Sunday, August 26, 2018

Silents, Please!


Except for some masterful, isolated instances of sound (the background music, some sound effects in one particular scene, and then some dialog and other assorted sounds at the very end), 2011's The Artist is what we refer to as a "silent" film.

I didn't see this film until I recently bought a used copy of the DVD. I had no idea that the movie had won five Academy Awards, but after viewing it, I understood why.

The other day, after having watched it for the second time, I noticed on the DVD "menu" that there was a listing for "captions & subtitles." I immediately wondered, "What the hell for?" Most of the dialog in the film appeared on what they call "intertitles" or "title cards."

Here are just some examples of what the closed captioning said:
  • [orchestra playing tender, yearnful melody]
  • [weary melody ends]
  • [foreboding music playing]
  • [lively jazz playing]
  • [music stops]
  • [frenzied, discordant music plays]
And then, of course, there's my absolute favorite:
  • [silence]
No, really. I swear.

WTF?!?

Thanks for your time.

15 comments:

  1. lol well for the hearing impaired maybe they need to be validated that they aren't hearing anything.

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  2. In case you were unable to figure out that the jazz was lively or something, I guess.
    In a different situ (using abbrev after great delibrtn here :) that's called leading the respondent...

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  3. Hahahaaa. I guess that is for the hearing impaired but it does lend a snicker. I love this film and find it enchanting

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  4. I love reading what the captions tell me I'm supposed to be listening to. It's rarely accurate but always entertaining.

    I've never heard of this movie, either, but that's not a huge surprise. I'm so out of touch with stuff like that unless it's hugely promoted and everyone I know is talking about it.

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    Replies
    1. Hm. I think it's cute that you write about not being familiar with a silent film by writing "I never heard of this movie."

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    2. Hahahaha I guess I was having a moment.

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  5. Ha. I guess that's helpful for the deaf or hard of hearing. This way, they know they're not missing anything when they're not missing anything.

    Have a great week, Silver.

    [silence]

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    Replies
    1. So, "they know they're not missing anything when they're not missing anything?" Love that.

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  6. hmm-pausing for a moment of {silence}Who said, silence speaks louder than words? In this case are words louder than silence? Ok, I am in my fragmented thought mode. Humor me Silver

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    Replies
    1. There seems to be a lot of fancy wordplay in this post's comments. Ha.

      Delete

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