The Organ Loft, a theater on Edison Street and 3300 South, regularly screens silent films with live organ accompaniment. This year, the art house will kick things off with none other than silent comedian Charlie Chaplin. Screening on Jan. 23 and 24 at 7:30 p.m., the first of a four-part series will feature three of Chaplin’s Mutual comedies: “The Floorwalker,” “The Fireman” and “The Vagabond.”

Hunter Hale, a programmer from The Organ Loft, pushes the theater’s mission to keep silent cinema alive. When talking to Hale, there’s no question he holds a true passion for silent film. “It’s like stepping back into another time. Just because a film is silent, [it] doesn’t mean it’s outdated. This is the only art form from the past that can still be experienced in a proper setting … Anytime you have the opportunity to see something that’s close to what it was originally, is special,” Hale said.

Blaine Gale is the resident organist at the Edison Street venue. Every film he plays for requires study and a different process.

“The process starts when [Hale] gives me a copy of the sequence or the program, and I study the film on my laptop at home. I study the themes and flow of emotional content. I study it for contrast,” Gale said. “Some things are suggested. For example, Chaplin wrote music for his films, so I have to use his music because that’s the iconic Chaplin. That’s history.”

The Organ Loft is also open to organ improvisation. When playing, Gale feels the audience’s reactions and works their emotions into the score.

“The audience is going to be the one who determines what I play. Their response patterns are different each night. It’ll be different on Thursday than Friday because of the audience,” Gale said. “A live accompanist is the whole orchestra for the background on screen.”

Gale also works on timing. Certain sounds match with detailed actions.

“Whether it be a car horn or train whistle, they have to be timed so perfectly that the accompanist disappears,” Gale said.

To Gale and Hale, the union between film and live accompaniment is entrancing and mesmerizing. Now, films can be seen in IMAX and 3D. But to The Organ Loft, bigger doesn’t mean better. To the organist and programmer behind the scenes, epic screenings are incapable of capturing the same intimate energy and immediacy a live organ accompaniment adds to silent cinema.

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