Chapter 8Movies:

Mass Producing Entertainment

Early Movie Technology

• 1870s and 1880s: Marey and MuybridgeView

Early Movie Technology

• 1870s and 1880s: Marey and Muybridge zoopraxiscopeView

Early Movie Technology

• 1894: Thomas Edison: opens first kinetoscope parlor – manner to watch “moving pictures”, commercial possibilities are opened

Early Movie Technology

• Kinetograph: Leonard Cushing Kinetograph 1894

Early Movie Technology

• The first U.S. copyright for an identifiable motion picture was given to Edison for Fred Ott's Sneeze.

• Edison opens his own film studio called Black Maria

Early Movie Technology

• Lumière brothers invent portable movie camera and projector: cinematograph

Early Movie Technology

• Early 1900s: nickelodeon theaters become popular

• Lumière brothers: ActualitiesArrival of a Train at La Ciotat

Early Movie Technology

• Birth of Cinema

Telling a Story With Film

• 1903: Edwin S. Porter directs The Great Train Robbery

• Contains 12 separate scenes• Is shot in a variety of locations• Tells a realistic story• Established basic film storytelling conventions• View

D.W. Griffith

• 1915: Birth of a Nation• Created the first feature-length film• Griffith’s Intolerance required outside funding• Era of movie stars started under Griffith

The Studio System

• Stars worked directly for studios• Block bookings• Vertical integration• Development of talking pictures• View

Response to the Studio System

• 1919: United Artists created by directors and actors. Aimed to create at least 5 films a year

• 1940s: United States vs. Paramount: Studios owned theatres that only played films they created. Supreme Court ruled this was a violation of antitrust laws

The Blacklist

• 1947: HUAC holds hearing on communist influences in Hollywood.

• Hollywood Ten resisted testifying, were jailed and blacklisted.

• By 1953, as many as 324 were blacklisted, including many prominent screenwriters.

• Blacklist continued until 1960 when Hollywood Ten member Dalton Trumbo hired to write Spartacus, Exodus.

Movies React To Television

• Movie audiences peak in 1946—80 million tickets sold per week

• By 1953, ticket sales drop to 46 million per week

• First round of 3-D movies, larger format theaters

• Growing popularity of color• Growth of multiplex theaters

The Blockbuster Era• 1975: Jaws creates the summer blockbuster• Succession of big-budget films with very wide

release• 2009–2010: Avatar had biggest box office to

date• 1939: Gone With The Wind sold the most tickets• 1990s: Home video becomes as important as

theatrical release

The Blockbuster Era• Visit

BoxOfficeMojo.com• Take a look at the Yearly Box Office what films

have you seen off this list• Next, look at All Time. Are you surprised by

some of the records. Choose a couple and explain.

Digital Production & Projection

• 1977: Star Wars brings computer-controlled cameras to movie making.

Digital Production & Projection

• 2004: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow becomes first major film to have all-digital sets.

Digital Production & Projection

• 2007: 300 shows that a movie with digital sets can be successful.

Digital Production & Projection

• Industrial Light & Magic ILM• Late 2009–2010: Digital and 3-D digital

projection grow in popularity.

What Makes a Movie Profitable?

Make a big budget film with marketing tie-ins that sells lots of tickets

Or…

The Blockbuster Era• Visit

BoxOfficeMojo.com• Look at the Daily Gross – Research

Paranormal Activity 4. What can you tell about the production of this movie that is largely different from say Skyfall

What Makes a Movie Profitable?

Make a movie with• A small budget• A clear target audience• Have a modest box office• Make a great return on investment• Think High School Musical 3, Little Miss

Sunshine, Paranormal Activity

Movies & Censorship

• 1920s: Birth of the Production Code (Hays Code) Named after Will H. Hays

• Attempting to avoid local censorship rules• Strict rules on sex, profanity, violence

Failure of Code

• 1960s: movies released without code approval• 1968: MPAA launches movie rating system

Ratings

• Original Ratings• G – General audiences • M – Mature audiences• R - Restricted• X – No one under age

17 admitted

• Today• G – General audiences• PG – Parental guidance

suggested• PG-13 – Parents

strongly cautioned• R – Restricted• NC-17: No one under

age 17 admitted

Ratings

• Visit FilmRatings.com • Find a film that you may have seen in the database –

do you agree with the rating it received?• Do films have to be rated?• Who rates the films?• If a filmmaker does not like the rating what can they

do?

Ratings

• Are movies hurt by directors cutting scenes in order to get an “R” rating? Should there be an “A” rating that indicates that a movie is for adults only but is milder than a NC-17?

Movie Revenue Sources

• Domestic box office• International

distribution rights• Pay-per-view rights• Premium cable channel

rights

• Network television• Home video• Book rights• Toys and clothes• Product placement

Movies and the Long Tail

• Online promotion• Netflix and other online-based distribution

systems• Availability of small, obscure films in every

market, not just cities

Popularity of Bollywood Films

• World’s biggest source of movies based in Mumbai, India

• Big musical numbers cross language barriers• Having influence on western films• Slumdog Millionaire