They are 11 words that would change the world of cinema forever.
“Wait a minute, wait a minute, you ain’t heard nothin’ yet!” would be uttered ad-lib by singer Al Jolson in 1927’s The Jazz Singer, the first time an audience would see an actor on screen, communicating as they would in the foyer, without full-frame intertitles explaining plot transitions, or gurning faces to emphasis an emotion.
The technology behind The Jazz Singer would quickly kill the era of silent film, as thousands of theatres were rewired for sound.
But now Shooshfest, Australia’s first silent short film competition, is bringing back the hush to the movie house.
“It’s where film began,” says co-founder of Shooshfest, Rebecca Zemunik.
“You can have title cards, no diegetic sounds, so no sound within, but sound on top of is allowed, (like the piano accompaniment that was traditional in the silent era) and off you go.
The films are allowed a maximum of 10 minutes on-screen, and will be judged by experienced screen creatives like Mark Joffe, a film director and producer whose credits include Spotswood with Sir Anthony Hopkins and the ABC series Jack Irish.
“Sound is really important, whether you use it or not; it’s actually great when you don’t use it,” Joffe says.
“The Artist won the Best Picture Oscar 10 or 15 years ago without any sound.”
Twenty entrants have submitted for this inaugural festival, which will be announced tonight in Sydney, with the winner taking home the Golden Finger statuette, the finger meaning “shhhhhh”.
“It’s been an absolute joy to see what people have been able to put together,” Zemunik says.
Mark adds: “It just goes back to storytelling.
“It’s all about being entertained, that’s the bottom line.”
