While they once created empires, silent films lay still today. Few people ever dive back in time to experience cinemagraphic life before sound and color, and certainly nobody makes them any more. If one played at the local movie theater, the only people who would show up would be the few resident film junkies and the stoner who stumbled into the wrong movie.
Curious, I watched the original Mark of Zorro the other day, and was surprised. I’d expect something that old to be unapproachable, with a slow plot and boring and uninteresting cinematography. Plot-wise, it was something that we might see today. Zorro might well be a 17th century batman, saving damsels at night, and generally being socially awkward during the day. Even the stunts were impressive, doubly so when you realize they had very little special effect trickery.What fascinated me was how few tools the filmmakers had to tell their story. Scenes of dialog were slides of sparse exposition followed by silent acting. Most of the time you had to guess what was being said. Oh, look, she’s getting angry! I guess he said something bad. Now the scene’s colored in monochromic blue, I guess it’s night!
The limitations that silent movie makers dealt with are strikingly similar to those video game makers had in the 80’s to early 90’s. Limited graphical capabilities required the player to use their imagination. Modern hardware allows game designers to paint their world using art styles as diverse as photo-realism, cell-shading, or even art-deco. Back when pixels where large enough to be counted by hand and only a handful of basic colors could be used a once, luxuries like “art styles” did not exist.
The limitations of both silent films and 8-bit video games leave a bit of the world up to the viewer. The portion that the imagination makes will always be more vibrant then any prepackaged notion. This idea summarizes the appeal of books, as well. While everyone can enjoy a Hollywood thrill ride, or $100 million dollar AAA video game, they can never truly rival a medium which lets the subject in on the creating.
