Tweet Who are you? (Formal introductions)

Never knew about this thread though I've been posting for awhile. I'm a young silent film enthusiast named Dennis from the Jersey Shore, actually not very far from where that ridiculous show is filmed.

I have loved Silents since I was a child and first saw them on PBS.They have always seemed, at once, both more real and more fantastic than sound films. More real because they reminded me of B&W film footage of historical events from the documentaries I watched, and more fantastic because everyone in them seemed to feel things more than the people I knew.

Intoduced to the art form, as a kid, through Chaplin shorts like "The Rink" and "The Immigrant", for a time I thought that Charlie Chaplin was a real person whose life just happened to be caught on film.

[Mike Gebert]

Intoduced to the art form, as a kid, through Chaplin shorts like "The Rink" and "The Immigrant", for a time I thought that Charlie Chaplin was a real person whose life just happened to be caught on film.

Which is kind of the plot of The Circus, minus the film part.

Intoduced to the art form, as a kid, through Chaplin shorts like "The Rink" and "The Immigrant", for a time I thought that Charlie Chaplin was a real person whose life just happened to be caught on film.

Which is kind of the plot of The Circus, minus the film part.

Or the plot of Kid Auto Races at Venice- WITH the film part.

Well I'm Battra92. I'm a Baystater and I've been watching silent films since I was a little kid. I don't remember my first silent but I remember seeing Chaplin films on TV as a kid but I really became a fan of the genre when in 1995 I watched 24 hours of Buster Keaton's films on AMC. Luckily my father let us record them on a bunch of 8 hour tapes which were watched and rewatched many, many times.

Since then I was hooked and throughout high school and college I built up my collection of classic films.

I'm not monogamous with silents as I also enjoy many genres including early science fiction, B-movies and Japanese Giant Monster films.

I was brought up with old films. My uncle had a big 16mm collection. As a boy I would go over his house with my Grandfather, who seemed to know the name every silent and early talkie actor and bit player, and watch movies with them. Both my Grandfather and Uncle (his brother) spent their childhoods in movie theaters. I heard many stories about going to the theater, getting popcorn and candy, all for a nickel. I love silent films and early talkies. While fond of all old movies, I especially like the early Berkeley and Astaire Rogers musicals.

Hello,
I'm Andy Benz from Germany. I'm a silent film enthusiast since my childhood days, and I collect silent movies on 8mm and 16mm. I also do live accompaniments on organ and piano. I was active on Nitrateville only as a reader so far but the urge to be able to take part in some discussions proved to be irresistible. So here I finally am.

Hi Guys

I'm Tommy Scott from Belfast, Ireland. I'm a PHD researcher at the University of Ulster Coleraine studying Representations of the Irish in American Cinema 1910-1930. I also have a MRes (Master of Research) in Arts from University of Ulster and a Ba Hons in Film and Visual Studies from Queens University Belfast.

Film is my passion, everything from The General to Once Upon a Time in The West to Rambo!

I'm 29 (very close to 30 boo hoo), I have a wife, a 3 year old dog and we are expecting our first kid.

I also love football (Soccer to you guys in the States) - Manchester United are my be all and end all, Ice Hockey, Travel, Photography and I've recently got into Gardening - very recently.

I also do a bit of film making. I did the Cinematography and Editing on a short sports doc that can been seen here http://www.ryanfarquharracing.co.uk/redmist.php

Hi Tommy,

Nice to have another Irishman aboard.

I'm from Cork though I now reside in the UK.

Hi Tommy,

Nice to have another Irishman aboard.

I'm from Cork though I now reside in the UK.

Been to Cork quite a few times. I normally stay in the Gresham. Where abouts in England are u now?

Southend-on-sea, Essex.

Around these parts a silent movie is one which only has music and talking!!!

I'm Eric Cook, an educator in the Northern Tier of PA, I grew up in a small town north of Pittsburgh. I've been a church organist since the age of 16 and a lover of silent film as long as I can remember, watching them late at night on Pittsburgh's PBS station. I only became semi-serious about them 5 years ago when a friend from the church I was serving and I considered performing them with organ accompaniment as a church social. We've done it now for 5 years and in the last year of become very, very interested in them, both as art and as entertainment for today with live music. Right now I'm most interested in learning how to accompany the films with greater skill and with greater accuracy and putting together a volunteer salon orchestra for next years show.

My name is Ivan G. Shreve, Jr. I'm 47 years old and currently reside in Athens, GA though my native home is wild, wonderful West Virginia. I've had a lifelong interest in classic film, with a heavy emphasis on silent cinema, ever since I was a wee tadpole and saw the Paul Killiam presentations of such movies as The Gold Rush and The General. I probably won't contribute much since there are most assuredly people on this board who will forget more about silent movies than I'll ever know but I decided to join just to eavesdrop on some interesting discussions.

hello!
I am very new here! I am Serch, I am 23 years old and I am movie buff since I am 15 years old. I am from Asunción, Paraguay and I mainly like talkies, but recently I started loving silent films more and more... I am a fan of Theda Bara, Lillian Gish, Bebe Daniels, Louise Brooks and I love most of the German Expressionism ones.. I know I am a bit cliche about my likes, but I am just starting in this business.. so we will see...
nice to see you all!

