The term “silver screen” originated from movie houses using screens coated or containing silver for better picture quality. While most theaters no longer use silver screens, they are still the best option for 3D movies. Encouraging people to see 3D movies in theaters could bring back the use of silver screens.
There is a lot of reference to Hollywood and cinema in general to the big screen. This is a common phrase that can still refer to most films produced for theatrical release. Alternatively, some people mostly use it to talk about movies that were generally black and white and made before color shooting became common. The term has an interesting origin that fully explains its use.
In the 1920s, movie houses sought to create the best picture quality when movies were projected onto a screen. A derivative method has been fabric lining or embedding with real silver. This caused the light to reflect, creating a more realistic and better quality image, especially important with black and white film. So the silver screen was really a movie screen coated or containing silver, and the term caught on as more movie houses started using these screens.
The reason silver cinema may be thought to be related to older films is because many movie houses eventually got rid of silver screens in favor of other types of projection materials. Light reflection was not as required with color projections and films. Yet there is one exception to this, which could bring the term silver screen into the present day with a vengeance.
It turns out that silver screens are still usually some of the best to use when showing 3D (three-dimensional) movies. The extra light reflection creates a better 3D quality. It had seemed for a while that 3-D movies were rarely produced and were a dying art form, but in the late 2000s, Hollywood started making quite a few 3-D movies again. This may be partly a response to low box office returns.
3D movies are best viewed in theaters and, if possible, on a silver screen. You can see them at home with special glasses, but the quality of the film has definitely decreased. Encouraging people to go to theaters instead of waiting for a DVD or Blu-Ray® Disc release can be achieved by producing a film in 3D instead of one shot in a more standard way.
So it might again be appropriate to discuss “stars of the big screen” as it might be the case that some movie houses go back to using screens with real silver. Most are unlikely because most movies aren’t done in 3-D. However, a niche market may exist for those that are, making silver an attractive element of the actual screen and broadening the definition of the term silver screen.
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