Exam 2 Films and Terms

RKO

*David Sarnoff*, general manager of RCA, creates a new verically integrated motion-picture company, *buys Film Booking Office as distribution outlet and studio*, purchases *Keith-Albee-Orpheum* circuit of Vaudeville houses to be a *theater chain*---*October 1928 David Sarnoff forms RKO (Radio-Keith-Orpheum)* -RCA's Photophone was compatible with Western Electric system, so many US theaters bought Photophone equipment

It Happened One Night (Columbia, 1934) *Director: Frank Capra*

*"It Happened One Night" (Columbia, 1934)* -How films can be *about the depression but not exist in the same place* -*Romantic Comedy* -Made by *Little 3 Columbia*--made *B Productions, not vertically integrated, no theater chains owned* -Columbia is *wiry* -*Frank Capra is a STAR DIRECTOR* -Capra's NOTES on *Screenwriter Robert Riskin's script* -*Helps redefine the rom-com in the 1930s* *HOLLYWOOD AND CENSORSHIP* -*1909--National Board of Censorship* -Becomes *NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW in 1915* -*1922 Motion Pictures and Producers Distributors Association (MPPDA* -*Nickelodeon boom* *brought attention to Hollywood industry, seen as SCANDALOUS*, private affairs+loose morals -Hollywood had repeatedly said "let's avoid gov't censorship, let's *do it independently, and KEEP censorship internal* *MPPDA and Self Regulation* -*1927 Don'ts and Be Carefuls=way to list things that local censorship boards ypically cut, to allow filmmakers to PREVENT it* -*1929 The Production Code* --Diffuse calls for censorship and APPEASE pressure groups -Subject matter--*filmmakers fall back on risky scandalous themes--Depression, prohibition* etc -*cuts in a sound film are more invasive than in a silent film* -There is a *growing need to make an official list/production code governing film content* -Musicals/broadway shows are problem--topless shows, risky themes, inappropriate for films. The mass audiences can handle it but some of audience cannot handle it. -*hollywood films are generally aimed at audiences of ALL AGES.* -Concern for kids seeing adult content, *issue is to appeal to adults with sex and violence but show it in a way safe for kids* -The *Production Code* is written by the industry to address these issues, it is a way to have a CLEAN image and not get in trouble *Production Code--3 Sections* *1. Preamble*=Statement where filmmakers accept social impact of the modern pictures. Emphasizing *film is entertainment* but they have a *RESPONSIBILITY for wholesome entertainment*. *2. General Principles* ---*A. Don't lower moral standards*--how do you know this? It's GENERAL TERMINOLOGY--there's WIGGLE ROOM ---*B. "Correct" Standards Subject to req. of drama and entertainment* ---*C. No sympathy for violation* *3. Particular Applications* -Long list of specifics -A kind of compromise--some wanted GENERAL, others wanted SPECIFICS listed -crime, vulgarity, costumes, religion, subjects sex, profanity, dancing, bedrooms--Listing terms usually cut by boards as an attempt to prevent it. No nudity, no accurate depictions of crime, violence, no homosexuality, no sleeping in same bed, no long kissing etc -Screenplays and Properties (something adapted) go before *Will Hays* or the *Studio Relations Committee* for approval -*Studio Relations Committee/SRC was INEFFECTIVE--filmmakers and producers could *appeal it* if they really wanted to. -Lots of RESISTANCE TO CODE -*1930-34--Studios resist code by having INDIRECT but OBVIOUS representations of SEX and VIOLENCE.* -*Final Moral Lesson*--Had to do with *details* in film vs. outcome. --*Reformers focus on DETAILS of behavior, specific scenes, would POINT IT OUT AS A PROBLEM--Gangster film, Gangster shown accumulating wealth, gets killed in end, even though that seems to show crime is bad, it still *shows that crime pays and that is not a good message* *1933--Pressure build* -*Roosevelt administration--crack down on censorship* -*Legion of Decency*--Call for a BOYCOTT of films not approved by this CATHOLIC legion. -*Motion Picture Research Council*=a Protestant Group, *Payne Foundation* (did tests about affects of films on children, book "Our Movie Made Children"--HORRIBLE science, claimed children were affected by films WAY more than they were), but the *BS Science and these claims made people afraid that movies were affecting children badly, and it RAISES public desire for CENSORSHIP* -*Government taking over censorship* -*Production Code Administration (1934)* -*Hays* hired *Joseph Breen* to admin the production code, more rigorously enforce it -Not WELL enforced prior to 1934 but it WAS enforced *1934, Breen onwards:* --*All studios had to *submit scripts for approval*, *approval of final film*, *MPPDA seal of approval--fines for release without seal, unapproved films banned from MPPDA theaters* -*Internal Effort--to make sure movies don't get cut--fairly long lasting, powerful effects on industry -*Efforts of PCA* --Forestalls external censorship -Further consolidates power of OLIGOPOLY -*transformation of genres*--gangster film/tough guys--phased out, detective film -Objectionable material handled indirectly, the innocent don't get the joke. Clear moral standard put on transgressions. -PCA--More rigorous effort -More attention payed to visualization of scene, not just dialogue. Depictions of wealthy accumulating are more heavily censored. -The PCA forced filmmakers to at LEAST provide an alternative avenue for interpretation --so kids and churchgoers could see it as innocent --Films need to have clear moral stances throughout--what is right *"It Happened One Night" (Columbia, 1934)* -Considered "inappropriate" in terms of PC -Clever moral stance on sex -Film finds way to have *Ellie Andrews*, protagonist, be *technically married and NOT married at same time* --Convenient to *justify her behavior both directions* -*She's NOT CONSUMMATED (imprisoned on ship by dad right after marriage)* --Her ESCAPE is to *consummate marriage*, also to *refall in love*. It's OK bc she is not REALLY married -*2 NOT married people in same room sleeping in separate beds* -AND *registered as husband and wife in same room* --*Pre 1934 the dialogue would say NO sex but imply the opposite*, but *POST 1934 it needs to be more CLEAR WAY to show that NO SEX* happened, this is achieved with the *WALLS OF JERICHO*--*Peter (Clark Gable) is shown as an ENFORCER--he FORCES sexual separation* --*The man establishes a barrier (the walls of jericho blanket across room clothesline)* --OK with the PCA --"I have no trumpet", Peter asks if she wants to join the Israelites (on other side of the "wall"), she stays, he says instead perhaps she will see a "study of how a man undresses" and tells her HIS method, he does tie, shirt, "I go for the shoes next" most men go pants next. --*Important: Peter is NOT stripping to say "let's have sex", he is doing it TO GET HER TO MOVE* -He is a *PROTECTOR OF ELLIE'S VIRTUE, NOT a Seducer* -Gable is able to say to Shapely to GET AWAY from Ellie, it is an EXCUSE FOR PROTECTOR. -(Gable did not wear an undershirt in this scene and supposedly this makes undershirt companies go out of business) -*No scenes of excess passion or kissing because of dividing line (Jericho)* -Still shows stripping/undress -More careful/tasteful -*When they DO find love, he LEAVES to find a WAY TO MARRY HER, and ONLY AT THE END OF THE FILM IS SEX IMPLIED, AFTER they marry* -"Gold Diggers" was about sex, but it was all IMPLIED -"It Happened One Night" is about sex, but it is *about how you handle the sex theme that matters to the PCA*--*Subtlety and sophistication in Romantic Comedy* *Script of "It Happened One Night"* --Capra notes--*he seems to be thinking about moving from explicit devices in the script to IMPLICIT devices in the SHOT* --*Shapely Sequence Sketch*--Diagrams 5 and 6, there is a CHANGE FROM THE SCRIPT, *initially written as Ellie NEEDS peter to rescue her, but Peter is AMUSED until the last moment when he steps in--this scene is SHOT DIFFERENTLY--Peter Protector* --*Instead of the script's 6 camera positions, we have only 3 in the film: *1. Master Shot of all 3 characters* *2. Medium shot of E+S* *3. Medium close of P* --*GONE is the leg shot, Ellie beseeching peter, CAPRA OPTS FOR SIMPLICITY* -*No lewd closeup of Ellie's leg, we are not invited to identify with Shapely's mindset*--invited to *disapprove of it because of GROWING SEXUAL UNDERTONES, Ellie does NOT seem needy, she glances off screen, implied she is conceding moving to sit next to Peter and PETER is growing increasingly aware/worried, he is NOT AS ALOOF and he SEEMS MORE ATTRACKED TO HER.* -More soft with lewd content -Why?--Film was a *POTENTIAL NIGHTMARE WRT PC* because of all the *sexual tension* between Peter and Ellie -Don't show unless absolutely necessary for the story -*Indirect but SMOLDERING SEXUALITY in scenes where it is expressed VISUALLY in the exchange of shots* --*Hay stack--P gives E coat, they ALMOST KISS in SOFT FOCUS---indirect and implicit sexual tension* -Capra seems to be *sensitive towards his actors' comfort zones and sensibilities--they had enough chemistry to work low key* -*Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert are ASSOCIATED with sex roles--Gable is a SEXY MAN and Colbert has LOTS OF UNDRESS in her films. --*Actors already associated with sex, so there is no need to force it* --*PC often thought of as BURDEN, no homosexuality, no interracial couples, but LIMITATIONS can be GOOD FOR CREATIVITY* --Ways of INDICATING that the couple could not have sex was a QUESTION that LEAD CAPRA TO CREATE THE WALLS--GOOD WAY TO SHOW SEX TENSION WITHOUT VIOLATING CODE* *Depression Era Entertainment* -Not "simple" escapism -Complex dialogue in lime light between culture and entertainment, depression and fantasy. -Fantasy Fulfillment -Awareness about sex and economics "Gold Diggers" -2nd shot--Money bikini--government strips the costumes off--Roller Skating Sequence in PiP--*"Forgotten Man"*--because man lost job and *became emasculated*, women can't be loved properly* -*Escapist film grounded in reality of depression* -*To be escapist, you need something to escape from* "It Happened One Night" -*Heiress is FORCED to experience the depression*, a society living poorly unlike her, *Peter teaches her lessons in living--she needs rough and tumble life to find herself* -*Audiences were most likely POOR, movie GETS IT, gets it SUCKS, but implies b/c poor, you really know WHAT LIFE REALLY IS, THIS IS WHAT THE MOVIE IS SAYING ABOUT THE DEPRESSION*

