Chaplins Silent Movies - Essay Example

Chaplin’s Silent Movies Introduction The film industry has developed to depict growth in the genre of the film produced using variable themes to inspire plot development. The leading film producers in Hollywood have all applied a similar trend in the completion of the finalized pieces to accord a high quality finish. With the factors applied in the creation of the films, the realized provision has been witnessed in outstanding creations to deliver the identity of a given genre of the movies. However, the technological input applied within the movies has boosted the outcome of the produced films with the importance issued on the visual illusion created. The cinema industry has developed from silent movie to the higher level audio projection noticed in the modern movie industry. Characters have manipulated this provision to accord the movie production an identity that is projected to the society. Famous actors and performers have been associated with the existing technological development found within a given movie setting. Charlie Chaplin had been identified with the comedy genre and his performance on the silent movie theme accorded the production an identity. He had managed to revolutionize the technology evident during his time to develop movies that attracted audience based on the performance (Milton 1996, p86). The result meant that the audience was capable of identifying his movies with a similar theme from the actor. Chaplin presented multiple talents in not only producing the comedy theme during the silent movie period, but also served as an outstanding actor. Chaplin managed to revolutionize the silent film era through presenting a unique style in the completion of his film creation. Chaplin movies had made him popular at the time when sound had been the absent entity within the development of film production. Chaplin had been remarkable and created an identity among the audience to relate to a style that had not been developed by other actors. Without sound, comedy had been the most difficult entity to achieve, but Chaplin managed to create a style that applied visual effects to present humor. The most noticed provision applied in his style was in the image he had created of himself. The stage presentation was unique to be familiar among his fans. He humored audiences with the antics he had created with the package of a bowler hat and the combination of a baggy trouser. Chaplin also developed an outstanding moustache with an expressive cane, mostly applying visual humor to move the fans. The development that Chaplin presented to the film had included positive reforms and application of creativity to relay a massage. His style had been influenced with the ability to communicate with the audience without speech application. Chaplin had initially been a musician and had developed his acting career based on the desire to revolutionize his lifestyle. Under Mack Sennet, Chaplin developed his acting career to become a successful comedian while making short films. By 1920, he had managed to progress into developing films that held more content and time to deliver prosperity in his career. With his talent, Chaplin had founded the United Artists to produce affordable films completing the details personally with his talent. He had been a producer, writer and an actor who sought inspiration from the former comedian Max Linder who had applied a similar style. He managed to successfully incorporate the style within his movie creation to personalize the theme and accord an identity form that had appealed to his audience. Chaplin had created his films based on presented this and experience accorded from childhood experiences. Chaplin had grown up in poverty from an irresponsible father and a mentally challenged mother. These conditions had limited his progress with the threat posed on the success towards societal development. He had ventured into the film creation industry with the motive of delivering success in his personal lifestyle. Moreover, Chaplin had been a performer, and he had been involved in the spotlight to present a fan base that had identified with his style and offer entertainment. His style had been developed in the 1920s when the provision had limited the use of sound in film. He managed to thrive within the system through issuing the style that provided visual communication (Hall, 1925). His movement, style and packaging within the context had communicated with the audience to deliver an identity that transformed the theaters before WW1 to a comedy genre that only Chaplin could uphold. Through the style, he applied in his movies, societal norms and the revolutionary society found the basis to articulate measures of developing a consistent critic. He never deterred from the style applied and utilized consistent costume presentation. Chaplin had produced movies based on his creativity as a performer, director and creator and the breakthrough he had in 1914 saw him feature in the industry as the created character for over 20 years. With the invention of the sound technology in Hollywood film, in 1930, Chaplin failed to reflect the change in his style and continued with the silent movie theme. He accompanied music in his films with the classical theme and instrument presented in the combination. The values in his films never altered, and with consistency depicted in the themes and styles within his pieces, the audience had recognized Chaplin’s creations with the comedy genre advanced in Hollywood. The Kid (1920) His talent had been noticed when he had first featured in the short film that premiered in Hollywood in 1920 (Kamin 2011, p178). Chaplin had managed to develop a character that would be represented in his subsequent film. He played the role featuring a character with make up on his face, the moustache and the oversized shoes that completed his costume composition. The movie depicted the hustle faced in the majority of the lower class individuals who had struggled to present a survival mechanism within the oppressive society. Hollywood had strived to create films that targeted the audience to offer the needed entertainment form for the audience and deliver a message to