Chapter 7 outline — Film and Home Video

n  Chapter 7
Film and Home Video

n   

n  History: Golden Moments

Ø  Edison’s camera (1888)

Ø  Great Train Robbery  (1903)

Ø  Birth of a Nation  (1915) 

Ø  The Jazz Singer  (1927)

Ø  Film attendance peaks (’46)

Ø  Television, studios
divest theaters (1948)

n  History: Golden Moments

Ø  MPAA movie ratings (1968) 

Ø  Star Wars  (1977) 

Ø  Toy Story  (1995)

Ø  Titanic  (1997)

Ø  DVD introduced (1997) 

Ø  Netflix streams films (2007)

Ø  Avatar in 3D (2010)  

n  How to Use Images

Ø  Silent films: 1903-27

Ø  Established today’s genres

n  Westerns, war movies, horror, romance, comedies

n  Dramas, documentaries, action/adventure

Ø  Action and lavish sets

n   Stars and Studios

Ø  Hollywood film studios’
factory- style production

Ø  Star system: Valentino, Gish, Pickford, Chaplin

Ø  Some films shock audience

n  Jazz Age (1929)

Ø  Hays Code: self-censorship

n   How to Use Sound

Ø  Warner Bros.: Jazz Singer

Ø  ‘           Talkies’ end golden age
of silent films

Ø  Influx of new talent

Ø  New genres: zany comedies, musicals, crime, historical epics, mysteries, film noir

Ø   

n   Peak of Movie Impact?

Ø  Movies’ cultural impact on U.S. & world, 1930s & ’40s

Ø  70 million tickets a week

Ø  Escapism during Depression

Ø  Studios form MPEAA;
U.S. movies go international

n              Vertical Integration

n  Studio system

Ø  5 major studios

Ø  Owned production and
distribution (movie theaters)

Ø  Federal regulators worried

Ø  Quality films and B movies

Ø  Peaked in 1946-48

n   Film Faces TV, 1948-60

Ø  TV hurt box office receipts

Ø  Gov’t. limits concentration
of ownership in film system

Ø  Studios sell off theaters

Ø  Movies shift to suburbs

Ø  Studios produce for TV

Ø  Color, wide-screen film

n  Studios in Decline

Ø  Studios evolve

Ø  Independent producers gain power (Coppola, Allen)

Ø  Audiences change

Ø  Political and topical films

Ø  Pushing censorship limits

n  MPAA content ratings

n  Studios in Decline

Ø  Exports boost U.S. profits

Ø  Return to blockbusters
with Jaws in 1975 & Star Wars in 1977

Ø  Special effects, sound

Ø  First-run distribution aims
at 15- to 24-year-olds

n  Star system returns

Ø  Hollywood Meets HBO

Ø  Cable TV (HBO in 1975)

Ø  Video rentals: VCRs, DVDs

Ø  Chains like Blockbuster

n  Blockbuster phenomenon

n  Audience segmentation

Ø  Movies made for TV
(and now for cable)

n  Movies Go Digital

Ø  Technology, market forces
transform movie industry

Ø  Home video beats box office

Ø  Now digital distribution

Ø  Production costs skyrocket

Ø  Independent (indie) films

Ø  Digital projectors and 3-D

n  Making Movie Magic

Ø  Muybridge’s galloping horse

Ø  Edison’s kinetograph

Ø  Lumière brothers’ projector

Ø  Surround sound systems

Ø  Special effects go digital

n  Star Wars, Matrix, Toy Story

Ø  ‘Desktop’ filmmaking 

n  Movie Viewing

Ø  Digital light processors

Ø  Increase in digital screens, 3-D and IMAX theaters

Ø  Blu-Ray DVDs

Ø  BitTorrent: illegal downloads

Ø  Netflix and pay services

Ø  Cable TV’s video on demand

n  The Film Industry

Ø  Players: 8 major producers

Ø  Independent filmmakers

Ø  The guilds: writers & actors

Ø  Distribution ‘windows’

n  Thwarting piracy

Ø  Growth in movie industry,
especially home video

n  Telling Stories: Film Content

Ø  Team effort

n  Director’s controlling hand

Ø  Finding audience segments

Ø  Young movie-goers

Ø  New genres: youth rebellion,
sci-fi, slasher, coming-of-age

Ø  More diverse audiences 

n  Film and Your Society

Ø  Violence, sex & profanity

Ø  Industry’s piracy concerns

n  MPAA’s opposition to VCRs

n  Now, illegal downloading

n  Copying for sale or rental

Ø  Crackdown on piracy abroad

Ø  Taping first-run movies