The Silent Film Comedy and The Gold Rush

     

  1)   Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

 In our last class the professor talked about the Silent Film Comedy and The Gold Rush. She started talking about Mack Sennett and she explained to us that Sennett was focused more in comedy than working in a serious film.  He worked in Vaudeville and had natural bent for comedy.  Also, he was the creator of the Keystone Company films and he started with two other Films Producers.  The Keystone Co. Films had purely visual gags. The professor told us that they relied on improvisation rather than planning things up or working in a script.  And also, they made a hundred of films per week or maybe a dozen. Sennett learned from Griffith how to make films and he was assigned to direct comedies approximately by 1907.  On the other hand, most of the major comedy stars and directors worked at one time for Sennett.

 Moreover, the professor talked about Buster Keaton and Charles Chaplin.   She said that Keaton and Chaplin were good directors but they had some differences like the films directed by Keaton weren’t emotional as the films of Chaplin.  The best movie of Keaton was The General that was release in 1926, whereas The Gold Rush directed by Charles Chaplin was released in 1925.

Charles Chaplin was known for be an Auteur director, Star, Editor, Music, and Producer.  He worked for Keystone by 1913 with Mack Sennett. He gained 75 to 150 dollars a week. He made over 35 two revelers and about ten to fifteen minutes. Then he moved to Essanay in 1915 to 1916 and by that time he started to gain 75,000 dollars a year and just made 10 films.

In 1916 to 1917 he went to Mutual Co., and he gained $670,000 per year. When he was in the First National Co. in 1918 his salary was very high, $1,000,000 per year. And by that time he was so wealthy and influential man.

Chaplin was highly structured. He wanted to develop a style like a character. He created the tramp costume and he used this character repeatedly.  In his film, he always used the comedy to make a point. He also directed his own segments himself.

The Gold Rush is considering one of the best pictures directed by Chaplin.  It took over a year to make and the cost was 970,000 dollars and it was grossed over 6 million dollars.  In the Gold Rush Chaplin is presenting the hunger- cannibalism, the cruel rejection by Georgia, the Ridicule: tied to dog, the work ethic (works for dinner).

      

             2) Find a related article and summarize the content.  

    

http://www.charliechaplin.com/en/biography/articles/5-The-Gold-Rush

I found an article that talked about The Gold Rush.  The article talked about how Chaplin thought the idea to make “The Gold Rush “film.  According to the article, “the first idea came to him when he was viewing some stereoscope pictures of the 1896 Klondike gold rush, and was particularly struck by the image of an endless line of prospectors snaking up the Chilkoot Pass, the gateway to the gold fields.” Also in the article talked about the shooting, the special effect, and the complication of Lita Grey.

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class. 

When I read the article, I confirmed that  “The Gold Rush” film is the best film of Chaplin.  Something that it didn’t know and I think it was not mentioned in class, according to the article is that   “The Gold Rush” was the first of his silent films, which Chaplin revived, with the addition of sound, for new audiences in 1942. However in the article and in the film screened in class described of what is about The Gold Rush and they both agree in that “ The Gold Rush” is one of the Charles Chaplin’s favorite films and according to the article, he declared that of all his films, this was the one by which he would most wish to be remembered.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of the screening, class discussions, text material and the article.  

The Gold Rush is the funniest silent comedy that I have seen in my life. I really enjoyed watching it. On the other hand, in the article and what we discussed in class explained that in The Gold Rush film is showing the hunger, the ridicule, the work ethic and among other things that Charles Chaplin wanted to show to the people. Most of the shooting was a medium shot.  He only used Close-ups when he wanted to emphasize something important. And this is one of the reasons that Chaplin is one of the most loved comedians and known for the whole world. 

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 
1) ( x  ) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class.

2) ( x  ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper.

3) ( x ) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text.

4) ( x  ) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper.

5) ( x  ) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read.

6) ( x ) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography.

7) ( x ) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality.

8) ( x ) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper.

Name: Kareline Santiago Date: 02/12/13