Transcript Movies - Joan Merriam

Movies and the Impact
of Images
Chapter 7
“. . . [W]e need to ask big-picture questions such
as what purposes movies serve for us today,
compared with their earlier intent; how strong
an impact the U.S. film industry has on society
and culture in our own country and in others;
and where the film industry may be headed in
the future.”
Early History of Movies: The
Precursors of Film
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1600s
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The Magic Lantern projects images painted on
glass plates.
1800s
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Thaumatrope “combines” images when
twirled, 1824
Zoetrope makes images appear to move,
1834
Early History of Movies:
Development Stage
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Muybridge projects photographic images on wall
for public viewing, 1880
Eastman develops roll film, 1884
Le Prince invents first motion-picture camera,
1888
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Creates first motion picture, Roundhay Garden Scene
Goodwin creates celluloid, 1889
Early History of Movies:
Entrepreneurial Stage
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Edison and Dickson
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Create kinetograph (camera) and kinetoscope
(single-person viewing system)
Create vitascope, which projected longer
filmstrips without interruption
Lumière brothers
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Develop cinematograph, combined camera,
film development, and projection system
Early History of Movies:
Mass-Medium Stage
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Méliès (France)
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Porter (U.S.)
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Introduces first narrative films
Uses new filming and editing tricks
Adapts Méliès’s innovations to make America’s
first narrative film
Introduces first close-up, western, chase scene
Nickelodeons
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Attract workers and immigrants to the movies
Evolution of Hollywood Studio
System
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Edison’s “Trust”
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Zukor and Fox
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Cartel of major U.S. and French producers
Exclusive deal with Eastman
Leave East Coast for Hollywood
Bypass the Trust; file suit that breaks its hold
Create Paramount, Fox
Studio system
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Vertically integrated, creates film oligopoly
The Three Pillars of the Movie
Business
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Production
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Distribution
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Studios control all “talent” via exclusive contracts
Early film exchange system
Block booking distribution (Zukor)
European markets
Exhibition
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Studios purchase first-run theaters
Develop movie palaces, mid-city theaters
Hollywood’s Golden Age
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Narrative techniques developed
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Varied camera distances, multiple story lines, fastpaced editing, symbolic imagery
New types of film develop including:
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Crime, horror, westerns, war, science fiction
Introduction of sound
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Further establishes narrative style
Sets new commercial standards in industry
The Jazz Singer first talkie
Fox introduces newsreels
Setting the Standard for
Narrative Style
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Hollywood narrative
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Hollywood Genres
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Recognizable characters
Clear plot
Special effects
Action/Adventure, comedy, romance, drama, mystery,
gangster, western, horror, fantasy, musicals, film noir
Hollywood authors
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Movie directors develop specific style, interest
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George Lucas, Steven Spielberg
Breaking the Gender and
Racial Barrier
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Female directors struggle for recognition.
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Lina Wertmuller, Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola
Minority groups, including African Americans,
Asian Americans, and Native Americans also
struggle for recognition
Some have succeeded as directors:
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Spike Lee, Ang Lee, Chris Eyre, Wayne Wang
Alternatives to Hollywood
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Foreign Films
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Documentaries
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Small percent of films seen in U.S.
Noncommercial films usually require grants
Cinema verité
Tackle controversial subject matter
Independent films
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Created on shoestring budgets
Shown to smaller audiences
The Transformation of the
Hollywood Studio System
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Paramount decision
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Flight to suburbs
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Major studios forced to end vertical integration
Opens up opportunities for new forms of
exhibition, like drive-in theaters.
Americans buy more consumer goods.
Marriage age drops, fewer “movie dates”
Television
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Keeps Americans home
Television Changes Hollywood
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Movies feature more serious content
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Alcoholism: The Lost Weekend
Sexuality: Peyton Place, Lolita
MPPA launches ratings system
Movies develop new technologies
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Technicolor, stereophonic sound
Home Entertainment
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More than 50% of domestic revenue for
Hollywood studios comes from video/DVD
rentals
DVD sales declining
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Blu-ray has not helped improve video store sales.
Internet video streaming is the future.
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Allows viewers to download videos through Netflix,
Xbox, Apple TV devices, Hulu, Fancast
Movie industry needs to adapt
Economics: Money In
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Box-office sales
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DVD/video sales and rentals
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Studios get about 40% of the theater box-office
take in first “window” for movie exhibition
50% of all domestic-film income for major studios
Cable and television outlets
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Pay-per-view, video-on-demand, premium cable,
network and basic cable
Economics: Money In (cont.)
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Foreign distribution
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Independent-film distribution
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International box-office gross revenues almost
double U.S. and Canada box-office receipts.
Indies pay studios 30–50% of box-office and
video-rental money they make from their movies.
Licensing and product placement
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Action figures, snacks, products “seen” in a movie
Synergy, or promotion throughout subsidiaries of
media conglomerate
Economics: Money Out
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Production
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Marketing, advertising, print costs
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Fees paid to actors, directors, personnel, costs for
special effects, set design, and so on
Can add almost $36 million in costs per film
Post-production
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Film editing, sound recording
Economics: Money Out (cont.)
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Distribution
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Exhibition
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Screening a movie for prospective buyers
Constructing theaters, purchasing projection
equipment
Acquisitions
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Buying up other media-related companies
Uncertainties in the Digital Age
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Broadband Internet service
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More movie fans are likely to download
movies from Web
iTunes Store rentals, Netflix instant viewing,
Hulu
Challenge of digitizing movies
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More 3D films require new projection systems
Movies in a Democratic
Society
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Consensus narratives
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Stifle voices of other, underrepresented
cultures
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Provide shared experiences
Bridge cultural differences, create “global village”
Impose mainstream, Western ideas about values,
actions on others
Watch movies with a critical eye
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Seek other cinematic voices