FAKULTI FILEM, TEATER DAN ANIMASI (FiTA)

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA (UiTM)

   
CODE / COURSE NAME:
FFF111 FILM HISTORY

LECTURER NAME:
EN. MUHAMMAD SHAHRAZIF BIN TAJUL MUHD MAJIDI

 ASSIGNMENT NAME:
HOME TEST

STUDENT NAME AND MATRIC NUMBER:

MUHAMMAD SYAFIQ HAIQAL BIN SHAHIZAM
(2022881586)

PROGRAMME/GROUP:
FFF111/CAFF1111A
Introduction

For this home test, I was assigned to answer multiple question that was given by

Mr. MUHAMMAD SHAHRAZIF BIN TAJUL MUHD MAJIDI after his lectures. So, I

choose the Hollywood cinema and I need to do some research about it. I need to find

out about Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and I need to find about the advent of

sound technology and the importance of the Sound Technology to film industry.

Who was Charlie Chaplin? What films did he make? What and how
did he contribute to the history of film? Explain the significance of
Charlie Chaplin to film history.

Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin, who is regarded as one of the greatest comedians to have ever

lived, was given the name Charlie Spencer Chaplin. He was a well-known figure

around the world who is noted for his outstanding comic timing and his capacity for

nonverbal expression. Charlie Chaplin stands out as one of the most notable

individuals in the history of cinema.

Charlie Chaplin was conceived on April 16, 1889. He was born to actors in

London, England. Charlie Chaplin's given name, Charlie Spencer Chaplin, was
derived from his actor and comedian father of the same name. Prior to being

institutionalised, his mother, a well-known singer and actress, spent his early years

with him. Sydney was the name of Charlie's other half-brother. Given the

responsibility to care for themselves, both brothers ended up in a variety of

residential schools and depressing workhouses. Charlie was allowed to join the

"Eight Lancashire Lads" clog-dancing troupe in 1897 and perform as one of their

members.

In 1907, Chaplin made his first trip to America with a theatre troupe. The young

Chaplin had two national tours while playing "Billy" in the production of "Sherlock

Holmes." He met Mack Sennett on his second tour, and they were both signed by

Keystone Studios as actors. Making a Living, Chaplin's debut one-reeler, was

released in 1914. He produced 34 additional short films in the same year, such as

"Caught in a Cabaret," "Caught in the Rain," "The Face on the Bar-Room Floor," and

"His Trysting Place." There was hardly any time for anything else in these early silent

shorts but physical humour, and Chaplin was a master at it.

The intricacies of Chaplin's acting made him brilliant, not his comic acrobatics,

which made him famous. In contrast to Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, who

performed daring stunts like hanging from clocks, Charlie Chaplin focused on

improvisation. Chaplin believed that the greatest approach to find the humour or

tragedy of a situation was to set up a setting and then stroll around it until something

organic occurred. Early theatre and movies were more concerned with just holding

the audience's attention by overly dramatic acting and overblown emotions, but
Chaplin saw a chance in cinema to have enough environmental control to let nuance

show through.

Charlie Chaplin Films

The Kid (1921)

Chaplin's first full-length movie as a director was an early illustration of his

sentimental side and demonstrated how a straightforward tale might be extended to

narrative length. Chaplin had previously achieved popularity in short films and early

serials with his "Little Tramp" persona, but The Kid transformed his outrageous

antics into a real character who undergoes a development process. It is still quite

moving and enjoyable 100 years later.

Through a peculiar chain of events, Chaplin comes upon an abandoned baby.

The child was left in a costly car that was stolen, leaving it to live amongst working-

class, destitute people like the Tramp. Five years later, when the youngster has

grown into a boisterous child (Jackie Coogan), the adventure begins. The Tramp

must now defend the boy from government services that want to separate them.

The Circus (1928)

One of Chaplin's most ambitious films was The Circus, which almost failed due to

a studio fire and several production hiccups. It was difficult to capture circus
performers because it required both the normal limitations of a live performance and

the absurd mayhem that the Tramp introduced. Based on technical merit alone, The

Circus represented a tremendous advancement for Chaplin as a director.

But it was also a more mature film emotionally, with a surprising amount of

melancholic self-awareness regarding stage performers. The Tramp ends up getting

a work at a decrepit circus after being mistaken for a real thief and being chased by

the police. The Tramp only inadvertently finds humour, despite his determined

attempts to win the ringmaster's favour.

