The talkies (1930)

Record Details:

Title:
The talkies
Date:
1930
Publisher:
London: Crosby Lockwood and Son
Volume:
The talkies
Leaf #:
000278
Language:
English
Collection:
Books
Format:
Books
Contributor:
Media History Digital Library
Sponsor:
Media History Digital Library
Coordinator:
Media History Digital Library
Description:
Date Added:
March 28, 2024
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190 THETALKIES he saw in the introduction of the new medium nothing but an ugly interloper, one who would negative all his artistic effects and put a veto upon the scientific use of the camera by which he obtains such bewildering results. It was undoubtedly a fact in the earlier talkies that the cinematographers' work was sacrificed on the altar of sound. One very prominent member of the American Society of Cinematographers published in their magazine a bitter indictment as to the cavalier way in which everything except the sound-record was being treated. He complained that : "Apparently the 'talk' in 'talkie' is being counted upon to overwhelm our sense of hearing with fascinating sound to such an extent as to leave all powers of perception relatively numb to visual stimuli, good or bad." He quotes the story of a farmhand who was instructed to grease the wheels of a wagon. He did the job, and later on it was found that he had only treated the front wheels. When asked the reason, he said that as long as the front wheels went round the rear wheels just had to follow; the simile being that in the new sound-picture situation sound is the front wheels of the wagon, and cinematography the rear. Another famous cinematographer saw the