black and white...the kind u could see 20-30 years ago... :-??
2006-10-20 19:17:47 · 3 answers · asked by julia 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Visual Arts ➔ Other - Visual Arts
The main characteristics that I've seen, is that every characters in the movies are always smoking a cigarette
2006-10-20 19:31:26 · answer #1 · answered by nannygoat 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Some of the best movies ever made were black and white. Sure some seem cheesy compared to now but they're still pretty cool.
The acting was sometimes a bit over the top but it fit the period. It wasn't like they were reading from a script. People acted differently back then and the world itself was different. You want to see good acting for the time watch "Casablanca". It's a great flick. The women were most always portrayed as the chick in distress and the guys were always the brave, strong, heros. Yeah, you could say they were kinda sexist with the way things were looked at but again it was the period in wich they were made.
The effects were pretty bad compared to today but for the time they were brilliant. Check out the classic silent pick "Metropolis". Really cool stuff. The thing is a lot of what they had to work with was limiting because the technology wasn't there. Most of the time it was realtime effects. Lizzards running through miniature sets like in "Attack of the Giant Ghia Monster" Painted pie plates set on fire like in "Plan 9 From Outer Space". Stop motion creatures like in the Original "King Kong". Stuff like that.
Lighting was a big thing because of the black and white film. The makeup jobs were different because the lights could "wash out" facial features if the wrong colors were used. Romero used chocolate syrup for blood in the original "Night of the Living Dead" because it showed up better on film.
You have to appreciate what these films did. Sure the audiences were different back then, not "less sofisticated" just not bombarded with images that we take for granted today. When the original "Frankenstein" was released women actually passed out at the first real look at Karloff as the monster. Some men had a herd time seeing it also. Not because they were unsofisticated but because they never saw a creature that hideous before. It was the time period they were in. You just didn't see things like that.
Yeah today they can and do anything in a film. Look at "Lord of the Rings". There is some much killer stuff in there it boggles the mind and it all looks great thanks to the cgi used. You couldn't make that flick back then and make it look the same. (I know they were making films before it came out in book form but give a better example of a modern flick.)
Then there's the music. To be honest it's some of the best. Unlike today where there's the marketing of a soundtrack to go along with the movie, the music was in the backgroung to help support the scene. In a lot of cases there was none. Not saying they still don't do that but just that it was for the movie not to promote bands and to be trendy. Think of what Danny Elfman does for a modern soundtrack and you'll get what I mean.
All in all if it weren't for those early films you wouldn't have what you do today. In some cases things are still done the same way but the equiptment is better!
2006-10-21 15:37:07 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Probably more like 40-60 years ago....
People talked like they were reading a script
They emoted dramatically
The actors' eyes were carefully lighted
There was more attention to scene transitions for a less sophisticated audience.
Men wore suits and ties, ladies high fashion
2006-10-20 23:38:29 · answer #3 · answered by Victor 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