Transcript The History of Hollywood

The History of Hollywood
To get you thinking…
• Guess the names of these films, summarised
by a 6-word plot (Twitter: #6wordfilmplots):
1. Big ship can’t sink; it sinks.
2. Harry, you’re a wizard: kill Voldemort.
3. Genetically engineered dinosaurs come to
life.
4. Masked dad finds son in space.
5. Fish gets lost. Fish gets found.
Objective
• Describe the development of the American
film industry and explain how film
consumption has changed over time
Task 1 – Timeline!
• The timeline you have been given charts
cinema from the 1800s to the start of the 20th
Century…
• But what are the significant milestones in
cinema history since then?
Task 1 Answers
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1927 – First film with sound (the Jazz Singer)
1930s – Colour film is developed
1950s/60s – first phase of 3D
1980s – VHS
1990s – DVDs, IMAX technology
2000s – Blu-Ray, downloading
Why was California chosen?
• Geographical – terrain (desert, mountains,
forests)
• Financial – films made on the east coast were
subject to licensing laws
• Spatial - Large amounts of land to build
studios; cheap
• Legal – Hollywood not part of Los Angeles
until much later therefore fewer constraints
on what was filmed
History of Hollywood
• Read the article from Wikipedia summarising
the film industry
• What are the four stages of cinema?
Film Studios then and now
1920s-1940s
– Studio
System
• Vertically integrated
• Restrictive contracts
• Production line; typecasting
• Formulaic; hegemonic
1940s-2000s
– struggle for
supremacy
• Increased creativity
• Buy-outs and takeovers
• Negotiated contracts
• Globally integrated
Cinema’s place in people’s lives –
1920s
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Dance halls
Leisure time is less diversified and
Pubs
people tend to experience mass
entertainment – everyone sees the
Theatre
same films and experiences things in the
same way
Clubs
Music
Vaudeville / circuses
Sport
Cinema
Cinema’s place in people’s lives –
2010s
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Cinema
Radio
Internet
Television
Games
Pubs/clubs
Music
Leisure time is more diversified and with
the advent of home entertainment
technology like DVDs, it is hard to
maintain a monopoly on people’s time.
Consumption then and now
• What has changed in the way people watch
films since 1905?
• What has changed in the availability of films?
• What has changed in the way films are made
and distributed?
• How has this threatened the film industry?