72 Cards in this Set
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
|
Classic Hollywood style emerged partly as a result of...
|
The studio system (1925) and the conversion to sound (1930). It was so successful that it brought about The Golden Age.
|
|
The studios resisted the conversion to sound because...
|
it was too unpredictable and expensive.
|
|
"The Jazz Singer"
|
(1927) Was not the first talkie, but the first film to use synchronized sound as a means of telling a story.
|
|
"un-sound" aesthetics
|
Early recording techniques led to stilted/less fluid shot composition and blocking. The "physical" films (comedy, westerns, etc.) made the transition more easily.
|
|
Silent stars into sound...
|
Many stars did not make it. Chaplin made silent films well into the sound era ("City Lights" 1931, "Modern Times" 1936)
|
|
Animation
|
Emerged as a new form of comedy. ("Steam Boat Willie", Walt Disney, 1928)
|
|
Screwball Comedy
|
-Romance about a mismatched couple (class position) -They don't like each other at the beginning -One (or both) will lie/misrepresent themselves -Series of twists and reversals ("It Happened One Night", Capra, 1934)
|
|
The Studio System "Majors"
|
MGM, Paramount, Fox, RKO, Warner Bros.
|
|
The Studio System "Minors"
|
Universal, Columbia, United Artists. They didn't own theater chains.
|
|
Studio system kept economic control by...
|
-Vertical integration -Block-booking -The contract system -Departmentalized factory-style mode of production
|
|
The Classic Hollywood Style (7)
|
1. Emphasis on invisible technique 2. 'Ready-made reality' 3. Emphasizes the extraordinary 4. Recognizable stock characters 5. Reliance on predictable/formulaic plots 6. 3-Act Structure 7. "Something for everyone" approach that resulted in safe mediocrity (shallow stories)
|
|
Stock characters
|
- Rugged individualist hero
-damsel in distress
strong-willed but ultimately vulnerable female love interest
-comic relief side-kick
-ruthless, greedy, vengeful villian
|
|
3-Act Structure
|
Act 1: first 25%, the set-up. Major characters and conflicts are introduced
Act 2: middle 50%, complications. hero starts his journey towards the task
Act 3: last 25%, resolution. Hero completes the task
|
|
The Great Depression
|
Did not seriously impact the film industry until about 1933.
|
|
Theaters responded to the Great Depression with...
|
1. Double/triple features
2. Concession stands and for the first time popcorn
3. Giveaways: “Bank night” and dishes, etc.
|
|
The Hollywood Production Code:
|
A list of rules about what movies should NOT contain.
|
|
Hollywood production code dates:
|
-1930: the Code is formally written but not enforced.
-1933: the Catholic Legion of Decency threatens a boycott
-1934: Joe Breen goes to work in the "Hay's office"/MPPDA as head of the new PCA (Production code administration)
-Starting in 1934: Producers submit scripts to the PCA befor…
|
|
Self-regulation history
|
-1908: national board of censorship (later 'review')
-1922: MPPDA/ "Hay's office"
-1930: PCA is formed, the code is writen
-1934: the Code is enforced
|
|
Pre-code Cinema
|
(1930-1934) Producers deliberately break the rules of the code; especially sexually-liberated women portrayal.
|
|
The Payne Fund Studies
|
Commissioned in 1925
Designed to determine the negative effect of movies on children.
conducted by psychologists & sociologists
completed between 1933-35
|
|
Was "the code" censorship?
|
No, it wasn't enforced by the government. It was industry initiated, and films that violated the code could still be made, but not shown in studio-owned theaters.
|
|
Chilling Effect
|
People afraid to do/ say something bc censored.
|
|
Film cycles
|
Studios saw pattern w/ what worked and kept doing it. Every studio made every genre of film, but some studios became knows for certain genres.
