Annotation: principles and applications

Movie Magazine

The cover of the magazine tells us much about the flavor and style of popular culture of the day and also gives us a sense of how things haven't changed much even in the many decades that have passed. For example, even the title of the magazine, "Movie Weekly" is evocative of "U.S. Weekly" and sets a precedent for the consumer as to how often they should purchase the magazine. The title stories also portray a clear snapshot of the decade. For example, the first headline, "The Colorful and Romantic Story of William D. Taylor's Remarkable life" draws the reader in to reading more about this silent film director/actor's life by making it seem just like a film: like a film it's colorful and romantic (usc.edu, 2000). William D. Taylor is a name that not many movie-goers today know, but was definitely a major player in the industry almost a hundred years ago (usc.edu, 2000). Taylor came to the United States from Ireland in 1890, eventually finding work on the stage (usc.edu, 2000). He married well but deserted his wife after just a few years of marriage (usc.edu, 2000). He reappeared in Hollywood, first as an actor, and then as a director, directing over 40 films even acting as president as the Motion Picture Directors Association (usc.edu, 2000). As some say, his death is as interesting as his life. He was found one morning on February 2, 1922 with a bullet in his back; no neighbor had heard anything in the night though some reported seeing a young, dark-haired man leaving his house (usc.edu, 2000). His death is still unsolved.

Finally the last headline, "Announcement of Popular High School Girl Contest Winners" provides a sense of how back then, high school was the highest form of education achieved for many people and society was still at place where they put overt values on things like popularity. One could argue that nowadays, too many educators are taught to value things like talent and motivation.

Whereas nowadays the table of contents generally has its own separate page among a range of photographs or one sole photograph, this periodical buries the table of contents in the middle of an article. One could argue that this draws attention to the table of contents or does just the opposite.

It's worth noticing the font used for the article on William Taylor. The font is very evocative of that used in old-time storybooks; it's very enchanting and reminiscent of fairy tales. There's even an illustration in between the two photographs which make the article written about William D. Taylor seem even more like an enchanted story.

This charming article truly demonstrates how chewing gum was such a new product and seeks to gain understanding of how the elite, movie stars were handling it. It also serves to provide some entertainment, demonstrating glimpses of the bad behavior of the stars. Select words of the headline are italicized, something that one doesn't see too often in today's magazine headlines. The pictures of the movie stars are arranged in a garland shape around the text, another stylistic detail that differs wildly from modern layouts.

The actresses featured along this charming article are some of the major stars of the era. For example, one of the actresses featured in this article is Ruth Roland. Ruth Roland originated from a theatrical family and starred in over 200 silent films; she is most likely best known for the adventure serials called the "red circle" that she shot a dozen or so episodes of (Hufford, 1999). Additionally Clara Windsor got into acting as the result of an early marriage which ended in divorce; she moved to Los Angeles and worked as an extra where she eventually got her big break, playing roles of generally the society princess (goldensilents.com). She was dubbed the "Patrician Beauty" by the press and even had a range of romances with stars like Charlie Chaplin and Buddy Rogers (goldensilents.com). Windsor was one of the few silent film actresses who successfully made the transition from silent movies to talkies, completing her last film in 1946 (goldensilents.com). Priscilla Dean was one of the silent movie stars of the period that had a more character-y face and her career was launched via her marriage to Tod Browning. Tod Browning was from a well-to-do family, but ran off with the circus anyway, eventually meeting D.W. Griffith. Browning debuted as an actor in Intolerance; as director he most famously did Dracula in 1931 (imdb.com). Pricilla Dean, despite her odd and some might say crooked features and curvy figure, had an interesting though brief career offering audiences a unique and fierce performance in Outside the Law in 1920 (Stanford.edu, 2011).

It's rare nowadays to have published short fiction in movie magazines. This one utilizes five stars under the headline and above the title.

This article demonstrates that human beings still write simple "how-to" style articles even nowadays, and that explaining from one person to another how to accomplish something is a timeless endeavor. The headline of this article demonstrates what a new profession the movies were and represented a field that one could "break into." One typically wouldn't see an article of such simplicity during modern times. Another interesting aspect of this article is that it's written by Mabel Normand. Mabel Normand was an actress and comedienne of the era; she was very popular with audiences and starred in movies like Mabel's Married Life and Mabel's Busy Day (imdb.com). Her last film was in 1921 but it was boycotted mostly by audiences in lieu of the odd death of Tod Browning (imdb.com). People wondered if she might have a hand in it due to her jealousy over Browning's affair with Minter (imdb.com).

This page displays the heavy stylistic choices of the decade with the collage of pictures placed into a curved, larger shape -- evocative of antique furniture such as a decorative screen or mirror.

The headline of this article uses the dash to break up the word "Shh" a grammatical choice that one simply doesn't see often nowadays. The byline of "Irma, the Ingenue" is a quaint way to give someone credit for the article.

"Film-Flam" is a colloquialism of the decade that one simply doesn't hear nowadays. The decorative banner that is scroll-like as a means of decorating the headline is yet another stylistic choice that isn't used often in modern times. The photograph of the woman crouching in imitation of the RCA dog might be considered derogatory nowadays and strictly avoided. The actress depicted is Shirley Mason, who started as a child actress in the 1911 film at the Threshold of Life, later on taking more substantial parts in films such as Love's Harvest and Very Truly Yours (imdb.com).