The Eve of Sound

         One of the most powerful tools invented is film. That medium gave birth to TV.  When it was first created, it was purely a visual medium.  As time and technology progressed, though, “sound” became an added power within the medium. I was no award-winning film maker or film historian, but what I love most about the medium was the visual aspect.  I loved telling stories without the help of sound.  Many times, I feel I was more destined to be a film maker in the 1920’s then today.  Often, when I look at any piece of art, I can somehow feel the internal struggle of the artist. Even if it’s a 16th century painter producing a piece commissioned by a king or a film maker in the decade of the 1930’s under agreement with a movie studio to “make a picture,”

     I feel the introduction of sound to film, at the time period it arrived, interrupted directors and cinematographers in their explorations of the creative and visual components of narrative and non-narratives.  As the creative freedom and support was slowly being taken away, the pace and energy of the film medium changed forever.  Luckily, many filmmakers throughout the world still did not lose touch with the understanding and respect for the visual and the power that lies within it.

          The story of Adam and Eve does not seem to be much different than the story of film getting sound.  Many interpret the story by saying that Adam was present long before Eve, and he had no knowledge of his speech. Once Eve arrived, then the power of speech was exercised.  Now men and women were given a gift or tool in which to communicate. So speech was introduced to life, and sound was introduced to film.

          In the beginning, a film’s motive was to entertain and document, but it was not long after this that the tool’s motive was to make money.  After film, just past musical accompaniments, the voice was added.  First, there was the voice-over, and the power of a voice-over was incredibly special to those who had never heard one before. A voice-over can have so much power because it can subtly replace that little voice in our own heads.  The voice seems to be a lot louder than our own.  It might say, “Go buy. Go to war. Go vote. Act this way,” and so forth. It is in our nature to listen to our little voice and also to feel as if we are together.  So, if we can all be together and hear the same little voice, then the power of choice and action might very well take form.