The Classical Hollywood Studio System

The Classical Hollywood Studio System The Hollywood studio era can be traced back to the beginning of sound in film. The first feature film with sound was The Jazz Singer (1927), directed by Alan Crosland based on a play by Samson Raphaelson. In the period of the silent cinema, the cinema itself was considered a technological marvel. But like all technologies, the inventors needed to find ways to sell their products, and seen as a large business potential, nickelodeons, through numerous theatres around America, laid down the basis of the Hollywood cinema. The golden age of Hollywood of course began with the introduction of sound in film and theatre, a big investment for the studios. With the approach of the US Recession in the early 1930s (in fact it was still felt until 1938) the studios looked for financial back-up by Banking Giants, the Wall Street which led to the total control of the studios by bankers and businessmen. Between the 1920s and the late 1940s Hollywood cinema was an oligopoly dominated by the Big Five: Paramount, MGM, Warner Brothers, FOX and RKO which were vertically integrated and also the Little Tree: Universal, Columbia and United Artists. Throughout this period, Hollywood was in a mass mode of production, it was heavily capitalised, it used precision machinery, employing thousands of workers(over 33000 people) and it had a centralised management. The modes of production continuously changed since 1895. There was the cameraman system (1895-1906), in which the film was shot and distributed by cameramen, the Director System (1907-1909), the Director-unit (1909-1914), a Central Producer System (1914-1930), a Producer-Unit System (1930-1945), and Package-Unit System (1945-1955). As the banks and businessmen took over the studios, it was clear that the most important aspect to them was that the films produced needed to be created for economical purposes. The studios began to look like b ig factories with the division of labour on the studio lot with 33000 people in production and over 133000 people in the industry. They had a story department, unit department, an assistant director department, art department, various workshops and wardrobe departments and many more. Paramount Pictures, considered one of the defining studios of the classical era was founded by Adolph Zukor, as an investor, he saw that the films were being enjoyed by the working class people, mainly immigrants. By the 1920s the studio expanded to an industry colossus with theatrical chains of 2000 screens and two production studios. . During the Depression period Paramount went near bankruptcy but in the late 1930s under Barney Balaban, Paramount became one of the biggest and most important of the Big Five. They released over 60 films a year and with the rise of sound in cinema, numerous stars were born: Gary Cooper, Mae West, Marlene Dietrich, Miriam Hopkins, Claudette Colbert, Dorothy Lamour, Carole Lombard, Bing Crosby and the Marx Brothers. Metro-Golden-Mayer was founded in 1924 and by 1940s it was considered the one to dominate the industry. Marcus Loew bought Metro Pictures Corporation in 1916 and Goldwyn Pictures in 1917 and in 1924 he bought Mayer Pictures. The producer Luis B, Mayer was made vice-president and head of studio operations in California, along with Irving Thalberg and Harry Rapf. MGM was considered a producer studio, there films were glamorous and they were considered quality productions. The studio was a star vehicle with names like William Haines , John Gilbert, Norma Shearer , Greta Garbo, and Joan Crawford, but they also had names hired from other studios like: Wallace Beery, Lon Chaney, William Powell and Buster Keaton. In the 1930s new stars were added: Jean Harlow, Robert Montgomery, Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. Warner Bros. was the first studio to introduce sound. The Jazz Singer (1927) was the first talking film and began to expand by acquiring large studios in Burbank and several important stars. While MGM was making start stuttering lavishing dramas, and musicals, Paramount made films about decadence, Warners was combining different genres: the gangster movies, backstage musicals and romantic adventure films. The way to identify a Warner Bros. film from other studios way in the way of the production value and a unique visual style (simple sets and low-key lighting) Sets at Warners were customarily bare and workmanlikeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The scale of a film could be judged by its budget, and in 1932 the average production cost per feature at Warners was estimated at $200,000, lowest of the majors except for Columbia ($175,000): MGM by comparison, averaged $450,000 (Campbell, 1971, p. 2). With the introduction of color, the studio began to flourish. Thorough 1929-1931, Warners, were producing a staggering number of colored films, the majority being musicals. After associating musicals with color, the studio began to abandon it, and instead turned to a more social realistic storyline, the gangster films. Films like: I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), Little Caesar (1930), The Public Enemy (1931) G-Men (1935), Racket Busters (1938) etc. 20th Century-Fox was created through the merging of Fox Film Corporation and Twentieth Century Pictures. The studios stars did not compare with the likes of MGM, Warner or Paramount, but FOX managed to produce some A-grade films like The Grapes of Wrath (1940) the most expensive adaptation