Intro to Mass Communication Chapter 8 - Movies

Kinetoscope

The camera used to capture images for the Edison kinetograph 

Celluloid Film Strip

A thin, transparent type of film that was coated with light-sensitive chemicals to record images 

Kinetograph

Thomas Edison’s early motion picture display that allowed a single viewer to experience the illusion of a moving image 

Cinématographe 

Lightweight film projector, created by Auguste and Louis Lumiere, that also functioned as a camera and printer, and allowed multiple people to view moving images at the same time 

Vitascope

Large-screen motion projector manufactured by Thomas Edison 

Trick Film

Films that contained techniques, originally used by Georges Melies, such as stop-motion photography that made objects disappear, reappear, and transform 

Nickelodeon

The earliest motion picture theaters, often housed in converted storefronts 

Motion Picture Parents Company (MPPC)

A monopolistic trade agreement among the earliest major motion picture studios 

Feature Narrative

Feature films that tell a story 

Silent Film

Film without recorded sound 

Parallel Editing

An editing technique in which a film alternates between two or more scenes of action 

Panning Shots

Shots that turn the camera horizontally, vertically, or diagonally 

Tracking Shots

Shots that travel with the movement of a scene 

Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)

An association of major Hollywood studios designed to set industry standards and give filmmakers artistic freedom 

Talkie

The name people used for the earliest talking films 

Vertical Integration

A form of organization in which studios controlled every aspect of production as it related to their films 

The Golden Age

Period in the late 1930s and early 1940s when the movie industry found unparalleled success in terms of attendance and production 

Aspect Ratio

Width-to-height ratio of a film 

Above-the-Line-Costs

Costs in the production of a film that are negotiated before filming begins 

Below-the-Line-Costs

Costs in the production of a film that are generally fixed 

Auteur

Directors whose personal, creative visions are reflected in their work 

New Wave Movement

The French New Waves was characterized by an independent production style that showcased the personal authorship of its young directors 

Birth of a Nation (1915) 

Technically revolutionary for its use of editing and narrative structure, but infamous for its racist portrayal of African Americans. It shaped both film language and national racial discourse 

Gone with the Wind (1939) 

Cinematic epic of the Old South; hugely popular, but controversial for romanticizing slavery 

The Wizard of Oz (1939) 

Featured special effects and a mid-film switch from black and white to color 

Citizen Kane (1941) 

Orson Wells (director): revolutionized cinematography, editing, and narrative structure, with nonlinear storytelling. Ranked as the best movie of all time by the American Film Institute 

Psycho (1960) 

Alfred Hitchcock (director): redefined horror and suspense. Introduced psychological complexity and taboo subjects to mainstream cinema 

The Godfather (1972) 

Francis Ford Coppola (director): Redefined the gangster genre and explored family, capitalism, and American identity 

Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) 

Ushered in the blockbuster era and transformed movie marketing, merchandising, and special effects 

Apocalypse Now (1979) 

Francis Ford Coppola (director): a surreal depiction of the Vietnam War; reshaped how war and madness are portrayed onscreen 

Alien (1979) 

Ridley Scott (director): merged science fiction with horror, creating a new hybrid genre defined by atmosphere, psychological tension, and biomechanical terror. Introduced one of the first and most enduring female action figures 

Pulp Fiction (1994) 

Quentin Tarantino (director): changed narrative structure and dialogue-driven storytelling. Singlehandedly revived independent cinema 

The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003) 

Peter Jackson (director): the trilogy combined groundbreaking digital effects (notably through Weta Digital), immersive world-building, and deeply human storytelling to make fantasy both emotionally resonant and mainstream 

Avatar (2009) followed by Black Panther (2018) 

Revolutionized digital filmmaking and 3D cinema. Ushered in the era of primarily digital filmmaking 

Hollywood Studios Share of Market

• Walt Disney Studios – 21.4% 

• Universal Pictures – 20.3% 

• Warner Bros. Pictures – 13.5% 

• Sony Pictures Entertainment – 11.1% 

• Paramount Pictures – 10.3% 

Movies

• One of the world’s oldest mass media is still one of its most popular 

• People love movies 

• For more than 100 years, movies have survived to provide entertainment for people around the world 

