Richard E. CaplanThe University of Akron

Movies

Mrs. BartelFilm

zimbio.com

cbsnews.com

Motion on Film

• Sequential photography– Marey & Muybridge, 1877

• Kinetoscope– Thomas Edison, 1888– William K.L. Dickson

• Perforated film• Sprockets

– Peepshow viewer– Looped on rollers

• First kinetoscope parlor– April 14, 1894 in New

York City– Edison's Kinetoscope,

open. Film was threaded on rollers as a continuous ribbon.

Muybridge Sequential Photography

Eadward Muybridge/CORBIS

Cinematographe

• Cinematographe 1895– Auguste and Louis

Lumière

– Camera and projector

– Portable, hand cranked

– Projected on a large screen

• First motion picture show – Grand Café in Paris

December 28, 1895

– 10 short films

– “Lunch Hour at the Lumière Factory” Film set in Paris, 1900

Library of Congress

Edison and Others

• Thomas Arnat’s Vitascope

• Edison’s premiere– April 23, 1896

• George Méliès– A Trip to the Moon,

1902– First “special effects”

feature– Trick photography

• Edwin S. Porter– Worked for Edison– The Great Train Robbery

, 1903– 12 scenes, dissolves,

action

Library of Congress

Studio and Spectacle

• Biograph, Carl Laemmle– First film studios– Florence Lawrence

• First movie star

• Studio System– Salaried stars and production staff under exclusive contract

• The Birth of a Nation, 1915– First feature-length film

– Controversial big-budget spectacular

– D.W. Griffith

D. W. GriffithChicago Historical Society

Movies Become Big Business

• The move to Hollywood– From New York– Harry Chandler, LA Times owner, sold the land

• Block Booking– Theaters signing up to show dozens of films as a “package” instead of single movies

• United Artists, 1919– Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith

– Independent studio run by the stars themselves

Fairbanks, Pickford and Chaplin

Chicago Historical Society

Early Self Regulation

• Hollywood scandals– Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle

case 1921– Desmond Taylor Murder 1922

• Catholic Legion of Decency boycott

• Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association (MPPDA)– Self-regulatory– Will Hays “Hays Office” 1922

– Oversaw movie content

Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle

Chicago Historical Society

MPPDA 1930 Production Code

• May not lower the moral standard of viewers

• Proper standards of life• Respect for law• Murder should not inspire imitation

• No excessive kissing, embracing

• No shade of obscenity• Modest dancing costumes• Film displays seal of approval

Will Hays

Chicago Historical Society

Arrival of the “Talkies”

• The Vitaphone Preludes, 1926– Seven shorts with sound– Warner Bros. and Western Electric

• The Jazz Singer, 1927– Al Jolson– First feature-length “talkie”

– Synchronized sound recording

• By 1933, talkies dominate completely

Paul Robeson, Early African-American

Actor

Bettmann/CORBIS

Rise of the Movie Moguls

• 1930s Big Five – Warner Brothers

– Metro-Goldwin-Mayer

– Paramount

– RKO

– 20th Century Fox

• 2/3 of ticket sales

• Vertically integrated– Owned production and distribution

– Production “stables”• stars, directors, writers and staff

RKO Theater Stand, 1930

Library of Congress/Gotscho-Schleisner Collection

Disney and Depression

• Steamboat Willie 1928– Walt Disney– Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937• First full-length animated feature

• The Depression– Bingo nights– Dish nights– Double features

• Labor unions – Screen Actors Guild

• 1937– Screen Writer’s Guild– Director’s Guild

Chicago Movie Theater, ‘40s

Library of Congress

The Golden Age of Movies

• MGM reigns supreme– Blockbusters

– The Wizard of Oz - 1939• Musical

– Gone with the Wind – 1939• Magnificent use of color

• Citizen Kane- 1941– Orson Welles

– We will watch this film later to understand its impact!

Gone with the Wind

Reelclassics.com

Congress and the Courts

• The House Un-American Activities Committee– The Cold War– Suspected communists– The Hollywood Ten, 1947

– Blacklisting

• U.S v. Paramount Pictures, 1948– Limit block booking to five

– Stop blind booking– Stop requiring short film rentals

– Stop buying theaters

The “Hollywood Ten”

University of Southern California/Fisher Collection

Movies vs. Television

• 1950s Television boom• 4000 theaters closed• Wide-Screen and 3-D Movies– Cinemascope and stereophonic sound

• Changes in Censorship– 1952, 1st Amendment protection extended to film

– Sex and violence added

• Spectaculars– The Sound of Music– Blockbuster hunt

Pam Roth/sstock.xchnge

Movie Ratings

• MPAA - Motion Pictures Association of America Movie Ratings, 1966– Designed to prevent censorship

• G - All ages• PG - Parental guidance suggested (originally called M)

• PG 13 - Parents strongly cautioned to give guidance to children under 13 (added later)

• R - Restricted; those under 17 must be accompanied by parent or guardian

• NC-17 - No one under 17 admitted (originally X)

Roque Corona/stock.xchnge

Movie Business

• Seven major studios– Disney, Viacom/Paramount, Vivendi, Dream Works, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., and Sony Pictures• About 20 movies a year each

• Independent producers – Distributed by studios– Sundance and other festivals

• Most fragmented industry in mass media

Who goes to the movies?

Illustration 7.1

Declining male audience

Illustration 7.1

Making Money

• Drop in ticket sales– 1946 was the biggest

year for movie attendance

• Ancillary rights– Videos and DVDs– Network and Pay TV– Airline, base, campus

rights– Soundtrack albums– Books, etc.

• $100 million avg. film cost

• 2 of 10 make money

Getty Images

How the movies make money

Illustration 7.2

Making Money in the Movies

Illustration 7.2

Working in the Movies

• Screenwriters– Independent writers

• Producers– Funding and logistics

• Actors• Production

– The movie creators

• Marketing– Publicity and advertising

• Administration– Accounting, etc.

• Film Career Link

Vince Bucci/Getty Images

Technology and the Future

• Production– Smaller cameras– Computer technology– Digitalization

• Distribution– Satellite distribution– Digital projectors– Internet distribution?

• Exhibition– Alternative tech experiences

– “motion simulation”– Holographic concerts

Pam Roth/stock.xchnge

Globalization of Film

• Global ownership– Columbia Pictures

• Purchased by Sony

– Twentieth Century-Fox• Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. • Fox News, Fox Network, British Sky Broadcasting

– Universal • Sold to Matsushita of Japan 1990• Resold to Seagram of Canada 1997• Then sold to Vivendi a French company

• Sold to General Electric/NBC 2003

• One-third profits from overseas

• More consolidation?

The Dreamworks Team

Kim Kulish/CORBIS

Hollywood Who’s Who

Illustration 7.3

Building Blocks

• Frame-individual picture• Shot Basic unit of the film, any continuous piece of unedited film, 20-30 second average.

• Scene-a group of interrelated shots taking place in the same location

• Sequence- a group of interrelated scenes that form a natural unit in the story

Camera Shot

• Distance:• Long shot (LS) (ELS)-beginning• Medium shot (MS)• Close-up (CU) (ECU)-emotion