Applause (Paramount 1929) *Director: Rouben Mamoulian*

"Applause" (1929) was able to do everything Hollywood was trying to do *3 Goals of "Applause" (1929): 1. Maintain Silent-Style Visual Virtuosity 2. Tell an EFFECTIVE story 3. Showcase sound* "Applause" does a GOOD job accomplishing these goals at an early time, should be commended for that. It has *problems* -Less successful approach, the *Kitty and April dressing room scene* -Multiple cameras, but this scene *unsuccessfully uses sound* -*For the first cut in, the angle is the same*--cameras are side by side -There is not enough change -Stuck with this framing because the cameras are lined up. They are *stiff and slow* -When Tony, April and Kitty are all talking about the marriage of T and A, this *marriage is an important turning point*, and it *SHOULD get good shots of all the faces, especially of TONY*, but because of the multiple-camera system, *you cannot clearly show Tony*--you cannot do cut-ins to ALL of them. -*can't edit it well* -The "you're all right, son" line is OBSTRUCTED, it is not visually interesting, it's DULL, *but at least it's clear*, it's an exception to the rule *Successful scenes:* -April leaving the convent -Starts out with on-set sound recording -After April talks to the nun, the rest of the scene does not need talking. So the *rest of the scene is shot silent but it USES NON-DIEGETIC SOUND with the "Ave Maria" singing* -It is supposed to be the nuns singing it. By *putting the singing in later* and *shooting it silent*, there is *MOBILITY*, the camera can move, it gets *good tracking shots*, floating -*mobile tracking shot* -Tremendous approach -Significance of cutting to the *outside*-Because there is no dialogue, the camera is *taken outside to show the SPACE, bigger, bigger scale* ---NOTE: *Multiple purposes are served through this approach* *1. Maintain SILENT STYLE*--shot silent, VISUAL STYLE *2. Characterize April as a "GOOD" girl* with the *Ave Maria soundtrack*. Serves story purposes plus it is attraction in its own right. Audiences LIKED hearing sound in speakers. 3. *"Ave" serves a second purpose: sudden jarring BOOM! and percussionary sounds of New York City.* Sets up *clash of opposites--contrast is initially portrayed sonically* April must make her way through the unfamiliar NYC--Here, *Sound is serving the story purpose* -****Movie still can *show off the sounds of a city* -Show off because they are sounds that audiences probably won't hear-*this is a brilliant example of problem solving* The *Tony Breakup Scene* -*Sound serving a narrative purpose* -camera pans left from *band playing like a quick vitaphone performance within the film* -*Music also serves the narrative* -Tony and April talk--hear music over them, as BACKGROUND MUSIC, then there is a *shift to a new song--"What Wouldn't I do for That Man", which was played earlier in the film*--in scene where Kitty was lying on the floor, singing it -This *ties together Kitty and April* -*Ties the scenes together* -When April completes breakup with Tony, the song played by the band is APRIL'S MOTHER'S SONG--it is a SAD song, *Kitty is/was damning herself to a man who is cheating on her, just as April is damning herself too by breaking up with Tony* -*Sound/song serving character development--this is a COOL instance of this* Goals met: Maintained Visual Style, Showcased Sound, and told and Effective Story

Sound-On-Film

*First used by Fox* -No synch issues -Not much sound mixing A *sound-on-film* process *converted sound into light waves reproduced on a photographic strip alongside the images on a 35mm film strip* -This system had *synchronization advantages*. If the film broke, the frames of images and of sounds would both be broken because they were both on the film strip together. *Lee DeForest's Phonofilm* -First demonstrated in 1923 -DeForest wanted to be independent, and therefore his company stayed small. Phonofilm patent rights sold abroad, promoted spread of sound Engineers *Theodore Case and Earl Sponable* create a sound-on-film system which is PARTLY based on DeForest's Phonofilm. -*Fox* Film Corporation invests in *Case-Sponable system* --Fox was a small yet expanding company and it hoped that sound would give it a competitive edge. -*1927*: Case-Sponable system renamed *"Movietone"*, demonstrated with short films of vaudeville acts and musical numbers --Shift focus on making *Sound Newsreels*, coverage of Charles Lindbergh's solo flight to Paris, and used for *musical score* for *F.W. Murnau's "Sunrise" (1927)* *RCA (Radio Corporation of America)* -(a subsidiary of General Electric and Westinghouse) - develops *Photophone* system - demonstrated early 1927 -rivaled WB's Vitaphone to be industry standard *1928: Western Electric has sound-on-film technology* (had developed sound-on-disc originally) -offers more favorable contracts than competitors, and the *Big Five adopt it as their standard system* -RCA's Photophone still used, though it did not win out over Wester Electric's system.--*Photophone*--David Sarnoff, general manager of RCA, creates a new verically integrated motion-picture company, buys Film Booking Office as distribution outlet and studio, purchases Keith-Albee-Orpheum circuit of Vaudeville houses to be a theater chain---*October 1928 David Sarnoff forms RKO (Radio-Keith-Orpheum)---Photophone was compatible with Western Electric system, so many US theaters bought Photophone equipment*--and Photophone succeeded abroad Pg. 194

L'Atalante (Gaumont, 1934) *Director: Jean Vigo*

*Jean Vigo* --*Only made FOUR FILMS in his lifetime. --Only feature film is *"L'Atalante"* *"L'Atalante"*--*Avante-Garde*, but *STILL TELLING A STORY*. Elements of *surrelaism* and *Impressionism* and move audience *Jean Vigo's "L'Atalane" (Gaumont, 1934)* Pre-Viewing notes: *French Film Industry* --France--More consistently *Creative* and *Diverse* -1930s=GREAT for French film -1920s-*Experimentation* -*Gaumont Pathé--NOT obsessed with French production, HAPPY TO IMPORT* -*lots of SMALL COMPANIES making movies* -A *virtue* for French cinema--*LOTS of companies=LOTS of movies=LESS BUREAUCRACY, Fewer money men telling you what to do--experimentation and FREEDOM* -Also *not much money* -*Funding means that movies HAVE to succeed abroad, small films can be EXPERIMENTAL* -*Vigo--Artisanal mode of production=JUST director, actors and a SMALL crew, a DEVOTED TEAM, ONE film at a time.* -*Funded as he want, he scraped together money and found distributors* *-EARLY SURREALIST elements--tansforing images, abstract images etcetera* -1933-*"Zero for Conduct"* --About French boarding schools -Influenced Troufeaut -Short, TRAGIC life. Vigo died before film was finished -Anarchist father died in prison, mysterious circumstances -Many friends in FRENCH INTELLIGENCE supported and brought up Jean. -1920s--Vigo contracts tuburculosis--becomes filmmaker--DIED YOUNG--notes on early cut of L'Atalante--*left-wing tendencies, working class focus* -*Keeps Impressionism and surrealism alive*--*Romantic and poetical, LYRICAL ASPECTS* -*Beautiful locations, NOT part of a single movement* -*Emphasis on ROMANTIC STYLIZATION and SURREALISM* -Vigo was concerned with WORKING CLASS *"L'Atalante"* -French Film Industry --*Big companies NOT supporting French production, focus on IMPORT American films -*SMALL firms--artistic FREEDOM--did what they wanted, with LITTLE MONEY FOR PRODUCTION* --*Vigo THRIVES on this low money setup* --1930s--THINGS GET WEIRD *1930s=TERRIBLE time in France, Socialists (left) vs. Fascists (right), DEPRESSION HITS FRANCE LATE, POLITICAL INSTABILITY* --Fear of fascism --Social republicans band together and form the POPULAR FRONT, left wing powers in charge--they do a lot in a short time. Changes in workers rights etc. --Did NOT trigger recovery from depression, fall out of favor fast, there is infighting in P. Front -*Socialist P. Front falls by 1940* -*Fascist parties side with Hitler* -*German control until 1944/5* -French film=good opportunities -Early 1930s--STABLE-base of industry EXPANDS, *conversion to sound* -Film's industrial base EXPANDS BEFORE DEPRESSION -*Sound boosts desire for French films--people PREFER French language films* -France has nothing to lose, *very small domestic market*, Hollywood LOSS--over doubled French film output in a few years. French market is TINY -Large companies go BANKRUPT -Large scale production hindered -*Gaumont near bankruptcy, Pathé splits into SMALLER FIRMS* *-Either have OLIGOPOLY or have Government support--France does NEITHER* -*Domestic market is TOO SMALL to sustain high budget production* -TAXES and DOUBLE FEATURES encourage small, low budget filmmaking.--Demands MORE FILMS, but CHEAP=NO PROFIT ---*Just when they need MORE audiences attending, the government makes films MORE EXPENSIVE* *Consequences of a "Patchwork" Industry* --*Less Technical Finish* than other industries, ROUGHER than American or German films and French films LACKED POLISH -Lower degree of genre convention--no genres stick, not enough demand -*Loose tendencies* --Small scale productions=NO MUSICALS, NO HISTORICAL EPICS--instead, *Personal films* -And ARTISANAL mode of production, microbrewery of filmmakers -Indie filmmakers oversee film start to finish, need to do MORE WORK, find a producer and an exhibitor etc -Lack of money to support big industry -Creativity -Swelling of artistic NARRATIVE filmmaking in 1930s -Then HITLER and French film dies bc of fascism -Later it comes back -Higgins--*Jean Vigo's SOUL is in the 1920s* -Connected to *surrealism* and *impressionism* -in 1930s--Shows that the *art film* is alive and thriving in 1930s Vigo--Impressionist tradition--Epstein, Dulac -*Impressionist elements in SOUND, VISUALS, but STILL FOLLOWING a NARRATIVE structure -Narrative avante-garde in 1930s -Impressionist and Surrealist TENDENCIES influence L'Atalante -Vigo-Unusual is the Mundane Surrealist ideas -*Surrealism REPLACES impressionism in 1930s* -To confront the viewer with the ABSURDITY of modern life -Remind you how powerful the IRRATIONAL is -*Draw attention to the UNCONSCIOUS---sex and violence* *In L'Atalante, the IRRATIONAL is associated with the character of Pere Jules* --Jules *acts on impulse* --Does NOT fit into real world -Surrealism SEEPS its way into L'Atalante -*Surrealism LEAKS its way into L'Atalante* -Vigo wanted editor to put superimpositions in, where when Jules is demonstrating WRESTLING, with superimpositions he would LITERALLY be wrestling with himself -Irrational, surreal -*Cats just CALL to Jules* -Jean--*at first he DISLIKES the cats, he pushes them away, but JULIET likes the cats* -Motifs--Surrealist art--AUTOMATONS--contradictory, they SEEM alive but inside they are dead and lifeless -Juliet goes into the city but she DOES NOT SEE PARIS THE CITY, instead she SEES AUTOMATONS --*Social commentary on modern life, EMPTY AND DEAD* -Mixes live action with the automatons *JULES starts playing the record with his finger. You have been PREPPED to ACCEPT this. VIGO wants you to entertain the possibility at first. He KEEPS YOU on EDGE of possibility. Boundary between the world IN the film and the director's ability to MANIPULATE film -If Jules can WRESTLE himself, WHY NOT PLAY RECORD WITH HIS FINGER??? --Cut scene, Jean nuzzles head on block of ice, getting KITTENISH---he needs to get kittenish and like kittens to be worthy of Juliet. No real reason -1920s love found on BOAT -VIGO--shoot it with surrealist gun. JEAN is TOO RATIONALLY FOCUSED. He could NOT FEEL IRRATIONAL LOVE. Only when he lets go, has an unexplainable unusual experience--IMPRESSIONISM overlap--character starts to SEE WORLD IN NEW WAY--impressionist subjectivity--Jean swimming in water, graphic art, juliet superimposition, fast, slow motion, etcetera--surrealist traits--narrative avante-garde --Lyrical passages---Impressionists give city a SOUL through beautiful cinematography---Abel Gance La Roue POETICIZED industrial landscapes -Emotional situations launch formal play -they HAVE to be separated, playing with LYRICAL, poeticized sequences VIGO Blends surrealism and impressionism in sound cinema. FUSES the mundane and the irrational and emotional SURREALIST VIGO--confront you with images--armpit sex Impressionist Vigo-Add romance to it

