Events History

20 Apr : ‘Talkies’ got their voice ‘indirectly’

This is the tale of the time when we were fond of films, but were able to watch the film, can’t hear them. Then came an era when the dream of talking pictures or talkies came true. 

This is the tale of the time when we were fond of films, but were able to watch the film, can’t hear them. Then came an era when the dream of talking pictures or talkies came true.

Vitaphone.jpg
It was today in 1926, when Western Electric and Warner Brothers brought the technique of Vitaphone to the world. This is one technique by which audio was added to the video. This was not a direct method as via Vitaphone soundtrack was recorded separately and was patched to the video during the projection of the film. Hence they were called the talking pictures or talkies. Many early talkies, such as The Jazz Singer (1927), used the Vitaphone system.

VitaphoneDemo.jpg

The name “Vitaphone” derived from the Latin and Greek words, respectively, for “living” and “sound”.

First-nighters_posing_for_the_camera_outside_the_Warners'_Theater_before_the_premiere_of_"Don_Juan"_with_John_Barrymore,_-_NARA_-_535750.jpg

#Hindi
1926 में आज Western Electric और Warner Brothers ने Vitaphone नाम की तकनीक दुनिया के सामने रखी थी। Vitaphone तकनीक के ज़रिये silent films में आवाज़ का प्रयोग संभव हो पाया। उस दौर में soundtrack को सीधे films पर रिकॉर्ड नहीं किया जा सकता था। तब इस तकनीक के ज़रिए soundtrack को अलग से record करके फिल्म के projection के दौरान वीडियो के साथ साथ चलाया जाता था। शुरुआत में वो sound films जिनमें synchronized dialogues का इस्तेमाल होने लगा था, उन्हें “talking pictures” या “talkies” के नाम से जाना जाता था।