Film History_

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School

Rowan University *

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03270

Subject

History

Date

Oct 30, 2023

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pdf

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Uploaded by BaronAlpaca2580

FIlm History: Study Midterm History of Film from 1940 Challenges to the studio system (late 1940s - early 50s) 1) TV (suburbanization/"white flight" moves ppl away from downtown theaters) 2) 1948 Paramount Decision (threat to business model; end of vertical integration, destabilization of financial system) 3) Importation of foreign films 4) Independent directors 5) Urbanization (people moving away from downtown areas where movie theaters had been concentrated; industry losing key audiences) 6) HUAC hearings, blacklist tarnish public perception of film industry 7) Import restrictions post-WWII lead to lower audience not. (& profits) abroad Anti-Competitive Business Practices Under the Studio System 1) "Block booking" and "blind bidding": system of selling multiple films (some sight unseen) as a unit, esp. to independent theaters- Rental process; if theater wants big name, they may get a bunch of movies they don't necessarily want- Allowed majors greatest profits at expense of independent producers, distributors, and exhibitors 2) System of "run-zone clearance" allowed Big Five to control distribution of their films: theaters in geographical markets divided into "runs," films move from "first-run" down the ladder, with "clearance period between runs (keeps prices high for the studios)2) Assembly line system of filmmaking; studio as a factory with hierarchies and division of labor and multiple films in production at once 3) Studios streamline production practices through "regulated difference (plot and genre formulas), while also differentiating themselves through "house styles" (specific branding of each studio) "The Cinema of Attraction" Dominant understanding of film in its first decade: cinema as technological novelty ("Look what we can do!"), not yet way of telling stories - BOTH "realistic" illusion (motion, presence, travel, vicarious experience) AND "magical" illusion (early "trick" films) - New technologies, technicolor, 3-D

Star Value Stars as a brand with a built-in audience - often typecast and play same roles over and over so less risk for studio Production & Exhibition Strategies Post-Classical Hollywood 1. Do what TV can't do (spectacle) 2. Do what TV can't do in terms of content (image or narrative; make them big/provacative. "out of industrial constraints come aesthetic strategies) The Studio System Standardizes mid 1920s-1950s The "Big Five" or the "majors" all vertically integrated (i.e. company owns facilities for production, distribution and exhibition) - And the "little three" or "major minors" (produced roughly as many films as Big Five, but owned few or no theaters) - Together these studios produced ~95% of all films in this period (pretty tight control over this industry) - "Assembly line" system of filmmaking: studios function like factory *** Hierarchical management structure, division of labor, multiple films in production at once - Studios streamline production practices through policy of "regulated difference" (plot and genre formulas) While also differentiating themselves through "house styles" - Glossy, big-budget MGM films (The Wizard of Oz, 1939), Warner Brothers gangster pictures that appealed to the working class (Little Caesar, 1931), Universal's monster movies (Dracula, 1931 and The Invisible Man, 1933), etc. - Directors and stars under contract also become part of studios' brands Development of the Studio System 1910s-30s - Authority over all aspects of production centralized under new role of PRODUCER - "Assembly line" system of filmmaking: studio begins to function like factory ** Division of labor ** Hierarchical management structure (business/industry) ** Producing multiple films at a time in various stages of production ** Studio = company or corporation (instead of just a place where you film) - controls production, distribution, and exhibition of film Three processes of the creation of filmic meaning 1. Production: how the film is made 2. Exhibition: how the film is shown 3. Reception: how the film is experienced and understood by its audiences

Three senses of the word "film" Technology: a thin, flexible material coated in light-sensitive emulsion that retains an image after exposure to light Industry: the verb used to describe the process of capturing moving pictures Form: the end product of that process: a movie Technical and Cultural Factors in Lost Films For first ~ 80 years (~1890s - 1970s), film not seen as serious or culturally significant enough to be maintained and archived - Ephemeral, commercial product, not of historical value - Hence the chunks of old movies that are missing or dug up Films (esp silent and b&w) might be sold for scrap, disappear when production companies went bankrupt, studios might destroy original after remake Most films shot on nitrate film (cellulose nitrate) until early 1950s - Not stable, archival medium: decomposed quickly, very flammable - Cinema fires, lots of deaths in movie theaters - Several major studios would have fires in the vaults where they stored their films; wiped out their whole history Late 1940s/early 50s: industry switches to safety film (cellulose acetate) - Some early nitrate films (that had survived) later transferred to safety film - Biases about whose films / whose stories were important and worth preserving; anything that didn't fit in that were not preserved. Leaves big gaps in our historical record "Monoculture" Monolithic culture: the range of artifacts, characters, voices, and stories that a specific demographic find recognizable and relatable - Originally a farming term "Vertical Integration" "Vertical integration": single company (the studio) owns the means of production, distribution and exhibition (i.e. theater chains) One division makes a film (specialization) They rent it out to another division of the company (exhibitor) Who then turns around and rents it out to a theater, who is also a part of that company Built-in market for the films

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The "Big Five" or the "Majors" Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Warner Brothers, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), and RKO Pictures - All vertically integrated (company owns facilities for production, distribution and exhibition)