Stars and comedy

1. Stars and comedy Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin “Great comedy often exists close to tragedy.”

2. A serial is a precursor to today’s TV show. You would go to the movie theater once a week (for months to a year) to get a portion of the story usually ending in a cliffhanger.They were often action-packed and sometimes had female leads. Then they would feature their clothing style and other articles about the main stars called tie-ins. This started hype about actors/actresses in film. This started in the 19-teens. • The Perils of Pauline was one famous one. Each week Pauline, the star, would get herself into trouble and have to get out of it. • http://cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?videoId=ZVPQa-10030 Stars started with serials

3.  Challenged norms and social conventions. • Had exaggerations • Often filmed in long shots, displaying all physical comedy. • Before Keaton and Chaplin, silent film comedy was only slapstick comedy. • After Keaton and Chaplin, there was longer set ups to the comedy and lots more subtle details in the comedy. Along with great feats of physicality. Silent film comedy

4. They both started in vaudeville. And were geniuses in film. • Both children of performers. • They started in film in the mid to late 19-teens. • And their careers were at their biggest during the 1920s. • They both gradually lost fame after the coming of sound. They both made some contributions to film after the coming of sound. • Their films consisted of long and wide shots to showcase their ability for physical comedy. • They both made great feature-length films. • They both starred in and directed most of their features. • They often shoot on location at times and feature costumes. • Gags (comedic spectacles) are frequent. • Both were very subtle. The biggest stars of the 20s: Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin

5. Buster Keaton started in The Three Keatons: an abusive vaudeville act where Buster would get disciplined by his father Joe. • Buster started his film career started in film in 1917 in Fatty Arbuckle • The main character he portrays is usually inadequate and not confident. He eventually proves himself. The underdog story is Buster Keaton. • His films told stories with this structure: main character is unable to overcome the problem then through heroic confidence brought on by something within the film, he overcomes the problem. • Our hospitality is the film we’ll watch from 1923: Willie McKay a city slider who gets caught in the middle of the infamous Canfield and McKay feud. Satire of real-life Hatfield and McCoy feud. • Buster Keaton’s accomplishments: in his film Sherlock Jr., he has the first instance of a character walking off a movie screen into the audience, he has the special ability to not get hurt in his stunts and he did all of his stunts. • His attention to reality is key. He even once set a train on fire across a flaming bridge. It was all real and just for one shot in one movie. • http://cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?videoId=f-y36kHok4U Buster keaton“The GreatStone-Face”

6. Charlie Chaplin was forced out of the U.S. due to ‘leftist views.’ Remains one of the U.S.’s most distinguished directors. His famous character ‘the tramp’ is remade in later films. • Buster Keaton took after his father and turned to alcohol. He was fired from MGM and drank more. He was practically homeless. Once he sobered up, he played in a few more movies and was honored before his death. Their careers