"Mythological Film"

-Indian film genre -Used plot from legend and epics

Jean Vigo

France, Fantasy and Surrealism -*Jean Vigo worked in Surrealist vein* -Started with two short documentaries, "À propos de Nice" (1930), which drew upon conventions of city symphony genre of experimental cinema. "Taris" (1931)--lyrical underwater study of fench Swimmer -Features: *"Zero for Conduct" (1933)*--boarding school life from children's points of view, surrealist and *"L'Atalante" (1934)*--intensely romantic story,

Benshi

*Japan* -Japan had a way to have "talkies" in the silent era. -*The "katsuben" or "benshi" performer was a mainstay of exhibition, sitting near the screen and explaining the action and vocally portraying the characters*

"Minors"

*Little Three=Minors* (With few or no theaters)*:* *Universal* , *Columbia*, and *United Artists*. Universal: money problems, horror films, Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff Columbia: Frank Capra, John Ford briefly, George Cukor, etc UA: Distributed films by British Alexander Korda, David O. Selznick, Walter Wanger, Samuel Goldwyn...Still UA was its founders (Griffith, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks all who retired mid 30s, Chaplin every few years had one film)

Sisters of Gion (Shochiku, 1936) *Director: Kenji Mizoguchi* Screenplay by Mizoguchi and YODA

*Kenji Mizoguchi* -Career spanning DECADES -*Popular in 1920s and 1930s* -*Feminine melodrama* -NOT INTERNATIONALLY SUCCESSFUL UNTIL 1950s ("Life of Ohara", "Ugetsu") -Worked until *death in 1956* -Early 1st 43 films of his are LOST -*Create abstract formal patterns that exist independently of narrative--this is an ALTERNATIVE TO HOLLYWOOD* -*Mizoguchi is an EXPERIMENTAL filmmaker*--*Set rules for film style and experiment with those rules* -*Mizoguchi does DIFFERENT THINGS, goes AGAINST Hollywood Continuity Editing and 180 degree rule in particular* -*Hollywood continuity editing--180 degree rule--you have a LINE OF ACTION, and you can EDIT to different spaces, but you STAY ON ONE SIDE OF THIS AXIS OF ACTION. To create MORE stable and CLEAR way to guide the audience, this way, NO MATTER WHER YOU CUT IN 180 degrees, characters ALWAYS LOOK IN THE SAME DIRECTION* -If you cut OVER 180 degrees, the positions (left and right) of actors SWITCH--CAsablanca, Bogart on LEFT looking right, Ilsa RIGHT looking LEFT -*Character positions are consistent* -You can *always tell where characters are in the space, and WHAT they are looking at--LEGIBLE AND CLEAR* IN CONTRAST, Mizoguchi does DIFFERENT things -Mizoguchi uses *Rotational Cutting Patterns* -*180 degree cuts* -*360 degree circle of possibility* -*Refusal to repeat camera positions* Mizoguchi--*Create abstract stylistic shapes that exist OUTSIDE of the film itself* --*The cut does NOT GIVE INFO* -*camera rotation all the way around*, it makes you REALIZE THE CUT. See the PATTERN. -*VIOLATES 180 degree rule---Jump from left to right, to left, to MAN ON LEFT, etc* -*Graphic similarities/contrasts* -FLIP FLOP left and right with cuts -*Different camera positions--INTEREST--Abstract experiment, IMAGE, NOT FOR LEGIBLE STORY* *Narrative* -*Series of events, introduced causality--events linked by causality in space and time* -*one scene affects later scenes, a character's actions etc* *Narrative=A Chain of events in a cause and effect relationship occurring in time and space* -You fill it in-it is an *active process* of watching a film -How to *control what is left out or given* -How *audiences interpret* in their mind -Central character with *specific tools/skills--Motivate the character to do something, which in turn HAS AN EFFECT* *Most Studio Era Narrative Films* -A cause and effect chain where a *central character is the causal agent* *Conventional Narrative Structure:* -*Beginning, middle, end* *1. Beginning* -*Set Up Characters, drop you into an ONGOING WORLD* ---"It Happened One Night"--Ellie imprisoned by dad, married King Westly (but NOT REALLY) and she escapes to go be with him. This is ALL ESTABLISHED AT THE START *1. Beginning* =*EXPOSITION* *--Backstory --Characters and Traits --Goals --Enigmas* *Character Goals* ---Ellie: consumate marriage with King Westly ---Peter: Get job back *Enigma* ---*Audience's question: will Peter and Ellie realize they're in love and they belong together? B/c it is a rom-com, we KNOW they will fall in love and will realize it.* *2. Middle of film* =*DELAYS AND OBSTACLES* *-Blocking Goals -ANTICIPATION -Reformulated Enigmas* *The middle is all about creating ANTICIPATION to lead into the GOALS being eventually REACHED, so GOALS ARE BLOCKED TO CREATE ANTICIPATION* ---*Ellie and Peter realize they're in love--we know, THEY know--BLOCK with Peter seeing Ellie pass by in limo with King--Misunderstanding keeps them apart* *The story only exists in your head--YOU stitch the pieces together* *3. End* =*CLOSURE* *-Answering all enigmas -Characters reach goals -Often a ROMANTIC CLINCH (80% of time)* *Romantic Clinch=emotional CLOSURE=helps to forget about plot holes.* *Kirahara--"Sisters of Gion" (1936) document* --*Concerned with WHAT IS LEFT IN THE SPECTATOR'S HEAD* *Japanese Film Industry* -One of the few countries *with its own commercial industry that DID NOT HAVE TO COMPETE WITH HOLLYWOOD* -*Oligopoly of Vertically Integrated Corporations* -*Like Hollywood, studios control industry, producing, distributing and exhibiting* *---Nikkatsu ---Shochiku ---Toho (1934)* They *regularize the market by RELYING on genres* *Nikkatsu and Shochiku--Cadre system--Director and Screenwriter have THEIR OWN PRODUCTION UNIT and they have CONSIDERABLE control--they COLLABORATE on the film and WORK THROUGH EDITING* -Director Kenji Mizoguchi + Screenwritet Yoshikata Yoda *Genre: 1. Western vs. Traditional 2. Jidai-geki=historical films--SWORDFIGHTS 3. Gendai-geki=contemporary-life film --Influence of WESTERN CULTURE in Japan, clash of traditional values in contemporary era* *Contexts for "Sisters of Gion"* --*Shimpa Melodrama* *= Westernized genre of theater, western traditions in Japanese contests, OFTEN about WOMEN BESET AND MISUNDERSTOOD BY SOCIETY. STOCK CHARACTERS: Unfaithful man, wronged woman. --*The Geisha/Moga* *Geisha=a COMMON CAREER goal for women--intensive training, rituals *1930s--GEISHA CONNECTED WITH PROSTITUTION--WORLD CONTROVERSY--Japan thinks this CONTROVERSY is BASTARDIZING geisha tradition* *Moga=Japanese woman dressed in WESTERN CLOTHES=flapper* --*Tendency Film* *= SOCIAL PROBLEM FILM--takes argumentative approach to problem, leaves the question up in the air FOR AUDIENCES TO DECIDE--Attempt to deal with sodial issues in Japan WITHOUT ALIENATING left of right political factions --LEFT sees CAPITALISM at fault, wants to GET RID OF GEISHA SYTEM --Problem with Geisha system *Cultural change focused around role of women.* *Mizoguchi shows us TWO Geisha. One is MORE MODERN, the Other is more TRADITIONAL --the OLDER is the more TRADITIONAL one, she is TRAINED. --The YOUNGER is the MODERN one, she is NOT super well trained, asks WHY GEISHA EXIST* *Mizoguchi* *Cadre System Allowed MORE CREATIVE FREEDOM* -*Create abstract formal patterns that EXIST INDEPENDENT OF NARRATIVE.* -*Set rules for film stye and EXPERIMENT WITHIN THOSE RULES* *TENDENCY MOVIE* --Raises *PROBLEM OF GEISHA*, present/confront *audience* with it--*could go EITHER WAY* --*TRADITIONALIST* sees the *younger, MODERN girl as the PROBLEM*--Untrained girl using geisha for personal gain/profit. --*2nd View:* This is PROOF that *the TRADITIONAL forms are NOT FAIR FOR WOMEN*, *sympathize with young girl* *3 Close Ups of YOUNGER sister in film* --*LAST shot, TRACKING in, heroine tells us that IT IS SO UNFAIR--talking in close up--UNUSUAL MOMENT IN FILM* -*The close up is the BREAD AND BUTTER of emotion* ---HERE, it is *ONLY IN THE VERY LAST SHOT* -*Kirahara calls it "Difficult Vision" or "Thick Style* --*Mizoguchi--1930s--Experimenting with film style, in STORY and PLOT* --To make things *more difficult for audiences to follow* --*He is making CHOICES about LEAVNG THINGS OUT/PUTTING IN* *NARRATION* *1. Unmarked Ellipses* --*NOT telling you how much time has passed* (In "It Happened One Night", there's a MONTAGE of newspapers being made which SIGNALS time is passing) --*Mizoguchi LEAVES YOU HANGING. You have NO IDEA how much time has passed between scenes. HE GIVES YOU A GAP IN TIME, and then FILLS IT OUT LATER IN DIALOGUE* (find out later ONE day passed between younger sister, Omacha, ordering kimono and getting it) --*Character leaves room, then CUT, then a man enters, but it is NOT THE SAME man--FALSE CONTINUITY. TRICKS YOU* *2. Refusal of Closure* --*Will they survive? Will Omacha recover? Where will she go? NO CLEAR ENDING CLINCH* *3. Not Obeying the "Primacy Effect"* *=The human disposition to think the BEGINNING is important* --*Not the case here. GION starts with SECONDARY characters, people bidding at auction, assorted other extras, etc, and then the FIRST SCENE involve TWO MEN* (Jarakudo, who leaves his wife??) *4. Reticent Exposition* *NOT SATISFYING EXPECTATIONS* -*UNUSUAL Omissions--MAKE the viewer WORK to construct the story* *"Sisters of Gion" (1936) Narrative Structure* -*First Half--Four Romances, LONG setup* ---Umekichi and Furusawa ---Umekichi and Jarakudo ----Omacha and Kimura ---Omacha and Kudo (Kimura's boss) -*Second Half--Swift and Surprising DISSOLUTIONS in a SINGLE DAY* --Umekichi LEAVES Jarakudo --Omacha, Kimura, and Kudo have a LOVE TRIANGLE --Kimura's SURPRISE REVENGE/Beating Up Omacha --Furasawa's SURPRISE departure *Difficult Vision and Film Style* -*Intrinsic Norms of "Sisters of Gion"* *1. De-Centered or UNBALANCED shots* --*lots of HEAD SPACE* *2. Use of DISTRACTIVE DETAILS* --*Omacha at end, behind screen----Keep the camera back and CLUTTER the frame with architectural details, FRAMEWORKS, piling things between us and the characters* --*Omacha at hospital BEHIND SCREEN--taken BEHIND A WALL--WALL is in the WAY* *3. Ostentatious use of OFF-SCREEN SPACE* --*You are very VERY aware of it. Sudden in GION* --*Draws attention to what you are NOT seeing.--suddenly man turns and says "madam", and you realize there's this whole out of frame room with a woman in it--SUDDEN 2ND ROOM--makes you DOUBT SPACE IN THE REST OF FILM* --*Taxi driver=a FRIEND of Kimura, talks to Omacha for a while, and then you cut and SUDDENLY SEE A 3RD PERSON IN THE CAR (KIMURA)---Mizoguchi is PLAYING WITH STYLE, SHOWING/LEAVING OUT* *4. Distractive Cutting Patterns* --*180 degree cuts--flips space* --*360 degree circle of possibility* --*Rotational Editing* --*REFUSAL TO REPEAT CAMERA POSITIONS--it is HARDER for the audience to figure out WHERE they are seeing the characters from* ---Kudo berating employee Kimura--cut 180 degrees AROUND CURTAINS, now FACING OUTWARD, Flip Flop, to NEW POSITION, NO REPEATING --*Rotational cutting--Omacha and Head of geisha house sene--rotational cutting--ROTATION AROUND THE ACTORS, a LITTLE AT A TIME, no cutting back* -*Forces you to redraw the space from shot to shot* *5. Long Take* --*Refusal to put you CLOSER to characters, you must se ALL HAPPEN AT A DISTANCE--3 Minute scene where Omacha crafts the story moment, KICKING out patron Furusawa. *6. Denial of Frontality* --*Instead of giving you ACCESS to the characters' faces, he has them TURN AROUND--this PUSHES YOU AWAY* *ALL of these INTRINSIC NORMS of "Sisters of Gion" are something called "The DISPERSION EFFECT"* *DISPERSION EFFECT=Your attention s KEPT from forming ideas about characters, NOT JUST FOLLOWING THE STORY--these are TRAITS PARTICULAR TO 1930s MIZUGUCHI. NOT Japan, NOT film, JUST HIM* *Effect of Narrative and Style* --*Reduces Emotional Involvement and DISENGAGES the viewer. Keeps you from taking sides, the issue is LEFT ON THE TABLE (Geishas in patriarchal society, and money) --*Allows construction of SOCIAL ISSUES independent of personal ones* --*Encourages appreciation of FORMAL PATTERNS* -*Keeps you at a distance from characters, you don't identify with them. -*Mizoguchi's World--Makes you process sounds and images in a VERY UNIQUE WAY. With a PARTICULAR RHYTHM and FEELING (Like Wes Anderson) *Effects of WAR on Japanese Cinema* -Fascism CRUSHES creativity -1939 Censorship and call for PATRIOTIC FILM--Mizogichi's "Sisters of Gion" NOT ok, because it is CRITICAL OF JAPANESE SOCIETY -1941 Government FORCES CONSOLIDATION of Industry -1942 Production Dwindles -1939-45=HOMOGENOUS film style, few films are made