[Mike Gebert]

Welcome to all recent NitrateVillains...

Greetings! My name is Daniel (I merely do the stunts for the alter ego Xavier Godshore). I'm a 30-something art director for a small traditional animation studio Burbank. I live in Simi Valley with my wife and red-nosed pitbull named Beulah.

I have been a silent film fan for a short amount of time. In 2007 I saw The General in a film appreciation and though it had the worst musical score possible, I fell in love with it and it's been a torrid love affair ever since. The author of the blog Silent London tipped me off to this site and, well, here I am ~ all new and bashful like

I'm an amateur film maker and have made one 'modern' silent thus far ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dI4xwd07nQ ) and am working on a few more.

I also recently started a blog (though it's more of a calendar) of silent film screenings in the Los Angeles area that may be of interest to some here. The link to that is in my signature.

Hope to get to know you fine folks here. Looking forward to discovering more about silent films!

Daniel

Since I've already made my presence known elsewhere on this site, I guess it's high time I posted here.

My name is Hillary Hess, and I've loved all kinds of movies as long as I can remember. I grew up around film collectors, and am proof that it is a communicable disease. My husband and I have over the years collected everything from 8mm to 35mm. A small but significant portion of that involves silent movies. I'd have more, but everyone else want the same titles! And I notice some of the guilty parties are members here...

I studied filmmaking in college, but my interest has waned along with the transition to digital "film"making, and have since gravitated more fully to still photography. My specialty in this area is stereo 3D event photography, for which I use vintage 1950s gear. I trust those old cameras more than my newest Nikon! But I'm willing to tackle any photographic assignment, the more unusual, the more interesting I find it.

We're pretty much into anything old; movies, radios televisions, cameras, cars, stereo slides, records and increasingly.....US!

And though I don't claim to be a musician at anywhere near the level of others here, I play the piano and will be performing a compilation score to The General next April for the 150th anniversary of the Andrews Raid.

This site is an incredible resource. I've already learned much from others here and will no doubt take away even more information than I can ever hope to contribute.

Hi. My name is Zachary. I am 23, and I live in Austin, TX.

My primary silent-film interest is the French Narrative Avant-Garde [or French Impressionist Cinema], particularly the works of Epstein and L'Herbier. My favorite film is Balançoires. I think Ivan Mozzhukhin is the unassailable giant of the silver screen, a discovery I made unknowingly after stumbling into a screening of Le Brasier Ardent because of Volkoff's co-director credit.

I also love Hollywood, Soviet, and German silent films, but I am not as literate of or exposed to them as much as I am the French. I am practically oblivious of everything else. I look forward to filling my blindspots by reading the posts on this site.

I am particularly interested in silent film pastiche in post-classical era filmmaking, and how it's insanely difficult to pull off. Outside of silent film, my cinematic interests include: pre-48 Hollywood genre film, post-1968 French introspective venom, JNW, direct cinema and other unconventional documentaries, Hedy Lamarr.

I think Ivan Mozzhukhin is the unassailable giant of the silver screen, a discovery I made unknowingly after stumbling into a screening of Le Brasier Ardent because of Volkoff's co-director credit.

Hi Snackary! Nice to see you here. I am too passionate about French silents as they are really overlooked. But, let me tell you that Alexander Volkoff DID NOT co-direct Le Brasier Ardent. The recent print shown by the Cinémathèque was just repeating an old Jean Mitry mistake. Ivan Mosjoukine did it alone.

Hey folks, just a quick hello - I'm a freelance photographer in Wellington New Zealand (originally from Toronto), with a fairly specific interest in the silent era.

For about the last eight years, I've been on the trail of Rupert Julian, a New Zealander who became an actor, writer, producer and director in Hollywood from 1913 - 1930, and died there in 1943. He's best known for The Phantom of the Opera (and his legendary battles with Lon Chaney on that set!) as well as Kaiser / The Beast of Berlin, and taking over from von Stroheim on The Merry-Go-Round; the most interesting thing to me is that hardly anyone in NZ has ever even heard of him! (I've dubbed him 'New Zealand's least-known world-famous Hollywood star.')

So, if anyone has any particular leads on Rupert, or if you just want to follow along on my continuing mission to seek out old life and old civilisations, feel free to get in touch. I've also got a wee Facebook page set up about him - though I may transfer that to a blog at some stage, as it's not an easy place to put things in any kind of order. Hopefully you can at least see the page, even if you're not on f'book yourself - but you can also contact me here.

All the best from the deep DEEP south;
R!

[silentfilm]

Welcome, Robert. I just joined your Rupert Julian Facebook page.

