CMSC32 — Discovering Silent Cinema
Learn about our motion picture heritage in a fast-paced, fun-filled class. Long before the giant blockbuster films of today, there were movies that featured names like Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and, Buster Keaton -- great stars of that motion picture era whose audiences never heard them speak a word! They were the pioneers of the early cinema and the silent films in which they appeared are the roots of today's cinema. Music played an important part in silent films. Experience the mighty theatre organ, "the voice of the silent screen" with your host and silent film organist, Jay Warren. See excerpts from one of cinema's very first silent films of 1903. Learn how silent films "grew up". Follow the evolution of the cinema from the early 1900's to the coming of sound pictures in a specially compiled retrospective including rarely-seen 1920's animation. See a complete silent short comedy with authentic theatre organ accompaniment. A Q & A discussion will give everyone a chance to ask questions.