The beginning of motion picture

Before sound, entertainment was silence. Before the development of sound paired with picture, there was silent film. The silent film era started in 1894. Technical advancements were made in this era to provide projectors, the beginning of motion picture.  The films are not exactly silent. Emotions were conveyed through music. This could be minor piano cords played in dramatic scenes, or the sharp notes of a violin to increase suspense.  

Silent Film paved the way for what movies and television are today. If there was not silent film, there might not have been movies at all. The first short films were only minutes long. Experimentation with projectors are pictures led filmmakers from the United States to Europe to start showing these minute-long clips to the public. Motion picture became a staple in entertainment because it was cost efficient and could entertain large groups of people at once. These silent pictures led to the making of video advertisements and movie theaters.  

The filming of silent movies was not as glamorous as a movie would be today. The beginning of silent movies was filmed all in one shot. The camera remained non-moving as actors moved around the camera. This is one of the reasons silent movies remained short.  

To many old movie fans, the original great actors are people like Audrey Hepburn and James Stewart. But before we heard these actors, we saw two of the first actors in motion picture.  

Charlie Chaplin was one of the most memorable faces in silent films. Chaplain was born in April of 1889 and began entertaining in 1897. His first role was a small part in Sherlock Holmes in 1899. Chaplin rose to fame and starred in many silent films such as Kid Auto Races at Venice.  

Lillian Gish was a famous actress in the silent movie industry who began when she was just six years old. The women in her family were also in the public eye, as she and her sister Dorothy appeared on stage together from six until nineteen years old. By 1912 Gish had been placed in her first motion picture, An Unseen Enemy. Gish made 12 films that year, all under director D. W. Griffith. Gish appeared on screen for the next fourteen years in roles such as The Scarlet Letter and The Birth of a Nation.  

As the end of an era was approaching, both actors’ careers were coming to an end. As the “talkies”, or what someone today would call a “normal movie” were becoming more popular, silent films were becoming less popular until all together, the making stopped. Gish appeared in two films after this, Commandos Strike at Dawn and Top man. After the 1930s, silent films were no longer apart of entertainment.  

Though Chaplin did not speak in his films, his thoughts on film is something that pertains to today, “A world without laughter is a day wasted”. Silent film was the beginning of public entertainment and should be recognized for the path it paved.