Toho

-*1934*-Ichiro Kobayashi, an entrepreneur, formed Toho by buying and merging 2 small companies specializing in talkies. -*Toho=Tokyo Takarazuka Theater Company* - Kobayashi erected theaters in Japanese cities -Kobayashi used imported films to build up attendance at his theaters -He hired major directors (Teinosuke Kinugasa and Masahiro Makino the swordfight specialist) -*Toho and Shochiku were rivals* who *cooperated to keep Hollywood at bay*. -Unike Nikkatsu and Shochiku Toho favored a "Producer" system--producers were in charge of several directors at the same time.

Jidai-Geki

-Japanese *Historical Film* -Sword fights chases, heroic deaths -Directors Daisuke Ito and Masahiro Makino make these films -*Rapid cutting, elaborately staged fights* -*"Chambara"* swordfight film -Toho's *"Enoken as Kondu Isamu"* satirized Chambara -Sadao Yamanaku--Made *psychologically oriented jidai-geki* -*"A Pod Worth a Million Ryo" (1935)* -*"Humanity and Paper Balloons" (1937)*--shows a Ronin unable to find work--driven to suicide *Yamanaku used low camera angles deep framing, and somber lighting in his jidai-geki.*

The Musical

-Promoted as a major genre -"revue musicals" strung numbers together -"Backstage musicals" like *"The Broadway Melody"* motivated numbers as performances by the characters -"Operetta musicals" like *"The Love Parade"* played out stories and numbers in fantasy locales. -"Integrated musicals" in which the singing and dancing occurred in ordinary settings. -Revue musical dies out BACKSTAGE--Warner Bros.-*"42nd Street"*, established genre conventions, naive chorus girl rises to stardom, Busby Berkeley--extravagant, abstracted and impossible numbers, clever cuts between set changes etc.

"All Talkie"

-Success of "Jazz Singer" convinced WB that sound might be more than just a cheap way to reproduce stage acts and music -Warner Bros. makes *"The Lights of New York" (Bryan Foy, 1928)* which is the *first "all-talkie"*. It became another hit.

Sound

1926-1934: Synchronized Sound introduced to Hollywood. Plunged the film industry into turmoil. Filmmakers were wrestling with what to do with sound. Obstacles for synchronized sound: 1. Amplification-Hard to find the technology to make sound for whole audience to hear 2. Fidelity-Not stable 3. Synchronization-Hard, there were no early mechanical links for sound, it used 2 separate systems. 4. **Money-There is not much investment in sound until mid to late 1920s 5. Assumptions for use-Took a while to start finding reasons to employ sound -There is a quick transition to sound---Studios collaborate to make it smooth -Edison had initially envisioned making images to accompany the phonograph - In silent era there were isolated efforts to link sound and image Sound on disc and sound on film 1927 "The Jazz Singer" released. FALSE misconception that major studios freaked out and felt need to make sound films. Sound films had been made here and there. Nothing special. *No reaction.* February 1928=Big Five Agreement to adopt sound system that becomes most advantageous together *OTHER films more persuasive than the "Jazz Singer":* -"Lights of New York" (1928) ="First talking picture"-Dialogue/Gangster film -"The Singing Fool" (1928) =Biggest box office success until "Gone with the Wind" a decade later *Response of Majors:* -September 1929--Exclusively producing sound -July 1930--80% or More theaters are wired for sound in the U.S. -1932--Total conversion of theaters to sound --It was a *remarkably rapid process* 2 Paths not pursued past the sound era: Part talkie (had some recorded music and some dialogue, like "Jazz Singer"), silence between sound parts and the Multi Lingual production (1929-31) "Jazz Singer" -Old vs. New -Contemporary values. Jazz is popular in 1920s -*weird transitions between silent and sound sequences* -Sound in music, walking to piano -Al Jolson=actor/performer -Al on Piano sings "Nothing but Blue Skies" -Show off his talents -cutting to his mom, *silent reactions* -Dialogue between Al and mom -Al--"Now I'm gonna sing it Jazzy!" -Father yells "son!" -*Suddenly it's a silent film* -inter-titles used -Filmmakers are trying to figure out what sound film is, but they are *thinking in prior terms* -Multiple-Camera Shooting (1926-31)--One of main concerns was to MAINTAIN the style of camerawork developed and used in the silent era -Need to shoot in one take -Yet editing was KEY to guiding viewer's attention -Used *4-9 cameras* -BIG cameras -Edited together various positions later -Cameras in a semi-circle -Hard to light for multiple cameras

Double Features

1930s, Movie Palaces die out bc of Depression -No more ushers -Managers want extra money -Offer candy, popcorn, beverages -Moviegoers have little to spend, *exhibitors play double and triple features in addition to the usual short films. Second film often a B film--impression of twice as much out of experience*--*intermission to buy refreshments* Pg 218

The Big Five Agreement

In February 1927, the Big Five (MGM, Universal, First National, Paramount, and Producers Distributing Corporation) met and signed the Big Five Agreement, pledging to work together to adopt the most advantageous sound system. -Main 2 choices were Western Electric's sound-on-disc and RCA's sound-on-film.

