Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by jbmcb (A) on April 05, 2005 at 18:30:37

In Reply to: Film history Query: Why weren't subtitles used in the silent era? posted by Bambi B on April 5, 2005 at 14:55:46:

My wife and I were flipping around and caught a bit of that Safety Last. Fun movie! Many silent films like that wear on my nerves after a while, however. Yeah, he's dangling from a clock. It's fun for about twenty seconds, after the second minute I'm changing the channel.

I'd guess, from the length of time they showed the script cards in between takes (about half a minute for a 12 word sentence) that they assumed people had a hard time reading on the big screen in a linear fashion, much less at the same time as people are "talking" on screen.

/*Music is subjective. Sound is not.*/