Some of the most iconic moments in cinematic history are those which include heart-griping, spine-tingling sound effects.
For instance, the lightsaber in Star Wars and The Wilhelm Scream from various films, sound effects capture and convey some of the most memorable moments in movie history.
Sound effects are used in films to increase emotional response and create emphasis on the film while indicating a particular mood, but they were not always common in filmmaking.
Before all of these amazing sounds were integrated into films the movies people watched were largely – silent.
SO, WHAT WAS THE FIRST FILM SOUND EFFECTS?
Historically, from the beginning of cinema there were attempts at incorporating sound into the visual entertainment mix that audiences were growing to love.
In fact, there were about 40 different styles and types of films that incorporated some mix of audio and visual entertainment.
In the early days, productions such as Don Juan in 1926 incorporated with sound effects and score despite a lack of dialogue.
SILENT FILMS EVOLVE INTO TALKIES
Early silent films were not technically “silent” they just didn’t quite deliver the sound experience.
The early films that would be introduced in the “silent era” would consist of a variety of audio visual experiences .
That actually introduced sound into the theater through a number of different tactics and techniques.
These films would evolve into talkies which would become the norm in theaters in the 1920s.
Films from the early 1900s did not include any kind of synchronized sound.
They would include various elements of sound, including musicians or a pianist that would play accompanying sound that went along with the films that would show in theaters through the late 1920s.
However, actual sound effects were largely devoid from this era of filmmaking just as dialogue was also missing.
WHAT WAS THE FIRST FILM SOUND EFFECTS?
Live dialogue and live sound effects were not present in the film industry for many years despite the popularity of movies at this time.
In 1917, inventor Frank Illo would attempt to introduce sound effects with film.
He developed a system of sound effect machines that were unified through a central control and could be operated together to increase the realism of a film by introducing various sound effects into the theater while the film played.
The sound effect machine would never actually make it into theaters, though, despite the potential advances to film watching that could have been made with such a machine.
Sadly, theater owners were less than eager to make room for the machine which was actually incredibly large.
In the 1920s, synchronized sound would enter theaters bringing along sound effects.
By the 1930s there were virtually no more musicians in theaters as the introduction of sound effects in movies had become more common.
The Jazz Singer, an 89-minute film that featured music and synchronized sounds including dialogue would be the first of many more films that would use synchronized sound effects, including voice and music as well as other effects for audiences.
So what was the first film sound effects?
Music, followed by dialogue, and later by a variety of different sound effects which are common in films today including foley sound and many other techniques and tricks.
