History of Media Industries Test 1

The first movie industry was from

1903-1915 (craft-production system)

George Melies

Was a French magician who used Edison's new camera to help with his magic acts

*created special effects (stop motion, dissolves)

created "A Trip to the Moon"

-he can't create fast enough and doesn't change with technology

Director Edwin Porter

Created the "Great Train Robbery" *seen as first Blockbuster (1903)

under the Edison company

-experimented with editing: combing shots into a scene

Theaters and their...... created the film industry

audiences

vauduville theaters

were for the high class and located in the cities and Nickelodeons allowed for more people to access them. Not seen as weird for women to go to them.

Nickelodeons

5 cent theaters

in empty stores with projectors and panios

60-90 minute shows with 5 reels each day *always changed so needed 500 reels a year (Edison's trust forms)

A big Advertistment: Bright lights, posters, photographs

10,000+ by 1909 in US

Nichelodeon era changed to feature film era in

1912-1915

moves to 2 or more reels (longer films)

and one reel was the limit set by edsion's trust

whats happening at the same time?

the nickelodeon era is changing to feature film era at the same time the General Film Company is created

Edison's Monolpolies in 1908

-There is a demand for films and Edison tries to control the US market-

Factory-like production systems

there are sepreate roles now (directors, camera men, screenwriters) and 1 film at a time unlike porter and melies

used unknown actors

new york city based

New York City based

gloomy weather-hard to shoot, leads to Gaston Méliès to go to San Antonio

The General Film Company is created

becomes organized and created studios

one reel was 1,000 ft or 14 minutes

actors were unknown (bad to be in a movie)

The General Film company wanted to save money...

so they spent little money on advertising...

the independents at the time did and that gained them the favor of the nickelodeons because people went to see what was advertised

The Independent film companies

came in and started to fill the gaps in product from Edison;s company

Gaston Melies

1910-1911

-went to San Antonio Texas to make authentic Westerns

-created "billy and his pal"

*created Star Film Ranch and made Francis Ford a Star actor (persona) -start of film stars

-all the sets are outdoors

Then the independents come

1910-1912

the first system will change, pushed by independent studios

frustration with limits of Edision's group(rip offs, lack of films)

New companies: Universal, Fox, Warner Bros, Paramount, MGM

The new companies had

The use of STARS (using names now)

Longer films (5-6 reels) "Feature length films"

more money on production and marketing

purchased their own theaters to show their films

*making chains and controlling distribution

-Filmed Broadway plays

-import features from Italy (epics)

-Moved to California (better weather and needed to be away from Edison's gangs)

The General Film Company dies

1915-1916

Directors and Star actors leave

stubbornly stick to one-reels

cracked down on for being a monopoly

The world war then stars

1914-1918

-destroys the european film industry

-us movie production in LA, but money stays in NY

-The independent studios of 1910 become dominate by 1920

Hollywood film industry and vertical integration

each studio had to produce 52 feature films a year(1 a week)

*caused studios to become more like factories

-everything is done in house (sets, costumes, back lots)

-Actors and workers on long-term contracts

-PRODUCERS call the shots, not directors or actors

Controlling distribution (Vertical Integration)-They own "Picture Palaces" top 10% of movie theaters

"block booking": theaters must take all films- this ruins independent production for women, blacks, and others

Classical Hollywood film style

-"Invisible" editing-draws you into film's plot

-individual characters with strong goals

-2 interwoven plots- A goal and a love story (each scene moves you into the next. ALWAYS a happy ending)

Race and Identity and Hollywood stars in 1910s-20s

-STARS dominate each studio's production-in genre films

-20+ fan magazines and studio publicity

-Hays office forming in 1922 to "clean up" scandals and stars' reputation

-American fear and confusion about sexuality, women's roles in society, and growing fascination with "exotic" stars

stereotypes and racism (black participation was small in films, Jim Crow segregation for theaters)

-Clara Bow: it girl and Paramount Studios product

Silent Films...

became a mature industry (especially in American Films) then everything changed

-films, stars, financing, aesthetics

Silent films

weren't actively silent

there was background music/sound effects

recorded silently though

The Vitaphone system

(1925-disc)

-had problems with synchronization: projection and record player

-records 6-7 minutes long

-reels were 15 minutes long (these don't line up with each other)

-Amplification no good bc poor speaker tech.