|
|
Film studio genres:
|
-Horror (Universal)
-Gangster (Warner bros)
-Historical/adventure (20th Century Fox)
-Musicals (MGM, Warner Bros)
|
|
Why was the age "golden"?(6)
|
1. movie palaces
2. new comedy stars
3. Disney emerges
4. Some of the all time greatest movie stars emerged
5. Some of the all time classic films were made
6. Craftsman and auteur directors
|
|
Classic films from the Golden Age
|
1. "Wizard of Oz"- Fleming 1939
2. "Gone with the Wind"-Fleming 1939
3. "Citizen Kane"- Welles 1941
4. "Casablanca"- Cutriz 1942
|
|
Craftsman and Auteur directors of the golden age
|
1. Frank Capra ("It's a Wonderful Life" 1946)- craftsman
2. Alfred Hitchcock more than 40 films 1930-1965- auteur
3. John Ford more than 70 films 1930-1965
Hitchcock & Ford used Subtext
|
|
Subtext
|
suggestion without saying. Ex: "Stagecoach" by Ford, 1939
|
|
Film Noir 1940s-50s
|
Crime stories based on pulp novels. Borrowed German Expressionism techniques. Brought about by post WWII cynicism.
|
|
Film noir style
|
-exaggerated light and shadow
-graphical geometrical design
-low and tilted angles
-snappy cool dialogue
-sometimes confessional voice over
-modern urban setting
-convoluted crime plot
|
|
Film Noir THEMES
|
1. -fate/fatalism
2. -entrapment/betrayal
3. -corruption (of innocence and/or personal values)
|
|
Femme Fatal
|
-typically a woman who sets the trap
-seemingly innocent
-usually married
-something about her the antihero doesn't trust
|
|
Anti-hero protaganist
|
Main character, not the villain, who does bad things
|
|
Neo-film noir
|
-"new" film noir
-"Body Heat" 1981
-"Blood Simple" 1984
-"LA Confidential" 1997
|
|
Twisted film noir
|
-put a spin on film noir
-"Blade Runner" 1982
-"Blue Velvet" 1986
-"Angel Heart" 1987
-"Bound" 1996
-"Big Lebowski" 1998
-"Memento" 2000
|
|
The rise in popularity in film noir refects...
|
1. A subtle shift from the optimism of the CHS to a growing cynicism of post-WWII American culture
2. Changes in the film industry
|
|
Four Threats to Film Industry
|
-Television
-Paramount Case (supreme court case that banned vertical integration, 1948)
-Suburbanization (worst threat!)
-Red Scare
|
|
HUAC (House of Un-American Activities Committee)
|
Those who couldn't testify were black-listed or imprisoned.
|
|
Responses to the threats to the film industry 1950
|
1. 3-D Horror, sci-fi, and thrillers
2. Wide screens
3. Almost total conversion to color
4. Drive-ins 1948: 820 1958: 4063 (most important; targeted teens)
|
|
Films during the transitional period to wide-screen color etc.
|
1. Big budget blockbusters
2. Adaptations of proven commodities- best selling novels and Broadway Musicals.
3. The birth of art film and foreign imports- french and Italian scored w/ U.S. audiences.
4. Broading stars and social issues
|
|
Big budget blockbusters
|
Often religious and historical epics done in widescreen formats. Ex: "The Ten Commandments" (1956), "Cleopatra" (1963) FLOP.
|
|
Adaptations of proven commodities
|
Best selling novels and broadway musicals. Ex. "West Side Story" (1961), "Singing in the Rain" (1952), "Hello Dolly" (huge flop!)
|
|
Birth of art films and foreign imports
|
Many of the French and Italian films scored with US audiences, especially in repertory or art theaters.
|
|
Brooding Stars and Social Issues
|
-"Blackboard Jungle" scary urban schools
-James Dean = angsty teens
-Marlon Brando
-Marks a trend in troubled youth films
|
|
Independent / Exploitation cinema
|
-Independent producers targeting teens
-Cold war fear of the atomic bomb
-scientific advances and things like the Roswell incident (1947) all helped spur a fascination with horror and sci-fi films
|
|
Examples of exploitation cinema
|
1. "The Day the Earth Stood Still" 1951
2. "War of the Worlds" 1953
3. "Forbidden Planet" 1956
-posters did not show accurate depiction of the films
-films emphasize sensationalism and titillation over quality.
