Filmmaking in the United States was run like the mafia early on. There were five main studios controlling everything in Hollywood and actors were at the mercy of the owners similar to a Godfather being in control of his mob. The Hollywood studio system was the machine, which propelled film into the medium we know today. This assembly line system controlled all the rights of a film from start to finish. Actors were purchased and traded like sports athletes or even slaves. Actors had no direction as to where their careers were headed. They simply clocked in for work everyday and listened to the director and Studio CEO. Actors played the parts, which they were told to play in order to continue receiving a paycheck. Screenwriters were in the same …show more content…
Paramount Pictures, INC. This Supreme Court decision outlawed block booking which was a common practice in Hollywood specifically by the “Big Five” studios (Paramount, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Bros., Twentieth Century Fox, and RKO Radio Pictures) in which they purchased numerous seats in theaters to drive up ticket prices and overall sales. The decision forced these major studios to sell their theater chains, which in turn allowed for smaller independent film companies to rise and gain profit shares. The Hollywood Studio System was heavily impacted by this decision because studios now had to be selective as to which projects they produced and disseminated to the public. The studios could no longer sustain making multiple films at a time because they lost their guaranteed platform. The studios no longer controlled the theaters where films were being shown causing their monopoly to be over. The decision caused an industry to change and shuffled in a new era of …show more content…
They needed a sure win at the box office. Essential workers also saw the winds changing in Hollywood, which caused unions to be created, and independence for many. Actors benefited the most from the decision because studios no longer could sustain their contracts. Actors, directors, and screenwriters were allowed to test the market and freelance. United States vs. Paramount Pictures INC. allowed for the emergence of the “Little Three” film studios (Universal, Colombia Pictures, and United Arts). As previously mentioned these smaller studios were now able to flourish and present different products to the masses. New artist and directors emerged and American film ushered in a new era with different perspectives, attractions and
However, after the dust settled, it was widely accepted that the blacklist was unjust, which enabled many film workers to pursue the movie studios in civil courts through the 1950’s for unpaid contracts and wages (Lewis, 2008). While the studios were initially impacted by the Paramount decision, the breadth of competition and independent successes of smaller studios gave rise to the advancement of innovative filmmaking that may not have been possible if it were not for the Paramount decision. Filmmaking is one of the riskiest and most profitable ventures in modern day society, and without these events, the studios and the film workers may not share the successes that they do
Movies today are extremely expensive to make and are typically financed through either film studio contracts or from investors willing to take a risk. In order to be successful, movies need to be marketed and distributed either under contract by the film studios or by companies that specialize in such services. The aspects of financing, marketing and distribution of films have changed between the studio and independent systems over the years as the evolution of the film industry took place.
Similar to businesses standardizing in making and advertising consumers goods, the practice of mass-producing culture standardized and sped up in the 1920s. Radio became a national obsession. What started out as only a few independent stations soon evolved into huge networks and sponsored programming became popular. Movies during this time became accepted by all social classes with the expansion from rowdy nickelodeons to uptown theaters. With audiences nearing 80 million people a week, the corporate giants Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Brothers, and Columbia made the ...
...ny other groups tried to conduct boycotts or general protests, however the WTCU and the Legion of Decency conducted boycotts that caught the attention of William Hays, and forced him to alter the ways of cinema. The Production Code offers insight into the situation of society during the Great Depression and the values that Americans upheld, even in a time of crisis. Both establishments pushed for a change that they wanted to see in society, because the society that they saw was one of many immoral ideas and actions. Since films at this time were the main focus of entertainment, and entertainment was the main focus of society, they believed that the film industry was the place to start the alterations. As noted, both the Catholic Church and the WTCU were the leading influences in altering Hollywood, and therefore they altered society during the Great Depression era.
The roaring twenties would be nothing without the roar of the MGM Lion. “If Hollywood had no other studio than Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the town still would have been the movie capital of the world” (Fricke para 1). MGM enchanted audiences with its high-budgeted films and glamorous list of stars (Hanson para 1). Three failing movie companies came together in 1924 in hopes to make it big in the motion picture industry, and it did (Fricke para 3). Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer created spectacles of movies after its merging which made MGM one of the most prosperous motion picture companies in the 1920’s (Hanson para 2).
The change in the U.S. can be said to be a social revolution. People were growing sick of the same old movies, they wanted a change and Hollywood needed to deliver or else they would lose their audience to the TV. In the early 60's, the studios were still afraid of the blacklisting so the films were still very safe. An example of this is the film Sound of Music (1965). This was a film about a musical family that needed to escape the Nazi presence. Although the movie is based on a true story, they still follow the same old idea of a nice family, who must escape from the clutches of evil. Basically, the movie is saying good guys win and bad guys always lose. Sure this how most films are made but there is no sense of change, no differences in the style or way it was made. Since there was no change, the public was not interested. The TV was much more convenient and kept the publics interested.
