Chinatown and China City get together and have a Moon FestivalHow Film Forges National MythsThe Grove – idealized movie set version of a non-Los Angeles, a lot like downtown DisneyBack and fprth between literally Hollywood sets and actual cities – sets not only take up city space but they also start to dictate how we build citiesWhat is the difference between a national myth and propaganda?Stories that collectively take as common culturePropaganda: when the government controls the means of creating and distributing messages and opposition is illegalIdeology and propaganda are differentEverything with a point of view is not propagandaFilming the warRecordAs informationFor propaganda“to propagate” – to spreadWhy We Fight SeriesUsed to explain the war to potential troopsRecruited Frank Capra to film in the US (internal propaganda)Compilation footage and re-useOpen debates about the power and impact of films againSeven Feature length filmsDoes the context change the meaning?American PropagandaInitially shown only to the troops because they actually violated Hollywood’s code of racismEventually seen by 54 million AmericansBugs Bunny Nips the NipsNips = Japanese slurConstant use of faux JapaneseBlind faith to the emperorHari Kari – people killing themselves for disservicePrivate Snafu (Situation, Normal, All, Fucked, Up)Soldiers keep your mouth shutDon’t drinkWomen are the most dangerous spies out thereAnyone could be a spyIf you let anything slip you’re going to hellOffensive racial stereotypesIronic that the newsstand is portrayed as morally negativeFilming the war itselfSending cameras to the fieldLondon at the venter of development and distributionField Photo BranchJohn Ford was a naval reserve, designed this unit to intervene if need be; a few weeks before Pearl Harbor, Ford announces he has already 60 men at the readyDocument but also provide informationWorked for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS  becomes the CIA)Hand-picked major techniciansCross-trained them in areas they did not knowLearned to shoot and develop film in the fieldWriters, directors, actors, mostly- electricians, cutters, carpenters etcBattle of Mid-way, June 4-7, 1942Americans figure out that the Japanese were preparing a huge “strategic” battle thereFord, stationed in Hawaii heads out with a 21-year-old cameramanFord ends up shooting pictures from one of the battle’s major targets – the powerhouseNo studio recreationsNo reportage and no broad perspective battleAir battle depicted is not even really the key aspect of the overall battle; real images but that distorted representationMiddle-browEarnest aspiration: alliance of the democratic culture for everyoneWith elitism: culture can make you betterBridge Period toCulture of sophisticated entertainmentWhat Louis Menand called popular with a bit of browIgnored divide between art and commerceSchwartz ArgumentHollywood did not simply reflect those changes in films like Bonnie and ClydeTHROUGH middle brow culture: perhaps this singularly American idea od culture emerged from the crisis of the 1950’s in the movies by America’s relation to the world after the warVisual HistoryHistorians’ focus on the nation has occluded how film actually worksWith film, both production and reception are local and global but rarely simply “national”What does it mean to represent a nation in film?How and why did a French movie star “conquer” America?Is this about “art-house” cinema?Special relation of France to AmericaSomething About FranceBack to Revolution and LafayetteNot too many are immigrants to America: remains a fantasy worldFirst place where art and commerce come togetherProliferation of Frenchness filmsWhat are they about and are they American movies about Frenchman in a simple way?Authenticity and Location ShootsDecline of the studiosDollars in EuropeTravel abroad after the war (Tourism: Funny Face)A Style that Could be MarketedRecreation of a world of the pastThrough its visual culture – certain artists, especially ToulouseHeritage FilmsFrance as a birthplace for “film culture”Post-WarInitial boom: film-going peaked in 1948; 90 million a week. By 1960: down 63%Problem of no new technological innovation between 1930 and 1950Only 20% of movies are in colorParamount CaseAntitrust suit forces studios to divest themselves from exhibitionOn the other side, theaters could not expand for legal and financial reasonsBig slump in the movie businessRise of TelevisionOften blamed for the decline of moviesBut the biggest decline from 1949-50 (from 90 to 60 million) is too early for TV to be solely at faultRise of youth and participatory recreationTV a simpler and more accessible form of passive entertainmentOther social changesThe car (new sales from 69,500 in 1945 to 5.1 million in 1949)SuburbsThis takes people away from the movies (and downtowns more generally)Introduce new technologyHollywood’s ResponseWhat did movies have that Tv didn’t?A wide screenA wide screenSpectacle films: amp up visuals, sound and location shootingDrive-ins554 in 1947 to 4700 in 1958Widescreen and 3DThis is cinema: 1952:3 cameras to film wide panoramic vistas; roller coaster imagesOn a deeply curved screen, three projectors and you get approximate human visionEnhancing illusion of depthCineramaTrying to create the immersive experience that you can’t get on your TVCinemascope and Todd-AOUse an anamorphic to squeeze a cinema like image with a wide angle view on a standard 35mm strip of filAdded stereo magnetic sound64 x 24 curved screenThe Robe in 1953Every film since has been shot in a widescreen formatFilms Get BiggerEpics: lavish, cast of thousands (good for the historical film especially), Show Chariot Race from Ben HurRoadshowsSpecial reserved screeningsProgram booksNo popcorn at ATWIEDNot movies, but showsMike Todd: Around the World in 80 Days – in show business, not movie businessTheatricality of the SpectacleSee opening of the 10 commandmentsRed HollywoodPower, hysteria, and show business in Cold War AmericaJ. Edgar HooverThe communist party of the United States is a fifth column if there ever was one… their goal is to overthrow the government… the best antidote to communism is vigorous, intelligent, old-fashioned Americanism with eternal vigilanceThe House Committee for Un-American Affairs (HUAC)First established in 1937 to uncover both fascist and communist activity in the USFirst Chairman Martin Dies (D. TX)Lasted until 1975Created