• But movies in the 2020s will be different from the movies of decades before 

Thomas Edison

In 1891, the inventor ______ ______, together with William Dickson, a young laboratory assistant, came out with what they called the kinetoscope, a device that would become the predecessor to the motion picture projector 

Edison Company

As kinetoscope gained popularity, the ______ _______ began installing machines in hotel lobbies, amusement parks, and penny arcades, and soon kinetoscope parlors – where customers could pay around 25 cents for admission to a bank of machines – had opened around the country 

• Edison apparently refused to project his kinetoscope images for audience viewing as he claimed that such an invention for group watching would be a less profitable venture 

Auguste and Louis Lumiere

Invention by two brothers, _______ ___ _____ _______ – photographic goods manufacturers in Lyon, France – that saw the most commercial success 

• 1895, patented the Cinematographe (from which we get the term cinema) 

• Was lightweight enough for easy outdoor filming as a camera 

Commercial Film Screening

December 1895, in basement lounge of the Grand Cafe in Paris, the Lumières held the world’s first ever __________ ____ _________, a sequence of about 10 short scenes, including the brothers’ first film, Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory (a segment lasting less than a minute and depicting workers leaving the family's photographic instrument factory at the end of the day 

Film Screening

In the United States, the Edison Company, having purchased the rights to an improved projector that they called the Vitascope, held their first ____ _________ in April 1896 

Overwhelming Experience

Sheer volume of reports about the early audience’s disbelief, delight, and even fear at what they were seeing suggests that viewing a film was an ____________ __________ for many 

• At times people panicked and tried to leave the theater during films in which trains or moving carriages sped towards the audience 

Novelty Period

During the “_______ ______” of cinema, audiences were more interested by the phenomenon of the film projector itself, so vaudeville halls advertised the kind of projector they were using rather than the names of the films 

Georges Melies

Parisian cinema owner and former magician; experimented with special effects that produced seemingly magical transformations on screen

• Invented the trick film and was also the one to transform cinema into the narrative medium it is today 

• His 30-scene Trip to the Moon (1902) may have been the most widely seen production in cinema’s first decade 

• Never developed his technique beyond treating the narrative film as a staged theatrical performance; his camera never moved during the filming of a scene 

• Last successful production, The Conquest of the Pole, was released in 1912 

Nickelodeon Craze

1904-1908

Edwin S. Porter

• 12-minute film, The Great Train Robbery (1903), broke with the stagelike compositions of Melies-style films through its use of editing, camera pans, rear projections, and diagonally composed shots that produced a continuity of action 

• Established the realistic narrative as a standard in cinema 

• First major box-office hit 

Five

Known as Nickelodeons because of their ____ cent admission charge

The Trust

Because of these concerns, the ten leading companies – including Edison, Biograph, Vitagraph, and others – formed the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC) in 1908 

• Also known as ___ _____

• Goal was to standardize the industry and shut out competition through monopolistic control 

• Only certain licensed companies could participate in the exchange, distribution, and production of film at different levels of the industry – a shut-out tactic that eventually backfired, leading the excluded, independent distributors to organize in opposition to the Trust 

Advantages of Multiple-Reel Films over Single-Reel Short

• Audience saw these longer films as special events and were willing to pay more for admission 

• Features generally experienced longer runs in theaters than their single-reel predecessors 

• Gained popularity among the middle class who saw its length as analogous to the more “respectable” entertainment of live theater 

Downfall of MPPC

• Inflexible structuring of the Trust’s exhibition and distribution system made the organization resistant to change 

• Vitagraph was about to release two features (A Tale of Two Cities and Uncle Tom’s Cabin) and the Trust forced it to use single-reel showings to keep with industry standards 

• MPPC also underestimated the appeal of the star system 

• Because of MPPC’s inflexibility, independent companies were the only ones able to capitalize on two important trends that were to become film’s future: single-reel features and star power 

• Few people recognize the MPPC’s (Vitagraph or Biograph) but remember the independents (Universal, Fox, Paramount, Goldwyn (merged with Metro and Mayer)) 

Hollywood

Producers found most success was a small, industrial suburb of Los Angeles called _________