Shomin-Geki

-A genre of gendai-geki -About *lower class life*

"Cadre System"

-System employed by Nikkatsu and Shochiku, it *avoided the strict division of labor practiced in Hollywood*, the DIRECTOR and SCRIPTWRITER had considerable control over their projects

"Devotional" (film)

-major Indian film genre -a biographical tale of a religious figure -The most popular was *"Sant Takaram" (1936)* made by Prabhat

"Part Talkie"

After the success of "The Jazz Singer" (1927), Warner Bros. and other companies start making more "Part Talkies" -*Contained some sequences with dialogue and singing, but still had sequences that are silent except for a musical accompaniment*, as WB believed sound to be a replacement for live accompaniment

Yasujiro Ozu

-Along with Kenji Mizoguchi, was one of the *2 most influential Japanese 1930s directors* -Worked only for Shochiku -started with comedies shomin-geki -"everyday humor" -*"master of editing"* and *static, close framed shots* -quietly insistent on set Made 3 Masterpieces in 1933: *"Woman of Tokyo"* *"Dragnet Girl"*, and *"Passing Fancy"* -Ozu was *deeply influenced by Hollywood* specifically the *social comedies of Charles Chaplin and Ernst Lubitsch, and Hays' gag comedies -*1920s American comedy style: brief shots of actors and setting edited together crisply and concisely* -At unexpected moments Ozu inserts shots of unobtrusive objects or adjacent landscapes -*Filmed from within 360 degrees* *violating the Hollywood 180 degree rule* -Cut by 45 degrees --Produced "geographic matches" between shapes Filmed from a *low height* -mixed comedy and drama

Rene Clair

-Became the most widely known early French sound directors -*"Sous les toits de Paris" (Under the Roofs of Paris, 1930), "Le Million" (1930), and "À nous, la liberté! ("For Us, Liberty,", 1931)* Successful Internationally -Imaginative camera movements, stretches of silence, sonic puns -Liberte--uses dialogue--uses music extensively--trick audience by playing "wrong" sound, shot of flower with sound of singer

Technicolor

-Old Technicolor two-strip system had been used on occasion in Hollywood films in 1920s, and in *early 1930s, Technicolor introduced a new system involving prisms to split the light coming through the camera lens into 3 strips of black-and-white film, one for each primary color. -Introduced in Disney short cartoon "Flowers and Trees", Pioneer Pictures a small indy production firm owned a major stockholder in Technicolor and produced musical short "La Cucaracha". =Pretty colors vivid "Becky Sharp", showed color adds to historical drama

Poetic Realism

French Genre of 1930s -*a tendency* -*Not a unified movement, it was a general tendendy...centers on characters living on margins of society, either as unemployed members of working class or criminals. Life of disappointment, then they find last chance at intense, ideal love, then disappointed again, ends with disillusionment or deaths of the central characters. Overall tone of NOSTALGIA and BITTERNESS*

COIC

Late 1940, French Vichy government created the *Comité d'Organisation de l'Industrie Cinématographique (COIC)* -to support and control film industry -Producers had to undergo elaborate application process to get permission to make a film -Harsh censorship. -Rightist government strove to eliminate Jews from film industry -Lack of funding, lack of raw stock -Helped alleviate financial problems by arranging for low-interest government loans for production -attempted to foster quality production with annual prize of 100,000 francs for best fims of year.

MPPDA

MPPDA was *formed in 1922 to improve public relations after series of Hollywood scandals, to provide a lobbying link to era's sympathetic Republican administrations, and to handle foreign problems like quotas* --*Blocked more extreme national censorship by being repressive*

"A" and "B" Pictures

There were *Independent firms*, some of them like *Samuel Goldwyn* and *David O. Selznick* made *"A" Pictures* which were *expensive pictures comparable to those of Majors. *"B" Pictures* were *inexpensive pictures. The firms making them were known as "Poverty Row"*

Alexander Korda

Alexander Korda was the most prominent and influential producer in the early 1930s. He was a Hungarian émigré, had produced and directed in Hungary, Austria, Germany, Hollywood, and France. -He formed *London Film* in 1932 to make quota quickies for Paramount -Switched to a *Big-Budget approach* in hopes of cracking the American market -1933--Korda contracted to make 2 films for *United Artists*: "The Private Life of Henry VIII" (1933)--a HUGE success in Britain and biggest success so far of a British film in America. -*UA* signed to distribute 16 more Korda films -Korda made *costume pictures* -"The Scarlet Pimpernel" (1935 Harold Young) was another BIG SUCCESS, and the 4th film Korda made of UA -*1936*-Korda built the *largest British studio complex* at *Denham* -only a few epics were really profitable such as "Things to Come" (1936, William Cameron Menzies)

British International Pictures

BIP's new studio was the biggest of several in the London suburb of Elstree came to be known as "the British Hollywood". - -Vertically integrated -Division of labor --Noted for RIGIDLY ADHERING TO PRODUCTION ROLES and DISCOURAGING EMPLOYEES' CREATIVITY

M (Nero-Film 1931) *Director: Fritz Lang*

Background Info: -Germany converts to sound LATER than the U.S. -"M" (1931)--Early for Germany WRT Sound -"M" (1931) is a CLASSIC. It is a GREAT MASTERPIECE -Predecessor to *thriller* genre or *film noir* -Forges NEW POSSIBILITIES for sound--Lang--expressionist elements--*visual motifs* and *aural motifs*, *sound--off-screen space* *"M" (1931) is Lang's experiment of WHAT A SOUND FILM CAN DO.* -Low budget=less studio interference M: Intro to Sound + Depression Era Musical -"Applause" and transitional measures--effective way of filming and capturing sound -*By 1933, sound filmmaking would become as flexible as silent filmmaking* -Rectifying technical issues -1930-*Blimped Cameras*, *room mics*, *sound editing* -1931-*single camera shooting*, *rudimentary sound mixing* -1932-*Edge numbering*--put numbers on edge of strips for editing purposes -1933-*complex mixing of sound track* *"M" (Nero-Film, 1931)* -*European Approach to Sound* -*Germany* is at *front of transition to sound in Europe* -Patent litigation freezes development of sound technology. *Germany and U.S. Fight over patents* -*1935=Full Transition to sound* -*1931-sound=nascent="just coming into existence and beginning to display signs of future potential"* "M" --*Avoids multiple-camera shooting* --Source text for *contemporary thriller* --New possibilities for sound-by *developing silent film techniques* -*Fritz Lang, the director, initially opposes soind* -Made "Metropolis", silent Expressionist early sci-fi film. -Lang broke off from UFA to pursue artistic autonomy -*Nero-Film allows Lang to experiment with sound* --*Makes sound cinematic-not just a companion to the image* -*2/3 of "M" is shot WITHOUT synchronized sound, because of FEES. It was CHEAPER to use unsynched sound* -This *allows Lang to experiment with silent film form* *Little/Big Man Argument Scene* -Traits of *French Impressionism/Soviet Montage--CLASHING GRAPHICS* -The LOW ANGLE exaggerates the Detective's CORPULENCE/fatness. Low angle on detective, silent gaps---takes time for the small man to defend himself to he big man--big man, shot from below, big and menacing, small man, shot from above--- -*compositions to be looked at* -Bad guys are *seen in shadow* -*shadows create M shapes throughout film* -New Objectivity Documentary-like, illustrations of *urban social issues* --*Tracking shot in police raid* --*Visual motifs: decor & Mise-en-scene* *KNIFE SHOP* *Framing Devices: Peter Lorre (actor who plays murderer), gazes at the girl in the KNIFE SHOP* --*mirrors/windows* --*understand Lorre's character without dialogue* --*knives & framing=violence & entrapment--suggests that both Lorre and the girl are VICTIMS to Lorre's urges* -*Both Lorre and the girl are FRAMED by the DIAMOND/RHOMBUS SHAPE OF THE KNIVES* --His and her face are framed by the knives in this way, *suggesting that both are victimized by his urge to kill* -*Graphic Patterns* --*Character psychology brought out* -Soundtrack VANISHES -*Silence illustrated by cut to other side of window* --When it cuts to the inside of the window, with the camera looking out, *sound of traffic vanishes* -*reflections are frames within a frame* --*"Hall of the Mountain King"=song Lorre whistles*, it is *juxtaposition of sound of whistle with that of the traffic* --Shop with *spiral* and *arrow*--*sexual symbols, graphics and character psych* -*circle motif--violation of innocence/madness of violence*--how people sensationalize the violence and how it relates to media--circles appear in these scenes--*sensationalization of violence* *Elsie Beckman Ball Scene* -*Elsie is girl who goes missing at start* -*Plate + Ball* -*Mom* is in the house, she *sets the table with plate* for Elsie -*Cut to BALL sitting in grass, abandoned and then cut to BALLOON* --*suggests Elsie's abduction, circular theme of balls, ball standing in for Elsie* --*tables are round*--the *Underworld's tables are round*--*CIRCULAR motif* -*magnifying glass + swirls of thumbprint* -shot of thumbprint *CIRCLES (Underworld)* -Criminal who gets left behind at end of film--*he is seen through a circle, camera above hole that he made and then jump down into* -*concentric circles on map* -Who's the mom character? -Fragmentary narrative structured by motifs -*Contrast between police's methods and criminals' methods--images link story together* -*"M" is a silent film with sound* -Uses *visual techniques from film movements* -Heavy use of *expressionist visual motifs* -*Sound=new expressive element* *Sound Montages* -*Sound Bridges--sound of one scene begins before scene ends*-- *abstract sound montages--builds and crescendos and THEN dips down* -Subjective sound -*Off-screen sound* -*Sound motifs* -*sound bridges + montages-- "extra! extra!"--*connection and cause/effect in film* *Monkey King* -Madness is approaching -*identifies killer without seeing him -*SUPER FRAGMENTED* -*Pushed to front of soundtrack* -Sound builds artificially, then cuts to whistle, then sound builds again -begin sound of underworld scene before image appears -*visual motif* + *audio montage*--sense of *proliferation of panic* --*Subjective sound*--*"Balloon Ears--when balloon salesman hears ORGAN grinder, he covers his ears*--*WE ALSO CAN'T HEAR SOUND* -Sound Bridge -Covering ears, can't hear organ -*Balloon man identifies M at end--plot purpose* -More of a chance to EXPERIMENT WITH SOUND *Opening Scene* -How does it DIRECT EMOTION? --*Builds to the last 3-4 shots* -*alternating HIGH and LOW angles, SOUND and SILENCE, OFF-SCREEN and ON-SCREEN* -Begin on BLACK SCREEN--Sound WITHOUT IMAGE--shows the *ugliness of the world* -Girl outside singing about murder -*high angle* on children, *low angle* on balcony--*On-Screen--Off-Screen--gets us USED to listening to off-screen sound* -Empty frame, sound OFF-SCREEN eventually FILLS-In FRAME -*Cut around mom's world* -Introduce us to world in which *women fear for children* -*POV + CLOCKS* --cut to clocks of school--Elsie's WAITING for someone -cuts between QUIET and LOUD -Anxious about a lone child -*associating ball with child* -Sign replaces subtitle -*Shadow of villain* -*ball-to-sign rhythm--interrupted by the shadow* -Mom listens for *sonic signs* of her daughter off-screen, LIKE US -Stairs are NOISY then QUIET -*No focus on characters---LIKE MONTAGE* -*Perceptual means of placing us in mother's shoes* -Multiple *motifs*--CLOCK -*"Elsie! Elsie!"--spaces with no action but PIERCING CRY* --*CIRCLE of the PLATE is PICKED UP by the BALL* -Sound=an ACTIVE ingredient of film style -Confident experimentation of SOUND and IMAGE -Cultural/sociological artifact -FASCISM in 1930s -Post-war violence and CRIME, impact of MECHANIZED WARFARE --Serial Murders --Media events --FEAR -Rise of Fascism -1930s/1929--Nazis elected to parliament -1931--Hitler's SA has over 100,000 members, PRIVATE ARMY CONTROLS STREETS -MOB RULE, *vigilante justice* --Related to culture of OBSESSIVE VIOLENCE -Exploiting disenfranchised minorities -Film ends WITHOUT MAKING A DECISION -Anti-death penalty message--Lang was counter by nazi propaganda --Nazis+victims on screen

The National Recovery Act (NRA)

Between 1930 and 45 US experienced economic depression -*Stock market lowest mid 1932* -Just before election, Franklin Roosevelt blame disaster on Herbert Hoover, *Roosevelt's administration moved to bolster the economy, and the National Recovery Administration established in 1933--lenient eye on big-business practices like trusts and oligopolies, new tolerance of labor unions. Foster economic growth by financing roads, buildings, arts, etc. under the Works Progress Administration (WPA established 1935).

