Talk:Silent film

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	This article is part of WikiProject Films, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to films and film characters on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article attached to this page, or visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.
GA This article has been rated as GA-Class on the quality scale. Unknown This article has not been rated on the importance assessment scale.
Editing Guidelines Please remember these guidelines when editing a film article: If a non-film article already exists with the name of the film that you are trying to create an article for, disambiguate and use (film) in the title: Film Title (film) For more information see: Wikipedia:Naming conventions (films) When writing an article about a particular film, the general format should be a concise lead section, followed by a plot overview, production details, a cast list, a reception section, and references. Create an Infobox that tells all pertinent information about the film. We are always looking for new members! Join us today!

Silent film has been listed as a good article under the good-article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can delist it, or ask for a review.

	This article is within the scope of Wikipedia:WikiProject Filmmaking, an attempt to better organize information in articles related to filmmaking. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article attached to this page, or visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.
GA	This article has been rated as GA-Class on the assessment scale.

Contents 1 Top-grossing films list 2 Article Title Question 3 Gish, no chick list... 4 Silent film with Rube Goldberg device 5 Photos of Silent Film actors 6 silent film list cleanup 7 Readers lose a lot with this cleanup 8 Found films 9 GA Re-Review and In-line citations 10 Reasons for GA Delisting 11 Slow Projection Speed causes fire?

[edit] Top-grossing films list

What dollars are the grosses in? Real dollars? 2000? 2005? It would be nice to have both real dollars and, say, 2000 dollars, but that might be confusing for casual readers. I suggest only inflation-adjusted dollars for a recent year. --Tysto 06:02, 10 October 2005 (UTC)

• I'd leave them be, since some are likely sums of receipts across decades, making present value calculations dodgy at best. Wyss 02:41, 11 October 2005 (UTC)

• An additional note to the above section: this articel contradicts The Big Parade which states that it "...is the highest grossing silent film in cinema history, taking in $22 million at the box office.", a drastic contradiction to this articels 6.4. 68.39.174.238 07:39, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

• I'm also questioning this list. It needs to be clear about what period of time (initial release? Gross up to the end of the silent era? cumulative gross including releases up to today?) Also, there are other lists that dispute the order and amount for each gross. One example is at filmsite.org which lists the top 100 grossing films from domestic sales, adjusted for inflation. The only silent film to make the list was The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I'll continue looking, but this list should be pulled unless it can be sourced. - Joe JJC 22:05, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

• After much searching, I found a page with the same list taken from Variety. I've cited it, but I still contend the list is wrong, probably even back when it was printed in '32. The site hosting the page points out that the publishers had a NPOV back then! Additionally, the article lists the gross earnings (most notably Wings) that might actually belong on the silents list by modern standards. Short of it, we know where it came from, but it ain't exactly authoritative.Joe JJC 18:54, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Article Title Question

Isn't silent movie more adequate?

• whats wrong with silent film? Wikipedia is generally forgiving of non-US English... Justinc 00:59, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)
• Its also worth noting that because they were silent the actors could say anything - even swear!

[edit] Gish, no chick list...

Why no mention of silent stars? Some of those chicks were truly exceptional...

I think a short list of the biggest silent stars would be useful to readers; if it got too big I can imagine a separate article on silent film stars. --Tysto 06:02, 10 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Silent film with Rube Goldberg device

About 15 years ago, I have seen an old classic short silent comedy film, where the hero had breakfast prepared by a complex machine. Can anyone tell me which one was it? I would add it to Rube Goldberg page. Samohyl Jan 16:43, 24 August 2005 (UTC)

That would be "It's a Gift" (1923)--Saxophobia 22:47, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Photos of Silent Film actors

As a fairly new Wikipedian, I was hoping to spruce up some of the silent film actors' articles with photos, but after studying the image uploading copyright rules I am utterly terrified of putting any images in. Is any photo of a silent film actor taken before 1922 good to go? Can I just take any pre-1922 photo of say, Patsy Ruth Miller from a website and paste it into the article, or is the digital version of the photo copyrighted material by virtue of being on someone's website? I'm just looking for any shortcut other than e-mailing a lot of websites asking for permission (although most Silent Movie fans want to spread the word about their forgotten genre and probably don't mine sharing, some are very protective about their personal collections). I'll post a copy of this inquiry somewhere on the wikipedia image pages, too, and report back if i learn anything. Wencer 02:44, 8 October 2005 (UTC)