City Lights (1931)

City Lights is arguably Chaplin's most exquisitely crafted film, despite the fact that

his next films would explore more mature topics and have more intricate plots. It

happened during a pivotal time when Chaplin's career was in doubt; four years

earlier, the triumph of 1927's The Jazz Singer hinted that the silent film age might be

coming to an end. Orson Welles, Stanley Kubrick, Andrei Tarkovsky, and Damien

Chazelle were among the great directors who were influenced by City Lights' act of

defiance and critical praise. With his upcoming major motion picture, Babylon,

Chazelle will continue to pay respect to Chaplin. The Old Hollywood-era movie

supposedly has Tobey Maguire in the role of Charlie Chaplin.

Chaplin once again shown how even the most straightforward plots could be

expanded into full-length films as the Tramp's mayhem included numerous

diversions. In City Lights, he becomes entangled in the excesses of an eccentric

billionaire after falling deeply in love with a blind girl (who he comically decks out in

flowers). It is Chaplin's most romantic movie, and the climactic moment is a classic

example of pure cinematic enchantment.

Modern Times (1936)

For Chaplin, Modern Times was a turning point in many respects because it was

the last time he played the Tramp and the first of his movies to have audio

conversation (albeit briefly). It also offered a critical response to current events as

the Tramp was overcome by the harsh industrialization working conditions. Chaos

can be caused by just one "kink in the system," a role Chaplin was only too happy to

play.

With the most tactile and ambitious stunt work in Chaplin's entire filmography,

Modern Times is a fantastic time capsule for the Great Depression. The Chaplin

score and the mechanical, rotational work facilities were beautifully timed, making

the pandemonium the Tramp created stand out even more against the mechanised

backdrop. The Tramp courting the orphan girl Ellen (Paulette Goddard) is still a

touching story, and it was Chaplin's ability to convey emotion that set him apart from

other silent film luminaries like Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton.

The Great Dictator (1940)

 It is difficult to stress how daring it was to create a parodic portrayal of Adolf Hitler

before the United States even entered World War II, making The Great Dictator

possibly Chaplin's most memorable masterwork. Chaplin's distinctive brand of

humour had an equally significant influence even though movies like The Mortal

Storm and Casablanca, which were produced around the same time and directly

addressed the Nazi danger. The risk of concentrating too much power in the hands

of one person was illustrated by the most basic illustration of Chaplin fiddling with a

bouncing globe.

Chaplin does both roles with ease. To play a Jewish barber who just so happens

to be the exact same as Adenoid Hynkel, the fascist leader of the imaginary country

of Tomonia, he put aside his Tramp image. While the barber's exploits overseeing a

war effort feature just as many visual puns as his earlier work, they come as a

sombre premonition of current world events. The barber is naturally able to pass for

the cruel leader to avoid prosecution. Particularly Chaplin's final monologue

demonstrated his equal capacity for vocal impact while also making a bold political

remark.

For contemporary filmmakers, The Great Dictator has remained an influential

work of satire. For his satirical World War II comedy Jojo Rabbit, writer/director Taika

Waititi hailed Chaplin's masterwork as one of the main sources of inspiration. Like

Chaplin, Waititi made the audacious decision to play the dreaded ruler himself. The

fact that Jojo Rabbit generated so much controversy because of its humorous

portrayal of Nazism just serves to highlight how ground-breaking The Great Dictator
still is. Chaplin succeeded in creating a movie that is both humorous and thought-

provoking.
 How Charlie Chaplin Breathed New Life into Cinema

Charlie Chaplin, who began his career in vaudeville, later went to filmmaking

during the silent era, essentially becoming one of the first "movie stars" in cinema

history. Chaplin, however, did more than only influence the development of the star

system in the movie business. In reality, Must See Films' Darren Foley examine how

the actor and director from London changed the very fabric of the movie industry by

bringing heart to his enduring brand of comedy in this video essay.

Comedies from the silent era were rife with pratfalls, sight gags, and the well-

known "slipping on a banana peel" cliché. Famous actors Buster Keaton and Harold

Lloyd made their names in the movies using this slapstick style of humour, but

Chaplin stood out from his contemporaries because of the psychological impact of

his comedy.

The "superiority theory" of English philosopher Thomas Hobbes appears to make

the most sense within the context of silent era slapstick comedy out of all the

theories of humour from thinkers like Sigmund Freud and Mikhail Bakhtin which also

traces back to Plato and Aristotle. It implies that people laugh at other people's

suffering to feel better about themselves—a practise known as schadenfreude.

Because he is large and we are not, we laugh at the muscle-bound guy who trips

and falls in front of his date. Because he has power and we do not, we chuckle at the

corrupt cop who unintentionally binds himself to a radiator.