Quota Act of 1927

Passed by the British Gov't, it required distributors to make a least a certain percentage of British films available and that theaters denote a minimum portion of screen time to these films

Jean Renoir

Poetic Realism -Most significant director of 1930s -Wide variety of films -First sound film, *"On purge Bébé" (1931)*--farce to get backing for other projects -*"La Chienne" (1931)* is a *forerunner of poetic realism* -Introduces elements characteristic of Renoir, namely *virtuosic camera movements, scenes staged in depth, and abrupt switches in tone* -Mid 1930s, Renoir made films *influenced by the leftist Popular Front group* -Lyrical short feature, "Une Partie de campagne" (1936)--balance of humorous and tragic -"Grand Illusion" (1937)--took a pacifist stance at time when war with Germany was increasingly probably. Upper class German camp commander and French officer understand each other more than the officer understands his own subordinates---contrast between declining aristocratic class and working class reappeared in last film of 30s by Renoir, "Rules of the Game" (1938)

Quota Quickies

Quote Quickies were cheap, short films that barely met the legal requirements of a feature. -Barely seen, often 2nd in double features, people walked out. Films made in Britain ½ as many as in America for 1/3 the market size

Lecture 10, FH ch 9

Sound -Most silent films accompanied by live music -Sound effects were roughly matched to screen action -From beginning of film history, inventors tried to join the image to mechanically reproduced sound (usually on phonograph records) but these systems did not succeed much before the mid 1920s because sound and image was HARD TO SYNCHRONIZE and amplifiers and loudspeakers were not adequate for theater auditoriums--the *technology necessary to produce sounds was not able to be fitted to theaters yet* -*Competing systems being developed, U.S. and other countries playing the "waiting game" to see which technology came out on top*

"Contrapuntal use of sound"

Soviet Union/USSR -Transition to sound began during the First Five-Year Plan, Soviet film industry trying to expand and become self-sufficient in all areas -Depression hits hard -1936 Transition completed -There was a lot of resistance to sound, worry that dialogue scripts would ruin the artistic qualities of silent cinema -Flexible view about sound: *Famous 1928 "Statement on Sound" signed by Sergei Eisenstein, his associate Grigori Alexandrov, and V.I. Pudovkin--they warned against sound's "unimaginativve use for 'dramas of high culture' and other photographed presentations of a theatrical order."* -Just filming characters talking would destroy the concept of Montage, relying on abrupt juxtapositions. They saw that *"Only the contrapuntal use of sound vis-à-vis the visual fragment of montage will open up new possibilities for the development and perfection of montage."* -Sound should not just duplicate the imahe but should ADD TO THE IMAHE in some way: offscreen sound should add narrative info, etc.

Optical Printing

Special Effects -Combining separately shot images in either *Rear Projection* onto screen behind actors or *optical printing*--*consisted of a projector aimed into lens of a camera--both could be moved forward and backward, different lenses could be substituted, portions of the image could be masked off and film reexposed*--images could be *superimposed, or portions could be joined like a jigsaw* and a single image could be *enlarged or its speed altered* -Often used to save money by filling in portions of studio sets--to create montage sequences

Vitaphone short

Warner Bros. Demonstrated their Vitaphone technology with "Vitaphone shorts" which mostly displayed *classical music and vaudeville acts* pg. 196

Vitaphone

Warner Bros.'s *sound-on-disc* system, developed by Western Electric -First public screening of series of shorts shown *August 6, 1926* -8 shorts, speech by Will Hays, an aria from "I Paglacci" by Giovanni Martinellu, feature *"Don Juan" (Alan Crosland) starring ohn Barrymore* with recorded music, no dialogue -October 6, 1927 *"The Jazz Singer" (Alan Crosland)* premiered--most scenes used orchestral accompaniment, *4 scenes where vaudeville star Al Jolson sang and spoke*--leads WB to make "Part-talkies"

The Production Code/ The Hays Code

Will Hays--headed the MPPDA (Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America), which was *owned jointly by the film companies themselves*. *The Production Code/Hays Code* -*Policy of industry self-censorship* -Early 30s Conservatism, lax morality of 20s Jazz Age, some believed caused Depression. -*An outline of moral standards governing the depiction of crime, sex, violence etc*, --Cant show married couple sleeping in same bed, dont show crimes committed too accurately, etc *saved Hollywood money by pressuring filmmakers to avoid shooting scenes that would be sniped out*

Tobis Klangfilm

Became the most powerful sound firm outside the United States. -In August 1928 multiple international companies *pooled their sound patents* including patents for Tri-Ergon, forming the *Tonbild-Syndikat* ("Sound Film Syndicate"), referred to as *Tobis*. -Months later, big electronics and recording firms formed another company, *Klangfilm*, to promote another sound-on-film system. -March 1929 court battle ends with *a merged Tobis-Klangfilm*. -*April, 1929, Ufa signs contract with Tobis-Klangfilm.* -Compete with Hwood -1929 Berlin screening of Warners' "The Singing Fool" (1928, Lloyd Bacon), *Tobis-Klangfilm court injunction to stop the film's run, claiming the Vitaphone equipment Warners installed infringed on their theater patents* -MPPDA blocks import and export with Germany -Early 1929, Tobis-Klangfilm sets ups subsidiary in France called *the Société Française des Films Sonores Tobis* in Paris. -*July 22, 1930, Paris: All parties agree to an international cartel that would divide up world market. Paris agreement said Tobis-Klangfilm has exclusive rights to sell sound equipment in Germany, Scandinavia, most of eastern and central Europe. American firms control Canada, Australia, India, USSR. 25% of British market was reserved for Tobis-Klangfilm, and 75% for American firms. But Tobis had tech difficultis bc they allied with British Phonophone.

Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) *Director: Busby Berkeley (musical numbers) and Mervyn Leroy*