Hi, my name is Luke, and I adore silents. My first silent was 3 years ago, beingThe Poor Little Rich Girl starring Mary Pickford, of whom I am a huge fan. I think silents should be appreciated as an art form, they are so much more expressive than talkies. I am currently buying an 8mm projector so I can play the 8mm silents I am collecting. So, that is about it! Sincerely, Luke

[Mike Gebert]

Welcome, Luke!

Most people elsewhere may find it odd, but I'm pretty sure most people here were that 11 year old who had a passion for the 1920s, once.

A very long time ago...

I'm a little late with my introduction. I registered and started posting and replying before knew I could introduce myself. My name is Mitch Farish, and I love old movies - nothing after 1967 thank you (with an occasional exception). When I was a kid I watched Ernie Kovaks' Silents Please with my Dad, and in the '70s I watched The Silent Years, hosted by Orson Welles, on our local PBS station. I love visual storytelling. That meant silents had an automatic edge with me. Even the talkies I like aren't overly chatty. My favorite director is Hitchcock, who I believe was the most successful director at negotiating the transition from non-talking to talking pictures. I'm anxious to contribute to discussions on this board, but I'm mostly content to listen to - and learn from - those who know a great deal more than I do.

I've attended The Fall Cinesation the past five years now. I'm contemplating attending Cinefest in Syracuse this March, and I eventually hope to attend the Valhalla of conventions--- Cinecon.

James

James, if you attend Valhalla/Cinecon, I promise I'll wear my helmet with the horns. It will add a whole new dimension to "Ladies, Please Remove Your Hats."

Fred

Like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORwC7gNyUaY#

Great site here, so far I've killed a few hours poking around. I was searching for information on some 35mm nitrate films I picked up at a flea market a few years ago and found another wonderful distraction from downtime at work. Too much to learn and so little time.

Too much to learn and so little time.

Yes there is, and a good thing, too. No time to get bored.

Bob

Hi Everyone.

I'm Claire Ward, 49 years old & I live in Reefton, which is on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. I'm originally from the badly earthquake damaged Christchurch - I moved here about 7 years ago.

I'm a librarian & simply have a huge interest in silent movies, but especially the actors & actresses.

I haven't actually seen many silent movies; Christchurch New Zealand never showed any in cinemas & certainly NZ TV never aired any. About the only way I can see any is Youtube, as I don't have Sky (cable) TV, so I can't watch TCM.

I read as many biographies as I can get my hands on - Theda Bara, Marion Davies, Clara Bow, King Vidor, Colleen Moore, Harold Lloyd, etc.

I'm excited to have found this site. I'll be able to learn lots more & type with like minded people.

And by learning I mean, Catto/Robert, I've never heard of Rupert Julian and I've joined your facebook page too!

[silentfilm]

Claire, welcome. I don't know how far you are from Opotiki, but New Zealand has their own silent film festival: http://www.silentfilmfest.org.nz/Festival_Films.htm

Some of you may have already interacted with me over in the Music for Silents page, but I guess a formal introduction is in order.

My name is Andrew Greene, I'm the founder & conductor of the Peacherine Ragtime Orchestra, based in the Washington DC area. I got into silents a few years ago, after seeing the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra underscore "The Mark of Zorro" live in Wilmington, DE. Since then I've expanded into Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, Chaney, Chase, etc.

Peacherine has been called one of the best ragtime orchestras you'll ever hear. The orchestra is a direct recreation of the 11-and-piano theater orchestra circa 1910. We use my personal library of over 1,500 ragtime, theater, dance, silent film, and concert orchestrations for our repertoire. The members are mainly students found at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD, or from Towson University. However, we are now using some of the best musicians from the New York area to join. We are a touring orchestra, and will be making trips to central New Jersey and Maryland later this year. We've already traveled to Pennsylvania several times, and hope to get to Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, New York, and other states within the next few years. We released our first CD, "That Teasin' Rag: Vintage American Arrangements from the Ragtime Era" earlier this year on the Rivermont label.

For silent underscoring, we use period-correct scores put together by myself for silent shorts, and for features, we use the original studio-issued cue sheet scores. All of the music comes from when the films were first released, no brand new music here! We're one of the few groups in the nation that puts the cue sheet scores back together and presents it to modern day audiences. For some of the films, we're the only ones in the US that offer the original scores with the films. We currently offer 21 different films, although that list may grow in the near future.

Earlier this year, we showed off the original 1927 score to Buster Keaton's "College", some upcoming films include Chaplin's 1918 "Shoulder Arms" with its original score (NOT Chaplin's written score, the original 1918 release score), Keaton's "The General", and others. You can see and hear our work at http://www.peacherineragtime.com" target="_blank. We are also on facebook, should you like to follow us that way. All of the films we can underscore are located on the silent film part of our website as well.

My name is Emilie, and I got into silents late in my Junior year of high school after watching "Broken Blossoms". I love movies in general, but my favorite film era has got to be from the 1910s through the 1930s. I get so aggravated when people I know assume all silents are creaky, dated melodramas with bad acting. Aside from my sister who likes Chaplin, I really don't have anyone to discuss older movies with, so finding this forum was a Godsend in my case.