From+Silent+to+Sound


 * By Ella, grade 5 **

It took many years to make talking movies to be as good and clear as they are now. Starting off with racist movies like "The Birth of our Nation " and "The Jazz Singer", and these days, movies that are fun and full of imagination like "Star Wars". They have definitely changed rapidly through the years.The first talking movies had a lot of problems and needed plenty of work. Now, they still need improvements, but they aren't very noticeable. If you think films from the sixties are old then you'll be surprised to find out how different the first "Talkies" were.

Before "Talkies", the films had no sound, but there was an idea that would change film history. In 1877, Thomas Edison created the phonograph, which recorded and a played sound on circle-shaped piece of wax. Around the same time, Eadward Muybridge created the Zooproxiscope, which was basically a projector. In February, 1888, they discussed their inventions and how they could combine them. They reached the problem that they couldn't make the sound loud enough for theaters, but Edison kept thinking. Soon, he thought up the Kinetoscope (Developed by William Dickson), which was a coin-operated machine for movies. 1894, they experimented recording sounds and images together and created the Kinetophone. Thomas Edison's idea lived on.

Based off Edison's invention, many American corporations tried to create a system like it. In 1926, Western Election created Vitaphone, a system that could record and film without a lot of noise. The cameras would be put in a separate booth small, thick windows so it wouldn't be to noisy. The recording machine would be put in a different room or building and microphone cords would be hidden from the camera. A signal was sent to the building with the recording audio. The problem was that no one was buying it, so Warner Brothers bought the company and the rights to sell it. Vitaphone was used for many short films before the first talking movie.

The first talking movie was "The Jazz Singer" in 1927 starring Al Jolson right after 1915's "The Birth of our Nation", the most racist movie EVER. There were other "Talkies" that were short, including classics like "Loony Toons" and "Tom and Jerry". " The Jazz Singer " was the first feature-length movie and it was 89 minutes. A big racist scene was when Al Jolson sang "Mammy" while wearing blackface. But surprisingly, black roles largely increased from 1927-1939. "Hearts in Dixie" in 1929 was the first movie with an all-black cast. More black movies were made like "Hallelujah" of 1929, "Imitation of Life" of 1934, and "Arrowsmith" of 1931. As years went by, talking movies improved sound-wise, camera-wise, and what the plot was about.

Talking movies, which are now just "movies", have clearly improved through decades. Based off of the idea of Edison, "Talkies" were created and improved into today's movies. Talkies had a history that will never be forgotten. They have changed racially, creatively, and cinematically.
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