of that time- who won 2 Oscars, Thanks A Million (1935) with stars like: Shirley Temple and Will Rogers. RKO was formed in the beginning of sound in film and the stars working for the studio were: Cary Grant, musical team Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers: In The Gay Divorcee (1934), Top Hat (1934) ETC. The most famous films at RKO were King Kong (1933) and Citizen Kane (1941). With every other Studio being associating with a genre, KRO didnt have any specific genre. The way to understand Hollywoods peculiarity as a mass entertainment industry the dream factory is through the couplet of standardisation/differentiation. The studios can be compared by classical narrative, genre and stars. The cult of the movie star, fostered by the money of the film industry, preserves not the unique aura of the person but the spell of personality, the phony spell of a commodity (Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Technical Reproducibility 1935). According to Benjamin the stars are human beings turned into a commodity, a product that can be sold and reproduced for economic purposes. According to John Ellis a star is A performer in a particular medium whose figure enters into subsidiary forms of circulation and then feeds back into future performances (Ellis, 1982, p. 1). Joan Crawford is the ideal example for a star. I never go out unless I look like Joan Crawford the movie star. If you want to see the girl next door, go next door (Joan Crawford). John Belton suggests that: A stars persona [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] differs from that of an actor. For an actor, the persona provides a primary mask, which disguises the real person underneath. For a star, the persona includes the actors persona as well as the stars persona. (John Belton, 6). The star is a product, an investment. They must have the power to be identified with a particular type of film; many stars will only play in particular genres bearing the same persona: for example thorough the 1930s Joan Crawford was always playing vulnerable roles. By being in the centre of attention, stars always portrayed cinemas ability to show the passing of time (the mortality). Greta Garbo had a successful transition from silent film to sound, and she received an Oscar nomination for Anna Christie (1930), her first talkie. But Garbo wanted to be considered an ageless star. She didnt need to act in front of the camera; her natural looks and presence differentiated her from anyone else. Because she wanted to be seen as a myth, forever remembered as a beautiful and talented ageless star, she quit Hollywood after just 21 years in the business. Almost every Hollywood studio was associated with a specific type of genre; MGM had musicals and dramas, Warner Bros. Had gangster films, Universal had its share of horror films. Although different genres, they fallowed the same classical narrative structure. Problems arose in the beginning of the film and they must be solved in order to restore the balance in the world. To identify a genre we must look at their components. For example a western genre has elements, symbols to identify that world: for ex, there are sheriffs, outlaws and also the wilderness. Different genre requires different types of stars. In Warners gangster films the stars were associated with working class people, the only predominant audience left after the Great Depression. As they watched these movies they were attracted by the attack on the government and Warners profited from it. This may be considered an ideology. All the genres presented an idea, a ritual. All the studios had their own stars, they followed the same modes of production but the difference here is that on economic restraints the production quality of the studios differed from studio to studio. MGM had lavishing productions even with low budgets. A great example is Grand Hotel (1932) with an all star cast and just one massive set. Universal for their horror film used low key lighting, minimal sound and small sets, but the way in which they used low angle shots to mask the cheapness of the sets is impressive. To give a sense of depth to films like Dracula (1931), Universal brought along cinematographer Karl Freud, who worked on Metropolis (1927), to give the film a German expressionist style. As Hitchcock was begging to direct classical Hollywood films like Rebecca (1940), Psycho (1960), Vertigo (1958) etc., and putting his own stamp on them through its in camera editing he did not want control from his producer. During the producer-unit system the films were collaboratively made by different classes of labours, and they didnt have an individual artistic signature. They were controlled by the producer or the producer-director in some cases and not by the director. The strong director imposes his own personality on a film [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦]. The auteur theory values the personality of a director precisely because of the barriers to its expression (The American Cinema (Andrew Sarris, The American Cinema 1968, p31). A director like Alfred Hitchcock produces a rupture or a change in the narrative, so he can put its mark, to make the film individual and personal. The same thing can be said about Orson Welles who produced, directed and starred in his own production Citizen Kane (1941) with ought any constraints from the head office. Casting his own actors, with a closed set and his individualism it came out to be one of the greatest films of all times.

