the film, I really like how it turned out, but around the 0:40 mark the actor that comes on screen (Charlie) is cut in half due to the 4:3 aspect ratio I changed to. To fix this, I would consider either changing the aspect ratio for the entire film (although it may make it appear less like a real silent movie) or make sure that it would fit when recording the footage, possibly setting the camera to record in 4:3.

Working as a team of six was a lot easier than as a four as we could have the amount of characters on screen that we wanted. This also helped in the planning stage, having half focusing on writing and the other on the technical aspects. Having a team leader for each group, we were able to decide what to do fairly quickly which is important in film productions, the only downside I could see was that a group would have ideas for the other which made it a little difficult to keep on track.

Overall, the film is on point to what we planned, with the crew working together well and preparation making the production quick and enjoyable.