Transcript Chapter 8 Movies: Mass Producing Entertainment

Chapter 8
Movies:
Mass Producing Entertainment
Early Movie Technology
• 1870s and 1880s: Marey and Muybridge
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Early Movie Technology
• 1870s and 1880s: Marey and Muybridge
zoopraxiscope
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Early Movie Technology
• 1894: Thomas Edison: opens first kinetoscope
parlor – manner to watch “moving pictures”,
commercial possibilities are opened
Early Movie Technology
• Kinetograph: Leonard Cushing Kinetograph
1894
Early Movie Technology
• The first U.S. copyright for an identifiable
motion picture was given to Edison for Fred
Ott's Sneeze.
• Edison opens his own film studio called Black
Maria
Early Movie Technology
• Lumière brothers invent portable movie
camera and projector: cinematograph
Early Movie Technology
• Early 1900s: nickelodeon theaters become
popular
• Lumière brothers: ActualitiesArrival of a Train
at La Ciotat
Early Movie Technology
• Birth of Cinema
Telling a Story With Film
• 1903: Edwin S. Porter directs The Great Train
Robbery
• Contains 12 separate scenes
• Is shot in a variety of locations
• Tells a realistic story
• Established basic film storytelling conventions
• View
D.W. Griffith
• 1915: Birth of a Nation
• Created the first feature-length film
• Griffith’s Intolerance required outside
funding
• Era of movie stars started under Griffith
The Studio System
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Stars worked directly for studios
Block bookings
Vertical integration
Development of talking pictures
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Response to the Studio System
• 1919: United Artists created by directors and
actors. Aimed to create at least 5 films a year
• 1940s: United States vs. Paramount: Studios
owned theatres that only played films they
created. Supreme Court ruled this was a
violation of antitrust laws
The Blacklist
• 1947: HUAC holds hearing on communist
influences in Hollywood.
• Hollywood Ten resisted testifying, were jailed
and blacklisted.
• By 1953, as many as 324 were blacklisted,
including many prominent screenwriters.
• Blacklist continued until 1960 when
Hollywood Ten member Dalton Trumbo hired
to write Spartacus, Exodus.
Movies React To Television
• Movie audiences peak in 1946—80 million
tickets sold per week
• By 1953, ticket sales drop to 46 million per
week
• First round of 3-D movies, larger format
theaters
• Growing popularity of color
• Growth of multiplex theaters
The Blockbuster Era
• 1975: Jaws creates the summer blockbuster
• Succession of big-budget films with very wide
release
• 2009–2010: Avatar had biggest box office to
date
• 1939: Gone With The Wind sold the most
tickets
• 1990s: Home video becomes as important as
theatrical release
The Blockbuster Era
• Visit
BoxOfficeMojo.com
• Take a look at the Yearly Box Office what films
have you seen off this list
• Next, look at All Time. Are you surprised by
some of the records. Choose a couple and
explain.
Digital Production & Projection
• 1977: Star Wars brings computer-controlled
cameras to movie making.
Digital Production & Projection
• 2004: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
becomes first major film to have all-digital
sets.
Digital Production & Projection
• 2007: 300 shows that a movie with digital sets
can be successful.
Digital Production & Projection
• Industrial Light & Magic ILM
• Late 2009–2010: Digital and 3-D digital
projection grow in popularity.
What Makes a Movie Profitable?
Make a big budget film with marketing tie-ins
that sells lots of tickets
Or…
The Blockbuster Era
• Visit
BoxOfficeMojo.com
• Look at the Daily Gross – Research
Paranormal Activity 4. What can you tell
about the production of this movie that is
largely different from say Skyfall
What Makes a Movie Profitable?
Make a movie with
• A small budget
• A clear target audience
• Have a modest box office
• Make a great return on investment
• Think High School Musical 3, Little Miss
Sunshine, Paranormal Activity
Movies & Censorship
• 1920s: Birth of the Production Code (Hays
Code) Named after Will H. Hays
• Attempting to avoid local censorship rules
• Strict rules on sex, profanity, violence
Failure of Code
• 1960s: movies released without code approval
• 1968: MPAA launches movie rating system
Ratings
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Original Ratings
G – General audiences
M – Mature audiences
R - Restricted
X – No one under age
17 admitted
• Today
• G – General audiences
• PG – Parental guidance
suggested
• PG-13 – Parents
strongly cautioned
• R – Restricted
• NC-17: No one under
age 17 admitted
Ratings
• Visit FilmRatings.com
• Find a film that you may have seen in the database –
do you agree with the rating it received?
• Do films have to be rated?
• Who rates the films?
• If a filmmaker does not like the rating what can they
do?
Ratings
• Are movies hurt by directors cutting scenes in order
to get an “R” rating? Should there be an “A” rating
that indicates that a movie is for adults only but is
milder than a NC-17?
Movie Revenue Sources
• Domestic box office
• International
distribution rights
• Pay-per-view rights
• Premium cable channel
rights
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Network television
Home video
Book rights
Toys and clothes
Product placement
Movies and the Long Tail
• Online promotion
• Netflix and other online-based distribution
systems
• Availability of small, obscure films in every
market, not just cities
Popularity of Bollywood Films
• World’s biggest source of movies based in
Mumbai, India
• Big musical numbers cross language barriers
• Having influence on western films
• Slumdog Millionaire