Classical Hollywood Cinema Classical Hollywood cinema is a character-centered cinema. Its characters are more or less stable, knowable, and psychologically coherent individuals who possess clearly defined, specific goals. Although this cinema is also a plot driven or action cinema, characters stand in the center and interact with them. Over the course of the narrative characters struggle to achieve their goals or solve their problems. They overcome those who stand in their way (villains), triumphs over adverse circumstances (such as physical disabilities, nature or some other force) and /or transcend their own limitations (such as individual fears or weaknesses). The narrative ends with the character's triumph or failure, with the resolution...
Being one of the world’s most popular art forms, it was inevitable that these archetypes would find their way into film as well. In this essay I will argue that the films Pulp Fiction, Taxi Driver, Watership Down, and Trainspotting are all versions of The Hero’s Journey, consequently demonstrating just how prevalent these archetypes have become in modern cinema. And that mythology and storytelling are important parts of each culture because they prevent the darkness in our hearts from spreading.
Beginning the mid 1920s, Hollywood’s ostensibly all-powerful film studios controlled the American film industry, creating a period of film history now recognized as “Classical Hollywood”. Distinguished by a practical, workmanlike, “invisible” method of filmmaking- whose purpose was to demand as little attention to the camera as possible, Classical Hollywood cinema supported undeviating storylines (with the occasional flashback being an exception), an observance of a the three act structure, frontality, and visibly identified goals for the “hero” to work toward and well-defined conflict/story resolution, most commonly illustrated with the employment of the “happy ending”. Studios understood precisely what an audience desired, and accommodated their wants and needs, resulting in films that were generally all the same, starring similar (sometimes the same) actors, crafted in a similar manner. It became the principal style throughout the western world against which all other styles were judged. While there have been some deviations and experiments with the format in the past 50 plus ye...
A Bronx tale is a story of a father who tries to win back the love and pride of his son from a showy neighborhood mob boss. In my opinion this film is the best portrayal of work ethic. Lorenzo, played by Robert DeNiro, plays a father who tries to teach his son that discipline and hard work pay off from working, in the long. His son Calogero, played by Lillo Brancato, is exposed to the life of a mob boss Sonny, played by Chazz Palmenteri,, and doesn’t understand why he should live a life of difficulty when he can have a life of luxury. He tries to explain to his son that the men in the community don’t look up to him, but rather they fear him He also tries to make clear that it’s easy to do what he does, but try waking up every morning and working everyday, that’s a real man.
Breathless is in many ways the antithesis of the classical Hollywood cinema; the changes have a direct effect on the relationship the film has with the viewer. Classical Hollywood cinema includes standards such as continuity editing, highly motivated, character-driven stories and a coherent narrative structure. Breathless defies these elements of traditional filmmaking, instead defining what we know as French New Wave.
Classical Hollywood Cinema is a chain of events that has a cause – effect relationship within a time and space. The environment looks realistic and believable to the viewers because the style is predictable, and the time is linear throughout the film. Each scene with the development of the plot and story is motivated by cause and effect. The filmmaking process involves four major steps that cut across the board. The process revolves around these levels that make it orderly to every individual involved in filming. The process has the following stages: Idea and Development, Pre-Production, Production and Post- Production. In Idea and Development it is normally
Classical Hollywood movies are important to the film making. They have set a guide and standards to be followed by filmmakers to come. Making films is not only a business but an art. It reflects the directors and writers imagination of what the film should be. Classical Hollywood films encompass many formal elements. One such film that encompasses these elements is the film Casablanca. IT is a classical Hollywood film because it uses the formal elements in a way to convey its message and has been critically acclaimed for generations.
The 1920s were a time of change especially concerning the entertainment industry and the build up of movie companies. Entertainment is an important aspect in everybody's lives and just like people entertainment changes constantly. In the beginning of this time period people were becoming less confined and open their minds to new ideas this had an effect of new ways to entertain. The big operation of this time period was films it started out with silent films, until “talkies” pictures that synchronized sound came out. The creation of films especially “talkies” changing movie business, culture, and, created a lasting effect on visual entertainment.
The Classical Hollywood style, according to David Bordwell remains “bound by rules that set stringent limits on individual innovation; that telling a story is the basic formal concern.” Every element of the film works in the service of the narrative, which should be ideally comprehensible and unambiguous to the audience. The typical Hollywood film revolves around a protagonist, whose struggle to achieve a specific goal or resolve a conflict becomes the foundation for the story. André Bazin, in his “On the politique des auteurs,” argues that this particular system of filmmaking, despite all its limitations and constrictions, represented a productive force creating commercial art. From the Hollywood film derived transnational and transcultural works of art that evoked spectatorial identification with its characters and emotional investment into its narrative. The Philadelphia Story, directed by George Cukor in 1940, is one of the many works of mass-produced art evolving out of the studio system. The film revolves around Tracy Lord who, on the eve of her second wedding, must confront the return of her ex-husband, two newspaper reporters entering into her home, and her own hubris. The opening sequence of The Philadelphia Story represents a microcosm of the dynamic between the two protagonists Tracy Lord and C.K. Dexter Haven, played by Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. Through the use of costume and music, the opening sequence operates as a means to aesthetically reveal narrative themes and character traits, while simultaneously setting up the disturbance that must be resolved.
