Our Influences : Charlie Chaplin

Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE (16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977) was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I.


( Charlie Chaplin as 'The Tramp')
Chaplin used mime, slapstick and other visual comedy routines, and continued well into the era of the talkies, though his films decreased in frequency from the end of the 1920s. His most famous role was that of The Tramp, which he first played in the Keystone comedy Kid Auto Races at Venice in 1914.

Chaplin was one of the most creative and influential personalities of the silent-film era. He was influenced by his predecessor, the French silent film comedian Max Linder, to whom he dedicated one of his films. His working life in entertainment spanned over 75 years, from the Victorian stage and the music hall in the United Kingdom as a child performer, until close to his death at the age of 88.

The reason why we looked to Charlie Chaplin for inspiration is that as before mentioned he was one of the most influential personalities of the silent film era, even today his work is revered and when we were researching and discussing ideas related to the silent film genre which we wanted to incorporate into our work, we studied Charlie Chaplin's films and although we aren't using comedic elements in our video, the simple black and white visuals, lack of dialogue with reliance on mise-en-scene and facial expressions are techniques we wish to imitate.

Sophia