... middle of paper ... ... Larry Ceplair and Englund stated in the book The Inquisition in Hollywood, “The destruction of the motion picture Left not only transformed the political atmosphere in Hollywood, but also adversely affected the kind of product which the studios turned out. “ In the early 20th century Hollywood reframed from producing politically controversial films in fear of becoming a target of McCarthy or the HUAC.
In fact, 1946 is one of Hollywood’s most successful years. This was due to the massive influx of people returning from World War II, that had ended in 1945. There was a shift from manufacturing items needed for the war towards common household items. During this time period, the Great Depression and wartime air were slowly fading out (Quart and Auster 17). “The film industry changed radically after World War II, and this change altered the style and content of the films made in Hollywood” (“Post-War Hollywood”). Filmmakers started entertaining the technique of using more color and sound in their films to attract more people. At the time, American films embodied the themes of victory and national triumph. Within a time span of two years, 1942-1944, Hollywood produced 440 films in total (Quart and Auster 17). Although there was a positive boom of Hollywood and films, there would be a time of decline that followed
Largely influenced by the French New Wave and other international film movements, many American filmmakers in the late 1960s to 1970s sought to revolutionize Hollywood cinema in a similar way. The New Hollywood movement, also referred to as the “American New Wave” and the “Hollywood Renaissance,” defied traditional Hollywood standards and practices in countless ways, creating a more innovative and artistic style of filmmaking. Due to the advent and popularity of television, significant decrease in movie theater attendance, rising production costs, and changing tastes of American audiences, particularly in the younger generation, Hollywood studios were in a state of financial disaster. Many studios thus hired a host of young filmmakers to revitalize the business, and let them experiment and have almost complete creative control over their films. In addition, the abandonment of the restrictive Motion Picture Production Code in 1967 and the subsequent adoption of the MPAA’s rating system in 1968 opened the door to an era of increased artistic freedom and expression.
The Studio System Key point about the studio system could be: Despite being one of the biggest industries in the United States, indeed the World, the internal workings of the 'dream factory' that is Hollywood is little understood outside the business. The Hollywood Studio System: A History is the first book to describe and analyse the complete development, classic operation, and reinvention of the global corporate entities which produce and distribute most of the films we watch. Starting in 1920, Adolph Zukor, head of Paramount Pictures, over the decade of the 1920s helped to fashion Hollywood into a vertically integrated system, a set of economic innovations which was firmly in place by 1930.
Although the film industry first began in New York, Hollywood caught the attention of producers because of its various locations for shooting films and ideal weather for year-round production. The climate and scenery were not the only reasons filmmakers moved to Hollywood. Thomas Edison, along with other individuals, owned patents over the process of filmmaking, and moving to Hollywood was used by producers as a way to avoid lawsuits (Digital History, 2/12/11).
Thompson, K 2003, ‘The struggle for the expanding american film industry’, in Film history : an introduction, 2nd ed, McGraw-Hill, Boston, pp. 37-54
Sunset Boulevard directed by Billy Wilder in 1950 is based on how Norma Desmond, a huge Hollywood star, deals with her fall from fame. The film explores the fantasy world in which Norma is living in and the complex relationship between her and small time writer Joe Gillis, which leads to his death. Sunset Boulevard is seen as lifting the ‘face’ of the Hollywood Studio System to reveal the truth behind the organisation. During the time the film was released in the 1950s and 60s, audiences started to see the demise of Hollywood as cinema going began to decline and the fierce competition of television almost proved too much for the well established system. Throughout this essay I will discuss how Sunset Boulevard represents the Hollywood Studio System, as well as exploring post war literature giving reasons as to why the system began to crumble.
The ‘New Hollywood Cinema’ era came about from around the 1960’s when cinema and film making began to change. Big film studios were going out of their comfort zone to produce different, creative and artistic movies. At the time, it was all the public wanted to see. People were astonished at the way these films were put together, the narration, the editing, the shots, and everything in between. No more were the films in similar arrangement and structure. The ‘New Hollywood era’ took the classic Hollywood period and turned it around so that rules were broken and people left stunned.
The American motion picture studio was formed in 1912 by Carl Laemmle who was a film exhibitor, and producer. The studio started off creating low budget films, until it was purchased by the Music Corporation of America, which formed it into the most profitable and largest company for films and television in the world.