*There was a separate record and film system so they had to abandon it for a system that could do both

The first talkies

really invested in new talent. Hired Broadway stars and screenwriters

overseas used different actors then moved to subs

-early talkies emphasized dialogue and sounds

-current silent stars have to learn to talk (some of their careers ended)

First-year talkies

changes in genre-more crime,gangster, and action

(can hear things like guns and sirens now)

*leads to the creation of the production code

-no camera movement (mics picked it up, hot lights, no editing

-studios building sound stages (no more outside)

Why reject sound

-too expensive for theaters to wire (not all had money so many closed)

-studios must go to the NYC banks for money

*this is how Sequels stated getting made-banks gave money to studios who they knew would sell/make money

-slows down filmmaking process (this cost money)

-will stop all camera movement

-marketing nightmare overseas-language barriers

Warner Bros studio gambles..

-small company and doesn't own many theaters

1926: records orchestra and SFX to make theater palaces

-releases "Jazz Singer" 1927 w/ Al Johnson

(mostly silent with singing scenes and improv. talking)

*this film makes Hollywood rush to cover to sound

moves to sound on film and not disc (optical sound)

Big 5 Theaters

MGM, Wanner Bros, Paramount, Fox, RKO

(during depression era)

Major minor 3

Columbia, Universal, United Artists (UA)

Columbia and Universal created

- low-cost-low risk films called the "B movie"

-The rapid rise of the B movie and the 'double feature' on a national scale was a direct result of the Depression

-two features per program, and changed programs two or three times per week. The increased product demand was met largely via B movies ‐ that is, quickly and cheaply made formula fare, usually Westerns or action pictures, allowed studios to keep operating

Hollywoods survival came from

the intervention of both wall Street and Washington, D C . (NIRA-recovering by giving Monoploies money, which included theaters)

Talkies have a different kind of acting than silent film

-actors had to memorize dialogue

-some actor's voices didn't go with their character/image (they wouldn't be liked in the movie)

*went to Broadway to get actors from their that were good with their voices

Extra talkie basics

1. The film studios were taken aback with the popularity of the sound technology

2. talkies were popular in talking about troubles of the modern day

3. movies became more expensive to make and more complex (small independent film makers were now even smaller)

4. There was continued Global Dominance

The results of coming sound

-silent film dead by 1929, movie attendance up 40-50%

-huge cost (go to nyc banks)

-film style back to 1900 with camera and long scenes (for the first year)

*camera blimps are developed to free static camera

-new genres

-audiences has to listen and watch

Great Depression hits movie theaters in...

1932

this brings violence and sex into cinema (makes money)

*leads to the production code of the 1930s

-censorship and regulation through the code in 1934

Hollywood, the depression and censorship (1930-1941)

-25% unemployed and 25% cut hours

-stock market drops 80% (bank failures and d.b.)

*movies are still doing okay(no money for cars, but movies is okay)

*The box office slumps in 1931-33.-attendence drops from 110 to 30 millon

-1,000s of small theaters close (can't afford sound)

*going to start using sex and violence to draw people into theaters

warner bros movies

started to rip from the headlines

-gangsters and bank robbers started to be heros

-prohibition of alcohol from 1919-1933

-talkies are adding realism to the stories and pulling from the violence/anger happening

scareface (1932)

is too much and studios created FBI as heros (still have guns and can kill)

Through hays office

created the "production code" in 1930, but nobody followed

-many cries for censorship in 1933-34

Catholic groups

started boycotting all sex films and mothers think of children

(professors then do study that movies bad for children)

-this forces studios to compromise and enforce the production code

sex and violence were..

good in box office but BAD increase in censorship and cinema

Hollywood cuts a deal to save itself from Federal Censorship

Will Hays heads MPPDA in 1924

now agree to self-censorship, through the production code administration

headed by joseph breen, a catholic

production code now enforced in 1934

Production Code in 1934

Less obvious violence

no sex, no nudity

twin beds for married couple

no kisses longer than 2 sec

no pregnancies, giving birth, no prostitutes, no drugs and little alcohol

good must triumph

(on the good side) no race or religious prejudice can be shown

all films must pass the PCA as scripts and as finished movies and advertising.