Integral part of British culture Essay

Soaps are contemporary, which means they are written in the same rime that they are being acted. Some viewers develop what’s called social critism or social commentary, when as I mentioned before, viewers get lost in the plots and get carried away with their feelings. You sometimes hear about people trying to kill characters that they don’t like. I just think how pathetic they are that they can’t differenciate between a soap opera and reality. Political bias is another issue, which tends to sway the minds of viewers. This happens when a character is portrayed to have a specific political view on a matter. For example if a character is strongly against the Labour Party, their views may rub off on to the public, and then the public assume that that is their real belief. Really the actors/actresses are shoved a script to learn. They don’t mess about and argue with the script writers just because their views differ to their characters. Many potentially controversial issues are embarked upon in soaps. For example, when the first lesbian kiss was screened on Brookside a few years ago everyone was horrified. On the otherhand, it encouraged real life lesbian couples to go public, not being ashamed of their sexuality. Soap operas are a form of voyeurism which means you can enjoy watching without participating, which is just up some people’s street. It’s nice to come in from school, make a cuppa and be entertained by people for half an hour, from a distance, without having to participate. Some people believe soaps are anti-depressants. This is true when you are experiencing serious problems in your life. It is comforting when you switch on the tv and find a character with a much worse problem than yours. It puts everything into perspective, and demonstrates that it is quite possible to overcome such problems. Soap operas prove to be relief from everyday pressures, albeit temporary. This is especially true for me. My artistic merit is Neighbours. Sometimes I can’t wait till 5. 35pm, because I know that I can relax during the twenty five minutes it is on. Soaps are very informative about occupations. You get to know what a characters job involves and requires. For example, Joe Scully is a builder in Neighbours, Paddy is a vet in Emmerdale and Karl Kennedy, a doctor in Neighbours. All these characters provide good insights into these careers, which may help you to choose which job suits you. Soaps allow you to study lifestyles. This is especially useful for sociology and psychology students who are required to research different lifestyles and the way they affect our personalities. Using these studies they can compare the lifestyles of regions or countries, and how they differ. Soaps are used as message propaganda. This is when truths or quotes are twisted and end up only half true. Journalists use this technique. Since video recorders developed, soaps have given them a revolution. Before technology developed viewers who were unable to watch an episode simply missed it. Now, it is popular to record programmes when you are out, or viewing on another channel. This revolution has increased the viewing figures by thousands. Producers of soap operas have many promotion techniques. Some of these include advertising, omnibus episodes, special length episodes with exciting content, ie, a birth or a wedding. All of these attract the viewer and send the ratings rocketing. There are two types of soaps: Imported and home grown. Imported is self-explanatory-the soap is imported from other countries to our screens, Home and Away and Neighbours are examples. Home grown is the screening of soaps from their own country. Wealth and power V class consciousness is an issue in soaps. An example of wealth and power is Mike Bawldin in Coronation Street. He is portrayed as a filthy rich business man. On the otherhand the employees that work for him in his factory are examples of class consciousness. They are of the working class. In my opinion this is wrong because it demonstrates that people of different classes should be treated differently, when really people should be treated with the same amount of respect. Soaps are a form of escapism, as viewers can escape from the real world to the soap world. Soaps provide a vicarious experience, which means that the viewers experience the soap at second hand. The cast experience at first hand. Soap opera producers use romanticism to enchance love affairs, to give the viewer a rose-tinted image of the issue. Usually the characters chosen to have love affairs are beautiful, psycially desirable people. We all know that in the real world this stereotypical image is not always true to life. Soap operas move with the times in all aspects such as decor and design in houses and settings, up to the minute technology, lifestyles and relationships, entertainment and the cultural scene (mores), eg drugs, alcohol abuse. This can have a powerful impact on the viewers who will emulate a particular home or lifestyle. Overall, I think soap operas are enjoyable and fulfilling, but if watched over prolongued periods of time can lead to unhealthy addiction.

