For your final research project, you will design a silent-era movie theater, curate a program of films and other entertainment, and develop an advertising campaign. All of your choices for the theater and its amenities, the types of entertainment, and your advertising must be based on your research on periodicals published during the silent era (prior to 1931).
Choose a date (month and year) and location for your theater, since you will need to know who your audience is in order to determine how best to entertain them. Are you trying to attract Black viewers in Chicago, Latinx viewers in LA, Jewish immigrants in New York, white middle-class women in small-town Kansas, etc.? You don't need to research the demographics of your location. You can open your theater in an imaginary city or town, but you will need to describe your target audience in relation to the location (real or imagined) of your theater.
Decide what sort of building your theater is in (is it a nickelodeon in a converted storefront? or a picture palace?) and what amenities you will offer your customers (what sorts of chairs, what projector, what musical instruments, etc.). Your theater and amenities must be historically accurate, based on the research you include in your bibliographies. (Note: It is not required that your final bibliography matches exactly the annotated bibliography you submit before the paper is due).
Decide on your program. Will it be all film? Or will it include live acts? What music and sound effects will you include? Your essay should describe all of the elements of the program you plan to present to your customers. Name specific films and describe any other entertainments you will include. Explain why these films and entertainments will appeal to your chosen customer base and how you will advertise to customers. Again, this information must be historically accurate, based on the research you include in your bibliographies.
Annotated bibliography:
You should include at least eight sources, all of which must have been originally published around the date of your film program.
Annotations should briefly explain how you plan to use each source. For example, "This issue of Moving Picture World includes film reviews and advertisements that will help me decide which films to show and which projector to use. 'Comments on the Films"' on page 23 offers a positive review of The Teddy Bears, which is why I have decided to show that film. And on page 16 there is an advertisement for the Eberhard Schneider projector, which I plan to use."
Create a Google Slides document that includes at least one image from each of your sources. For example, if you plan to use an issue of a magazine as a source, include an image of the magazine's masthead for the issue date.
Research Paper:
Description of your theater and program, including your rationale for appealing to your target audience.
You must include a minimum of 7-10 illustrations with your program. These can be included in the body of your essay or attached as an appendix at the end. The illustrations should be images grabbed from ads or articles in the magazines and newspapers you research. They should show the kinds of chairs, projectors, lighting, décor, sound, signage, etc. you’ve selected for your theater.
When describing the theater, program, and advertising and explaining the rationale for the chairs, projectors, music, décor, signage, etc., that you’ve chosen, you may refer to your accompanying illustrations: "I’ve designed my theater after the Alhambra Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio (see Figures 1 and 2) because it will appeal to affluent customers . . ."