Behind the Silver Screen Series

When we take a larger view of a film’s “life” from development through exhibition, we find a variety of artists, technicians, and craftsmen in front of and behind the camera. Writers write. Actors, who are costumed and made-up, speak the words and perform the actions described in the script. Art directors and set designers develop the look of the film. The cinematographer decides upon a lighting scheme. Dialogue, sound effects, and music are recorded, mixed, and edited by sound engineers. The images, final sound mix, and special visual effects are assembled by editors to form a final cut. Moviemaking is the product of the efforts of these men and women, yet few film histories focus much on their labor.

Behind the Silver Screen calls attention to the work of filmmaking. When complete, the series will be comprised of ten volumes, one each on ten significant tasks in front of or behind the camera, on the set or in the post-production studio. The goal is to closely examine the various collaborative aspects of film production, one at a time / one per volume, and then to offer a chronology that allows the editors and contributors to explore the changes in each of these endeavors during six eras in film history: the silent screen (1895-1927), classical Hollywood (1928-1946); post-war Hollywood (1947-1967); the auteur renaissance (1968-1980); the New Hollywood (1981-1999), and the Modern Entertainment Marketplace (2000-present). Behind the Silver Screen promises a look at who does what in the making of a movie … it promises a history of filmmaking, not just a history of films.