About this episode

This episode features an interview with silent film expert Ben Model discussing his book and key themes in silent film.

In this month's episode we speak to silent film polymath Ben Model, discussing his recent publication The Silent Film Universe . Digital Content Manager Christina had just finished reading when she spoke to Ben, and picked out a couple of chapters from which to discuss a few key themes: audience participation in creating the story, text in silent film, and the undercranking phenomena: all about film speeds in filming and projection. Please enjoy! Additional reading/ relevant links: A full English transcript of this episode is available here . Visit Ben's website Buy the book, The Silent Film Universe Listen to Ben's podcast: The Silent Film Music Podcast Read Ben's blog (including 'The Language of Silent Film' posts mentioned) Browse the wares at Undercrank Productions (*sale in June 2026!*) More about Ernie Kovacs and Edie Adams Catch up with previous episodes of The Silent Comedy Watch Party Mentioned in the show: Marketing Without the Marketing with Michael Boezi Mentioned in the show: Akimbo: a podcast from Seth Godin WowHD P.S Yes we do have a new musical hook! Wee musical excerpts at the episode start and finish are from our HippFest at Home presentation of Saxophone Susy…

People in this episode

Host: Christina

Guest: Ben Model

Topics covered

• silent film
• audience participation
• film speeds
• text in silent film
• undercranking phenomena

Keywords

• silent film
• Ben Model
• The Silent Film Universe
• audience participation
• undercranking
• film speeds
• text in silent film

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Undercrank Productions

Books & works: The Silent Film Universe, The Silent Film Music Podcast, Marketing Without the Marketing, Akimbo, Saxophone Susy

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