Filmmakers had to improvise because sound was not used in the cinema until almost 1930, and with that came genre conventions. In silent comedy, for obvious reasons, they used their body language to produce visual jokes rather than facial expressions and dialogue; those that were sound were not invented and close-ups at the time were very difficult to do. Because of this, many main personalities, such as Charlie Chaplin's hat and moustache or Buster Keaton's dead pan smile, adapted a distinctive prop to differentiate them. This is also why slapstick comedy, as well as Vaudeville, has become popular in silent comedy (in addition to the use of animals as props and an array of stunts and chases). Since Vaudeville was seen as the working class version of theatre, this greatly appealed to the mainstream working class audience. The use of mise-en-scene became important to the narratives, which appeared to be very simple and linear, because of these conventions. Many key figures of silent comedy used these conventions, such as the "keystone
Cops" who relied heavily on the police force's depiction as satirised and very trivial. This resulted in many of their films featuring many scenes from the chase. However, in comparison to Charlie Chaplin, they offered no social commentary, aside from the portrayal of the police force. The films of Charlie Chaplin were seen as being more dramatic, including more social remarks on the hardships of the common man of the working class—this was his star persona: The Everyman. Usually, someone like Harold Lloyd played with them and took on different people, but he was notorious for his romantic suitor persona. With these people, Buster Keaton also played around, taking on roles for each one. What stands out, though, is his outsider clown character who plays someone outside of society; a deeper insight into the human condition than offered by other silent comedy filmmakers. He also considered framing more, and many scenes relied on the framing to deliver the joke. His consideration of dimension is related to his jokes
about expressionism, which not everybody did at the time. While expressionism and abstract editing are encouraged as creativity in the industry today, it has not always been perceived this way. His editing was invisible, although Keaton sometimes relied on expressionistic gags. Some filmmakers in the 20's, such
as the brothers Lumiere and Bazin, Editing was considered to be "cheating" and so the discussion on Expressionism Vs Realism began.