Group 1 (Aaron Swaidner)[]
I. Early Technology and Evolution of Movies
a. Film Development
- Earliest conception of "reproducing reality" traced to Leonardo DaVinci in 15th c.
i. Muybridge and Goodwin
Muybridge studied motion by using multiple cameras to take successive photographs of people and animals in motion. Using this method, he eventually developed a system to project images onto a wall, via a spinning cylinder where the photographs were mounted, in 1880.George Eastman develops the first roll fim in 1884, being utilized by Le Prince to create the first motion picture, Roundhay Garden Scene, in 1888. Hannibal Goodwin improves the roll film by making it from celluloid, transparent material that held a light senstive chemical coating. This was ideal to projection, as it was transparent and made light easier to shine through. Eastman would eventually buy Goodwin's patents for celluoid film.
ii. Edison and Motion Pictures
Edison's assistant, Dickson, combined Edison's lightbulb, Hannibal Goodwin's celluloid, and Le Prince's camera to create the kinetograph (a movie camera) and the kinetoscope, which was a single-person viewing system that held revoling film, projected onto a tiny plate for people to look at. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/318211/Kinetoscope French Lumiere brothers invented the cinematograph, which combined camera, projection, and film development into a single device, and the projection system alowed for multiple viewers to view projections, as opposed to Edison's kinetoscope. It's popularity rose, bringing in over 2,000 viewers nightly within weeks. Edison patented the Vitascope, a large screen that enabled filmstrips to be projected without interruption. The first showing showed rolling waves on the beach, which caused some viewers to step back from the "crashing waves" in their mesmerization
b. Narrative Introduction
The narative film- a movie that tells a story, became the shift movies needed for mass medium. The silent films sought to achieve the "suspension of disbelief" that literature achieved, appealing to the imagination of the audience. Georges Melies, a French magician, approached moviemaking like a staged play, in that it could be controlled. He pioneered editing usage to make film more interesting, using effects like slow motion and cartoon animation. American Edwin S. Porter took editing one step further, by editing shots together to tell a story, as well as shooting scenes out of order, then reassembling the film to put it in order. Porter also used the first close-up shot (1902's The Life of an American Fireman, a ringing fire alarm) as well as introduced the western genre and chase scenes (1903's The Great Train Robbery) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc7wWOmEGGY . Nickelodeons Arrival-at the cost of a nickel, converted storefronts with makeshift theaters began showing news, comedy, drama, fantasy, and documentary reels that ran about an hour in length, with piano accompaniment as well as some in house sound effects. The nickelodeon offered an escape from city life, as well as a cheap investment for the success of immigrants.
II. The Rise of the Hollywood Studio System
Immigrants Adolph Zukor (Paramount Pictures) and William Fox (Fox Film Corp, (Twentieth Century Fox)) sought to bypass Edison's Trust, which then dominated the film industry, by dominating the three levels of the movie business, production, distribution, and exhibition. this control on all levels is known as vertical integration. This gave rise to film industry oligopoly, meaning that a few companies controlled the bulk of the movie business
a. Production
Studios tried to hide their actors' names so as not to raise popularity, thereby increasing actors' wages. Zukor formed the Famous Players Company, in 1912, in an effort to control movie production by signing actors contracts. Mary Pickford, one of these actors, was the first woman to make a $1 million dollar salary, eventually breaking away from Zukor and forming the United Artists company. In spite of the United Artists seperation, the studio system controlled all talent. Triangle, Ince's company, made movies an assembly-line process by not only contracting actors, but also anyone involved with film production.
b. Distribution
Early movie distribution had vaudeille theaters and movie companies on a film exchange system, which showed short films between acts and gave early movie producers a cut of the vaudeville ticket sales. Edison's Trust attempted to control distribution by withholding equipment from those companies who wouldn't pay Trust patent fees.Zukor pioneered block booking, which meant in order for a theater to show the popular films, they had to rent other films with lesser stars, often getting a hundred movies leased to a place at a time, giving a sort of "test market" for up and coming stars.
