COMM 121 1st Edition Lecture 10Last Lecture Note Outline:I. 4 Stages in the development of movies in the USII. Introducing the time periodIII. Movies as working class cultureIV. New institutions of urban creationV. NickelodeonsVI. Mary Jane’s MishapVII. Why nickelodeons were so popularVIII. A parallel historyIX. Movies as mass cultureX. The “independents” emergeCurrent Lecture Note Outline:I. 4 Stages in the development of movies in the USII. Stage 3: Movies in the age of television (third of the four stages)III. Industry tries to turn the trends aroundIV. Discussion about target audienceV. Stage 4: Integrated media and “hypercommercialism”VI. “Hypercommercialism”Audience development since the 1970s and Hollywood hypercommercialism (Conclusion of last lecture on the second time period: Movies and their combined audiences now formed urban mass culture, not urban class culture)I. 4 Stages in the development of movies in the US:(1) 1890s-1915: working class culture(2) 1915-1945: mass or popular culture(3) 1945-late 1980s: yielding on TV(4) 1990s: integrated media and “hyper commercialism”II. (3) Stage 3: Movies in the age of television• Peak theatrical attendance: 1946• The decline:The rise of TV: 1950-60 TV set “saturation” increases 400% while movie attendance decreases 50%The arrival of television is not the only reason for the decline in cinema goers…• Post-war population shift to the suburbs (where people live but do not work); little cinema development thereThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.• The populations are not concentrated enough for a movie palace to pay off in a small suburb and this caused the small amount of cinema development• 1946 Consent (or anti-trust) Decree: studious could no longer produce, distribute and exhibit. Required to divest their exhibition interests (i.e. end “vertical integration”• Diminishes studio investment in theatre developmentIII. Industry tries to turn the trend around• Gimmicks: wide screen, 3-D• 1960’s: sex and violence sell – new sexual and violent content not available on TV• Still, attendance levels off• Survival strategies?• Demographics: cultivate young viewers with film content (this strategy still has not gone away, movies offer an opportunity for dating that television doesn’t offer, something for young people to do that the majority of elders aren’t interested in.)• Quote sheet #7 on percentages of each grade making up movie goers in 1979 – 12 to 15 year olds are the most represented (the older the age you look at, the smaller % of movie goers)IV. Discussion (about ideal viewers/target audience)• Why young viewers? (Because it has a draw to their specific interest)• Why male characters?- Clip: Meryl Streep on male audiences and female leads (on Moodle) 16:00• The question is posed: Why can’t male viewers identify with female characters that aren’t power houses/protagonists?- To identify with an emotional/antagonist female would be a loss of gender status by the standards of our culture for males. (From the viewpoint of the media industry on heterosexual males)V. (4) Stage 4: Integrated media and “hypercommercialism”• This time period began in the 1990s• Studios make television, then video and DVD rental and purchase, a major market for movies• Now streaming – home screens are getting bigger• Those markets now dictate productionVI.“Hypercommercialism”Making movies for marketers video (on Moodle):14:33• Spaceballs (1987) and Breakfast at Tiffanys (1940s)• Product placement, we live in a commercial society so if you create a fictional story stores and brands must be involved. It has become nearly impossible to create a Hollywood movie separate from marketing due to the society we live in today.• Three strategies: cross promotion, merchandizing, tie ins• Cross promotion: a deal in which a product is placed in a particular movie and the product is mentioned• Merchandizing: making mugs, t-shirts, etc. for the movie and often times brings in moremoney than ticket sales.Inspector Gadget, Toy Story created with merchandizing (toys) in mind before even creating the film. All of the plush toys available at Jurassic Park• Tie-ins:an already existent arrangements made with business companies and movie producers before a film is actually made, to create “merchandisable” characters/story lines to tie in to a movie in some way.Came about in the late 1990s when the Disney McDonalds made the deal of McDonalds creating all Disney movie characters for happy