• Ideal location for a number of reasons 

• Climate was temperate and sunny year round 

• Land was plentiful and cheap 

• Location allowed close access to a number of diverse topographies: mountains, lakes, desert, coasts, and forests 

• By 1915, more than 60 percent of US film production was centered in Hollywood 

D.W. Griffith

Person who entered the film industry as an actor in 1907, quickly moved to a directing role in which he worked closely with his camera crew to experiment with shots, angles, and editing techniques that could heighten the emotional intensity of his scenes 

• Found that by practicing parallel editing, he could create an illusion of simultaneity 

• Could then heighten the tension of the film’s drama by alternating between cuts more and more rapidly until the scenes of action converged 

• Other techniques he employed was panning shots and tracking shots 

The Birth of a Nation 

D.W. Griffith’s famous and controversial film in which he used the technique of parallel editing

Divided

Public attitudes towards stars’ extravagant lifestyles were ________

• Idolized and imitated in popular culture 

• Criticized for representing a threat, on and off screen, to traditional morals and social order 

Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle

Comedian who was at the center of one of the biggest scandals of the silent era 

• Hosted a marathon party over Labor Day weekend in 1921, one of his guests, model Virginia Rapp, was rushed to the hospital, where she later died 

• Reports of a drunken orgy, rape, and murder surfaced 

• Even though autopsy reports ruled that Rapp had died from causes not related to Arbuckle, the comedian was tried and acquitted for manslaughter, ruining his career 

Motion Picture Producers and Distributers of America (Later the MPAA)

Created in response for scandals among Hollywood stars;

In response, state and local governments increasingly tried to censor the content of films that depicted crime, violence, and sexually explicit material 

• Major Hollywood studios organized in 1922 to form an association they called the _____ _______ _________ ___ _________ __ ________ (later named Motion Picture Association of America – MPAA) 

• Issued a code of self-censorship for the motion picture industry 

• Designated ratings (GP – general public; R for restricted) 

• Today operates by a voluntary rating system 

Don Juan

First sound film in which the Warner Bros planned to use Vitaphone technology to provide prerecorded orchestral accompaniment for its films, thereby increasing its marketability to the smaller theaters that didn’t have their own orchestra pits 

The Jazz Singer

1927 released second sound film, ___ ____ ______, in which the actor Al Jolson improvised a few lines of synchronized dialogue and sang six songs; Film was major breakthrough, and audiences were enchanted by hearing an actor speak on screen for the first time 

Three-Fourths

By 1929, _____-_______ of Hollywood films had some form of sound accompaniment and by 1930 the silent film was a thing of the past 

Technicolor

However, in 1922, Herbert Kalmus’ Technicolor company introduced a dye-transfer technique that allowed it to produce a full-length film, The Toll of the Sea, in two primary colors 

• Because only two colors were used, the appearance of early Technicolor films was not very lifelike 

• By 1932, Technicolor had designed a three-color system with more realistic results, and for next 25 years, all color films were produced with this improved system 

United States v. Paramount Pictures

• 1948 case of the ________ ______ _ _______ ________ (mandating competition and forcing the studios to relinquish control over movie theater chains) dealt the final devastating blow from which the studio system would never recover 

• Control of major studios reverted to Wall Street 

Television

While economic factors and antitrust legislation played key roles in the decline of the studio system, perhaps the most important factor in that decline was the advent of __________

• Because of opportunity to watch “movies” in their own home, fewer people were attending the cinema far less regularly than they had been years prior 

The Robe

• Film released in 1953, introduced a technology that allowed filmmakers to squeeze a wide-angle image onto conventional 35-mm film stock, thereby increasing the aspect ratio 

• Wide-screen format increased the immersive quality of the theater experience 

Younger Demographic

Movies of late 1960s began attracting a ________ ___________, as a growing number of young people were drawn in by films (Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch – 1969; Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey – 1968; Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde – 1967; Dennis Hopper’s Easy Rider – 1969) 

• All revolutionary in their genres and displayed a sentiment of unrest toward conventional social orders and included some of the earliest instances of realistic and brutal violence in film 

younger audiences had more liberal attitudes

Blockbuster Productions

New breed of director emerged; Young and film school educated and contributed a sense of professionalism, sophistication, and technical mastery to their work, leading to a wave of _________ _________