c. Exhibition
The Trust attempted to control exhibition of films by theaters by requiring a license from the Trust, having to pay whatever price they asked at the time. Film moguls competed with exhibition by buying up theaters to dominate which films were shown. Zukor's Paramount was one of these companies, owning 300 theaters by 1921. In an effort to draw in more money, movie palaces were constructed to attract middle and upper-middle class people to films. These had the latest luxuries, including air conditioning. (United Artist Movie Palace, today) http://www.screendaily.com/pictures/636xAny/4/7/2/1135472_United_Artists_Theater_in_Detroit.jpg. Mid-city movie theaters were placed around transit stations to draw the business class in urban areas. This was the pioneering effort in what we now associate with the multiplex- multiple screens to draw middle-class folk in from busy areas. Ultimately, 8 firms controlled the film industry. The Big Five (Paramount, MGM, Warner Bros. Twentieth Century Fox, and RKO (now extinct)) and the Little Three (Columbia, Universal, and United Artists)
Group 2[]
I. The Studio System’s Golden Age- Hollywood’s golden age included narrative films, feature length films, blockbusters, and the silent era and reached its peak with the introduction of sound while it ended with a transformation that took place at the end of World War II (Campbell, Fabos, Martin, p. 247)
a. Hollywood Narrative and the Silent Era- This was the era that saw the rise of Hollywood narratives and the first ever blockbuster feature length (more than sixty minutes) movie titled Birth of a Nation (1915). The silent era also was very relevant as it had the silent movies Ben-Hur (won as many awards as Titanic (1997)a nd The Ten Commandments. (Campbell, Fabos, Martin, p. 248). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9UPOkIpR0A&feature=player_detailpage
b. The Introduction of Sound- Was a challenge at first but eventually in 1928 there was a movie that was made by Warner Brothers Pictures called The Singing Fool (1928) that finally signaled a breakthrough for the talkies as it made five million in the box office (Campbell, Fabos, Martin, p.248)
c. The Development of the Hollywood Style- Continued success allowed Hollywood to control the style as well as the business of moviemaking (Campbell, Fabos, Martin, p.249)
i. Hollywood Narratives- Narratives featured a vast assortment of varying cultures and films were structured by a beginning, middle and an end with a conflict being experienced and taken care of by the end of the movie (Cambell, Fabos, Martin, p. 249)
ii. Hollywood Genres- The goals of a movie genre (similar characters, scenes, themes, etc.) are economical in that they illustrate product standardization and product differentiation, providing familiar representations that can be copied (Campbell, Fabos, Martin, p.249)
iii. Hollywood “Authors”- These are the movie directors that create a unique cinematic style within a particular topic. Directors such as George Lucas in 1977 (Star Wars) and Francis Ford Coppola in 1972 (The Godfather) helped to open the door for female directors as well as minority groups like the Asian-Americans (Campbell, Fabos, Martin, p. 250-251) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=mztK3s63_OM
Group 3[]
a. Outside the Hollywood System
-Hollywood focuses their attention mostly on what will sell and be popular to the media such as the cost and length of a film. There are three alternatives to films that are not made at Hollywood and they include documentaries, independent and international films.(Campbell, Fabos, Martin p.253)
i. Global Cinema
-Around 1919 and 1920 short films, and foreign-language movies were a big hit to Americans. Around 1930 time of the Depression, Americans only wanted to see movies in English and not in other languages, so this caused major cutbacks for Hollywood. Foreign-language movies and art-house theaters made a comeback around the 1950s and 1960s where Americans were interested again. Once home video had become popular in the 70's more and more people wanted to stay home and continue to watch foreign and domestic film (Campbell, Fabos, Martin p. 253).
-1990s and 2000s more and more Americans were turning to online services such as Netflix, and going to Blockbuster to rent movies. Also, more Americans were willing to watch subtitled movies that were not Hollywood perspectives, such as 'Life is Beautiful (Italy, 1997), Amelie (France, 2001), and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Sweden, 2009), but at the same time foreign films are having a hard time keeping up with the popularity and screen space of independent American films. . (Campbell, Fabos, Martin p. 254).
ii. The Documentary Tradition
-The term Documentary was inspired by the 1925 film Moana.
