Silent Movie Sets and Locations
Silent movies were made indoors and outdoors. Scenes that were common to silent movies are
still popular today:
- The car chase
- The pursuit and capture of the villain
- Beautiful panoramic outdoor scenes
- Night scenes
- Indoor or house scenes
- Parties
- Mysterious, dangerous or "sleuth" scenes
A group of people who made movies in the 1920's in Canada was called the Port Arthur Amateur
Cinema Society. They made movies indoors and outdoors, and included some of the scenes
listed above.
They had two cameras they used to make their movies, one for indoors and one for outdoors.
They needed two because brighter light would show up differently on the film than indoor
lighting. They did not have video cameras.
To keep things simple, film makers usually shot all of the interior scenes and then all of
the exterior shots, and then physically cut the film and pasted the film together to put the
scenes in the correct order.
Sometimes the film makers created the set by painting it on a cloth or wood backdrop. Other
times they borrowed someone's house or photography studio to make the movie.
ACTIVITY: SILENT MOVIE SETS AND LOCATIONS
As a group or with your class, watch a silent movie.
- Divide your class into two groups. One will be the "exterior" or outdoors group; the
other will be the "interior" or indoors group.
- Each group must keep a list of all of the different scenes or sets that is interior or
exterior. List props (objects), furniture, background and descriptions.
- Are there any scenes that were painted or drawn?
- When you have finished watching the movie, compare your notes and discuss the scenes and
sets.
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