silent film
Intertitle-dependent cinema
A silent film is a motion picture without synchronized recorded dialogue, relying instead on visual storytelling, title cards, and live musical accompaniment.
Silent films dominated cinema from the 1890s until sound technology emerged in the late 1920s: Chaplin's greatest work came during the silent film era.
The term now evokes a specific aesthetic—exaggerated expressions, physical comedy, and orchestral scores.
Without color gradations
- flickerUnsteady, brief light
- intertitlesText frames in silent films
- nickelodeonCoin-fed entertainment machine
- projectorLight-casting display device
cinematograph · hand-cranked · celluloid · kinetoscope · zoetrope · roaring twenties · jazz age · vaudeville
French cinematograph inventors
- EdisonProlific American inventor
- GriffithSurname meaning strong chief
- Rudolph ValentinoSilent era matinee idol
Charlie Chaplin · Buster Keaton · Mary Pickford · Lon Chaney · Fritz Lang
Exaggerated physical humor
- pratfallComedic fall on buttocks
- pie fightComedic food-throwing confrontation
- chase sceneExtended onscreen pursuit
- sight gagJoke told through action
physical comedy · Keystone Cops · deadpan · timing · mugging · double take · custard pie · banana peel
Drama through gesture alone
- gestureCommunicative body movement
- facial expressionEmotive muscle positioning
- exaggerated actingOverly theatrical performance style
- body languageUnspoken physical expression
emoting · melodrama · close-up · reaction shot · dramatic pause · overwrought · pathos · tragicomedy
Contrast technique in painting
- shadowplayPerformance using cast silhouettes
- distortionTwisting from original state
- stylizationArtistic rendering with deliberate conventions
- German ExpressionismDistorted, emotionally intense art movement
Nosferatu · Metropolis · grotesque · doppelganger · madness · nightmare · symbolic · psychological horror
black-and-white
Without color gradations
- flickerUnsteady, brief light
- intertitlesText frames in silent films
- nickelodeonCoin-fed entertainment machine
projector · cinematograph · hand-cranked · celluloid · kinetoscope · zoetrope · roaring twenties · jazz age · vaudeville · title cards
Lumière brothers
French cinematograph inventors
- EdisonProlific American inventor
- GriffithSurname meaning strong chief
- Rudolph ValentinoSilent era matinee idol
Charlie Chaplin · Buster Keaton · Mary Pickford · Lon Chaney · Fritz Lang
slapstick
Exaggerated physical humor
- pratfallComedic fall on buttocks
- pie fightComedic food-throwing confrontation
- chase sceneExtended onscreen pursuit
sight gag · physical comedy · Keystone Cops · deadpan · timing · mugging · double take · custard pie · banana peel · comic timing
pantomime
Drama through gesture alone
- gestureCommunicative body movement
- facial expressionEmotive muscle positioning
- exaggerated actingOverly theatrical performance style
body language · emoting · melodrama · close-up · reaction shot · dramatic pause · overwrought · pathos · tragicomedy · heroine
chiaroscuro
Contrast technique in painting
- shadowplayPerformance using cast silhouettes
- distortionTwisting from original state
- stylizationArtistic rendering with deliberate conventions
German Expressionism · Nosferatu · Metropolis · grotesque · doppelganger · madness · nightmare · symbolic · psychological horror
Keystone
Pennsylvania's informal name
- United ArtistsActor-owned film studio
- MetroBranded urban transit
- UniversalHollywood entertainment company
- Film Soundsound design, sound editing, sound mixing, Foley, ADR
- German ModernismBauhaus, Der Blaue Reiter, Dada, Kandinsky, Paul Klee
- cinemamovies, movie, directors, cinemas, Hollywood
- filmmovies, cinematography, editing, directing, screenwriting
- videovideo, AVI, clip, footage, MKV
- 20th CenturyWorld War I aftermath, Cuban Missile Crisis, atomic bomb, New Deal, Nazi Germany