Advertising

Hefty sums producers and distributors invested didn’t go to production costs alone; Discovered benefits of TV and radio _________ and finding that doubling their advertising costs could increase profits as much as three or four times 

Jaws

Opening of ____, one of the five top-grossing films of the decade, Hollywood embraced the wide-release method of movie distribution, abandoning the release methods of earlier decades, in which a film would debut in only a handful of select theaters in major cities before it became gradually available to mass audiences 

VCR

Released in 1975 and became nearly ubiquitous in American homes by 1998 with 88.9 million households owning the appliance 

The 1990s

Saw the rise of two divergent standards of cinema 

• Technically spectacular blockbuster with special computer-generated effects 

• Capabilities of special effects were enhanced when studios began manipulating film digitally 

• Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), Jurassic Park (1993) 

• Independent and low-budget film 

Conservative

Major Hollywood studios of late 1970s and early 1980s ran by international corporations tended to favor the ___________ gamble of the tried and true, and as a result, the period saw an unprecedented number of high-budget sequels 

Toy Story (1995) 

First fully computer-animated film that spawned an entire series 

The 2000s

Computers and technological innovations shape the movie industry in this millennium 

• Computers could be used for fantastic special effects that were not possible before 

• Fantasy characters and worlds could be vividly created 

• Comic book heroes could be brought to life 

• Revolutionized animation 

• Computers allowed immediate realizations of worlds and characters 

• Pixar, Disney, and DreamWorks Animation have been leaders in this field 

Independent Films

1996 Academy Awards, ___________ _____ dominated the Best Picture category 

• Only one movie from a big film studio was nominated – Jerru Maguire 

Diversity and Inclusion

Change came and films such as Black Panther, Get Out, Coco, and others showed that Hollywood had learned lessons of _________ ___ _________

• 2019, record of 13 winners were people of color 

America’s Storytellers

Movies could be characterized as _________ ____________; Hollywood films reflect certain commonly held attitudes and beliefs about what it means to be American, but also portray contemporary trends, issues, and events, serving as records of the eras in which they were produced and sometimes shaping those era 

The Birth of a Nation

• 1915, director D.W. Griffith established his reputation with the highly successful film based on Thomas Dixon’s novel The Clansman 

• At the time was the longest feature film ever made, almost 3 hours 

• Contained huge battle scenes that amazed and delighted audiences 

• Griffith’s storytelling ability helped solidify the narrative style that would go on to dominate feature films 

• Experiences with editing techniques like close-ups, jump cuts, and parallel editing 

• Film found large notoriety and success largely because it captured the social and cultural tensions of the post-Civil War decades 

• Griffith's film powerfully captures the racism and its violence 

• Highest grossing movie of its era 

Why We Fight

Frank Capra’s ___ __ _____ films 

• First of which was produced in 1942 

• Developed for the US Army and were later shown to general audiences 

• Delivered a war message through narrative 

Antiwar Sentiments

Unlike the patriotic films of the WWII era, many of the films about US involvement in Vietnam reflected strong _______ __________, criticizing American political policy and portraying war’s damaging effects on those who survived it 

Horror Films

Fears about the possibility of nuclear war were very real during the 1980s and some film critics argue that these anxieties were reflected not only in overtly political films of the time but also in the popularity of ______ _____

• Halloween and Friday the 13^th which feature a mysterious and unkillable monster 

• Popularity of the fantastic in films like ET: The Extra-Terrestrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars – which offer imaginative escapes 

Midnight Cowboy (1969) 

• One of first Hollywood films to receive an X rating (this case for sexual content) 

• Won 3 Academy Awards including Best Picture 

Spike Lee

1980s ______ ___ pushed back against the lack of black directors, actors, and themes in American movies with a series of films (She’s Gotta Have It, Do the Right Thing, and Malcolm X) 

Production Code (Hays Code)

By 1930, renewed criticism and calls for censorship from conservative groups made it clear to the MPPDA that the loose system of self-regulation was not enough protection 

• As a result, MPPDA instituted the __________ ____ or Hays Code (after MPPDA director William H. Hays) that remained in place until 1967 

