Why didn't filmakers, directors, and musicians welcome the concept of sound !
Question: Why didn't filmakers, directors, and musicians welcome the concept of sound in movies!?
Answers:
First of all, the films made before the coming of recorded synchronized sound were in many ways universal in appeal!. Anyone in any country could watch and follow the action and the story!. That's how the art of movies spread throughout the world!.
Second, nearly all "silent" films were accompanied by live music in the theaters where they were shown, either by a piano, organ, or band, or even orchestras!. The coming of sound films put a lot of musicians out of work!.
Third, the cost of switching a studio from silent to sound technology was staggering!. The early sound cameras were huge, and noisy, and had to be cased in giant boxes to be used--they couldn't move with the fluidity of silent cameras, so early sound films were pretty stiff and not too artistically made in comparison with films made only a year or two earlier!. The cost of switching theaters to sound was also incredibly expensive, and since most studios actually owned or franchised the movie theaters, thay had to pay for that as well!.
Directors found the change hard, not only from the standpoint of photographing the story, but directing the actors!. In many silent films, the directors could coach the actors as a scene was being filmed, often standing next to the camera and giving directions to the actors as the camera was cranked!. This was completely out of the question when every sound on the set could be picked up by the microphones!. The change was also very time-consuming, when you consider that not only the action, lights, photography and acting had to be perfect during a scene, but now the sound and dialog had to be perfect at the same time as everything else!.
And as for the actors!. imagine having a great film career that depended on your pantomime ability, suddenly finding that no matter what your moving and expressing talents were, if your voice wasn't good enough to be recorded and sound good, your career could go right down the drain!.
It was a cataclysmic change for the industry!. Some people believe it wasn't that good a change!. But it happened, and we've got it, until the next innovation, or re-discovery!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
Second, nearly all "silent" films were accompanied by live music in the theaters where they were shown, either by a piano, organ, or band, or even orchestras!. The coming of sound films put a lot of musicians out of work!.
Third, the cost of switching a studio from silent to sound technology was staggering!. The early sound cameras were huge, and noisy, and had to be cased in giant boxes to be used--they couldn't move with the fluidity of silent cameras, so early sound films were pretty stiff and not too artistically made in comparison with films made only a year or two earlier!. The cost of switching theaters to sound was also incredibly expensive, and since most studios actually owned or franchised the movie theaters, thay had to pay for that as well!.
Directors found the change hard, not only from the standpoint of photographing the story, but directing the actors!. In many silent films, the directors could coach the actors as a scene was being filmed, often standing next to the camera and giving directions to the actors as the camera was cranked!. This was completely out of the question when every sound on the set could be picked up by the microphones!. The change was also very time-consuming, when you consider that not only the action, lights, photography and acting had to be perfect during a scene, but now the sound and dialog had to be perfect at the same time as everything else!.
And as for the actors!. imagine having a great film career that depended on your pantomime ability, suddenly finding that no matter what your moving and expressing talents were, if your voice wasn't good enough to be recorded and sound good, your career could go right down the drain!.
It was a cataclysmic change for the industry!. Some people believe it wasn't that good a change!. But it happened, and we've got it, until the next innovation, or re-discovery!.Www@Enter-QA@Com