The Lumiere Brothers, 1895, Cinematograph

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1 The Movies Movies and Culture Integral part of culture Records of production eras Fascinated by stories Shape cultural understanding How we make sense of the world Foundation of culture Hollywood: America s storyteller What is a Film? Still images, the allusion of motion Technically complex, but also art Universal power of communication Created by photography Immediacy of the moment Recording light on a light sensitive surface Camera Obscura Pictures in Motion Eadweard Muybridge-1878 Capture motion on film Leland Stanford Multiple cameras at track First film Hannibal Goodwin, 1887, celluloid George Eastman, 1889 Thomas Edison: The Black Maria Kinetograph and Kinetoscope 9 10 The Lumiere Brothers, 1895, Cinematograph 1

2 THE GRAND CAFÉ, PARIS, 1895 First public movie screening Ten short movies Viewers paid one franc 2,500 people per night The Grand Cafe, Paris, 1895 Introduction of the Narrative umovies that tell a story uedwin Porter: producer, director, cinematographer uin charge of movie production uthe Great Train Robbery, 1903 ufinal scene Nickelodeons, 1905 THE RISE OF HOLLYWOOD Motion Picture Patent Company, 1908, the Trust The Independents California, here we come Fall of the MPPC Film stock to Independents Under-estimation of control Federal Court decision Trust terminated, 1918 The Great Irony Adolph Zukor, Paramount Pictures William Fox, Fox Film Corp. Lawsuit against MPPC Different form of control Vertical Integration Production Distribution Exhibition 2

3 Exhibition The Actors Mary Pickford United Artists, 1919 Douglas Fairbanks Charlie Chaplain D.W. Griffith The Studio System Block Booking Buy the theaters Movie Palaces Multiplex, 8-15 screens Megaplex, 16+ screens Improved sight lines Digital projection & sound Large format screens Luxury recliners Oligopoly The Big Five Paramount MGM Warner Brothers 20 th Century Fox RKO The Little Three Columbia Pictures Universal United Artists STUDIO SYSTEM S GOLDEN AGE Birth of a Nation, 1915, D.W. Griffith First feature length film in America-3 hours 3

4 Birth of a Nation, 1915, D.W. Griffith First feature length film in America-3 hours Civil War epic, life of two families Technical masterpiece First night photography Natural outdoor backgrounds Elaborate costuming Multiple angles, cross-cutting, montage effects Panning shots, close-ups, panoramic long shots Musical score Birth of a Nation Expertise outweighed Thomas Dixon, The Clansman Message to Northerners Endorsed slavery KKK as heroic Historical inaccuracies Profound National Impact Riots in major cities Denied release, Chicago, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis and other cities Griffith indignant NYC, 44 weeks, $2.00 admission THE NEXT BIG CHALLENGE Sound experimentation AT&T, Fox studio Warner Brothers, 1920 The Jazz Singer, 1927 Success of Jazz Singer accelerated pace 4

5 Success of Jazz Singer accelerated pace American theaters not sound equipped Sound cinema growth Attendance boom Talkies the new standard The Hollywood Style Narrative Genre Authors (Directors): Auteurs Contemporary status of directors Dennis Hopper, Easy Rider, 1969 George Lucas, American Graffiti, 1973 Deification of the Director Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather, 1972 William Friedkin, The Exorcist, 1973 Steven Spielberg, Jaws, 1975 Martin Scorsese, Taxi Driver, 1976 George Lucas, Star Wars, 1977 Blockbuster Era STEVEN SPIELBERG, JAWS, 1975 Factors for Success: Spielberg himself Musical Score, John Williams Best-selling book, Peter Benchley Close Encounters, 1977 The Empire Strikes Back, 1980 Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, 1982 Indiana Jones,

6 Indiana Jones, 1984 Transformation of the the Studio System House Un-American Activities Committee Communist investigations Subpoenaed witnesses; subversive radicals Declare patriotism, name names Friendly Witnesses Actors, directors, producers Jack Warner, Warner Bros. Hollywood Ten Nine writers, one director Refused to answer or name names Contempt of congress, imprisoned Blacklisted Hearing Paramount Decision, next nail in coffin Ended vertical integration Sherman Anti-trust Act violation Movie production cut in half Move to the suburbs, final nail Television Changes Hollywood Subject matter Motion Picture Production Code Hays Code, Will H. Hays The code s decline Major Studio Players Today, 2016 Global Box Office Share Disney Studios, 1923, Walt Disney, 7.2B, 25% Warner Bros., 1923, Time Warner, 4.7B,16% 20 th Century Fox, 1935, News Corp., 4.0B, 14% Universal, 1912, Comcast, 3.9B, 14% 6

7 Universal, 1912, Comcast, 3.9B, 14% Columbia Pictures, 1924, Sony, 9% Paramount Pictures, 1912, Viacom, 6% Independent Film Companies Outside of the studio system Lower budget films Some subsidiaries of the majors Fox Searchlight, Sony Picture Classics, Focus Features Many award winning movies Whiplash, Bold Films Spotlight, Participant Media, Open Roads The Artist, The King s Speech, Weinstein Co. Moonlight, A24 The Hitman s Bodyguard, Lionsgate Trumbo, Bleecker Street Netflix, Amazon, Apple Women as Directors Patty Jenkins, Wonder Women Kathryn Bigelow: Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty, Detroit Ava DuVernay, Selma, 13 th, Scandal, Shonda Rhimes, Grey s Anatomy, Netflix Disney, 20 th Century, Universal A Wave of Sequels New ideas dangerous Betting on the tried & true Movie success weighed in franchises Star Wars, multi-generational The movie business s hellish summer The conundrum: feel familiar, be familiar Making Money on Movies Today ubox-office revenue uhome entertainment & licensing 7

8 uhome entertainment & licensing upremium cable uforeign markets uindependent producers uproduct placement & merchandising Major Theater Chains 39,356 U.S. movie screens, 5,463 sites AMC Entertainment, 10,558, 906 sites Regal Entertainment Group, 7,334, 588 sites Cinemark Theaters, 4,499, 335 sites 57% of all screens, 33% of locations Booze is the New Popcorn! 32 states have relaxed theater alcohol laws AMC: 178 locations Regal: 175 locations Cinemark: 100 locations Documentaries Factual film with drama Creative treatment of actuality Controversial subjects Super Size Me, 2004, Morgan Spurlock Fast-food chains response Michael Moore Bowling for Columbine, 2002 Fahrenheit 9/11, 2004 Sicko, 2007 Where to Invade Next, 2015 Ken Burns The Civil War, 1990 Baseball, 1994 Jazz, 2001 Prohibition, 2011 The Roosevelts, 2014 The Vietnam War,

9 50 51 FILM FESTIVALS VENICE FILM FESTIVAL, 1932 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL, 1946 BERLIN INTERNATIONAL, 1951 TORONTO FESTIVAL, 1976 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL, 1978 Other Popular Film Festivals Nashville Film Festival, 1969 SXSW Film Festival, 1987 Ebert Film Festival, 1998 Newport Beach Film Festival, 1999 Tribeca Film Festival,