LaGrange College Admissions SAT Scores, Costs More

Annotated Bibliography On The Iraq War - 887 Words

Hayden Rains 9-10-17 Ms.Slusser 1B World AP History Annotated Bibliographies Britannica Editors. â€Å"Iraq War†. britannica.com, https://www.britannica.com/event/Iraq-War. Britannica, 2004. Information is revised and edited to be accurate. Britannica is a reliable website. Sources used are both primary and secondary. No knowledge needed to read this article. Great place to start. Covers most aspects of the Invasion of iraq and the iraq War in 2003. Written chronologically. Bruhns, John. â€Å"Iraq 10 Years Later: Participating in My Generation’s Most Controversial War†. The Huffington Post. 2013. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sgt-john-bruhns/iraq-war_b_2845825.html John Bruhns was a soldier in the Iraq war. His sources are primary. Organized†¦show more content†¦Ordered chronologically. Little prior knowledge needed. Ideas on why the U.S. invaded Iraq. History.com Staff. â€Å"War in Iraq begins†. History.com, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/war-in-iraq-begins. A+E Networks, 2009. History.com is a well respected site. Organized chronologically. Covers the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Some prior knowledge is needed to understand. Article uses mainly secondary sources. Good place to start but not to end. History.com is known for using credible sources. Jakobsen, Tor. â€Å"Why did the Unite. d states invade Iraq in 2003?†. Popularsocialscience.com.2009. http://www.popularsocialscience.com/2012/10/25/why-did-the-united-states-invade-iraq-in-2003-2/. Tor Jakobsen is a credible writer who is passionate on the subject. Uses mainly secondary sources. Organized chronologically. Covers the United States point of view of the invasion in 2003. No prior knowledge is needed to comprehend the article. Klonick, Kate.The Iraq War: What You Need to Know. ABC news, 2006.http://abcnews.go.com/International/IraqCoverage/story?id=2686489page=1 Kate Klonick has a Phd in Law and went to a reputable university. ABC news is well known for very little bias in news coverage. This article is great for background knowledge. This article takes no prior knowledge to read. The article covers the Iraq war in 2003. Organized chronologically. Kitfield, James.†Army s race to Baghdad exposes risks in battle plan†.Government Executive.Show MoreRelatedThe Islamic State Of Iraq And Syria Essay794 Words   |  4 PagesMy research topic will explore the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as (ISIS). I chose this topic because it has been an ongoing issue recently along with being a hot and dangerous topic. Picking this topic will help me exploit my audience and grab their attention. Before choosing this topic, I didn’t know very much about it until I did some research and realized how dangerous this Islamic group really is. During my argument I will argue how ISIS has divided countries and have causedRead MorePower, Realism And Constructivism. Hoboken : Taylor And Francis920 Words   |  4 Pages (450)First Annotated Bibliography: Guzzini, Stefano. 2013. Power, Realism And Constructivism. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. Guzzini (2013) defines the important features of international relations theories, which define the underscoring themes of â€Å"realism† as a dominant type of political methodology for American imperialism. Realism is a theory that relies heavily on the notion of self-interested and fear-based notions of protecting national interests, which the United States has utilized throughRead MoreShould Women Be Allowed During Combat The Us Armed Forces?1561 Words   |  7 PagesAllowed in Combat in the US Armed Forces? I will be researching a very high profile issue that our government and our citizens are debating vehemently, Should Women Be Allowed in Combat in the US Armed Forces? Women have be in combat situations in Iraq and Afghanistan since September 11, 2001, and at least 88 of our mothers, daughter and sister have been brutally killed. (Ashley Fantz, CNN) Society has gone overboard when it comes to politically