Background Info on MUSICALS: *Genre=a reservoir of familiar conventions shared by filmmakers and audiences--kind of never dies once established* *ECONOMIC RATIONALE FOR GENRE:* -*Facilitates Mass Production--way to make sure you can crank them out -*Lowers Risk of Investment* --Producers --Audiences --2nd most important marketing tool in Hollywood -Genre helps them KNOW what to expect--REDUCE production risk--shapes viewer expectations--NOT EASY--likely more interesting, *starting from a base of familiarity--you can do MORE THINGS building off it* *Backstage Musical* -*2 Questions for Genre* *1.* *Definition*-how do you define a genre? *2.* *Convention*-Once defined, what are the conventions? -Some are defined by EFFECT on you--HORROR-make you scared -Westerns are DEFINED BY SETTING (1860s USA) -Hard to pin down a genre -*Rubin is a guy trying to define a genre of musical* --*Rubin's Genre Definition: "A Musical is a film containing a significant portion of musical numbers that are "impossible"--persistently contradictory to the realistic setting of the narrative* -*Convention=expectation* -Some movies have music, but it is somehow REALISTICALLY MOTIVATED. These are NOT a musical according to Rubin, b/c there is no BREAK in the narrative and musical numbers -Only ONE definition -Conventions? Around Rubin's definition --*Repeated element from film to film-that audiences and producers/directors know=secret of CONVENTION for scholars--if you can identify the conventions that keep bringing audiences back, you start to UNDERSTAND THE APPEAL*--*important---you can reproduce them and draw audiences* *Genre Conventions, Viewer Expectations* -*Narrative* --Setting --Plot --Character -*Thematic*--Noir--Flashback -*Stylistic*--rain in noir, dying off of a wound with narration -iconography -uses of film form -Convention=expectation=viewer wants to see these things, you *start a conversation with the audience* -*Musical Conventions:* --*Loose enough plot structures to LET SONGS START* --*Musicals--lots of songs--REALISM BREAK* *Backstage Musicals/Backstage Format* -A subgenre of Musicals -Started BEFORE film--1960s--theaters--stage productions -*Revue--Ties musical numbers together* -*In film, Revue=backstage musical*--*show actors' experiences backstage*=more interesting--1908--film story draws audiences--Early backstage musical--*"The Jazz Singer"*, *"Broadway Melody"*--*"42nd Street" = WB's way to bring back backstage musical after it died out end of 1920s* *Busby Berkeley*--*"42nd Street", "Gold Diggers of 1933", "Footlight Parade"*--*All in the SAME YEAR, all HUGE HITS* -*Backstage Musical* --*Aggregate approach to musical* --*Loose or NO relationship between narrative and musical number*--*Numbers are laid over the narrative, and BETWEEN numbers is the narrative* *Backstage--narrative convention---loose numbers between story* -*Rubin: Musical numbers have sense of IMPOSSIBILITY, they can't seem like they were on a STAGE* ---NO WAY any f these numbers could have been staged for a live audience, with these crazy sets and shots--they *cease to obey rules of space/time, and they COMBINE disparate places/times through editing* -*Quick scene changes. When the boy rolls a snowball into the camera, and then suddenly it's spring--NOT POSSIBLE on stage* -*CRAZY VIOLINS--CELLO GLOW* -*Mirrored dancers* -*Rubin on "impossibility convention* --*"A sense of gratuitousness, of uselessness, of extravagance, of RAMPANT EXCESS, of over-indulgence...conspicuous consumption...despair... elements calling attention to themselves ..."* -A window in Hollywood cinema into *a break from Hollywood narrative conventions* --*Not all about story* -*remnant of early CINEMA OF ATTRACTIONS--particular ATTRACTION and PLEASURE of genre--avante-garde ish elements* -*A crew develops stylistic conventions--OWED to Busby Berkeley, an auteur who develops musical conventions--CRANE SHOTS accompany HUGE camera, fly around set, Berkeley was on the crane to help with these DRAMATIC shots, known for CUTTING HOLES IN CEILING TO GET SHOTS* -*The BERKELEY TOP SHOT*--Shot from above, arranging people in shapes, almost HALLUCINATORY--Berkeley did it best. -*Creative editing*--*dissolve people into numbers*, "Forgotten Man" number--Made to LOOK like stage, ticker tape *to rainstorm with no pause* -*compositions, sound, and editing all combine to create impossible aesthetic* -*camera monorail system*--Draws camera around set on zipline, director's mathematical mind--Berkeley did not tell anyone or write it down, he had it all in his mind. He could picture actors on the ground and how they'd look from a Top-Shot -Mathematical man--Genius *"Gold Diggers as a Unified Work"* -Rubin describes it as avante-garde -*Higgins--it's more UNIFIED. a UNIFIED EXPERIENCE* -It's about world -*May not be consistent in plot* -But are UNIFIED--*deliver emotional journey to viewer* -*Popular films make $ by giving viewer emotional experience* -*Unified Perceptually and Emotionally* -*Numbers are connected to story as a whole* --*"Forgotten Man" Number:* -*Ends on weird, disparate note. Remember those who are disfortuned/deformed in society, those who went to war suffer in the depression—gives SINGING but it still HAS HEART and CONSCIENCE* -Start of film-*"In the Money"* --*ESCAPISM—the musical is NOT gonna escape the depression, it affects ALL these characters, and it gets shut down*--*Important to include it in film—the film GOES INTO COMEDY. Then BACK to the depression. -*Depression underlies the plot and story*---*Gives desperation a powerful musical form—reminds you of the TROUBLES of the time.* -*"Petting in the Park"*- --*Could NOT have been made after 1934* --*Sex Farce*--Getting in park and DOING IT --*"Gold Diggers"=a sex farce, with wall to wall innuendo* --Sex is CONSTANTLY on everyone's mind -"PiP" *brings the innuendo into focus* --We KNOW what it's all about *when J. Law wakes up in Trixie's bed*—the *myth/legend can influence how we read narrative things* —SLOWIK-discussion of *SONG PLUGGING=play song AGAIN AND AGAIN* in background—to GET STUCK IN HEAD AND *SELL MUSIC* -*"Petting in the Park" is *played again at "Drunk Speakeasy" scene*--playing in background. -Carol flirts with J. Law, he has hazel eyes, so emotional -*Peabody and Trixie--hand on legs* -"Ms. Fortune" comes in, flirts with Peabody *"Petting in Park* -*song about sex because it's fun* -*musical number CELEBRATES it* --in real world, sex is underneath everything. *uptight men*, *women try everything to put the men in compromising situations* -*it all connects AFTER that number* *3 Interconnecting Things:* *1. Sex Comedy* *2. TRUE LOVE--audiences keep coming back for this. Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell are couples in all these films, they *just fall in love immediately* -*True Love Fantasy--it can transcend class problems, poverty, out of debt and into arms of rich person--central to films* *"Gold Diggers of 1933" immediately sells you on the love between Keeler and Powell* -*"The Shadow Waltz"*--*Polly Parker (Ruby Keeler)--walking in the apartment, off-screen piano plays--she goes to window--this is a COMPLETELY POSSIBLE NUMBER. POSSIBLE SPACE.* -Shot--*she is separated from him* -*Transcending the world--she might let love help her escape the world* -*Grounded by setting, architecture, their disparate circumstances* --*Reminded by Trixie that IT'S THE DEPRESSION. CAN'T fall in love. Need man with MONEY.* -We KNOW they are gonna be happy in love--*starting point for our emotional journey with the character* --"Shadow Waltz" employs *Close Shots*--*camera is CLOSE, not them. But it BRINGS them closer in our mind* -Plot stands between lovers -The lovers can't transcend yet -Nothing can go right yet -Story *comes to a climax NOT with dramatic kiss of Powell and Keeler as characters--no "I love you" or wedding--INSTEAD WE GET AN EMOTIONAL AND AESTHETIC CLIMAX.* --This climax is IMPOSSIBLE IN REAL WORLD -The *"Shadow Waltz" Number at end=PURE LOVE. Without character getting in way, love RESOLVES ITSELF in SONG--visual poetry connects these parts of film* --*This is TRANSCENDENCE--enter world of PURE light, PURE shadow, beauty...the reflection reflects the lovers, so on screen there are 4 LOVERS.* *Song and Story of Gold Diggers* -*Rubin--Song is barely connected to the story* -BUT it is *tightly connected to emotion* -*Aesthetic culmination and Transcendence of Narrative Material* --30s Subgenres --Integrated Musicals RKO's Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers flicks -"I feel a Song Coming On" -Astair/Rogers RKO -Impossibility is BUILT INTO narrative world -*Daniel Zanuck* worked at *WB*, fast-faced, gritty dramas--spearheaded this kind of filmmaking. *Warner Bros. Studio Style*--Daryl Zanuck -*Genius of the system*: *Crank out good films without one person helming it all* -*Fast paced, gritty drama* -*Topicality* -*Pushing censorship limits* -*Social commentary* *"Forgotten Man"*--*Returned to social situation of time (from farce comedy)--vets not given money, protest, Hoover sends tanks, realistic and gritty* -*Ned Sparks*--*yelling and smoking* was a *specialized talent*. That's all he does. -Berkeley does one thing: directs the musical numbers--shot completely separately from rest of film. Rest shot by *Mervyn Leroy*--good at *cranking out fast, under budget, 6.5 minutes a day of footage* -*Coexist in a studio--people EXCELLING in particular areas create a unified work* *CENSORSHIP* -*"Gold diggers of 1933"* had women selling themselves in a way to get wealth, showed them wearing more and more fancy clothes, *gold digging pays* -*FInal Moral Lesson--as long as it ENDS in a moral way, the OUTCOME is what matters, some would argue.* --way to not get in trouble -At end of Gold Diggers, all characters end up married. Nobody REALLY sleeps around before marriage. Film claiming that marriage compensates for what happens in rest of film -What's it pushing against and how does it pull it off? --*Women who sleep around for FINANCIAL gain--thrill out of risqué material*-*sex farce narrative* -*Adultery--"Petting in Park"* --*designed to look APPEALING and FUN, starts with a PICKUP in park, Ruby slams door on Dick bc she does NOT want sex, and now she has no ride---women who can't get a ride/walk, all of them in same situation---a lot of girls come out on stage -*men/police represent THREAT* -Ruby whistles for help, and the POLICE SHOW UP --Designed to be fun playful and *overtly sexual*. -Costume--*code says undressing scenes should BE AVOIDED*, yet Gold Diggers has PETTING, strip part behind the screen wall *in silhouette* --Creepy boy baby pulls curtain and then there's *rain, wetness, baby gives Powell CLIPPERS to cut off metal clothes* ---*Obeying the letter of the code but NOT THE SPIRIT of the code.* -Sex outside marriage shown as appealing -narrative bits get away with murder -USE OF LIQUOR NOT FOR PLOT --Instrument man puts liquor in his case and jokes about bootlegger with a case of hooch* -Heavy drinking in film -Party scene drinking *POV tilted cam=hangover after J. Law wakes up after PASSING OUT DRUNK previous night* -*liquor furthers the comedic narrative about sex and sexual tension* --Issues with film: *"Applause"* was a CRITIQUE on the sexual exploitation of women on stage, whereas GOLDDIGGERS uses EXCUSES to show undressing scenes, not for plot, not really necessary. -Sex is attractive in musical number and in narrative, uses lots of sex references, gender, all girls wear one dress etc. -*Practical joke to trick J. Lawrence into thinking he slept with Trixie* -Sex farce--Carol lets Trixie into apartment, sees J. Law passed out on, Trixie plots "he'll do just what we want him to do" -*Trixie's line is ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT--she says J. Law will wake up and ask himself what he's doing in Trixie's bed---IMPLIED answers are sex, exploiting REFERENCE to gold digging but no ACTUAL sex* -Point is: *there is no question that Trixie is playing the role of the pimp* *FORCING an inference as to sex* -*There's no other way to read these scenes*

Gaumont-British

One of 2 main British firms, along with BIP. It was VERTICALLY INTEGRATED, formed during the silent era and then expanded in the late 1920s. Practiced a division of labor similar to that used in the Hollywood system.

Screwball Comedy

The Romantic couple at center of story are eccentrics, portrayed through slapstick, set among wealthy people, despite hardships of Depression afford to behave oddly -George Cukor's *"The Philadelphia Story" (1940)* -Genre of spoiled rich woman being brought down to earth, seeing Depression

Shochiku

-Japanese *Vertically Integrated* firm that dominated several smaller firms -High feature output -Screened Hollywood films while *limiting their influence on the market* -Yasujiro Ozu worked ONLY for Shochiku. -*"cadre system"* in which the DIRECTOR and SCRIPTWRITER had considerable control over their projects

Gendai-Geki

-Japanese *contemporary-life film* -Typically melodramas of romance or family life -Included a multitude of genres including salaryman comedies, shomin-geki, haha-mono/mother-tale, student films, etc.

Blackmail

-John Maxwell founder of BIP -Concentrate on Europe and Britain -First production was *Alfred Hitchcock's "Blackmail" (1929)*, which was released in both sound and silent versions. -Imaginative early sound -Hitchcock avoided multiple-camera-shooting, finding other ways to work in sound -Chase scenes silent with added in music -Postdubbing -Sound to ENHANCE style -Screaming cut to another woman screaming, unsure if first woman was the one screaming or not -SUbjective sound-hear what heroine hears--blah blah...knife...

Multilingual Production

-The language barrier threatened the ability of countries to export films. Dubbing was very difficult, because the music needed to be played in conjunction to the dialogue, and it often did not work well. By Sound Mixing NOT a thing yet. -*By 1929, many producers choose to reshoot additional versions of each film, with actors speaking different language in each version.*. -The British *"Atlantic" (1929, E.A. Dupont)* was released in German and English, and was *advertised as the world's first "multi-lingual" film -First German talkie "Das Land ohne Frauen" -1929 MGM elaborate program of multilingual production, importing actors and directors to make French, German and Spanish versions of films. -Paramount made French multi-linguals at the Joinville studio near Paris in 1929. -Germany's Tobis-Klangfilm made them too -Idea: cheap to make since all equipment was same. Required 2 whole crews to be at set, one waiting for other to finish. Inefficient, by 1931/2 it died out. Pg. 210

Warner Bros.