|
|
Roger Corman
|
-he made the good ones
Ex:
"Attack of the Crab Monsters" (1957)
"A Bucket of Blood" (1959)
"The Little Shop of Horrors" (1960)
"House of Usher" (1960)
"The Pit and the Pendulum" (1961)
|
|
Edward D. Wood Jr. (Ed Wood)
|
-He made the bad ones
Ex:
"Glen or Glenda" (1953)
"Plan 9 From Outer Space" (1959)
|
|
Cautionary tales
|
Warnings about the atomic bomb and other scientific dangers.
Creature features.
|
|
Red Scare Allegories
|
fears of communist takeover with "communist" aliens
-attempting to overcome rugged American individualists
-most films simply exploited fears and fascinations = cheap thrills
Ex: "The Thing from Another World" (1951)
"Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956)
|
|
William Castle
|
"King of the Gimmick".
"House on a Haunted Hill"1959
Skeleton flying, shock seat rig, ghost viewer, climax caution
targeted teenagers
|
|
The Key Phrase of post WWII American Cinema
|
Fragmentation
|
|
Fragmentation
|
-studio vertical integration broke up
-stars producers and directors became free agents
-more independent film makers
-genres splitting; no more "something for everyone"
-theaters change from one screen, to drive-ins and multiplexes
|
|
Current Day Exploitation Films
|
Troma Entertainmentfound by Lloyd Kaufman 1974 low budget Horror, nude, very violent.
|
|
4 Big differences between European films and US studio films
|
1. originality 2. emphasis on theme or psychological issues 3. geared towards and products of "intellectual culture" not "popular culture" 4. the just looked different
|
|
Characteristics of Euro Film: Emphasis on theme or psychological issues
|
-concerned w/political and philosophical issues -investigations of human nature/choices in time of crisis -American = plot driven -European = character driven -unresolved endings
|
|
Vignettes
|
observations of everyday problems characters face (food, shelter, relationships, etc) no ending
|
|
Post-WWII European filmmakers embraced modernism:
|
1. make it new 2. what is real?- exploring perception 3. creating with fragmentation
|
|
Stylistic characteristics of post-WWII European films
|
1. real people, not glamorous actors 2. real locations, not studio sound stages 3. real human issues, not contrived plot devices 4. hand held cameras 5. montage or editing that breaks continuity
|
|
Neo-realism
|
conflict between the contemporary common man and the immense social economic political forces that determined his existence. real sets, real ppl
|
|
"The Bicycle Thief"
|
Vittorio De Sica (1948) best known neo-realism film of the period
|
|
Roberto Rossellini
|
"Rome, Open City" (1945) "Paisan" (1946) "Germany, Year Zero" (1948)
|
|
Federico Fellini
|
-mixing nostalgia -surrealistic fantasies -experimental technique ...Made him extremely influential. Ex: "La Strada" (1954) "Nights of Cabiria" (1957) "La Dolca Vita" (1960) "8 1/2" (1963)
|
|
French New Wave
|
Goal: to be an intellectual experience not just entertainment.
Created by critics who became filmmakers.
draw attention to itself; low budget, shot on location, natural light & sound, angle, camera movement zoom lens, jump-cuts.
|
|
Cahiers du Cinema
|
French film criticism journal
|
|
Metanarrative
|
Characters breaking 4th wall; addressing audience and stepping out of character
|
|
Main contributors/films for French New Wave cinema
|
1. Francois Truffaut- "The 400 Blows" (1959)
2. Alain Resnais- "Hiroshima, Mon Amour" (1959)
3. Jean-Luc Godard- "Breathless" (1960)
|
|
Adventures of Robin Hood
|
1937-1938
Michael Curtz & William Keighley
|
|
Strangers on a Train
|
Alfred Hitchcock 1941
|
|
Citizen Kane
|
Orson Welles 1941
|
|
"Them!"
|
Gordon Douglas 1954
|
|
Breathless
|
Jean-Luc Godard 1960
|
Chapter 1