-Many documentaries became a huge hit around the late 1800's and early 1900's many Americans were more focused on seeing films that were based on real life things such as, wars, daily life adventures, travels of people's life. Some films that were a big hit right of bat that include these things was the 1922 film Nanook of the North, and the 1925 film Moana (Campbell, Fabos, Martin p. 254).
-Many countries overtime started to make special units that would back up the cost, industry, and the government that documentaries were requiring. One nation that made special units that would cover all this was in Canada, which was Canada's National Film Board (Campbell, Fabos, Martin p. 254).
-Portable cameras became a huge hit during the late 1950s and early 1960s. They were very popular in making personal documentaries because you are able to take them with you where ever you go and get any kind of shot you wanted, and it made it a lot more personal, and allowing people to feel like they were actually there, and this is where the term cinema verite came from, which means "truth film" (Campbell, Fabos, Marin p. 254).
iii. The Rise of Independent Films
-Independent films made it huge for documentaries; many independent filmmakers would show their films in film festivals, school, etc. Many filmmakers have made it out there because it does not cost them much to have real life situations and not having to relay on stage sets, actors and stuntdevils. They just need there portable camera and computer editing to help them make their films. Some successful indepent filmmakers are, Kevin Smith (Clerks, 1994; Cop Out, 2010), Daren Aronofsky (The Fountain, 2006; The Wrestler, 2008; Black Swan, 2010), and also Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation, 2003; The Bling Ring, 2013). (Campbell, Fabos, Martin p. 256)
-2010 was around the time independent film business was failing and major studios were declining due to poor economy and studios were focusing their attention on smaller films. . (Campbell, Fabos, Martin p. 256)
II. The Transformation of the Studio System
-This was the time that people that Hollywood would be over and called it the Golden Age was over becuase there was a huge drop in attendance in the United States from 1946 to 1963 by dropping 25 million. But of course Hollywood found its way and contuines today. Hollywood was facing some changes such as, communist witch-hunts in Hollywood, end of industry's vertical integration, suburbanization, the arrival of television and the appearance of home entertainment. (Campbell, Fabos, Martin p. 257)
a. The Hollywood Ten
-In 1947 there was a huge investigation for alleged subversive and communist ties toward Hollywood. The same year led to the famous Hollywood Ten which was witch-hunts for political radicals, by the House Un-American Activities Commitee (HUAC). The HUAC was all about finding out which colleagues were haveing politically unfriendly tendencies. Many executives were happy to give names and testify because of all the strikes, and outspoken writers. (Campbell, Fabos, Martin p. 257)
-The Hollywood Ten included producer Walt Disney, actors Gary Cooper and Ronald Reagan, and director Elia Kazan, and other film executives that were not listed. They were arrested and sent to jail in Novemeber 1947 charged with contempt to Congress. Even though they violated their free-speech rights, in the atmosphere of the Cold War many people worried that " the American way" could be sabotaged via unpatriotic messages planted in film. (Campbell, Fabos, Martin p. 257)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taancRcLQ8o
This is a 15 min youtube video is a closer look of the Hollywood Ten
b. The Paramount Decision
-By the mid-1940s Paramount, Warner Brothers, Twentieth Century Fox, MGM, and RKO were demanded to end vertical integration that involved the simultaneous control over production, distribution, and exhibition by the Justice Department. What we are familiar with is know as the Paramount decisions that happen in the 1948 after numerous court appeals the Supreme Court ruled against the film industry forcing the studios to diverts themselves from the theaters. (Campbell, Fabos, Martin p. 258)
-After the Paramount decision many outside industry had opportunities, such as the drive-ins even though they have been around forever by the1950s there were more than four thousand that existed and also it open up opportunities for indoor movie theaters. (Campbell, Fabos, Martin p. 258)
c. Moving to the Suburbs
-Many Americans had moved to the Suburbs right after the post-World War 2 which was causing a huge decline in television due to the economy during the war, and Americans were not buying movie tickets their money went to buying household appliances and new cars and moving. After the war many changes had occur and were hurting the movie industry because couples who were getting married was not the 24 anymore it went to 19 and those having kids were having kids by 21 years of age and that met they were not going on dates anymore and or having kids made it even harder to go to movies. (Campbell, Fabos, Martin p. 259).
