Journal article
Fidelity, Capture and the Sound Advertisement. Julius Pinschewer and Rudi Klemm's Die chinesische Nachtigall
Zeitgeschichte, Vol.41(2), pp.77-88
03/01/2014
Abstract
Die chinesische Nachtigall (1929), a humorous adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Nightingale by Julius Pinschewer and animator Rudi Klemm, is still remembered as the first advertising film to employ a soundtrack. But the film was also an advertisement for sound technologies: namely the new Tri-Ergon system of optical sound recording, which promised to revolutionize both the phonograph and film industries. As such, the film sought to intervene in current debates about the transition to sound: about competing systems of sound-on-film technology, but also about the potential uses of sound. Analyzing the film's curious blend of silhouette animation and in-camera montage, I argue that this hybrid aesthetic in Die chinesische Nachtigall betrays a deeper ambivalence in the understanding of optical sound recording itself, caught between culturally coded concepts of fidelity to and the capture of reality.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Fidelity, Capture and the Sound Advertisement. Julius Pinschewer and Rudi Klemm's Die chinesische Nachtigall
- Creators
- Michael Cowan
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Zeitgeschichte, Vol.41(2), pp.77-88
- Publisher
- Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Gmbh & Co Kg
- ISSN
- 0256-5250
- Number of pages
- 13
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 03/01/2014
- Academic Unit
- Cinematic Arts
- Record Identifier
- 9984432514002771
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