COM 143 Ch. 7

Little Three

(Did not own theaters) Columbia, Universal, and United Artists

Celluloid

Pliable, transparent material that could hold light-sensitive chemicals that Goodwin used to improve film rolls

Kinetoscope

A moving-picture device, invented by Thomas Edison and his associates in 1892, that allowed one person at a time to watch a motion picture by looking through the viewer.

Multiplexes

A type of movie theater placed at intersections of mass transit to attract urban and suburban middle class viewers. These theaters contain multiple screens.

Studio System

An assembly-line process for movie making: actors, directors, editors, writers, etc all worked exclusively for a major studio

Documentary

An education, non commercial film which usually requires the backing of industry, government, or philanthropy to cover costs.

Why is the internet a potential threat to the movie industry, and how is the industry responding?

Because of illegal downloading of movies which gives the studio no monies,

What are the various ways in which major movie studios make money from the film business?

Box office revenue, video sales, cable/television outlets, distribution in foreign markets, independent theater film distribution(small studios hire large ones to get the large studios name on their film), and merchandising.

Consensus Narratives

Cultural products that become popular and provide shared cultural experiences, speak to central myths and often bridge global boundaries

Movie Palaces

Developed solely as first run theaters to attract the most revenue, these were single screen movie theaters which provided a more hospitable movie going experience. With decor often rivaling opera theaters.

Kinetograph

Edison's first motion picture camera; invented by W. K. L. Dickson.

How has the film industry used television to its advantage?

Films can now be re-run on television for a cost by the tv network or be purchased in VHS/DVD/Blue-Ray form.

Why are genres and directors important to the film industry?

Genre conveys a certain type of movie that a viewer will associate with, and directors tell viewers that the movie is filmed and produced in a certain style that they know they have enjoyed from previous films.

Big Six

Hollywood studios that currently rule the commercial film business: Warner Brothers, Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, Columbia Pictures, and Disney.

How does vertical integration work in the film business?

It involves dominating all levels of the movie business-production, distribution, and exhibition- and gave studios great power, eventually creating an oligopoly.

What is the impact of inexpensive digital technology on filmmaking?

It makes the process of making a movie much less expensive, allowing for the money to be used in other ways.

Why did Hollywood end up as the center of film production?

It offered cheap labor, diverse scenery for outdoor shooting, a mild climate suitable for year-round production, and was geographically far from the Trust's headquarters.

Big Five

MGM, Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, RKO

How do a few large film studios manage to control more than 90 percent of the commercial industry?

MONIES.

Talkies

Movies with sound

How has home entertainment changed the film industry?

People prefer to view movies in their home, and so movies were formatted to be viewed in-home. The film industry also introduced technologies that films used in theatre but were not viewable in home.

Newsreels

Short films dealing with current events, shown in movie theaters prior to the advent of television

Megaplexes

Strategy of leading theater chains during the 1990's which contained fourteen or more screens, with upscale concession services and luxury screening rooms and digital sound.

What political and cultural forces changed the Hollywood system in the 1950's?

The communist witch hunts, the end of vertical integration due to the Paramount Decision, suburbanization, television, and home entertainment all drastically affected the film industry.

How did film go from the novelty stage to the mass medium stage?

The concept of film goes back to the early 1400s, the invention of the thaumatrope and the zoetrope, the development stage of movies began when inventors began manipulating photographs to make them appear to move while simultaneously projecting them on a screen, celluloid made film rolls better, kinetograph, vitascope, narrative films, block booking, movie palaces, multiplexes, talkies

Why did a certain structure of film- called classic Hollywood narrative- become so dominant in movie making?

The narrative had an allure that spoke to most viewers, ultimately satisfying their desire for the familiar and the distinctive. It provided a recipe

What contribution did nickelodeons make to film history?

The nickelodeons bridged the race gap, offering cheap entertainment and little need of the knowledge of English, they became a "craze"

Synergy

The promotion and sale of a product throughout the various subsidiaries of the media conglomerate, i.e.: books, soundtracks, clothing, toys, etc.

Blockbuster

The type of big-budget special effects films that typically have summer or holiday release dates, heavy promotion, and lucrative merchandising tie-ins

Why were early silent films popular?

They created narrative worlds that engaged the audience' imagination; they transcended language and race barriers; offered an escape from the struggle of everyday life.

Do films contribute to a global village in which people throughout the world share a universal culture? Or do U.S. based films overwhelm the development of other cultures worldwide?

They enable people to relate to one another by giving them a common ground where here was not one before. I think U.S. based films dominate America, keeping America from the films of other cultures.

Why are documentaries an important alternative to traditional Hollywood film making? what contributions have they made on the film industry?

They show "real life" instead of a produced story as portrayed in the hollywood narrative

Paramount Decision

This is the common name for a court decision which forced the major studios to gradually divest themselves from their theaters and end their vertical integration.

Why did Thomas Edison and the patents Trust fail to shape and control the film industry, and why did Adolph Zukor of Paramount succeed?

Zukor succeeded because he planned to control all levels of production, instead of just technology.

Genre

a category; type

Oligopoly

a market in which control over the supply of a commodity is in the hands of a small number of producers and each one can influence prices and affect competitors

Cinema Verite

a way of filing real-life scenes without elaborate equipment, playing down the technical and formal means of production. Often used in documentaries.

Hollywood Ten

actors, producers who were blacklisted after refusing to cooperate with the HUAC

Nickelodeons

converted storefronts in working-class neighborhoods that showed early short silent films usually lasting 15 minutes, requiring little comprehension of English, and costing only a nickel to view.

Indies

independent film production houses that work outside industry oligopolies, operate on a shoestring budget an show movies on college campuses and at small film festivals

Digital Video

is recorded, edited, and often transmitted in digital form as used by computers

Vitascope

large screen system which enabled filmstrips of longer lengths to be projected without interruption

Narrative Films

movies that tell stories

Vertical Integration

practice in which a single manufacturer controls all of the steps used to change raw materials into finished products(Production, Distribution, and Exhibition)

Block Booking

the practice of requiring exhibitors to rent groups of movies (often inferior) to secure a better one