1. Birth and Development of the Cinema

Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory …

• lasted 46 minutes

• showed factory workers having lunch

• is the first black-and-white silent documentary ever produced

Answer explanation

It lasted 46 seconds.

The workers were having a lunch break.

The Cinématographe …

• projected images on a screen so a large audience could see them simultaneously

• was invented by the British brothers Louis and Auguste in 1895

• couldn’t be transported to different places

Answer explanation

The Lumière brothers were French

In silent films…

• actors used pantomime gestures so the audience could laugh

• directors sometimes used short subtitles

• the conductor hired musicians

Answer explanation

Actors used exaggerated expressions to show their feelings.

Subtitles gave more information about the story.

The conductor made sure the musicians played fast enough to match the action.

In the 1920s…

• the audiences were silent so they could understand the film

• the audiences chatted to discuss what was going on

• few people enjoyed going to the cinema

Answer explanation

Going to the cinema was a very social event and both hearing and deaf people enjoyed films.

The Little Tramp…

• was adored by female audiences due to its violence and passion

• 
• was good-natured although he  usually got into trouble

Answer explanation

Harold LLoyd starred in Safety Last!

Rudolph Valentino offered violence and passion to adoring female audiences.

The phonogragh was a revolutionary device that …

• recorded and reproduced sound

• combined images with sound

• was invented by Thomas Edison in 1927

Answer explanation

It was invented in 1877.

The Jazz Singer …

• was the first film to use pictures and sound together

• included music, singing and dialogues for the first time

• put an abrupt end to the silent films

Answer explanation

Studios continued to make silent films well into the 1930s.

The movement from silent to talking films happened gradually and wasn´t so simple.

Audiences were disappointed with the new talking films because …

• they had complicated scripts

• actors stopped using exaggerated gestures

• they couldn’t get used to the actors’ real voices

Answer explanation

Actors now had to learn complicated scripts.

Audiences were often disappointed to hear the actors' real voices, like Rudolph Valentino's.

Projectionists faced many challenges because …

• they worked in tiny rooms

• they had to synchronize phonographs and projectors

• they couldn’t shout instructions during the film

Answer explanation

Directors constantly shouted instructions at their actors during filming.

The Artist …

• is an American silent movie released in the 1920s

• didn't win any Awards

• shows how the new technology causes silent films to fall out of fashion

Answer explanation

The French silent film was released in 2012. It was set in Hollywood in the 1920s.

It won many accolades including five Academy Awards. It also won 3 Golden Globes, 7 BAFTAs, 6 César Awards...