Silent Movie Advertisements Capture America's First Films
2022-10-15
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1Silent films established America's movie industry.
2But many of these films from the early 1900s no longer exist.
3A new project aims to capture the flavor of these movies by digitizing old advertisements for them and publishing the materials online.
4The idea for the project came from Chicago-based collector Dwight Cleveland.
5He is cooperating on the effort with a professor and students at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.
6Cleveland is a property developer who became interested in the silent movie advertisements, also called cards, as a high school student in the 1970s.
7He was introduced to some real cards by his art teacher at the time, who had a small collection.
8Cleveland recently told The Associated Press he "fell in love" with the colors, graphics and other elements used in the movie cards.
9The early experience made him want to start his own collection.
10"It just sort of screamed out, 'Take me home!'" Cleveland said.
11The cards were made to be placed inside the area outside theater entrances, also known as lobbies.
12The cards informed filmgoers about what movies were currently playing as well as films that would arrive next.
13They publicized all that early Hollywood had to offer, including comedies, love stories and action movies.
14Cleveland told the AP that about 90 percent of all silent films have been lost.
15One of the main reasons for this is that the chemicals used to make many of the early films broke down over time.
16Many silent films were also destroyed in fires.
17"What that means is that these lobby cards are the only tangible example that these films even existed," Cleveland said.
18The cards, traditionally measuring 28 by 35 centimeters, were placed in sets of eight or more.
19They showed a film's name, production company, actors and more.
20The cards were meant to give moviegoers a preview of the films.
21Today, they capture the stars and storytelling methods that existed during America's silent film period, or era.
22At the time, movie trailers - the brief video introductions of upcoming movies we still see in theaters today - were not common.
23The early lobby cards were produced using a process that mostly used black, white and brown designs.
24Other colors were often added in later by hand, writes Josie Walters-Johnston.
25She is a librarian in the Moving Image Research Center at the U.S. Library of Congress.
26By the 1920s, the images began to look more like pictures and included more complex design details.
27The cards were placed in theaters for many years, but production stopped in the late 1970s or early 1980s, Walters-Johnston wrote.
28Cleveland has been sending examples from his personal collection to Dartmouth's Media Ecology Project.
29The effort is led by Mark Williams, an associate professor of film and media studies.
30He oversees a small group of students who remove each card from its protective covering to scan and digitize.
31When completed, the lobby card collection will become part of Dartmouth's Early Cinema Compendium.
32It is a large collection of rare and valuable elements relating to early and mostly lost American films.
33The compendium will be published online with financial help from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
34Williams said the main goal of the project is to make the material available to early movie fans and scholars alike.
35He added that he hopes publishing the collection will "catapult new interest" in the silent film era.
36I'm Bryan Lynn.
1Silent films established America's movie industry. But many of these films from the early 1900s no longer exist. 2A new project aims to capture the flavor of these movies by digitizing old advertisements for them and publishing the materials online. 3The idea for the project came from Chicago-based collector Dwight Cleveland. He is cooperating on the effort with a professor and students at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. 4Cleveland is a property developer who became interested in the silent movie advertisements, also called cards, as a high school student in the 1970s. He was introduced to some real cards by his art teacher at the time, who had a small collection. 5Cleveland recently told The Associated Press he "fell in love" with the colors, graphics and other elements used in the movie cards. The early experience made him want to start his own collection. "It just sort of screamed out, 'Take me home!'" Cleveland said. 6The cards were made to be placed inside the area outside theater entrances, also known as lobbies. The cards informed filmgoers about what movies were currently playing as well as films that would arrive next. They publicized all that early Hollywood had to offer, including comedies, love stories and action movies. 7Cleveland told the AP that about 90 percent of all silent films have been lost. One of the main reasons for this is that the chemicals used to make many of the early films broke down over time. Many silent films were also destroyed in fires. 8"What that means is that these lobby cards are the only tangible example that these films even existed," Cleveland said. 9The cards, traditionally measuring 28 by 35 centimeters, were placed in sets of eight or more. They showed a film's name, production company, actors and more. The cards were meant to give moviegoers a preview of the films. Today, they capture the stars and storytelling methods that existed during America's silent film period, or era. 10At the time, movie trailers - the brief video introductions of upcoming movies we still see in theaters today - were not common. 11The early lobby cards were produced using a process that mostly used black, white and brown designs. Other colors were often added in later by hand, writes Josie Walters-Johnston. She is a librarian in the Moving Image Research Center at the U.S. Library of Congress. 12By the 1920s, the images began to look more like pictures and included more complex design details. The cards were placed in theaters for many years, but production stopped in the late 1970s or early 1980s, Walters-Johnston wrote. 13Cleveland has been sending examples from his personal collection to Dartmouth's Media Ecology Project. The effort is led by Mark Williams, an associate professor of film and media studies. He oversees a small group of students who remove each card from its protective covering to scan and digitize. 14When completed, the lobby card collection will become part of Dartmouth's Early Cinema Compendium. It is a large collection of rare and valuable elements relating to early and mostly lost American films. The compendium will be published online with financial help from the National Endowment for the Humanities. 15Williams said the main goal of the project is to make the material available to early movie fans and scholars alike. He added that he hopes publishing the collection will "catapult new interest" in the silent film era. 16I'm Bryan Lynn. 17The Associated Press reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. 18________________________________________________________________ 19Words in This Story 20flavor -n. the quality of something, usually related to taste 21graphics - n. or of related to the pictorial arts 22tangible - adj. something real that can be seen, touched, measured, etc. 23preview - n. a short film that advertises a film or television program 24scan -v. to use a machine to read or copy something into a computer 25scholar - n. someone who has studied a subject and knows a lot about it 26catapult - v. to make something move through the air quickly and with great force 27____________________________________________________________________ 28What do you think of this story? We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 29Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.