correctness. Men and women are not equal, equal meansRead MoreAustralia And The United States1293 Words   |  6 Pagestogether within trade and giving aid to other countries. America’s latitude and longitude is 38.8833 ° N, 77.0167 ° W whereas Australia’s is 35.3080 ° S, 149.1245 ° E. Below shows 2 maps, 1 of each country and its there boarders on to other countries Annotated Map of both countries: America on top and Australia underneath Scale Source: Google Maps Orientation: Australia and America have every strong trade ties dating back many years. Trade between these two nations is very big becauseRead More Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte Essay1076 Words   |  5 Pageswere participated and dedicated themselves in the war. The LTTE female combaters proved that the women are not biologically weaker than males. The LTTE women fighters trickled down the broad view that the women are soft and weak. Kelly Oliver, writer of book â€Å"women as weapon of war† says, â€Å"in the past, American women served behind the front lines as nurses in Korea and Vietnam†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Oliver, 20), but LTTE women were front line fighters during the war zone. It means the LTTE female fighters were braveRead MoreRoss Hayman. Mrs. Owens. English 12. 13 March 2017. Term1176 Words   |  5 Pagesbe here before we know it. Saudi Arabia pumps just over ten million barrels of oil each day, and that number is increasing. Iraq and Saudi Arabia are not really at war but their tensions are extremely high. They blame each other for the creation of Isis. Isis is a radical western militant group trying to take over regions. Isis gained power over oil fields and land along Iraq and Syria. This group is a constant threat to not only the United States but other countries that rely on their oil. Isis isRead MoreMacro Research Paper2218 Words   |  9 Pagesin Afghanistan and Iraq, and also increased expenditures on homeland security. Spending for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and related activities cost $610 through fiscal 2008: $575 billion for the Department of Defense and $35 billion for international affairs (CBO, 2010). These polices were enacted with bipartisan support, including decisions to add their costs to the federal deficit. Moreover, Obama administration further extended some government spending on the Iraq war and anti-terrorismRead MoreAnalysis Of Michael Jackson s The King Of Pop Essay2174 Words   |  9 Pages(as the â€Å"jazz diplomacy’† tours had been during the cold War)2, Jackson’s music and life narrative were upheld at home and abroad as compelling evidence of the ascendency of American individualism, entrepreneurialism, multiculturalism and consumer ca pitalism† (Martin). At the time when the U. S. had a dented international image due to the cold War and Iraq war in 1991, Michael Jackson’s musical albums that spoke to the global issues of war and poverty was indeed soothing to the dying souls. No doubtRead MoreGeorge Washington4952 Words   |  20 Pagescolonialists of the thirteen colonies of Great Britain and it’s king rose up to protest against absolute rule. After the colonists rebelled and declared independence, a war erupted as King George III wished to crush the â€Å"rebellion† leading up to the War of Independence or most commonly referred to as the Revolutionary War. The War of the American Revolution was a time of patriotism, nationalism, and an era of combat and battle. A primary figure from this time period was the Commander-in-Chief of theRead MoreA History of Polio in Children2085 Words   |  8 PagesAnnotated Bibliography Brody, Jane E. Breakthroughs in Prenatal Screens. New York Times. 08 Oct. 2013: p. D.5. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 02 Feb. 2014. This article explains the unique development in prenatal screenings. Down syndrome, a chromosomal abnormality disease, occurs in about one in every 700 births in the U.S. At 10 weeks of pregnancy a mother’s blood contains about 10 to 12 percent of the DNA that belongs to the fetus. With the use of a new screening test the blood can be tested