 The Tramp, a well-known figure created by Chaplin, was an exception to this.

Instead, since they could identify to his anguish, he was able to make people laugh.

And, according to Harvard professor George Eman Vaillant, laughing is a protective

mechanism that enables people to investigate and discuss unpleasant and painful

topics. Chaplin provided audiences a character they could really relate to as they

battled to survive the Great Depression by incorporating sadness into his jokes.

Because his comedies were able to confront genuine themes with dimensional

people in a way that made them easier to talk about, Chaplin's humorous excursions

into the human condition changed cinema, primarily comedies, from a novelty into a

zoetic art form. To put it another way, his movies may have been amusing because

The Tramp wore enormous shoes and a tiny jacket, but they were fantastic because

he could not afford anything else, and that was something audiences at the time

could genuinely relate to.

It kind of makes one of Chaplin's most famous quotes “Life is a tragedy when seen in

close-up, but a comedy in long-shot" more poignant than ever.

Who was Buster Keaton? What films did he make? What and how

did he contribute to the history of film? Explain the significance of

Buster Keaton to film history.

Buster Keaton

One of the all-time best comedy actors was Buster Keaton. Only Charlie Chaplin

has had a greater impact on physical humour than him. Keaton's work was mostly

forgotten for many years, much like the works of many other notable silent-era

actors. There was a resurgence of interest in his films only towards the end of his

life. Keaton was one of the most accomplished and forward-thinking artists of his

day, producing fourteen significant silent features in addition to scores of short films,

demonstrating his acrobatic skill and psychological insight.

Joseph Francis Keaton, who was named after a six-month-old baby who fell down

a flight of stairs, was born in 1895 to Joe and Myra Keaton. He was picked up by

Harry Houdini after reaching the bottom unharmed and largely undisturbed, who

commented that the youngster could truly take a "buster," or fall. His name was now

known to the public and his parents as Buster Keaton. Keaton joined the family's

vaudeville act, The Three Keatons, when he was three years old. He was practically

used as a living prop for years as he was knocked over, tossed through windows,

dropped down staircases, etc. He was equipped for the fast-paced slapstick humour

of the silent movies because to his expertise in vaudeville.

 After his father's alcoholism ended the act in 1917, Keaton relocated to

Hollywood, where he met another former vaudevillian by chance. One of the most

well-known comedy actors of the era, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, took on Keaton and

helped him learn the business of acting. Keaton would refer to Arbuckle as one of his

best friends and a major influence for the rest of his life. The lanky Keaton made the

ideal foil for Arbuckle's clumsy antics with his deadpan humour and superb acrobatic

skills. The audience concurred, and within a few years, Keaton had gained the

recognition necessary for him to live independently.

The 1920s saw Keaton produce most of his most notable work. Keaton built a

world unlike the other comedy stars of the era by writing, directing, and appearing in

these movies. Whereas Charlie Chaplin escaped disaster by good fortune and luck,

and Harold Lloyd struggled physically to succeed, Keaton was an observer, a

wanderer caught up in his surroundings. He frequently found himself in perilous

situations like Chaplin and Lloyd (being pursued by a mob, being left behind by a

train), but he never lost his cool. Keaton was never someone to feel sorry for, no

matter how lost or depressed he appeared to be.

Buster Keaton passed away in 1966 at the age of 69 after completing production

on Richard Lester's A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM.

Millions of people's lives were impacted during his six-decade career. From Marlene

Dietrich to Samuel Beckett, Cecil B. DeMille to Tony Randall, he had collaborated

with them all while maintaining an air of apparent selflessness. This deadpan
manner served as a heart-breaking reminder of the frailty of life in the age of

sophisticated and overwhelming computers for many people. More than thirty years

after his passing, Buster Keaton's movies still strike us as amusing, heart-warming,

and current.

Buster Keaton Films

The General (1926)

The General, a minor box office hit that was based on the Great Locomotive

Chase of the American Civil War, is now considered as a masterpiece. One of

Buster Keaton's most valiant roles is that of Johnny Gray, a railroad engineer who

has to save his train from Union spies. The General, which is regarded as one of the

greatest action films of all time, features some of Keaton's best stunt work. Among

other things, the image of Johnny Gray riding the cowcatcher is still ingrained in

popular culture. This enormous effect is what continues to make The General one of

Keaton's most perfect pieces of work.