I think it is okay to use pre-1922 photos. If you do a Google Images search you might be bale to find some. Vagrant 03:25, 14 November 2005 (UTC)

If the photo isn't copyrighted, a digital scan of it can't be copyrighted either, at least not in the US. This is just the law, no matter what anyone may claim on their website or anywhere else. See Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp.--Pharos 20:21, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] silent film list cleanup

The list is getting way too unwieldy and large for the good of the article. I don't think that it's really avoidable - there are a lot of worthy films from 1895 to 1930 which are notable. However, we already have years in film articles for every year which include lists of that year's notable films. Anything listed on this page but not on a year page should be added to the year page, and the notable list on this page should be deleted and replaced with a notice to see the year pages for notable films in the silent era. The only part of the list that merits saving would be silent films in the sound era, and that probably should be a list article linked to this article. Please let me know if you have any comments, otherwise I will implement this sometime in the next few weeks. Thanks, Girolamo Savonarola 00:38, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Readers lose a lot with this cleanup

It was not *just* a list. It provided a timeline to see who and what was made when and pointed out some valuable connections between eras during a time of great change and innovation. For example, the films by William Desmond Taylor, or when Chaplin came on the scene. This seems like an example of editing Wikipedia for the specialists and experts while degrading the enjoyment and educational value for casual readers, IMHO. I miss the list!

• It was unmaintainable and had no specific standards for inclusion - theoretically any "worthy" film from 1888 to 1927 could be included without a problem. That makes categorization a better choice than listing. The "[year] in film" articles provide a perfectly fine timeline of the progression of the artform while also better containing a list. Generally, articles which are not standalone lists should avoid long and extraneous lists dominating the page. See the Manual of Style for further info. Girolamo Savonarola 04:57, 6 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Found films

It's amazing (and, personally, I don't know how this can happend) that even today, old silent movies are discovered. Let's mention Le Voyage dans la Lune (1902): "a complete cut of the film was discovered in a French barn in 2002. It was an amazing discovery as it not only is the most complete cut of the movie, but was also entirely hand-colored. It was restored and premiered in 2003 at the Pordonone Silent Film Festival". I think that Joan of Arc (1927) should be in the list. I'm talking about the copy found in a hospital. Alex:D

I added in The Passion of Joan of Arc. Esn 11:11, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] GA Re-Review and In-line citations

Members of the Wikipedia:WikiProject Good articles are in the process of doing a re-review of current Good Article listings to ensure compliance with the standards of the Good Article Criteria. (Discussion of the changes and re-review can be found here). A significant change to the GA criteria is the mandatory use of some sort of in-line citation (In accordance to WP:CITE) to be used in order for an article to pass the verification and reference criteria. Currently this article does not include in-line citations. It is recommended that the article's editors take a look at the inclusion of in-line citations as well as how the article stacks up against the rest of the Good Article criteria. GA reviewers will give you at least a week's time from the date of this notice to work on the in-line citations before doing a full re-review and deciding if the article still merits being considered a Good Article or would need to be de-listed. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us on the Good Article project talk page or you may contact me personally. On behalf of the Good Articles Project, I want to thank you for all the time and effort that you have put into working on this article and improving the overall quality of the Wikipedia project. Agne 04:44, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Reasons for GA Delisting

This article's GA status has been revoked because it fails criterion 2. b. of 'What is a Good Article?', which states;

(b) the citation of its sources using inline citations is required (this criterion is disputed by editors on Physics and Mathematics pages who have proposed a subject-specific guideline on citation, as well as some other editors — see talk page).

LuciferMorgan 17:42, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

If it is currently disputed, then the delisting needn't occur until there is a consensus in favor of leaving the guidelines. I'm reinstating. Cbrown1023 01:54, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Slow Projection Speed causes fire?

I understand the flammability issues of silver nitrate prints, but I'd be curious to see a citation for the assertion that projecting one print at 16 fps would be a seriously increased fire hazard. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.152.107.215 (talk) 09:49, 7 December 2006 (UTC).