d. Television Changes Hollywood
-1940s was a huge impact on radio and not films because many people were at home and would watch TV as a family and which gave them entertainment just like the radio did but of course movies switch and started to focus on more serious subjects than the TV did. Many films by the 1930s were no more about crime, drugs use, sex, violence, etc. (Campbell, Fabos, Martin p. 259)
-Once color movies were starting it was getting Americans attention and taking them away from their black and white TV's, more and more Americans were wanting. (Campbell, Fabos, Martin p. 259)
e. Hollywood Adapts to Home Entertainment
-Most of Hollywood studios money comes from DVD/Blu-ray rental and Internet downloads. American families now sit at home and watch all their movies on their HDTV's and only have DVD's and have cable where they can catch up on their TV shows or watch movies. Many people will rent movies from Redbox for a $1 and that is where Blockbuster went out of business because people were getting movies for just a $1 and not having to pay huge amounts for late fee's. Movies in 3-D have become a huge hit and now you don’t have to go to a movie theater to just watch one you can buy 3-D TV's. You can also catch up on your TV series on your computers, smartphones, iPads, etc. (Campbell, Fabos, Martin p. 260)
Group 4[]
CMF CH 7: Group 4, Kyle George
v Economics of the Movie Business[1]
§ Even with new technologies like DVDs, Internet downloads/streaming, video-on-demand, and of course, cable and network television, the movie making business has continued success.
§ Since 1963, Americans have consistently bought about 1 billion movie tickets per year, including 1.28 billion bought in 2011.
§ Movies and DVDs generate billions of dollars in revenue each year; box office revenues have reached $10 billion in today’s market, compared to about $3.8 billion in the 80s.
§ In order to maintain these improvements and continue to make billions, the movie industry has revamped its production, distribution, and exhibition system, and consolidated its ownership.
v Production, Distribution, and Exhibition Today
§ Making money on movies
· Most movies that are released do not make any money at the box office; this forces production studios to ensure they have at least a couple major hits every year. These major hits help to offset the losses suffered from box office failures.
· The costs associated with making and marketing movies has increased to astounding amounts. The average movie today costs about $66 million to produce and $37 million to market.
· After the movies have been released, the production studios have six primary money making sources:
¨ Studios will typically receive about 40% of the box office revenue; this ends up being about 20% of a movie’s total revenue (domestic).
Ø To drive up the prices of tickets, therefore increasing revenues, production companies have begun putting forth more movies featuring 3D viewing.
¨ The Second money maker is the eventual sales revenue from DVDs, downloads, and streaming.
Ø This portion of revenue equates to about 30% of the money a production company will make on a movie.
Ø The recent decline in DVD sales is hurting this portion of the money making scheme. Companies make more money by selling DVDs as opposed to renting; however, companies like Redbox and Netflix are making it easier for people to avoid buying DVDs since they can rent them for a much cheaper price, or stream them live from home.
¨ The next area of revenue for movies is through pay-per-view or premium cable, then after these channels there is basic cable, and finally syndicated TV.
Ø Cable and television networks/stations negotiate contracts with production companies, typically on a movie-to-movie basis.
Ø In the past, cable and network release date for movies coincided with DVD release; however, recently DirecTV has threatened this system by offering movies as early as 30 to 60 days after release. This has created some fuss among theater owners and directors.
¨ The fourth revenue producer is the foreign market. Movie producers are making a hefty amount in the foreign market even with more movies being made outside the U.S.
Ø In 2011the foreign market provided $22.4 billion in revenue, which is more than twice as much money as was made in the U.S. and Canada
¨ The fifth area involves making money through independent producers and filmmakers. These independent producers pay the big productions a portion of the box office pull in order to achieve more circulation. Usually, the major production companies will receive between 30-50% of the box-office and video rental money.
¨ The sixth and final area, through which producers make money, is merchandising and product placement in movies. Merchandising involves the creation of movie specific toys, apparel, and other store bought items. Product placement is a form of advertising, in which the producers use or cleverly place items in a movie from specific stores/manufacturers.
