On October 1927, a film was released that memorized audiences with the use of a new technology that changed the way movies were viewed. It was the release of The Jazz Singer. It was one of the first films to use new Synchronized Sound technology in front of a public audience. It still had elements of silent films along with recorded jazz songs. Halfway through the movie, the main character burst towards the audience shouting, "Wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain’t heard nothin’ yet!” The audience was said to have stood to their feet and cheered at the first synced voice.
Warner Brothers became the first to pioneer this new technology, taunting other film companies to 'catch up.' Unfortunately, the earlier innovations had a flaw that it required someone to swap 'disks' at precise times in order to stay synced to the screen. The Jazz Singer required at least fifteen disks for all it's parts. One miss, and the effect would be out of sync.
Other problems that strung up were for filming, the technology was noisy and production crews were untrained in their use. Techniques were started that still were in use today, like directional Microphones. Actors and Actresses were also at risk, those without acting skills or accents had lost their jobs because they couldn't hide it very well. The movie, Singing in the Rain, actually is based on these historic events in the film industry.
EAK
Sources:
http://www.essortment.com/all/firsttalkies_refn.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jazz_Singer_%281927_film%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_film
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