Evolution of Film Language

This article made me realize that we take for granted how seamlessly modern films convey meaning. With the technological advancements we have such as sharp cameras, color, sound, and special effects, almost all films have a "realistic" quality to them. They are real at least within themselves. With silent films, the first era that Bazin mentions, meaning was a lot more difficult to convey because it had to be done without color or sound. There was no "narrator" to set up the story for us, this was show rather than tell. This reminds me of a dilemma that Chaplin had while making on of his films. He needed to convey to a blind character that a man was wealthy and she couldn't simply "overhear" a conversation, the process required an extra level of creativity. He stopped production for months because he could not come up with that perfect way for her to know without using words. He ended up using the slamming of a fancy car door. One way that we've learned to convey realism in the modern era is through depth of focus. The human eye seems most things far away as crisp and sharp, so when we apply this to the film lens it automatically makes it feel more realistic.