Sherlock Jr. (1924)

In Sherlock Jr., Buster Keaton's lead character balances working as a movie

projector and a detective. As Walter Crane, the villain, grows taller and thicker, the

stakes increase as Keaton goes up against him. But he summons his inner Sherlock

Holmes with the help of his wits. Sherlock Jr. has endured the test of time, earning a

spot on the Motion Picture Editors Guild's list of the best-edited movies ever made as
well as the AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs list. The movie is still having an impact on

movies today (Everything Everywhere All At Once makes a visual reference to it).

The editing is flawless as Keaton jumps from one train coach to another and

indulges in some hallucinogenic daydreaming.

Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)

Buster Keaton staged a house's entire facade to collapse around him at an era

before CGI could compensate for real stunts. Since the actor precisely planned his

standing position to be next to an open window, he avoids being flattened. The fact

that audiences are still in awe of the amazing stunt the genuine actor pulled off

shows how timeless Steamboat Bill, Jr. is. The film is rich with content as it shows

the path of a thoughtless son bonding with his estranged father while still having

enough style in its antics. The father of the girl Bill Jr. loves must also be dealt with,

which results in some classic Keaton pandemonium.

How Buster Keaton Revolutionized Film Comedy

Moviemakers continue to mimic the stunts, jokes, and visual style of comedian

Buster Keaton more than a century after he first began producing motion pictures.

They called Keaton "The Great Stone Face" for his death-defying exploits and stoic

appearance, and he was so devoted to his craft that he would never imitate a stunt

or tell the same joke twice. In one of the most expensive scenes in silent film history,

he even plunged a real locomotive into a river rather than using a model for his 1926
film The General (some claim pieces of the wreck are still visible in Oregon's Row

River today). He would fall from ledges, ladders, and moving cars.

Tony Zhou of Every Frame a Painting examines Buster Keaton's brilliance and his

ongoing legacy in his brief video essay, "Buster Keaton—The Art of the Gag." Zhou

explains how Keaton's movies have affected performers and directors like Bill

Murray, Wes Anderson, and Jackie Chan and contends that Keaton's knowledge of

framing, joke structure, and storytelling still hold true today despite the apparent

constraints of early 20th century film technology.

There are some directors who are so influential that their influence can be seen

everywhere, according to Zhou.

Explain the advent of sound technology and what was its

significance to the film industry?

The Advent of Sound Technology

Since the first film techniques were invented, countless inventors from different

parts of the world have been working on developing sound devices that could play

and record audio and video recordings. Unfortunately, most of these devices were
not able to reach the level of maturity that would allow them to be used by film

enthusiasts or the film industry.

One of the most prominent films sound designs was created by Charles Taze

Russell, an American minister and inventor. His creation, "The Photo-Drama of

Creation," was able to sync music and dialogue from the film with its scenes. He was

able to do so by using an independent phonograph, which reproduces pre-recorded

sounds on wax cylinders.

The Vitaphone sound-on-disc device, created by Western Electric's Bell

Laboratories in New York City and later acquired by Warner Brothers in 1925,

marked the beginning of the age of sound movies. "Don Juan," which had

synchronised symphony orchestra music soundtrack, sound effects, but no voice

track, was the first significant success of this camera and sound technology. Don

Juan was extremely well-liked but failed to make back its hefty production costs.

With their following film, Warner Bros. did manage to find success.

With the late 1927 premiere of Warner's "The Jazz Singer," an 89-minute musical

film with synced dialogue and music, sound movies saw their first significant

commercial triumph. It initiated the revolution of "talkies" pictures, smashed the

American box office records, and made Warner Bros. one of the major US film

studios in New York. Warner Bros. and the bulk of other companies shifted their

operational bases to the West Coast shortly after The Jazz Singer's popularity,

ushering in the Hollywood age.

 After the early Hollywood sound films were a success, this new form of

storytelling slowly became popular throughout the entire world. By 1929, all

Hollywood films had synchronised speech, effect, and music tracks; but "talkies" only

debuted outside of America a few years or decades later. Hollywood was able to

establish a firm hold over the popular film culture of the first half of the 20th century

because to its dominance over all other film industries. Stars like Shirley Temple,

Humphrey Bogart, Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, and Katharine Hepburn promoted

Hollywood productions and sound pictures all over the world. As the years passed,

performers and directors began to get more and more out of their basic sound

settings, enabling the production of wonderful films that pushed the boundaries of

what was conceivable. In addition to the Hollywood musicals of the 1930s, the rise of

the Universal Pictures gothic horror films Frankenstein and Dracula, the 1933

monster film King Kong, gangster movies, comedies, animated films, and cult

classics like The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind can all be seen as examples

of this improvement in sound quality and general changes in how movies were being

produced. All of them were produced before to the outbreak of World War II, which

ushered in a period of war propaganda and the emergence of new film genres, which

were inspired by works like Citizen Kane (1941), Bambi (1942), Casablanca (1942),

It is a Wonderful Life (1946), and others.

