See Films Differently · Nº 01
What Applause Makes Us Hear
Camera noise, city sounds and overlapping voices offer three ways into Rouben Mamoulian’s Applause—and a question about what an early talkie makes audible.
Journal topic
Film History
Essays connecting film history with cinema and the act of looking.
See Films Differently · Nº 02
When the Backgrounds in Old Films Become the Main Attraction
Why can an old film's shopfronts and passing traffic become as absorbing as its story? Look again with People on Sunday and A Trip Down Market Street.
See Films Differently · Nº 03
What Is Nitrate Film? Why Old Film Burns and What Survives
Nitrate is the flammable plastic base of much early cinema. Learn how it differs from safety film, why films disappear, and what restoration can preserve.
See Films Differently · Nº 04
What Is a Talkie? When Movies Started Talking
A talkie is a film with recorded, synchronised speech. See how The Jazz Singer, Blackmail and Modern Times changed what audiences could hear.
See Films Differently · Nº 05
Why Are Old Movies Square? Aspect Ratios and Black Bars Explained
Why old films look square, what 4:3 and Academy ratio mean, and why the black bars on your TV may be keeping the whole picture intact.
See Films Differently · Nº 06
Why Do Actors in Old Movies Sound Different?
Hear the difference between an old-film accent, a performance and a recording, with Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and two comedies from 1940.
See Films Differently · Nº 07
What Is Pre-Code Hollywood? The Hays Code and the Films
What does pre-Code Hollywood mean? Understand the Hays Code, the change in 1934, and the dialogue, endings and restored versions of three films.
See Films Differently · Nº 08
How Did Silent Films Have Music? Live Scores, Cue Sheets and Why Editions Sound Different
Silent films usually had live music from a pianist, organist, ensemble or orchestra. Learn how cue sheets worked and why modern editions can sound different.
See Films Differently · Nº 09
How TV Made It’s a Wonderful Life a Christmas Classic
It’s a Wonderful Life became a Christmas ritual through television repetition—then rights control turned its abundance into an annual appointment.