The Sounds of Early Cinema in Britain

英国早期电影之声网络将提供一种机制，在英国早期和“无声”电影的展览中，巩固对声音和音乐实践的研究和实践活动，并跨越各种被认为是早期电影先驱的传统，通过向20世纪20年代后期同步声音的过渡，以及它的辅助，非同步角色进入50年代及以后。英国电影展览的最初几十年以变化和实验为特征。对于正在开发的技术和举办展览/表演的地点，包括教堂、音乐厅、露天游乐场、剧院以及后来专门建造的场地，都是如此。音乐和声音练习通常是即兴的。这一时期的电影消费也更加多样化。表演和偶然性的元素一直延续到有声时代，因为在许多电影院，现场音乐表演长期以来一直是电影展览的关键部分。虽然其他国家的同事，尤其是美国的同事，已经开始挖掘这段历史，但在英国，这段历史基本上被埋葬了，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集结点，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。它不仅会考虑历史意识的视角，也会考虑当代实践：无声电影现在经常被当代风格的现场表演者重新想象，这可能被描述为对电影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）现代趋势的理解，并影响主要展览空间的未来战略，不仅涉及个人研究人员和表演者，还涉及以默片和早期电影放映为特色的卓越场所和节日：诺丁汉默片节和伦敦巴比肯中心。该网络还通过电影管风琴协会和英国电影协会等组织的成员，寻求促进对音乐在英国早期电影展览中所起作用的物质遗产的欣赏。学术界人士与广泛的政策制定者、实践者和其他利益相关者之间的潜在互动将具有前所未有的意义和价值。我们申请在这一领域建立一个国际研究网络，其特点是它优先考虑了三个关键因素：-在20世纪20年代后期同步声音的发展和采用之前，将研究涉及某种形式的投影图像的各种文化习俗的个人聚集在一起，以评估音乐和/或声音在这些实践中的作用。-汇集与这些材料相关的个人，包括（但不限于）学术研究，历史知识的表演实践（即演奏/恢复现有的乐谱，和/或即兴创作），为这些材料开发新的表演传统，档案保管员，策展人，修复者，以及从事学院以外研究的许多爱好者和收藏家。在这里，“材料”可能包括电影、乐谱、仪器/设备，以及行业或电影展览经验的文件形式。-将在这一时期为美国提供了一个完整而丰富的画面的关键人物带到英国，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.