Ø Check out this video on product placement.
· Theater Chains Consolidate Exhibition
¨ Theaters began consolidating and eventually a handful of companies controlled operations at more than half of the theaters in the U.S.
¨ Movie distributors prefer working with these major players in order to place top movies on as many screens as possible. A multiplex (theater with many screens) can show big hits on multiple screens. Films that are less successful are typically sent to smaller theaters and do not show for as long.
¨ In the 1990s the rise of megaplexes (theaters with 14 or more screens) brought about the, now commonplace, luxury style concessions, better seating, and better sound.
Ø These improvements also led to a large amount of debt for movie theaters. In response to these rising debts and to gain more independence, movie theaters began showing events other than movies, like sports and concerts.
· Major Studio Players
¨ There are six main companies in Hollywood that run the movie making business
Ø The “Big Six” includes:
§ Warner Bros., Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, Columbia Pictures, and Disney. A single conglomerate, owns all of these companies—With the only exception being Disney.
§ The big six have also produced and accounted for more than 90% of the revenue generated by commercial films. They’re success is not limited to the U.S., they also control much of the European and Asian film market.
§ There are three independent studios that, while they don’t quite rival the big six, have managed to make up a big portion of the market for several years. They are:
· Lionsgate, Summit Entertainment, Weinstein Company
§ The 1980’s proved a difficult time for the big six at box offices, and in order to recover from severe losses they had to expand into markets outside of movies.
· The expansions included things like:
¨ Print media, sound recordings, home videos, computers, retail stores, and theme parks.
¨ Synergy involves promoting the movies not only through the movie itself, but also through these expansion areas—like the books, shirts, and websites that go along with specific movies.
¨ Synergy is a major concept that is still used today and plays a role in the mergers that have followed the onset of its use.
§ Movie production companies began trying to buy the electronics companies, therefore, controlling the devices themselves and the media that would be played on them.
· This type of merger began in 1985 when Australia’s News Corp. bought Twentieth Century Fox, followed by Sony buying Columbia in 1989. These attempts to control the market from top to bottom is known as vertical integration.
· Convergence: Movies Adjust to the Digital Turn
¨ The Internet poses an enormous threat to the movie industry.
Ø After witnessing the difficulties the music industry experienced with illegal downloading, the movie industry attacked this head on by making great attempts to provide streaming and downloadable movies online.
Ø There are several players in the downloadable/streaming movie business, they include: Netflix, YouTube, iTunes, Hulu, Amazon, and Google.
Ø The biggest issue facing movie corporations is the preference people have for streaming these movies instead of buying the DVDs. In 2012 more movies were watched online than were watched on DVD.
§ Movie producers do not necessarily care where or how people watch but they do worry about the loss of revenue from the drop in DVD sales.
§ To combat the lower DVD sales, movie productions companies will either produce major blockbusters that people will want to see in theater, or distribute independent films that are cheaper to make but probably will not get the same distribution.
§ The Internet has offered another new avenue for marketing and advertising movies: Social Networks. The use of social networks and other online media has helped producers create buzz for new movies.
· Alternative Voices
¨ Digital video offers a new option for producers by providing a cheaper and more accessible option than the old 16-35mm film cameras.
Ø Major producers have begun implementing the new digital video options; however, because they are incredibly cheap to own and operate, digital video has helped the independent filmmakers the most. Such an example is the highly successful film “Paranormal Activity”Preview, which by using digital video was able to produce the movie for only $15000. (Paranormal activity also made great use of social media and networks to advertise their film; thus cutting down on the cost even more)
v Popular Movies and Democracy
Ø Movies today function as consensus narratives: basically they provide a way for intercultural experience.
§ Because the majority of movies are made in the U.S., foreign countries are in constant debate as to how these “American” movies affect culture in their own country.
§ It is important that people remain critical of the cultural influence of movies and discuss these issues in public forum and interpersonal conversation.
References:
- ↑ Campbell, Martin, and Fabos (2013). Media and Culture: Mass Communication in a Digital Age. Bedford St. Martin's: New York.