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Animating the audience: singalong films in Britain in the 1920s

Animating the audience: singalong films in Britain in the 1920s
Animating the audience: singalong films in Britain in the 1920s
This chapter examines the brief but vigorous popularity of singalong films in Britain in the mid-1920s. This alternate sonic practice utilized an animated “bouncing ball” or similar device to indicate the lyrics of a song with the intent of promoting a communal singalong. Communal singing was not in itself an innovation and the chapter examines a number of precedents, which provide an important context for these films. The films also coincided with the broader cultural trend of community singing, indicating a geographically and historically specific moment. Both the singalong films and the community-singing movement engaged with the new technologies of sound reproduction: gramophone, telephone, and especially radio. These technologies would play a central role in the arrival of synchronized sound in cinemas and the singalong films may be considered a reflection of the debates about what the emerging sound cinema would sound and look like.
britain, cinema, 1920s, community singing, audience participation, animation, the coming of sound, sound technology
9780199797615
Oxford University Press
Cook, Malcolm
e2e0ebaa-c791-48dc-8c67-86e6cbb40b75
Brown, Julie
Davison, Annette
Cook, Malcolm
e2e0ebaa-c791-48dc-8c67-86e6cbb40b75
Brown, Julie
Davison, Annette

Cook, Malcolm (2012) Animating the audience: singalong films in Britain in the 1920s. In, Brown, Julie and Davison, Annette (eds.) The Sounds of the Silents in Britain. Oxford, GB. Oxford University Press. (doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199797615.003.0013).

Record type: Book Section

Abstract

This chapter examines the brief but vigorous popularity of singalong films in Britain in the mid-1920s. This alternate sonic practice utilized an animated “bouncing ball” or similar device to indicate the lyrics of a song with the intent of promoting a communal singalong. Communal singing was not in itself an innovation and the chapter examines a number of precedents, which provide an important context for these films. The films also coincided with the broader cultural trend of community singing, indicating a geographically and historically specific moment. Both the singalong films and the community-singing movement engaged with the new technologies of sound reproduction: gramophone, telephone, and especially radio. These technologies would play a central role in the arrival of synchronized sound in cinemas and the singalong films may be considered a reflection of the debates about what the emerging sound cinema would sound and look like.

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More information

Published date: 2012
Keywords: britain, cinema, 1920s, community singing, audience participation, animation, the coming of sound, sound technology
Organisations: Film

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Local EPrints ID: 385597
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/385597
ISBN: 9780199797615
PURE UUID: 7cfaf580-167a-4d7f-8ed5-eb1949022ce2

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Date deposited: 08 Feb 2016 11:43
Last modified: 12 Sep 2024 17:11

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Contributors

Author: Malcolm Cook
Editor: Julie Brown
Editor: Annette Davison

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