 Sound Technology Significance in Film Industry

Human voices, music, and sound effects are the three forms of sounds used in

the production of movies. For an audience to perceive a film as realistic, these three

categories of noises must be present. When used in a movie, dialogue and sound

effects must instantly and flawlessly match the action. The action on screen is not

nearly as convincing if the sound does not quite match it. Instead of depending

entirely on sound libraries for sound effects, using individual sound clips can help

you produce genuine, high-quality noises.

Synchronization sound effects, frequently in the form of background noise, are

another technique to use sound to increase the plausibility of a movie. Although

these sounds are not immediately related to the action taking place in a scene, they

can help a movie come to life. Making the environment of the movie more realistic

can be accomplished by including urban or rural sounds.

 We seek out an emotional experience whenever we watch a movie at the theatre,

stream a YouTube video, or watch television at home. It is possible to control

scene's mood and feel through sound design. Look at this scene from the first

"Jurassic Park," for instance (1993).

Who wouldn't be worried if they were besieged in a kitchen with velociraptors?

This is obviously an extremely scary, nerve-wracking moment! This is greatly

enhanced by the sound design because the usage of music is tense and unsettling,

making us uneasy. The music creates an ominous atmosphere of worry and dread.

The music swells up as the scenario ends with the characters running and being

pursued, heightening the tension and fear. Similarly, you experience increased

tension when the music ceases completely. In case the velociraptor hears you and

the game is over, you hardly dare to breathe. The velociraptor's numerous sounds

are disturbing because they are alien and unrelated to anything we are familiar with.

The sound effects, in contrast, are more in line with what we typically identify with

"monsters" and predators, such as the iconic heavy-footed claws (the most known,

sharp, and lethal portion of a velociraptor) and the sniffing of the nose (letting you

know that the raptor is using its senses to hunt). The tension is increased by the kids'

heavy breathing. It reveals to us how anxious and stressed out the characters are.
They do not like how things are now. Cutlery flying everywhere from sudden bangs

and clatters is done to startle the audience and make you jump. Additionally, they aid

in temporarily releasing the tension so that it can resume developing.

Therefore, sound technology is important in film industry. Other than making the

film become more interesting it is also making the audiences feel the emotions of the

character in the film or feeling it through the situations that is shown in the film.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton were the reason

why the Hollywood cinema can become a successful cinema in these

days. Both of them were the earliest director who write, act and film their

own film during the silent era. Other than that, the advent of Sound

Technology also giving a great impact to the film industry. Without

sound, our imagination maybe will just fall flat because we are only

seeing the visual without feeling it with the sound.

Reference

1. Charlie Chaplin Biography

https://www.vedantu.com/biography/charlie-chaplin-biography
2. Charlie Chaplin was one of the greatest and widely loved silent movie stars.
From “Easy Street” (1917) to “Modern Times” (1936), he made many of the
funniest and most popular films of his time.
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/charlie-chaplin-about-the-actor/
77/#
3. The Best Charlie Chaplin Movies for Classic Film Beginners
https://collider.com/best-charlie-chaplin-movies/
4. From Novelty to Art: How Charlie Chaplin Breathed New Life into Cinema
https://nofilmschool.com/2016/07/novelty-art-how-charlie-chaplin-breathed-
new-life-cinema#:~:text=Chaplin's%20comedic%20explorations%20into
%20the,them%20easier%20to%20talk%20about.
5. Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/buster-keaton-about-buster-
keaton/644/#
6. Every Buster Keaton Movie Ranked, Worst To Best
https://screenrant.com/buster-keaton-movies-ranked-worst-best/#boom-in-
the-moon-1946
7. How Buster Keaton Revolutionized Film Comedy
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/71784/how-silent-filmmaker-buster-
keaton-revolutionized-film-comedy
8. The Sound Era - Talking Pictures and Sound Film Technology
http://www.historyoffilm.net/movie-eras/sound-film-technology/
9. THE IMPORTANCE OF SOUND
https://www.lafilm.edu/blog/the-importance-of-sound/
10. UNDERSTANDING THE IMPORTANCE OF SOUND DESIGN IN FILM
https://www.adam-audio.com/blog/understanding-the-importance-of-sound-
design-in-film/