Movie, Creativity, History

   The film industry blossomed in the 1920s, burgeoning upon the foundations of earlier years. Small movie studios began to be taken over by the large corporations in Hollywood on the West Coast including The Big Five Studios, Warner Bros, Famous Players-Lasky(Paramount), RKO, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Fox Film Corporation/Foundartion. By the Mid-20s, movies became a business with a capital investment totaling over 2 billion. During the 1920s and 1930s, film production reached 800 films per year and became the highest output in the history. 

   

   Among thousands of movies that were produced during that period, some of them are still around and most importantly, they set the foundations for many modern movies. 

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  The Phantom of the Opera, Frankenstein and Dracula were the forbearers of horror movies. Dracula is more of a classic vampire who doesn’t glow like diamonds and fly from tree to tree while kissing his lover. These horror movies were mostly silent. However, I think silent films are wonderful mediums to exemplify terror because instead of engulfing tedious dialogues throughout the movie, the directors had to focus on sound and lighting to creating extra tension. Darkness and shadows blended with terrifying music became an indispensable part of horror movies, and this feature is used by directors over and over agin to make the audience shiver.

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   Sir Charles Spencer “Charlie” Chaplin was probably the most famous comedian in history. Though he was an English comic actor, he became famous in the United States and his films flourished during the silent film era. His iconic attire includes a slapstick, a derby hat, excessively large pants and rugged shoes. He says, “I had no idea of the character. But the moment I was dressed, the clothes and the make-up made me feel the person he was. I began to know him, and by the time I walked onto the stage he was fully born.” Chaplin’s impact on society was the appeal to the lower class, the working class of the time and his character perfectly exemplifies this class. His famous movies include A Woman of Paris, Monsieur Verdoux, The Gold Rush and The Great Dictator. His outstanding performance not only started a new era of comic films but also heavily influenced some of the current film stars such as Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler.

  These antecedents of modern movies did not have any special effects and were mostly silent. However, they caught millions of peoples' attention and inspired play writers, directors and musicians for years. Unfortunately, how many movies today are not stuffed with excessive special effects, tedious dialogues and highly predictable plots? In this highly competitive industry, how many film makers actually care about making great and creative movies? Let’s just hope our creativity does not sink along with the 3D Titanic into the endless abyss.