• Concerned itself with ensuring that movies were “directly responsible for spiritual or moral progress, for higher types of social life, and for much correct thinking” 

• Strictly enforced in 1934 

• Result of Supreme Court cases made Production Code weaker and was replaced in 1967 with the MPAA rating system 

MPAA Rating System

• Before release in theaters, films are submitted to the MPAA board for a screening, during which advisors decide on the most appropriate rating based on the film’s content 

• Studios not required to have MPAA rating at all, and some studios release films without the MPAA rating 

• Commercially, less restrictive ratings are generally more beneficial 

• Most restrictive rating, the NC-17 

Fan Magazine

1911 Vitagraph began publishing The Motion Picture Magazine, America’s first ___ ________

• Helped create the concept of the film star in the American imagination 

Western

America, often finds embodiment in _______, a film genre that was popular from the silent era through the 1960s 

• Lone cowboy, a nomadic wanderer, makes his way in a lawless, and often dangerous, frontier 

• Ex: 1952’s High Noon 

Alien

1970s Sigourney Weaver offered arguably the first female action hero as Ripley in the film

Documentary Films

In particular often took up social causes and were often met with greater interest than ever before 

• Super Size Me (2004), Food Inc. (2009) 

• Movies about fast food consumption and corporate farming practices along with their health and environmental impacts 

Michael Moore

Director ________ _____has offered a liberal stance on social and political issues such as health care, globalization, and gun control 

• 2002 film Bowling for Columbine addressed the Columbine High School shootings of 1999 

• Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) criticized the second Bush administration and its involvement in the Iraq War 

• Earned $119 million at the box office, making it then the most successful documentary of all time 

The Big Six

Ever since the rise of the studio system in the 1930s, the majority of films have originated with the leading Hollywood studios; Today, big studios still control much of the film business 

“___ ___ ___” - amount for over 83% of North American market share and bring in billions of dollars in revenue each year 

• 20^th Century Fox 

• Paramount Pictures 

• Warner Bros. 

• Universal Pictures 

• Columbia Pictures 

• Walt Disney Studios 

Decline of the Studio System

• Early audiences were familiar with the major studios, their collections of actors, and directors, and the types of films that each studio was likely to release

Now, screenwriters, directors, scripts, and cinematographers no longer worked exclusively for one studio 

• These days moviegoers are likely to know the name of a film’s director and major actors, but are not able to identify a film with the studio that distributes it 

Industry

Hollywood is an ________, and as in any other industry in a mass market, its success relies on control of production resources and “raw materials” and on its access to mass distribution and marketing strategies to maximize the product’s reach and minimize competition 

• Hollywood has enormous influence on the films to which the public has access 

• Owners of major movie theater chains are keenly aware that a film’s success at the box office has everything to do with studio-generated marketing and publicity 

Blockbuster Films

Moviemaking today is a much riskier, less profitable enterprise than it was in the studio system era 

• Massive budgets required for the global marketing of a film are huge financial gambles 

• Most movies cost the studios much more to market and produce (north of $100 million) than their box-office returns ever generate 

• With such high stakes, studios have come to rely on producing a handful of ___________ _____ each year that keep them afloat 

Blockbuster

Big name actors, action, moving plots, sweeping music, and other elements help make a ________

Safer

Remakes, movies with sequel setups, or films based on best-selling novels or comic books are _____ bets than original screenplays or movies with experimental or edgy themes 

James Cameron’s Titanic (1997) 

• In its era, the highest grossing movie of all time 

• Saw success as it was based on well-known story, contained predictable plot elements, and designed to appeal to widest possible range of audience demographics with romance, action, expensive special effects, and an epic scope – meeting the blockbuster standard on several levels 

• $200 million production cost required the backing of two studios (Paramount and 20^th Century Fox) 

Above-the-line costs 

Screenplay rights; salaries for writer, producer, director, and leading actors; salaries for directors’, actors’, and producers’ assistants 

Below-the-line costs 

Salaries for nonstarring cast members and technical crew, use of technical equipment, travel, locations, studio rental, and catering 

Heaven’s Gate (1980) 

Famous film that has tanked at the box-office; Cost 6 times more than original budget ($44 million instead of proposed $7.6 million); Largest failure in film history at the time, losing at least $40 million