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Sound in Cinema

The end of the era of silent film and the movement to sound effects was an inevitable occurrence in cinema. As the viewers clamored to identify a more realistic portrayal of subjects in the film, the worldwide industry of cinema transitioned quickly from rudimentary sound effects to the prospect of "talkies" by the 1930s. However, even with the vanguard and innovation of synchronized sounds at the peak of Golden Age cinema, many critics and directors alike were uneasy with this rapid movement from silence to sound.

The beginnings of silent film era produced motion animation based on black and white still photography. The idea of montage became a further artistic expression in the industry, popular amongst experimental photographers and directors of the early 1890s to 1920s (Alexandrov). Once life and movement became achievable in films, however, viewers and filmmakers saw the opportunity to include sound within the work. Many silent film viewers brought up the same concerns that directors felt about their photographed stills; that the scenes were "soundless specters" (Bottomore). Some films illustrated a bustling of city life as well as a blacksmith at his work; both scenes, when lacking the sound effects, seem colorless and deficient of cinematic life (Bottomore). The remedy, then, was to plow onward and risk the movement into sound addition.

Early sounds in cinema included primitive effects, some from the use of sound machines patented overseas, to pre-made tracks of effects (pig noises, drumming, babies crying, etc.). Cue sheets were implemented to "guide musicians and effects" on certain films (Bottomore). By 1907, sound deficiency gradually decreased, as a worldwide movement of sound cinema began to rise up; chief among the industry were the United States, France, Spain, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. The early 1930s spawned the introduction of synchronized voices, of the "talkies" that spanned worldwide acclaim and lingering effects that outlasted Hollywood's Golden Age of cinema. In 1931, Universal Pictures risked the idea of voice synchronization into cinema by releasing Tod Browning's adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula (Spadoni). Dracula, played by Bela Lugosi, became the endearing character that spawned fans of the work across the world.

The movement into sound did not come so easily, however. With such major transitions, directors and viewers also voiced concerns about the integrity of the film itself. Early dubbings of actors were thought to be too strange for audiences, sometimes to the point where the audience could not believe that the actors were ghostly presences in the film (Spadoni). Others complained about the inappropriate timing of sound effects that issued from films (Bottomore). Furthermore, Russian directors Sergei Eisenstein, Vsevolod Pudovkin, and Grigori Alexandrov believed the use of commercial sound would become a defacement of montage. To them, "sound is a double edged invention," where montage is threatened by the "commercial exploitation of the most saleable goods, of talking pictures" (Alexandrov).

Yet even with these tentative setbacks, it is clear that the transition into sound would propel cinema to an evolved level. Alexandrov et. al. conceded that sound, "treated as a new element of montage" can further the expression of cinematic works. Sound addition "introduces the possibility of representing a fuller body," and allows the audience to invest added sensations to their cinematic experience (Doane). The popular demand for such film stories spurred forth not only a genre of film storytelling (horror and suspense), but it also produced the success of screenwriting and progressive dialogue.