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

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).

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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