1927--*"The Jazz Singer" (Warner Bros. 1927)* often referred to as intro of synchronizes sound in film, but not really the first. Successful though. -*Warner Bros.* was a SMALL FIRM that was expanding, and it used *Wall Street financing* to invest in distribution facilities and theaters in attempts to become Vertically Integrated. *WB created a radio station in Los Angeles to promote its films, and the radio equipment came from Western Electric. Sam Warner interested in Western Electric's film recording system. -WB first considered sound a way to *cut costs for live entertainment on film programs* -they saved money by recording vaudeville acts and using orchestral accompaniment--they *signed major singers, comics, etc. to exclusive contracts* Warner Bros.'s *Vitaphone* -First public screening of series of shorts shown August 6, 1926--8 shorts, speech by Will Hays, an aria from "I Paglacci" by Giovanni Martinellu, feature *"Don Juan" (Alan Crosland) starring ohn Barrymore* with recorded music, no dialogue -October 6, 1927 *"The Jazz Singer" (Alan Crosland)* premiered--most scenes used orchestral accompaniment, *4 scenes where vaudeville star Al Jolson sang and spoke*--leads WB to make "Part-talkies"

The Popular Front (La Vie est a nous, La Marseillaise)

1930s gap between right-wing and left-wing political parties. Leftist struggle against rise of fascism. -Before 1934-8the Parti Communiste Français/Communist Party of France/PCF* worked against the moderate Socialists, both disdained middle-class Radical Socialists -February 1934--Financier Serge Stavisky revealed as swindler, Stavisky riots, Radical Socialists to government, PCF riot, deaths -PCF joins forces with rival Socialists, *in July a coalition party called the Popular Front was formed.* -Popular Front victory in elections in 1936 -*January 1936: Popular Front formed a group called "Ciné Liberté" to make films and publish a magazine. Members: Jean Renoir, Marc Allégret, Jacques Feyder, Germaine Dulac.* -They produced feature fim to be used as propaganda in upcoming spring elections, *"La Vie est à nous ("Life Belongs to Us, 1936)*

Multiple-Camera Shooting

In early sound films, *Scenes often needed to be shot by multiple cameras in soundproof booths* because early sound equipment was not perfected. Filmmakers and tech workers had to deal with this new unfamiliar tech. *Microphones were insensitive and hard to move*. Track mixing was difficult. -*Multiple-Camera-Shooting* was widely adopted because each scene had to be filmed through in its entirety. Filmmakers wanted to keep using the *continuity editing system* developed in silent era, with its flexibility and emphasis, and establishing shots, cut ins, S/R shots, etc. So, *different cameras were used with different lenses for different kinds of shots, and all were filmed at once*. Instead of tracking shots, bc of booths, camera operators would *make small panning movements through the window to keep the action centered*, and this became a more common trait in films. -Cameras on soundproof booths. Cameras whirred, therefore booths were needed. Initially, all sounds for a scene needed to *all be recorded at once. NO sound "mixing" of separately recorded tracks*. All instruments needed to be near the set/mic. *Big, heavy microphones weren't mobile, slightly movable, aimed at actors.* -Some films became static and dialogue-heavy. Other filmmakers came up with imaginative new ways to test the limits of the new technology. *Musicals* became a popular genre made possible by sound technology. --*"The Broadway Melody" (1929, Harry Beaumont)* had clever moments where it has *abrupt cuts from one sound to another as the editing moves in and out of the soundproof rooms*, showing a cacophony of different pieces played at once in different rehearsal rooms -*Ernst Lubitsch* in "The Love Parade" (1929), *avoided multiple-camera shooting in most scenes by having characters complete lines a few seconds before the cut and then resume speaking a few seconds inro the next shot*--NO dialogue carried over the cut, sound was easily edited.

Sound-On-Disk

*First used by WB* -Sound on a record. -Played on a turntable alongside film. -People thought of it as a phonograph. -Mechanical link -Better sound than sound-on-film -There was SOME early sound mixing, where audio would be recorded and then later in studio filmmakers could record multiple records to make a new sound track *Downsides:* -Could go out of synch if films had issues, or the disc skipped -Projection system broke down often *Western Electric (AT&T) markets its sound-on-disc system in 1925* -Western Electric was a subsidiary of one of world's largest companies, *American Telephone & Telegraph* -in 1910s and 29s, WE was developing recording systems, amplifiers, and loudspeakers, and *well funded researchers combined these components so sound on phonograph records could stay in satisfactory synchronization with the images* -*Warner Bros.* was a SMALL FIRM that was expanding, and it used *Wall Street financing* to invest in distribution facilities and theaters in attempts to become Vertically Integrated. *WB created a radio station in Los Angeles to promote its films, and the radio equipment came from Western Electric. Sam Warner interested in Western Electric's film recording system. -WB first considered sound a way to *cut costs for live entertainment on film programs* -they saved money by recording vaudeville acts and using orchestral accompaniment--they *signed major singers, comics, etc. to exclusive contracts* Warner Bros.'s *Vitaphone* -First public screening of series of shorts shown August 6, 1926--8 shorts, speech by Will Hays, an aria from "I Paglacci" by Giovanni Martinellu, feature *"Don Juan" (Alan Crosland) starring ohn Barrymore* with recorded music, no dialogue -October 6, 1927 *"The Jazz Singer" (Alan Crosland)* premiered--most scenes used orchestral accompaniment, *4 scenes where vaudeville star Al Jolson sang and spoke*--leads WB to make "Part-talkies"

Symphonic Score

-Early sound films avoided using a lot of nondiegetic atmospheric music -Multiple-track recording fostered the introduction of *"symphonic score"*--*Lengthy musical passages played under the action and dialogue* -Several composers who were trained in tradition of post-Romantic European classical music, including Max Steiner, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Miklós Rózsa, David Raksin, and Bernard Herrmann--*wrote scores to heighten moods of romance of suspense* -*Steiner helped establish norms for studio music, "King Kong" (1933) score

"Salaryman Comedy"

-A genre of gendai-geki, these films *portrayed the tribulations of the downtrodden company employee trying to succeed* (FH 186-7)

The Blue Angel

-A very different kind of *German musical* -*Hollywood Director Josef von Sternberg* directed *actor Emil Jannings* in *"The Blue Angel" (1930)* -Brought fame to actress Marlene Dietrich -Jannings is Professor Rath a repressed high-school teacher -First scene establishes dreary morning routine -First break in routine is a *moment of silence*, when he *whistles to his beoved canary and receives no response*--bird died -Tries to catch kids going to Blue Angel bar to see singer Lola-Lola -Falls in love himself, marries, quits job, becomes clown, and is cuckolded and he dies in despair -*von Sternberg avoided multiple-camera shooting almost entirely* -*excellent lip synching creates great dialogue scenes* -*Famous for realistically motivated offscreen sound* --Bell chimes, becomes motif with Rath's boring routine.

Kenji Mizuguchi

-Began at Nikkatsu, then he *went free-lance* -First films were melodramas,*probed every situation for grim psychological and social implications* -*long-shot framings* -*long takes* *camera movements* -Exploded into tantrums on set -*"The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum" (1939)* Used *long takes wide angle lenses, chiaroscuro lighting, and slow rhythm* -the *distant camera forces viewer to scan the frame for significant action* -*"Genroku Chushingura" (1941/2)* --47 Ronin tale--*dedramatized*-3 hours of slow preparation -*long take carried to extremes* -*long take carried to extremes* -Concentrated on the *social dilemmas facing Japanese women* -*"White threads of the Waterfall" (1933)* -*2 Outstanding Melodramas of 1930s: "Naniwa Elegy" (1936) (Osaka Elegy) "Sisters of Gion" (1936)* -Women selling sex for power, men not honoring bargains -Draw on *high emotion* -*dedramatization*-long framing and staging puts scenes of emotional intensity at a distance-less visual reaction from viewer -*no reaction cuts* *long take*-used for painful self-sacrifice unfolding at a relentless pace

"Majors"

-Hollywood Film Industry changed -Sound and depression changes -RKO formed -Fox expands, cuts back during depression, sells rights to First National to WB -1930-*8 large companies dominate--Majors=Big Five* -*Big Five* (in order of size)*:* *Paramount* (Formerly Famous Players-Lasky), *Loew's* (generally known by name of its production subsidiary *MGM*), *Fox* (became 20th Century-Fox in 1935), *Warner Bros.*, and *RKO* -They were *vertically integrated, owning a theater chain and having international distribution operation.* Paramount: European-style productions, Josef von Sternberg's expensive Marlene Dietrich films. Ernst Lubitsch sophisticated comedies, French Maurice Chevalier star, Marx Bros comedians MGM/Loew's: A and B films, luxurious, Marie Dressler biggest star, remembered for a couple oscar winning performances Fox: Few long term stars, Shirley Temple=biggest star WB: Recycled plots, gangster films RKO: Shortest lived, Katharine Hepburn, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Orson Welles

Film Noir

-In a way, took over Gangster films -Term "Film Noir" applied by French critics in 1946 to a group of US. films made during the the war, released abroad in fast succession in 1945 -Noir=black, dark, *gloomy* -*Stylistic and narrative tendency* -Considered to have started in 1941 with Histon's "The Maltese Falcon", or with RKO's B film "Stranger on the Third Floor" (1940) -Involve crime, -*derived from American hard-boiled detective novel, originated in 1920s* -Mostly aimed at *male audiences* -Main characters often *detectives or criminals characterized by pessimism, self-doubt, or a cold, detached view of the world* -Women are treacherous, leading men into danger -*distinctive high and low angles, low-key lighting, extreme wide-angle lenses, and location shooting* -*Humphrey Bogart* -German roots, Expressionism, Fritz Lang--Germans working in Hollywood -German Otto Preminger-rose to fame with film noir-*"Laura" (1944)* -Wilder's *"Double Indemnity" (1944)*

Nikkatsu

-Japanese *Vertically Integrated* firm that dominated several smaller firms -High feature output -Screened Hollywood films while *limiting their influence on the market* -Kenji Mizoguchi started here -Along with Shochiku developed a *"cadre system"* in which the DIRECTOR and SCRIPTWRITER had considerable control over their projects -In *1941* authorities agreed to a three-part reorganization of film industry--the small firm of *Shinko* wound up absorbing Nikkatsu--Shinko's key executive *Masaichi Nagata* (who produced Mizoguchi's "Naniwa Elegy" and "Sisters of Gion" for his independent firm Dai-Ichi-Eiga), *used the consolidation scheme to gain control over Nikkatsu* and Nikkatsu's production facilities were absorbed into Nagata's group.