the society. Chaplin incorporated his ability to present comedy within a social vice and played the role actively to depict a con artist. In the short film, he had played the role of an individual who fixed broken glasses that he had destroyed to incorporate tension within the silent movie. The poverty theme had been developed in the film that considered the presentations needed to adopt a different lifestyle. With the fewer visual effects and the lack of a concrete feature to highlight the given theme, Chaplin developed the image that saw his style gain popularity in the 1920s and 30s. He grew popular among his fans that the style surpassed the introduction of sound within movies in subsequent productions (Davis, 2011). The short film had been based on a similar gender but carried varied plot development. The role Chaplin played had been boosted by the depiction of a miserable man who had played the role of a struggling societal individual. However, the production of the movie based on the leading character highlighted the comedy involved in the creation of the film at a time when the audience had not valued the presentations involved in creating rich humor. He played the role of serving as the leading provision to offer protection to a helpless child as compared to serving as a loving man within the family. The production of the film had marked the beginning of his career as an outstanding comedian, to depict a style that had been identified to serve as a replacement to the cliche trend in silent movies. The Kid had been the initially produced piece featuring Chaplin who expressed the desire to present a talent that incorporated comedy, production and musical talents. Although short, the audience had been accorded the opportunity to witness a revolutionary style of performance mixed with costume to define comedy. Modern Times (1936) After the development of the character depicted in the premier of the role as a comedian, Chaplin carried the style to other movies produces. He had settled on creating comedy based films and complemented the style with the clown look that promoted the plot development (Okuda & Maska, 2005, p4). However, the style had been popular at a time when sound had not been incorporated within the film. With the developments in Hollywood, there had been the provision to incorporate sound in movies to boost communication with the audience. Modern Times had been created at a time when Hollywood movies had started incorporating sound within the completion of scene development (Nugent, 1936). The movie had been considered as one of the initial productions to incorporate the silent movie feature in Chaplin’s production. However, there had been the application of sound and minimal speech to aid in the communication process within the characters. The film had been based on the need to offer the provision of a developing society that had been created based on the need to deliver satisfaction to the family. Chaplin had been the leading character in the film that had been realized to lead to the end of a depicted style that Chaplin had used. In his first leading film in, The Kid, he had successfully created a fan base through developing the Little Tramp character that presented a defined character with distinctive behavior (Hansmeyer 2007, p4). The Little Tramp character had led to the depiction of Charlie Chaplin as an international artist who had contributed to deliver the entertainment thrill in the comedy genre among the audience. The character had been created in the pre-war era that had threatened the production of the entertainment forms. Chaplin had used the character to present the difficulty noticed in the underdeveloped society that realized the challenge in adapting to oppressors’ challenge. Hollywood had been created based on the norm to present a reflection and lesson towards the society. Modern Times created in the reflection of the events that happened during the production time suggested that the great depression resulted to adverse effects. The character had noticed the effects of unemployment and degradation of societal life that failed to support progress of the hard workers. Chaplin had been successful after the first hit movie that attracted audience disapproving critics, who had been against the image he had chosen to present in Hollywood. He had experienced the challenge of poor living when growing up and sought to revolutionize the society based on the transformation of events in the development. The movie had been based on Chaplin’s desire to reflect on the economic and social challenges that the society had faced. The movie had been at the time when Hollywood had been left behind in his career and embarked on the journey to witness the adverse effects of the oppression. In 1931-1932, Chaplin had witnessed the effects of Great Depression across Europe and seen the rise of nationalism. He had been determined to create an avenue to eliminate the witnessed problem and devised a strategy as an icon to curb the problem. Chaplin found the solution to the problem in his career. He presented the challenges in a comedy form when he developed Modern Times. The familiar figure of the Tramp had been reborn to present the image of a struggling individual within the societal setting. The character, just like the majority of developing individuals, had been in the quest to articulate positive survival measures. He serves to depict the character who meets frustration in the work place in a society that is governed by the moral law of degradation. The technological development in Hollywood had not been enough to convince Chaplin to change his style, and he continued with the silent theme long after the talking film had been invented. Chaplin would apply the development in his later films with the consideration accorded to the sound he applied in music and other audio effects. The Great Dictator (1940) The film had been inspired with the events that had been occurring in Europe in the Munich Agreement. The Tramp had been utilized in the movie to represent the character in Adolf Hitler and Chaplin wrote the script to include the events experienced during his tyrannical rule. The period had been based on the