During the course of this essay it is my intention to discuss the differences between Classical Hollywood and post-Classical Hollywood. Although these terms refer to theoretical movements of which they are not definitive it is my goal to show that they are applicable in a broad way to a cinema tradition that dominated Hollywood production between 1916 and 1960 and which also pervaded Western Mainstream Cinema (Classical Hollywood or Classic Narrative Cinema) and to the movement and changes that came about following this time period (Post-Classical or New Hollywood). I intend to do this by first analysing and defining aspects of Classical Hollywood and having done that, examining post classical at which time the relationship between them will become evident. It is my intention to reference films from both movements and also published texts relative to the subject matter. In order to illustrate the structures involved I will be writing about the subjects of genre and genre transformation, the representation of gender, postmodernism and the relationship between style, form and content.
A set of practices concerning the narrative structure compose the classical Hollywood Paradigm. These conventions create a plot centering around a character who undergoes a journey in an attempt to achieve some type of goal (). By giving the central character more time on screen, the film helps the audience to not only understand the character’s motivation but also empathize with his/her emotional state. Additionally, some antagonistic force creates conflict with the main character, preventing immediate success(). Finally, after confronting the antagonist, the main character achieves his or her goal along with growing emotionally(). This proven structure creates a linear and relatively easily followed series of events encompassing the leading character and a goal.
The postmodern cinema emerged in the 80s and 90s as a powerfully creative force in Hollywood film-making, helping to form the historic convergence of technology, media culture and consumerism. Departing from the modernist cultural tradition grounded in the faith in historical progress, the norms of industrial society and the Enlightenment, the postmodern film is defined by its disjointed narratives, images of chaos, random violence, a dark view of the human state, death of the hero and the emphasis on technique over content. The postmodernist film accomplishes that by acquiring forms and styles from the traditional methods and mixing them together or decorating them. Thus, the postmodern film challenges the “modern” and the modernist cinema along with its inclinations. It also attempts to transform the mainstream conventions of characterization, narrative and suppresses the audience suspension of disbelief. The postmodern cinema often rejects modernist conventions by manipulating and maneuvering with conventions such as space, time and story-telling. Furthermore, it rejects the traditional “grand-narratives” and totalizing forms such as war, history, love and utopian visions of reality. Instead, it is heavily aimed to create constructed fictions and subjective idealisms.
Grand Cinema is one of the four-largest movie theater chain in Bangkok that has 7 branches located in central business area around Bangkok which provides high quality shows, entertainment services and facilities to its customers. Now Grand Cinema wants to offer new experiences to their customers by using “innovative theater re-production” strategy which seek for Thai traditional and historical films to shows again. This strategy targets on three target groups: children, teenager, adult and also provides new business model to attract adulthood. Grand Cinema has three ways for customers to purchase their tickets: walk to the reception, call operator by phone, online reservation and three ways to make a payment: cash, credit card, show transaction slip for customers who book by online reservation and don’t have credit card. Grand Cinema provides two policies to schedule movie showtime that is new-coming movies and re-run
History and films can be observed in many ways. Today, films have an important role to play in these histories. Motion films provide information to show what it was like back then and provided visual information to the ways people lived in the past. Today, films such as “The Truman Show”, shows what life was like back in the late 1900’s. For example, people were obsessed with reality TV, and the clothing was more formal than the way it is today. The technology was much more advanced than what it is thought to really be. Many of us would much rather watch films rather than read about history.
Bollywood cinema encompasses a variety of genres. It’s superior ability to create a connection between all strata’s of viewers gives us a reason to explore the hidden representations in Bollywood cinema. Not long after India regained its independence, a new era of Indian Cinema began. This era put forth heart wrenching movies, filled with patriotic messages and a very clean concept of national progress. The main concept of the nation-state was integrated in almost every Hindi cinema that was created ever since. Nationalism meant protecting the accrual of wealth within the nation, countries like India were going through a phase of protectionism. However, a significant problem arose, within India, the nation consisted of diverse culture and many languages, so creating the homogeneity that was needed to drive this concept of nation-state, would just fall through the cracks, unless some kinds of unification methods weren’t evolved.
Although there is broad diversity within modern European drama, there are parallels, common threads, and reactions linking them. This assortment of links is sometimes tenuous, at others blatant, but always in some form connecting plays from different European playwrights.