Richard E. CaplanThe University of Akron

7. Movies

Christopher BurnettCalifornia State, Long Beach

Motion on Film• Sequential photography

– Marey & Muybridge, 1877

• Kinetoscope– Thomas Edison, 1888– William K.L. Dickson

• Perforated film• Sprockets

– Peepshow viewer– Looped on rollers

• First kinetoscope parlor– April 14, 1894 in New

York City

Muybridge Sequential Photography

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• Cinematographe 1895– Auguste and Louis Lumière

– Camera and projector

– Portable, hand cranked

– Projected on a large screen

• First motion picture show – Grand Café in Paris December 28, 1895

– 10 short films

– “Lunch Hour at the Lumière Factory”

Edison and Others

• Thomas Arnat’s Vitascope• Edison’s premiere

– April 23, 1896– Motion Picture Patents Co., 1908

• George Méliès– A Trip to the Moon, 1902– First “special effects” feature– Trick photography

• Edwin S. Porter– Worked for Edison– The Great Train Robbery, 1903– 12 scenes, dissolves, action

Studio and Spectacle

• Biograph, Carl Laemmle– First film studios– Florence Lawrence

• First movie star

• Studio System– Salaried stars and production staff under exclusive contract

• The Birth of a Nation, 1915– First feature-length film, big budget spectacular– D.W. Griffith

• Noble and George Johnson,1916– Narrative movies, or race films, for African-American audience

Movies Become Big Business

• The move to Hollywood– From New York– Harry Chandler, LA Times

owner, sold the land

• Block Booking– Theaters signing up to show

dozens of films as a “package” instead of single movies

• United Artists, 1919– Charlie Chaplin, Mary

Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith

– Independent studio run by the stars themselves

Fairbanks, Pickford, Chaplin and Griffith

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Early Self Regulation

• Hollywood scandals– Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle case 1921

– Desmond Taylor Murder 1922

• Catholic Legion of Decency boycott• Motion Picture Producers and Distributors

Association (MPPDA)– Self-regulatory– Will Hays “Hays Office” 1922– Oversaw movie content

MPPDA 1930 Production Code

• May not lower the moral standard of viewers• Proper standards of life• Respect for law• Murder should not inspire imitation• No excessive kissing, embracing• No shade of obscenity• Modest dancing costumes• Film displays seal of approval

Arrival of the “Talkies”

• The Vitaphone Preludes, 1926– Seven shorts with sound– Warner Bro.s and Western

Electric

• The Jazz Singer, 1927– Al Jolson– First feature-length “talkie”– Synchronized sound recording

• By 1933, talkies dominate completely

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Scene from The Jazz Singer

Rise of the Movie Moguls

• 1930s Big Five – Warner Brothers

– Metro-Goldwin-Mayer

– Paramount

– RKO

– 20th Century Fox

• 2/3 of ticket sales

• Vertically integrated– Owned production and distribution

– Production “stables”• stars, directors, writers and staff

Disney and Depression

• Steamboat Willie 1928– Walt Disney– Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937

• First full-length animated feature

• The Depression– Bingo nights– Dish nights– Double features

• Labor unions – Screen Actors Guild

• 1937

– Screen Writer’s Guild– Director’s Guild

The Golden Age of Movies

• MGM reigns supreme– Blockbusters

– The Wizard of Oz - 1939• Musical

– Gone with the Wind – 1939• Magnificent use of color

• Citizen Kane - 1941– Orson Welles

– Voted the greatest film of all time

Wizard of Oz

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Congress and the Courts

• The House Un-American Activities Committee– The Cold War– Suspected communists– The Hollywood Ten, 1947– Blacklisting

• U.S v. Paramount Pictures, 1948– Limit block booking to five– Stop blind booking– Stop requiring short film

rentals– Stop buying theaters

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Movies v. Television

• 1950s Television boom– 4000 theaters closed

• Wide-Screen and 3-D Movies– Cinemascope and stereophonic sound

• Changes in censorship– 1952, 1st Amendment protection extended to film– Sex and violence added

• Spectaculars– The Sound of Music– Blockbuster hunt

Movie Ratings

• MPAA - Motion Pictures Association of America Movie Ratings, 1966– Designed to prevent censorship

• G - All ages

• PG - Parental guidance suggested (originally called M)

• PG 13 - Parents strongly cautioned to give guidance to children under 13 (added later)

• R - Restricted; those under 17 must be accompanied by parent or guardian

• NC-17 - No one under 17 admitted (originally X)

Movie Business

• Major studios– Disney, Viacom/Paramount,

Sony Pictures Entertainment, etc.• Less than 20 movies a year for

each studio

• Independent producers – Distributed by studios– Sundance and other festivals

• Most fragmented industry in mass media

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Geffen, Katzenberg and Spielberg of Dreamworks, now part of Viacom

Making Money

• Drop in ticket sales– 1946 was the biggest

year for movie attendance

• $100 million avg. film cost

• 2 of 10 make money• Ancillary rights

– Videos and DVDs– Network and Pay TV– Airline, base, campus

rights– Soundtrack albums– Books, etc.

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Working in the Movies

• Screenwriters– Independent writers

• Producers– Funding and logistics

• Directors• Actors• Production

– The movie creators

• Marketing– Publicity and advertising

• Administration• Film Career Link

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Digital Technology & Movies

• Production– Smaller cameras– Computer effects– Digitized color

• Distribution– Satellite distribution– Digital projectors– Internet distribution?

• Future of Exhibition– Alternative tech experiences– “motion simulation”– “Real D”

Michael C

onnors/morguefile.com

Making Money in the Movies

Illustration 7.1

Globalization of Film

• Global ownership– Sony Pictures Entertainment

• Owned by Sony

– Twentieth Century-Fox• Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. • Fox News, Fox Network, British

Sky Broadcasting

• Film is a major U.S. Export– One-third profits from

overseas

• More consolidation?

Michael C

onnors/morguefile.com

Critical Discussion

1. Should today’s film industry have a voluntary code like the one in the ‘30s-’50s?

2. How might consolidated ownership of film, TV and other media outlets affect the film industry in particular?

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