The Birth of Hollywood (1900-1930)
1.) Why did film makers and producers move to Hollywood?
The mountains, plains, consistent climate and low land prices made Hollywood the ideal place to open film studios
2.) Name some of the big stars, directors and pictures from the Silent Era of Hollywood.
Big stars – Charlie Chaplin (English) and Harold Lloyd (American)
Directors – D.W. Griffith (American) and King Vidor (American)
Films – The Gold Rush and The General
3.) In what ways were the early Hollywood studio system like a factory or production line, or even the Premier League?
Stars, writers, directors and crew all worked under long-term contracts. Similar to football players, actors were the properties of the studio, with their contacts conditional based on their performance and whether a scandal came up.
4.) When and what was the first ‘talking picture’?
The first feature film that was originally a talking picture or ‘talkie’ was The Jazz Singer, which premiered on the 6th of October 1927.
5.) Why did the end of the silent era cause problems for some performers working in the film industry?
After the era of talkies premiered, silent films became obsolete and some performers were inexperienced in acting with their voice in the new medium.
6.) What was happening in America at this time?
The First World War (1914-1918), Jim Crow laws (extreme racism), Wall Street Crash (1929) and the Great Depression, The Dust Bowl
Censorship:
The Hays Code was a set of industry guidelines that censored content that was applied to most motion pictures. It applied rigid moral guidelines and rules that were meant to make pictures “presentable” and “safe”.
Some of the rules included:
- Keeping Catholic and family values
- No sexually explicit content
- Good guys always win, bad guys always lose
- Nothing that promotes “bad values” or “perversion”
- No swearing and saying offensive things
The Hollywood Studio System (The Golden Age of Hollywood)
1.) What were the Big 5 studios and what type of movies was each studio famous for
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM): Gone With The Wind, Wizard of Oz
Paramount: Morocco, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
RKO: King Kong, Citizen Kane
20th Century Fox: Les Misérables, Rawhide
Warner Bros.: Casablanca, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
2.) Explain what vertical integration and block-booking was.
Vertical integration allows companies to reduce overhead costs and improve efficiencies in manufacturing and distribution by combining one company of two or more stages of production that are normally operated by separate companies.
Block-booking is a system of selling multiple films to a theatre as a unit, typically including unwanted or inferior films. This was outlawed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1948.
3.) Why and when did the original studio system collapse?
The studio system’s decline began in the late 1940s due to the rise of television which increased production costs, as well as societal shifts changing audience’s tastes.
4.) What was happening in America and around the world at this time?
Second World War (1939-45), end of the Great Depression (1939), beginning of the Cold War between Russia (Soviet Union) and America
5.) What genres were popular and why did people go to the movies in this period?
Westerns, slapstick comedies, musicals, dramas
Classical Hollywood Style:
1.) What is meant by the invisible style of storytelling?
Invisible storytelling is referring to when a film is shot and edited so well that the audience does not notice that it has been edited at all to create a completely immersive experience—the ideal style of classical Hollywood and perfected in Casablanca.
2.) What is continuity editing?
Continuity editing is when the story is told in a continuous way—where it is put together in a comprehensive and discernible way. It is also important to consider continuity of the story and to not forget certain details later on.