Cinematic Theme in the Book Cover of the 1920s

Book covers, made by famous or unknown artisans, show that the people of the 1920s were extremely interested in the youngest of the screen arts, which had not quite realized its potential yet. The designers sought to find the most expressive means, in the graphic arsenal, which would be in tune with the aesthetics of the silent film. Generally, the graphic designers took photographs as a basis, which would remind of the film shots stopped for a moment. Some of the compositions were based on dramatic montage correlations of recognizable visual quotations. Since the cinematography was considered as a miracle of technology, the covers often depicted some tools of filmmaking: projectors, cameras, lightings, film rolls. Much less frequently, the books were prefaced by some funny pictures of the members of the film crew, the cameraman with their camera, for example, or the director. The critique-biographical sketches about popular actors were usually illustrated by shots from their films, which fixed their screen images in the minds of the viewers. Many designers managed to convincingly develop the cinematic theme using only font means. The innovative cinematography of the 1920s determined not only the theme but also the style, the material, the imagery of many book artists, gave to the designers a number of fruitful plastic ideas, helped them discover a modern, spectacular graphic language, understandable for the widest possible audience.

silent films, book graphics, book cover, photomontage, N.P. Akimov, K.A. Vyalov, P.S. Galadzhev

1. Balash B. Kul’tura kino [Film Culture]. Moscow, Leningrad, GIZ Publ., 1925, 96 p.

2. Sokolov I. Skrizhal’ veka, Kino-fot, 1922, no. 1, p. 3.

3. Shklovskii V.B. Za 60 let: raboty o kino [Over 60 years: articles on a movie]. Moscow, Iskusstvo Publ., 1985, 573 p.

4. Gad U. Kino [Cinema]. Leningrad, Academia Publ., 1924, 112 p.

5. Tsekhanovskii M. Spetsifika tonfil’my, Proletarskoe kino [Proletarian Cinema], 1931, no. 12, pp. 12—19.

6. Kuleshov L. Iskusstvo svetotvorchestva (Osnovy myslei), Kinogazeta [Cinema newspaper], 1918. no. 12, p. 12.

7. Pudovkin V. Kinorezhisser i kinomaterial [Film director and material]. Moscow, Kinopechat’ Publ., 1926, 96 p.

8. Ardov V. Krupnym planom. Kino-rasskazy [Close up. Cinema-stories]. Moscow, Leningrad, Kinopechat’, 1926, 48 p.

9. Fomin D.V. Knizhnaya grafika B.B. Titova [Book graphics of V. Titov], Bibliotekovedenie [Library and Information Science], 2016, vol. 65, no. 4, pp. 436—442.

10. Pudovkin V. Kinostsenarii. Teoriya stsenariya [Screenplays. Theory of the screenplay]. Moscow, Kinopechat’ Publ., 1926, 64 p.