The Sounds of Early Cinema in Britain

英国早期电影的声音网络将提供一种机制，用于巩固对英国早期和“无声”电影展览中的声音和音乐实践的研究和实践活动，并跨越被认为是早期电影先驱的各种传统，直到20世纪20年代后期向同步声音过渡，以及其附属，非同步角色进入20世纪50年代及以后。英国电影展览的最初几十年以不断变化和实验为特征。正在开发的技术和展览/表演的地点都是如此，其中包括教堂、音乐霍尔斯、游乐场、剧院和后来专门建造的场地。音乐和声音的实践往往是即兴的。在此期间，电影的消费也更加多样化。表演性和偶然性的元素一直延续到声音时代，因为在许多电影院，现场音乐表演长期以来一直是电影放映的关键部分。虽然其他国家的同事，特别是美国，已经开始挖掘这段历史，但在英国，这段历史在很大程度上仍然被埋葬，只有少数优秀的出版物。该网络不仅旨在为英国的相关研究提供一个学术凝聚点，而且还致力于对电影展览的表演维度进行新的理解和欣赏。它将考虑不仅是历史意识的观点，但也当代的做法：无声电影现在往往是重新想象的当代风格的现场表演者，在什么可以被描述为电影的历史表演模式的后现代挪用。因此，理解早期电影的声音和表演维度仍然是当代英国音乐电影实践的重要组成部分。该网络旨在促进对历史和（后）现代伴随趋势的理解，并通过不仅涉及个人研究人员和表演者，还涉及以无声电影和早期电影放映为特色的杰出场地和节日，影响主要展览空间的未来战略：诺丁汉无声电影节和伦敦的巴比肯中心。该网络还寻求通过让电影管风琴协会和英国电影协会等组织的成员参与，促进对音乐在英国早期电影展览中作用的物质遗产的欣赏。学术界人士与广泛的政策制定者、从业者和其他利益相关者之间的潜在互动将具有前所未有的重要意义和价值。我们申请在这一领域建立国际研究网络的特点是优先考虑三个关键要素：- 在20世纪20年代后期同步声音的发展和采用之前，将研究各种文化习俗的个人聚集在一起，这些文化习俗涉及某种形式的投影图像，以评估音乐的作用，或声音在这些实践中。- 将与这些材料相关的工作包括（但不限于）学术研究，历史性的表演实践（即表演/恢复现有的乐谱和/或即兴表演），为这些材料开发新的表演传统，档案管理员，策展人和修复者，以及在学院之外进行研究的许多爱好者和收藏家聚集在一起。在这里，“材料”可以包括电影，乐谱，仪器/设备，以及行业或电影展览经验的文件形式。将一批精选的关键人物带到英国，他们的工作为这一时期的美国形势提供了全面而丰富的画面，分享他们的知识和专业知识，并协助网络成员促进这一时期英国电影展览中音乐和声音实践研究的进一步发展。

The Sounds of Early Cinema in Britain Network will provide a mechanism for consolidating research and practical activity on sonic and musical practices in the exhibition of early and 'silent' cinema in Britain, and across the variety of traditions considered forerunners to early cinema, through to the transition to synchronized sound in the late 1920s, as well as its adjunct, non-synchronised role into the 1950s and beyond. The first decades of film exhibition in the UK were characterized by flux and experimentation. This is true of the technologies under development and the location in which exhibitions/performances took place, which included churches, music halls, fairgrounds, theatres and, later, purpose-built venues. Musical and sonic practices were often improvisatory. The consumption of film was also more heterogeneous during this period. Elements of performativity and contingency continued well into the sound era given that in many cinemas live musical performance long remained a key part of film exhibition. Although colleagues in other countries, notably the United States, have begun to excavate this history, in the United Kingdom this history remains largely buried but for a handful of otherwise excellent publications. This Network seeks not only to provide a scholarly rallying point for relevant research in the UK, but to contribute towards a new understanding and appreciation of the performative dimension of film exhibition. It will consider not only historically conscious perspectives but also contemporary practices: silent films are now often re-imagined by live performers in contemporary styles, in what might be described as a post-modern appropriation of film's historically performative mode. Understanding early film's sonic and performative dimensions thus remains a vital part of contemporary British musico-cinematic practice.The Network seeks to foster understanding of both historical and (post)modern accompanying trends and to influence future strategy in major exhibition spaces by involving not only individual researchers and performers, but also pre-eminent venues and festivals that feature silent and early film screenings: Nottingham Silent Film Festival and London's Barbican Centre. The Network also seeks to foster an appreciation of the material heritage of music's role in early film exhibition in the UK by involving members of organisations such as the Cinema Organ Society and the British Film Institute. The potential interactions between those in the academy and a broad spectrum of policy-makers, practitioners and other stakeholders will be of unprecedented significance and value.Our application for an international research network in this field is distinguished by its prioritisation of three key elements:- bringing together individuals researching the wide variety of cultural practices involving some form of projected images prior to the development and adoption of synchronized sound in the late 1920s in order to assess the role of music and/or sound in these practices. - bringing together individuals whose work in relation to these materials includes (but is not limited to) scholarly research, historically-informed performance practice (i.e. performing/restoring existent scores, and/or improvising), the development of new performing traditions for these materials, archivists, curators, and restorers, and the many enthusiasts and collectors who undertake research outside of the academy. Here, 'materials' may include the films, scores, instruments/equipment, and forms of documentation of the industry or of the experience of film exhibition.- bringing to the UK a select body of key individuals whose work has provided a full and rich picture of the US situation in this period, to share their knowledge and expertise and to assist members of the network to foster the further development of research in music and sound practices in film exhibition during this period in the UK.