Today on Art Beat I’m spoke about Songs from The Silver Screen. This is the theme of the Smithers Art Gallery’s spring fundraiser coming up at the Della Herman Theatre on Saturday March 21st. I chatted with Poppy Dubar who has been organizing this event for the Smithers Art Gallery.
Do you know where the term Silver Screen comes from?
We’ve all heard the term The Silver Screen, or actors being referred to as "Stars of the Silver Screen" But where does the term originate? You might guess it has something to do with silver. The first movies began way back in the year 1895. These films were black and white, and dark all over. Movie screens were made more reflective to help make the films easier to see. These silver screens were commonly made from a tightly woven silk coated with silver or a silver-like material e.g. a thin layer of aluminium imbedded within the silk. A cheaper way to achieve the same result was to paint a regular white screen with reflective paint or coat with silver dust. By the 1920s, the term silver screen began to be used in popular culture, and the rest is art (movie) history!
Music plays an important role in movie history. The earliest silent films were, well... silent! They were a completely visual experience. We might even think of these films as moving picture art, or kinetic artwork. During these early days of movies some cinema owners decided to hire a pianst or organist to perform a live soundtrack fitting the mood of the movie. This became such a popular practice that films soon hired composers to create musical scores, and film studios sent out sheet music along with the film reels.
For more information on Divas and Friends, Songs of the Silver Screen visit http://smithersart.org/index.php/news-events/divas-2015
Hope you listen next week when I discover Table Top Gaming. Jason Duff Coordinator of Smithers Tabletop joins me in studio.
Have an inspired weekend,
from my little art heart,
Colleen
BONUS
Here's a link to a story about Tel Aviv's first cinema
http://www.haaretz.com/life/movies-television/.premium-1.608669
and about historic cinemas in Northern Ireland http://nireland.britishcouncil.org/about/press/building-silver-screens-c...
and When art is integrated into film http://news.artnet.com/art-world/new-film-history-book-frames-artworks-a...