EXAM 2 (ch. 7)
Why are genres and directors important to the film industry?
By making films that fall into popular genres, the movie industry provides familiar models that can be imitated. It is much easier for a studio to promote a film that already fits into a pre existing category with which viewers are familiar Directors tell viewers that the movie is filmed and produced in a certain style that they know they have enjoyed from previous films
How has the home entertainment industry developed and changed since the 1970s?
Cable and videocassettes In today's world Internet distribution (Netflix, Hulu, etc.) are the most promising
What is the impact of inexpensive digital technology on filmmaking?
Digital videos means seeing camera work instantly instead of waiting for film to be developed, and being able to capture additional footage without concern for the high cost of film stock and processing
How did the movie industry respond to the advent of television?
First it started to show more serious content that television did not show/encourage (alcoholism, anti-Semitism, adult-teen relationships etc.) Secondly, movies adopted Technicolor and other technological advancements to draw in the crowds
cinema verite
French term for truth film, a documentary style that records fragments of everyday life unobtrusively; it often features a rough, grainy look and shaky, handheld camera work. (tv show versions: The Office, Parks and Rec)
What political and cultural forces changed the Hollywood system in the 1950s?
In the unfolding of the Cold War and, Congress began investigating Hollywood for communist ties. The House of Un-American Committee (HUAC) led to the Hollywood Ten hearings. HUAC told the film industry to provide any names of people that may be tied to the communist party. Eventually, HUAC subpoenaed ten unwilling witnesses about their ties to the communist party. They were sent to jail. Also, the government increased its scrutiny of the movie industries aggressive business practices. It was said that ventricle integration had to be ended. The Paramount decision was then made (forced the 5 big companies that ruled the movie industry to start giving up theaters). However, the Paramount decision did not change the oligopoly of Hollywood. It failed to increase distribution but did help with the exhibition aspect of things. For example, art museums, exhibitions, drive-ins etc. The paramount decision and during this time people started moving to the suburbs and less money was going towards ticket sales
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.
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 Independent producers in Hollywood could easily slip over the border into Mexico to escape legal prosecution brought by the Trust for patent violations
What are the various ways in which major movie studios make money from the film business?
Studios make money on movies from six major sources: -studios get a portion of the theatre box-office revenue DVD sale and rentals, digital downloads and streaming pay-per-view, premium cable, syndicated TV market distributing films in foreign markets distribute work of independent producers and filmmakers, who hire the studios to gain wider circulation merchandise licensing and product placements in movies
Why did a certain structure of film—called classic Hollywood narrative—become so dominant in moviemaking?
The narrative had an allure that spoke to most viewers, ultimately satisfying their desire for the familiar and the distinctive. It provided a recipe It included a clear beginning, middle, and end, with a propelling plot
What contribution did nickelodeon's make to film history?
They brought in a wide audience thanks to the waves of immigrants flowing in The nickelodeons bridged the race gap, offering cheap entertainment and little need of the knowledge of English, they became a "craze"
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? Discuss.
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. It has been debated if it is a good or bad thing. Some nations have resented that American film overbears their culture so much and that's understandable. Everything in moderation I suppose, we certainly don't have a problem in the states of foreign films being everywhere we go, but there are those here that certainly value them.
Why are documentaries an important alternative to traditional Hollywood filmmaking? What contributions have they made to the film industry?
They show "real life" instead of a produced story as portrayed in the hollywood narrative They tackled controversial or unpopular subject matter
Why were the early silent films so popular?
They transcended language barriers to immigrants could go and enjoy them Silent films broke the language barrier for those immigrating to America during the European Immigration boom in the early 20th century. These theaters filled a need for many newly arrived people struggling to learn English and seeking an inexpensive escape from the hard life of the city. They created narrative worlds that engaged the audience' imagination; they transcended language and race barriers; offered an escape from the struggle of everyday life.
Why did Thomas Edison and the patents Trust fail to shape and control the film industry, and why did Adolph Zukor of Paramount succeed?
