1930 – 1947 :

1) What were the Big 5 studios & what type of movies was each studio famous for?

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer – Wizard of Oz, Warner Bros – Casablanca, Paramount – A farewell to Arms, Fox – Miracle on 34th Street and RKO – Citizen Kane.

2) Explain what vertical integration and block-booking was?

Vertical integration – production, distribution, exhibition were handled “in house”, meaning the company takes ownership of 2 or more key stages of its supply chain.

Block-booking – An act or instance of reserving a large number of tickets, seats, etc.

3) Why and when did the original studio system collapse?

It ended when Block-Booking was banned in court on may 4th 1948. Causing the five major studios to take devastating blows.

4) What was happening in America(and around the world) at this time?

Due to the events of the Wall street crash in 1929, this led onto the ‘Great Depression’ where money lost most of its value. The film industry was effected as movie attendance and industry revenues had fallen by 40% by 1933.

Aditionally America was at War with Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan, as a result numerous films to raise money for the war effort were made.

1. MGM, Warner bros, Paramount, Fox, RKO
2. vertical integration: when a company controls different stages of the supply chain. block booking: selling multiple movies at once to a theatre at once.

1. Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), RKO, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., and Paramount Pictures.
2. Vertical integration enabled studios to achieve control over the entire film industry and this studio system (from the 1930s to the1950s) affected the way films were made and the way they were watched. Films were made very cheaply during the studio system.Block Booking is three or more presenting organizations coordinating to book an artist or artistic group, making an offer which pools the combined individual offers of the “block” and offering performances along a route and in a timeframe beneficial to the artist.
3. The Justice Department won the first round of the fight in 1930, when the Supreme Court ruled that the movies studios were monopolies. A key finding was that the process of “block booking” was illegal. In block booking, studios forced theaters to buy films as a group well in advance, and often without seeing them.
4. During the 1930s, the entire film industry transformed and “Hollywood” became synonymous with big studio pictures and became the standard for movies around the world. Films became cheaper to produce as studios vertically integrated the production process, which allowed the price of film attendance to go down

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1. better filming locations and year round good weather meaning they could film at any time and as a diverse area to film in and provided some good locations
2. some famous stars from the silent era were greta garbo, charlie chaplin, and freddie rowland.
3. the studios would own everything, and force hard labour
4. october 6th 1927
5. many actors voices didn’t fit their onscreen character, or were heavily accented
6. the great depression

1. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Bros, Paramount, Fox, RKO
2. the business arrangement in which a company controls different stages along the supply chain
3. 1960s, because of
4. ww2

invisible storytelling is editing to transmit the plot without focusing on it

combining related shots to make a seamless consistent narrative

Why did film makers and producers move to Hollywood?

The movie industry thrived in Hollywood because of the consistent climate for shooting and the filmmakers couldn’t be sued and could escape fees set by Thomas Edison who owned many patents on the movie making process.

Name some of the big stars, directors and pictures from the Silent Era of Hollywood.

Big stars – Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton

Directors – Tod Browning, Lois Weber

Pictures – The Road to Ruin, The Penalty

In what ways was the early Hollywood studio system like a factory or production line?

The studios owned every aspect of production (vertical integration) which meant they could control what they were doing.

When and what was the first ‘talking picture’?

The first feature film originally presented as a ‘talkie’ was The Jazz Singer, premiered October 6, 1927. It was made with Vitaphone.

Why did the end of the silent era cause problems for some performers working in the film industry?

Actors had to memorise their lines ahead of time and directors could no longer vocally direct actors while filming, since the microphones would pick up the sound.

What was happening in America (and around the world) at this time?

The stock market collapsed (the wall street crash) which started the great depression leading to hyperinflation and loss of jobs. In the film industry, the great depression caused many more people to go see films at the cinema to get away from the everyday life.