Film Industry-Silence to Sound

1.     The film industry began in big cities like New York, because despite the smoke/steam they filmed on the rooftops. They did this because sunlight was essential. The “studio city” was Fort Lee, NJ because it was just across the river from New York.

2.     The filmmakers moved to California because it was a blissful contrast to where they were at the time. It was safe and sunny 365 days a year. They finally arrived in Hollywood in 1911.

3.     The DeMilles were brothers who came to California from New York in 1913. They brought the Laskey Feature Play Co with them and they recorded the first feature film from California, The Squawman.

4.     Deforest invented the Phonofilm. It combined his amplifier and picture to record sound on film.

5.     Warner Brothers was the first studio to introduce sound, but Fox joined as well. Most others were hesitant and wanted them to test it out first.

6.     Fox teamed up with Thomas Case to present Movietone. They created Fox Movietone News, which was weekly news. They equipped their theatres with sound, and most politicians spoke on the news.

7.     Actors had to see if they had a “voice” when sound was introduced. Each actor had to go in for a day and see if they had a “voice” that could be recorded. Lots of careers ended, especially for foreign actors. Actors had to go to stage training and voice schools to learn how to talk.

8.     Movies changed when sound was introduced by film slowing down and sound becoming all-important. The cameramen “forgot” how to film, and soundmen ruled filmmakers.

9.     Louis Lumiere invented the Cinematograph, which was a self-contained camera and projector. It was the first apparatus for making and showing films. Thomas Edison invented the Kinetoscope, which was the movie viewing system.