Thomas Edison formed the Patents Company known as the Trust. They controlled a great amount of the movie industry. In order for them to fund any production, the production had to meet a list of requirements. Some producers refused to comply with the terms. Adolph Zuker and Fox found out ways to bypass the terms. They then worked at dominating the movie industry at a deeper level than just monopolizing patents and technology. They worked at the production (everything involved in making the movie), distribution (getting the films into theaters), and exhibition (playing films in theaters). This type of control was referred to as ventricular integration (control of all levels of the movie industry) and turned the film industry into an oligopoly (a situation in which a few firms control the bulk of business). Zukor succeeded because he planned to control all levels of production, instead of just technology. Zukor's early companies figured out ways to bypass the Trust, and a suit by Fox, a nickelodeon operator turned film distributor, resulted in the Trust's breakup for restraint of trade violation in 1917. Also, Zukor developed the idea of vertical integration within the film industry that allowed for more power by one person or company.
How is the movie industry adapting to the Internet?
Through mediums like iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and Xfinity, the movie industry is able to open its doors to the Internet after years of illegal file-sharing online 2012 makes the first time that fans accessed more movies online than through physical copies (DVD, blu-ray, etc.)
Vitascope
a large-screen movie projection system developed by Thomas Edison
Documentary
a movie or TV news genre that documents reality by recording actual characters and settings
Genre
a narrative category in which conventions regarding similar characters, scenes, structures, and themes recur in combination
Celluloid
a transparent and pliable film that can hold a coating of chemicals sensitive to light
studio system
an early film production system that constituted a sort of assembly-line process for movie making; major film studios controlled not only actors but also directors, editors, writers, and other employees, all of whom worked under exclusive contracts
Kinetoscope
an early film projection system that served as a kind of peep show in which viewers looked through a hole and saw images moving on a tiny plate
Kinetograph
an early movie camera developed by Thomas Edison's assistant in the 1890s
block booking
an early tactic of movie studios to control exhibition, involving pressuring theater operators to accept marginal films with no stars in order to get access to films with the most popular stars
Multiplexes
contemporary movie theaters that exhibit many movies at the same time on multiple screens
consensus narratives
cultural products that become popular and command wide attention, providing shared cultural experiences
Big Five
from the late 1920s to the late 1940s, the major movie studios that were vertically integrated and that dominated the industry were Paramount, MGM, Warner Brothers, Twentieth Century Fox, and RKO
Little Three
from the late 1920s to the late 1940s, the studios that did not own theaters were Columbia, Universal, and United Artists
Nickelodeons
he first small makeshift movie theaters, which were often converted cigar stores, pawnshops, or restaurants redecorated to mimic vaudeville theaters
Oligopoly
in media economics, an organizational structure in which a few firms control most of an industry's production and distribution resources
vertical integration
in media economics, the phenomenon of controlling a mass media industry as its three essential levels: production, distribution, and exhibition; the term is most frequently used in reference to the film industry
Synergy
in media economics, the promotion and sale of a product (and all its versions) throughout the various subsidies of a media conglomerate
Indies
independent music and film production houses that work outside industry oligopolies; they often produce less mainstream music and film
Megaplexes
movie theater facilities with fourteen or more screens
narrative films
movies that tell a story, with dramatic action and conflict emerging mainly from individual characters
Talkies
movies with sound, beginning in 1927
movie palaces
ornate, lavish single-screen movie theaters that emerged in the 1910s in the United States
Paramount decision
the 1948 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended vertical integration in the film industry by forcing the studios to divest themselves of their theaters
Big Six
the major Hollywood studios that currently rule the commercial film business: Warner Brothers, Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, Columbia Pictures, and Disney
Hollywood Ten
the nine screenwriters and one film director subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) who were sent to prison in the late 1940s for refusing to disclose their memberships or to identify communist sympathizers
digital video
the production format that is replacing celluloid film and revolutionizing filmmaking because the cameras are more portable and production costs are much less expensive
Blockbuster
the type of big-budget special effects film that typically has a summer or holiday release date, heavy promotion, and lucrative merchandising tie-ins
How do a few large film studios manage to control more than 90 percent of the commercial industry?
vertical integration --> oligopoly they have all the money
Newsreel
weekly ten-minute magazine-style compilations of filmed news events from around the world organized in a sequence of short reports; prominent in movie theaters between the 1920s and the 1950s
How did film go from the novelty stage to the mass medium stage?
with the introduction of narrative films The shift first started with the introduction of narrative films. These started popping up when audiences got bored with the clips of people dancing or waves against the shore. Secondly, nickelodeon's (a movie theater who demanded an admission) helped with the shift. They were cheap to make and their silent movies were appealing to the incoming European immigrants who were looking for some kind of entertainment and did not speak English very well. The craze peaked by 1910.
