Silent Film Glossary

Key terms you will come across while watching Chaplin's films.

Close-up / long shot (Yakın plan / uzak plan): How close the camera is to the actor. According to the famous saying attributed to Chaplin, life is a tragedy in close-up and a comedy in long shot.
Feature film (Uzun metraj): A film longer than an hour, shown on its own. Chaplin's first feature was The Kid (1921).
Frame rate (Kare hızı): The number of frames shown per second. Silent films were mostly shot at between 16 and 22 frames per second. Played back faster today, their movements look faster and jerkier than they really were.
Gag (Gag): A planned joke or comic routine within a comedy scene. Silent comedians would rehearse their gags for weeks to perfect them.
Intertitle (Ara yazı): Text cards placed between scenes in silent films to convey dialogue or narration. Chaplin used very few of them, preferring to tell the story through movement wherever possible.
Iris shot (İris): A transition in which the picture opens or closes in a circle. It was used at the start or end of a scene to focus the audience's attention on one point.
Keystone Studios (Keystone): The studio founded by Mack Sennett, famous for its fast and chaotic comedies. Chaplin began his film career there in 1914. The bumbling 'Keystone Kops' were also the studio's invention.
Live accompaniment (Canlı müzik eşliği): Silent films were never actually shown in silence. In cinemas a pianist, organist or orchestra accompanied the film live. Chaplin later composed the music for his own films.
Pantomime (Pandomim): The art of telling a story without words, using only the body, facial expressions and gestures. Chaplin gained this mastery on the music hall stages of England and in Fred Karno's company.
Public domain (Kamu malı): A work whose copyright has expired and that anyone may use freely. Many of Chaplin's early short films are now in the public domain; the rights to his later films are still protected.
Restoration (Restorasyon): Cleaning and repairing damaged copies of old films to make them ready to be shown again. Most of Chaplin's films can now be watched in restored copies.
Slapstick (Slapstick): Comedy based on exaggerated physical action such as falls, collisions, slaps and chases. It takes its name from the clown's double paddle that makes a loud noise without hurting.
Talkie (Sesli film): A film with sound and dialogue synchronised with the picture. It became widespread in 1927 with The Jazz Singer. Chaplin did not make his first full talkie until The Great Dictator in 1940.
The Tramp (Serseri): Chaplin's famous character with a bowler hat, cane, baggy trousers and huge shoes. Born in 1914, he said goodbye to the screen in Modern Times (1936).
Two-reeler (İki makaralı film): A short film of about 20–25 minutes. One reel of film ran for roughly 10–12 minutes. Most of Chaplin's Mutual shorts are two-reelers.
United Artists (United Artists): The distribution company Chaplin founded in 1919 with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D. W. Griffith. Its aim was to give artists a say over their own films.

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