Silent cinema was never truly silent. Performances were often accompanied by live music and the noise of the audiences more than made up for the lack of a soundtrack in the movie. From the origins of cinema to the advent of sound in 1929 with The Jazz Singer, many of the ground rules of the medium were laid and film-making techniques developed, including editing and special effects, styles of acting, filming on location and much more. A study of the earliest origins of cinema to the stars, comedians and directors who started it all.
