Jonathan Law’s AP United States History program will host a silent movie screening featuring the world premiere of a score assembled by professional composer Ben Model.

The program will take place on Friday, May 13. This is a free event.

Led by Dr. Barbiero, these students will work with Mr. Marino and the Law band to bring a less than mainstream medium back to life.

Model’s score is written specifically for the 1917 Charlie Chaplin film “The Adventurer,” which partners Chaplin up with other silent movie greats as Eric Campbell and Edna Purviance.

One of the most impressive aspects of the movie night is the program, which contains student research on many topics, ranging from the actors to the films to the history of silent movies themselves. While other end-of-the-year work for classes might entail a term paper, Barbiero’s students are engaging in their research while putting it toward a fun event.

“[The movie night] is much better than a research paper,” said junior Will B., whose research for the event program involved the early history of silent films.

Not only are these AP U.S. History students taking a huge leap into movie history, but they are also bringing Chaplin’s work into an interdisciplinary focus.

By directly involving the band to play the original score for the film, they will be taking their audience back even further toward the days of film orchestra.

Plans for this silent movie night originated while the classes began their work studying silent film and the origins of the modern entertainment industry.

After the AP U.S. History exam on May 9, students began to watch some of silent film’s landmark productions. Some of the movies viewed were “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “The Immigrant,” and “The Machine Age.”

The classes also watched numerous clips from other Chaplin works, like “Modern Times” and “The Great Dictator.”

“Chaplin,” a modern film chronicling the actor’s career and personal life, provided even deeper understanding of the creative struggle and pressures put on such a great mind.

“I feel like I’ve been more educated,” said junior Casey L., who watched these films in her seventh period class.