Andre Bazin!

Although his life span was unfortunately quite short, Andre Bazin proved to leave a life-lasting legacy in his critique of cinematic realism. A French film critic with a strong faith in Catholicism, Bazin essentially debunks the common beliefs around what constitutes "major" evolutionary changes in cinematic history. He argues that it was not the transition from silent film to sounds that signified a dramatic shift in the film industry; rather, change occurred ten years after sound came into play, through the development of objective and spatial realism.

I think I might disagree with this.

Bazin clarified a distinction between directors who prioritize imagery and those who favor reality. Imagists emphasize aesthetic appeal and Realists stress how scenes depict reality. While "decoupage," or the belief that there is NOT a sharp contrast between sound and silent film, certainly has valid points, I believe that the emergence of sound in film changed the entire industry (for the better).