time that had promoted the development of sound movie and speculation predicted that the tramp would be created to communicate in the film. After the massive audience had waited for the release of the speculated film, Chaplin released the film on October 1940. His country of origin, England had been involved in the battle and America offered the perfect platform for the release with the liberalization process depicted in the natives (Sarris, 1997). Chaplin sought to mockery of the famous dictator with the desire to confront the evils that had been created during his time. He had known of the massive audience that he presented, and the perfect solution to create the awareness would be through the platform he had known better. His films spoke through the popular character whose role was to define comedy to the audience (Ebert, 1972). Hitler’s regime was a contrast of the mood in Chaplin’s film and he ventured to prove critics wrong of the capability of the finalized product. The film drew criticism noticed in the German and British nations, and he joined the list of celebrities questioned on his role in production of controversial films. The strength of the character in the tramp had been noticed in his ability to preset communication measures that applied a unique style in delivering the message. His creation had been successful since the creation in the first movie and had noticed tremendous contribution to the development of Chaplin’s themes. His humorous acts had been extended to the strong application of the language, which did not consider the communication aspect. He served to predict the outcome of an event through applying motion language that pointed the audience towards his theme in comedy and mimicking known characters. Hitler’s depiction in the movie had been presented to accord the relationship that developed from his actions in the harsh rule that was realized globally. Although the unique application of the style had been noticed in the creation of the movies, he served to entertain his fans never disappointing in according comedy. The international fun base served as the platform required to develop his abilities to entertain a diverse audience that supported silent movie (Kohn 2005, p9). Chaplin had managed to overcome criticism in the popularization of his style with a growing audience that never failed to attend the launch of his productions. Like any other movie, the character created only served to support the plot development without altering the lessons held in the movie. The Great Dictator served to highlight his career that had depended on the inclusion of soundtracks and minimal speech to present information (Barsanti, 2011). Unlike the initial productions that had totally relied on silent movie theme, the changes in the technological development within the cinema ensured the differences in production. Movies had been livelier with the characters requiring little effort to communicate with the audience on the theme that had been developed (Courtey, 2012). Chaplin had been a creative director, producer and actor who had developed his career on a style that he had mastered from the young age. He managed to find a method to combine the two techniques into a union that preserved his known style. The result drew an even larger audience that favored the genre of comedy that had been easy to analyze and get the information needed. With the other films, there was the need to understand the language and images applied in their completion. The difference had been evident in the varied development that Chaplin’s style held in Hollywood. He managed to prove that, with a different image, both information and profit could be sought from the combination. Charlie Chaplin had been an inspirational figure in developing comedy films with the majority of the attention focused on a created character. He had been associated with the character more as compared to his real appearance off stage. Through the developments presented in style, the achieved solution proved to be the needed measures to present excitement at the time when Hollywood lacked creativity. Conclusion Charlie Chaplin had been a creative composer who excelled in developing the humor theme using visual representation. He had managed to develop a character that had been recognized by the audience who expected the excitement to be delivered based on mimicking behavior. He had been an entertainer and an activist who saw the oppression in the society to communicate to the dictators. Moreover, his style surpassed the expectations of critics who found his technique crude and unappealing. With the number of fans created after his productions, Chaplin managed to convince his audience that his style had been the needed presentation to brighten a dull era of film production in Hollywood. List of References Barsanti, C. (May 2011), The Great dictator, film critics, Retrieved 16 may 2012, from: Courtey, D. (2012), The Great Dictator, Charlie Chaplin Takes On Hitler, About, Retrieved 16 May 2012, from: Davis, C. (January 2011), Charlie Chaplin's film music, The guardian, Retrieved 16 May 2012, from: Ebert, R. (March 1972), The Great Dictator, Chicago Sun Times, Retrieved 16 May 2012, from: Hall, M. (August 1925), The Gold Rush (1925) THE SCREEN; Charlie Chaplin's New Comedy, The New York Times, Retrieved 16 May 2012, from: Hansmeyer, C. (2007). Charlie Chaplin's techniques for the creation of comic effect in his films. Mu?nchen, GRIN Verlag GmbH. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:101:1-201008125626. Kamin, D. (2011). The comedy of Charlie Chaplin: artistry in motion. Lanham, Md, Scarecrow Press. Kohn, I. (2005), Charlie Chaplin. Brightest Star of Silent Films, Rome: Portaparole. Print. Sarris, A. (March 1997), The Great Dictator, The New York Times, Retrieved 16 May 2012, from: Milton, J. (1996). Tramp: the life of Charlie Chaplin. New York, Harper Collins. Nugent, F. (February 1936), Modern Times (1936) Heralding the Return, After an Undue Absence, of Charlie Chaplin in 'Modern Times, The New York Times, Retrieved 16 May 2012, from: Okuda, T., & Maska, D. (2005). Charlie Chaplin at Keystone and Essanay: dawn of the Tramp. New York, iUniverse. Read More