1. Why did film makers and producers move to Hollywood? Hollywood is known for its consistent climate, therefore making it easier to schedule filming – also to escape fees from Tomas Edison (who owned many patents on the movie-making process).
2. Name some of the big stars, directors and pictures from the Silent Era of Hollywood? Clara Bow (from New York), Buster Keaton (from Kansas), King Vidor (from Texas), Charlie Chaplin (from London), Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror(F.W. Murnau), The Last Laugh (F.W. Murnau).
3. In what ways were the early Hollywood studio system like a factory or production line or even the Premier League? The early Hollywood studio system was able to loan out their actors to other companies, just like how football clubs can loan out their players to other clubs.
4. When and what was the first “talking picture”? On October 6th, 1927 called “The Jazz Singer”.
5. Why did the end of the silent era cause problems for some performers working in the film industry? Some actors didn’t have the right kind of voice for talkies, therefore making them disposable.
6. What was happening in America (and around the world) at this time? WW1 1914-1918, The Great Depression, The Wall street 1929, The Roaring 20s. All of these events contributed to the uprise in romance, mystery and comedy pictures, given that society sought out escapism from the real world.

Censorship

Hays Code

They were a set of guidelines introduced to the industry in 1934 and enforced until 1968. It prohibited studios from distributing films showing realistic violence, nudity, sex, prolonged kissing, and profanity.

The Hays Code was a way to maintain morality in Hollywood – especially for Americans. There were concerns about women, children, and lower-class citizens being susceptible to bad influences in film.

The Hollywood Studio System (1930-1947)

1. What were the 5 big studios and what movies was each famous for? Paramount Picture: Shanghai Express – 1932, MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer): The Wizard of Oz – 1939, RKO: King Kong – 1933, 20th Century Fox: The Grapes of Wrath – 1940, Warner Bros: The Public Enemy – 1931.
2. Explain what vertical integration and block-booking was? Vertical integration is when a company takes ownership of two or more stages of its supply chain; in the film industry, this was when studios owned the cinemas which screened their films, having a direct link to the distribution of pictures. Block-booking was a system of selling multiple films as a unit, sequentially providing the cinemas a large portion of the revenues – which is actually giving the studios themselves the revenue, given that providers and distributors were vertically integrated.
3. Why and when did the original studio system collapse? By 1948, the original studio system had collapsed, losing their monopoly power within the industry, on May 4th 1948, the Supreme Court found that the studios had violated anti-trust laws.
4. What was happening in America (and around the world) at this time? The Great Depression, WW2, beginning of the Cold War.
5. What genres of movies were popular and why did people go to the movies in this time period? Gangster, Romance, Mystery, Comedy, Western, Musicals, cartoon animations. People went to the movies to escape the bleak reality of the world they were living in.