The Birth of Hollywood (1900 – 1930)

1. Film makers and producers moved to Hollywood because the mountains, plains and low land prices made Hollywood a good place to establish film studios.

2. Some of the big stars, directors and pictures from the Silent Era of Hollywood are: – Charlie Chaplin (actor/director), born in London, United Kingdom – Greta Garbo (actress), born in Stockholm, Sweden – Erich Von Stroheim (director), born in Vienna, Austria – F.W Murnau (director), born in Bielefeld, Germany – The Great Dictator (film) – Metropolis (film)

3. Early Hollywood studios were like production lines as they used to constantly churn out films on a rapid rate, to try and make as much money as possible

4. The first ever ‘talking picture’ was ‘The Jazz Singer'(1927) by Alan Crosland.

5. The end of the silent era caused some actors to leave the industry entirely as their acting standards or the sound of their voices were not up to par with the new era of ‘talkies’, as films with dialogue in were known as.

6. The major historical event that happened during the birth of Hollywood is World War 1, which led to many different ways of film making, such as the impressionistic Germanic style and the Russian propaganda that was extremely intuitive and influential when it came to editing. Another key event during this time period was The Great Depression in 1929, which was a great economic crash for American society, which led to people losing their jobs and livelihoods. This would’ve impacted the films made and also the amount of money films made, as films would’ve been a form of escapism for the people of this time.

The Golden Age of Hollywood (1930 – 1947)

1. The big 5 studios were: – Metro Goldwyn Mayer, who filmed big blockbuster films with large budgets. – RKO, who filmed a wide variety of films, such as the original ‘King Kong’ and the highly innovative ‘Citizen Kane’, which is regarded as one of the greatest films of all time. – 20th Century Fox, who filmed a lot of historical films and novel adaptations, such as ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ and ‘All About Eve’. – Warner Bros., who filmed some big hits during the Golden Age of Hollywood, such as ‘Little Caesar’ and ‘The Public Enemy’. – Paramount, is the longest operating studio in Hollywood, and is responsible for making films such as Bob Hope and Bing Crosby’s ‘Hope’ series and ‘Going My Way’.

2. Vertical Integration is a business strategy to take ownership of two or more key stages of its operations to cut costs. Block-booking is a system of selling multiple films to a theater as a unit. Block booking was the prevailing practice in the Hollywood studio system from the turn of the 1930s until it was outlawed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. 

3. The original studio system around which the industry had been organized for three decades finally expired in 1954, when Loew’s, the last holdout, severed all operational ties with MGM. The reason that it expired was mainly due to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., as it outlawed these film companies owning cinemas and only showing their own company’s films, instead of films from all companies.

Classical Hollywood Style

1. Invisible storytelling is when the elements of film, editing, acting, costume design, are done so seamlessly and perfectly that the audience doesn’t notice them. This done so the film feels more immersive for the audience. Can also be described as illusionistic, as it is creating a story that the audience feels is actually happening before them and the events unfolding did actually happen.

2. Continuity editing is an editing system used to preserve the consistency of the events that are unfolding throughout the film.

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.

The Birth of Hollywood (1900-1930)

1. Why did film makers and producers move to Hollywood?

Los Angeles became the capital of the film industry in the United States, the vast amount of different terrains made it a good place to shoot.

2. Name some of the big stars, directors and pictures from the silent Era of Hollywood?

Big Stars–

Charlie Chaplin, Clara Bow, Fatty Arbuckle

Directors-

D.W Griffith, Buster Keaton, King Vidor

Pictures–

Gold Rush, The General, City Lights]#

3. In what ways were the early Hollywood studio system like a factory or production line or even the Premier League

In Hollywood, the stars were almost owned by the company’s that they worked for the company’s decided when they worked and for what studio, Actresses and actors didn’t have a large say in what they wanted to do.

4. When and what was the first “talking picture”?

The Jazz Singer which premiered on October 6, 1927.

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

This was due to their unsuitability of their voice or acting abilities with the new medium. A lot of film stars lacked vocal training that was needed.

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

Wall Street Crash 1929 – This meant that a lot of people lost their jobs and savings

WW1 1914-1918 – This stropped production in Hollywood as many people went off for war and money would be low.

The Hollywood Studio System 1930-1947

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

The top five studios were

1. Metro – Goldwyn – Mayer / celebrated for its lavish musicals including Wizard of Oz (1939)
2. Warner Bros. / They became famous due to there films which synchronised sound.
3. Paramount / Created European movies
4. Fox /
5. RK0 / well known for their musicals and well known actors

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

Block booking– Block booking was a system where they would sell multiple films as a package deal or to sell a unit to a theatres.Studios would package unseen pictures with A- Class features meaning that they would be forced to buy numbers of studios low quality films just to get a A- class one.

Vertical Integration – This allowed film studios to control the production process, enabling them to dictate the creative aspects and reduce reliance on external suppliers.

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

On may 4, 1948 finding that the studios had violated anti – trust laws.

4. What was happening in America at this time?

The great depression, Dust bowl and the start of WW2, as a result of these events film became more popular as a way of the working class to escape from the hardships of day to day life.

5. What genres were popular and why did people go to the movies in this period?

Comedies where popular due to the public needing laughter and escapism

Classical Hollywood Style

What is meant by the invisible style of storytelling?

Invisible style is when the story seems natural and not artificially created, the style tries to show the narrative of the story more than the style of editing. In invisible editing it is not clear that there is editing as it feels very natural to the story.

What is continuity editing?

A type of editing which makes the narrative clear by following rules, for example if a actor looked at a painting the next scene would be a shot of the painting. This makes it easy for the viewer to watch and understand the movie.