Visually, this is brilliantly executed. But I wish that it was edited better, with some intertitles for dialogue. As it is, it doesn't tell the story, but rather is a tech demo of how to treat the footage to make it look like a movie (rather than a talkie), since all the footage is out of order.
"the whole purpose" statement in the previous comment was pretty inane.
Harold was right. if they'd arranged the footage and told a story with intercut dialogue, it would've been much better. Perhaps someone playing a ragtime version of the actual Star Wars theme on the piano, as well.
As it is, seems like they just threw an "old age" filter on the film and sped it up. Big deal, anyone could do that with Windows Movie Maker.
I agree that this is cute. However it is but a parody of what silent movies really were. Many silent films are classics that still are entertaining today despite the lack of spoken dialogue. It is easy to think that movies made 80 to 100 years ago would be hopelessly crude by today's standards and many presentations of silent films, including this one, reinforce that view.
A well presented silent film will show that some of these films have a sophistication unique to their silent nature. Presenting silent films well is not easy because we have largely lost the technology and know how to do so. One needs to project them from good prints, at the right speed, and with proper musical accompaniment. Silent films were not intended to flicker and weave, to run too fast, or to have irrelevant music played with them. They flicker and weave because the film stocks are deteriorating. They run too fast because they are projected too fast by today's single speed projectors. The music doesn't fit because accomplished silent film accompanists are a rare commodity. Fortunately, silent films are enjoying a resurgance thanks to DVD. There are many excellent presentations of silent films such as Kino's version of Metropolis.
What is ironic is that George Lucas has said in several interviews that Star Wars was filmed much like a silent film. It might be very interesting to see Star Wars presented as a proper silent film with live musical accompaniment. Relegating the dialogue to title cards would change the balance of the movie placing more emphasis on the action and the music. Undoubtedly it would create a different impression, and not necessarily be just a funny joke.
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Harold was right. if they'd arranged the footage and told a story with intercut dialogue, it would've been much better. Perhaps someone playing a ragtime version of the actual Star Wars theme on the piano, as well.
As it is, seems like they just threw an "old age" filter on the film and sped it up. Big deal, anyone could do that with Windows Movie Maker.
A well presented silent film will show that some of these films have a sophistication unique to their silent nature. Presenting silent films well is not easy because we have largely lost the technology and know how to do so. One needs to project them from good prints, at the right speed, and with proper musical accompaniment. Silent films were not intended to flicker and weave, to run too fast, or to have irrelevant music played with them. They flicker and weave because the film stocks are deteriorating. They run too fast because they are projected too fast by today's single speed projectors. The music doesn't fit because accomplished silent film accompanists are a rare commodity. Fortunately, silent films are enjoying a resurgance thanks to DVD. There are many excellent presentations of silent films such as Kino's version of Metropolis.
What is ironic is that George Lucas has said in several interviews that Star Wars was filmed much like a silent film. It might be very interesting to see Star Wars presented as a proper silent film with live musical accompaniment. Relegating the dialogue to title cards would change the balance of the movie placing more emphasis on the action and the music. Undoubtedly it would create a different impression, and not necessarily be just a funny joke.
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