HOLLYWOODHOLLYWOOD

Stars & Studios

THE HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

• 1915-25: transition from Trust to STUDIO SYSTEM

• “Studio Era” typified by:– Picture palaces– Movie audience that included all classes– Standardized production of feature-

length films (1½ hrs)– Concentration of production in

Hollywood– OLIGOPOLY & VERTICAL INTEGRATION

OLIGOPOLY

• A few large firms control an entire industry

• Due to high cost of film production– Feature-length films were

expensive– Salaries increased, esp. for stars– Production values increased– Sound added to costs of equipment

& production

OLIGOPOLY

• Costs of distribution, picture palaces & converting to sound

• Small companies began to merge in order to compete

• By late 1920s, 8 companies controlled 91% of box-office

• These companies known as 8 Majors

VERTICAL INTEGRATION

• Company controls product from production to retail sale

• BIG 5– MGM, PARAMOUNT, FOX,

WARNER BROS., & RKO– Vertically integrated: production,

distribution & exhibition

VERTICAL INTEGRATION

• LITTLE 3– COLUMBIA, UNIVERSAL, & UNITED

ARTISTS– Not totally vertically integrated– Columbia & Universal in production

& distribution, but no theaters– United Artists only distributed films

“THE DREAM FACTORY”

• DIVISION OF LABOR – Labor highly specialized & efficient,

becoming highly unionized– THE CONTRACT SYSTEM

•Most workers under contract for 5-7 years

•Renewable by studio every 6 months• Studios maintained prop & costume depts• Filmed on own lots

“THE DREAM FACTORY”

• THE “STUDIO LOOK”– Consistent labor, props, settings

resulted in "Studio Look“– Studios tended to build their

films around their stars

Marlene Dietrich

Paramount Stars

Paramount Stars

The Marx Bros

Mae West

Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour & Bob Hope

Paramount Stars

Fleischer Bros. Studio

Popeye

Fleischer Bros. Studio

Superman

Fleischer Bros. Studio

Betty Boop

Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer

MGM Stars

Greta Garbo

MGM Stars

Clark Gable Spencer Tracy

MGM Movies

Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)

MGM Movies

Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938)

Hal Roach Studio

Laurel & Hardy

Hal Roach Studio

Our Gang

MGM Animation

MGM Animation

Tex Avery’s Wolfie and Red

20th Century-Fox

20th Century-Fox Stars

Sonja Henie Shirley Temple

20th Century-Fox Stars

Betty Grable Tyrone Power

20th-Century Fox Movies

Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937)

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Stars

Humphrey

Bogart

Warner Bros. Stars

Bette Davis

Warner Bros. Animation

RKO Movies

Disney Animation

Mickey Mouse Donald Duck

Disney Animation

Snow White (1937)

Universal

Universal Serials

Walter Lantz Studio

Woody Woodpecker Chilly Willy

Universal Movies

Abbott & Costello

Universal Horror Movies

Universal Horror Movies

Columbia

Columbia Movies

Claudette Colbert Clark Gable

Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night (1934)

Columbia Movies

Batman & Robin

Columbia Shorts

The Three Stooges

United Artists

Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin & DW Griffith

Monogram Movies

Federal Bullets (1937)

Monogram Stars

The Bowery Boys

Republic

Republic Movies

ADAPTING TO NEW TECHNOLOGIES

• SOUND– Help define space– Offscreen sound creates sense of

3-dimensional world– Onscreen sound defines space it

comes from• DIALOGUE: sound a way of

developing characters & defining character traits

ADAPTING TO NEW TECHNOLOGIES

• MUSIC– Nondiegetic music reinforces

“proper” emotional responses– Helps define & identify characters– Both outgrowths of live music in

silent film exhibition– Market for records of film music

ADAPTING TO NEW TECHNOLOGIES

• SOUND DEVICES FOR CONTINUITY– Work with continuity editing

•Create smooth transitions between shots & scenes

•Keeping attention on narrative– SOUND BRIDGE– DIALOGUE HOOK

ADAPTING TO NEW TECHNOLOGIES

• DEEP FOCUS– By late 1930s, trend toward deep

focus– New film stocks & lenses– Adapted to CHC narrative style

•Establish relationships among characters in a number of planes

– Takes became longer

ADAPTING TO NEW TECHNOLOGIES

• COLOR– HAND-COLORING (1896-1910) & TINTING

& TONING (1910-27)– TECHNICOLOR

•TECHNICOLOR, INC. (1915) •2-COLOR TECHNICOLOR (1920s)

–Red & blue•3-COLOR TECHNICOLOR (1932)

–Red, green, & blue–3 rolls exposed simultaneously