Embedded Files
CINEMA STUDY
CINEMA STUDY
This class aims to develop students’ skills so that they become adept in both interpreting and making film texts.
Our objectives in this course are as follows:
1. To understand the nature and process of film production.2. To learn how to read and analyze film as you would a novel, a poem or a short story3. To familiarize ourselves with certain theoretical ideas presented by major film theorists.4. To learn how to develop, write and revise workable screenplays.5. To explore the major aesthetic trends in the history of cinema.6. To work collaboratively with our peers to produce short films in a variety of different ways.7. TO GAIN A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE WAY ART WORKS—how it manipulates reality to make a thematic point (political, social, philosophical, sexual, aesthetic, etc.)Scope and Sequence:
Unit 1: Film Basics
1. Invention of Moving Pictures
2. Rise of Hollywood
3. Modern Film Industry
Unit 2: Style/Genre/Analysis
1. How to Analyze Film
2. Historical Movements in Film
3. Exploration of Genre
Unit 3: Film Production Elements
1. Pre-Production
2. Production
3. Post Production
Unit 4: Student Filmmaking
1. Pre-Production
2. Production
3. Post Production
4. Film Screening
Academic Cross-Curricular Words Content/Domain Specific - (Courtesy: Park Hill School District)
Antagonist
Allegory
Allusion
Adaptation
Actor
Actress
Angle
Archetype
Banned
deus ex machina
Director
Film
Hero
Ingenue
Resolution
Satire
Scene
Script
Set
Setting
Stage
Special effects
Story
Storyboard
Surrealism
Thomas Edison
Titles
Lens
The Hays Code
Eadweard Muybridge
George Melies
Aspect ratio
Atmosphere
B Movie
Black and white
Hollywood
Camera
Censorship
Experimental film
Film
Fourth wall
Grand Guignol
Mise en scène
Motion pictures
MPAA
Newsreel
POV
One-reeler
Pitch
Pre-Code
Rating
Screening
Shoot
Shot
Silent movies
Talkies
SPFX
Star
Still
Studio
Trades
Why should we care??
Through the study and analysis of film texts and exercises in film-making, the course explores film history, theory, and socio-economic background. The course develops students’ critical abilities, enabling them to appreciate the multiplicity of cultural and historical perspectives in film. To achieve an international understanding within the world of film, students are taught to consider film texts, theories, and ideas from the points of view of different individuals, nations, and cultures.Students also develop the professional and technical skills (including organizational skills) needed to express themselves creatively in film. The course emphasizes the importance of working individually and as a member of a group. A challenge for students following this course is to become aware of their own perspectives and biases and to learn to respect those of others. This requires a willingness to attempt to understand alternative views, to respect and appreciate cultural diversity, and to have an open and critical mind.In addition, the course is designed to promote:
an appreciation and understanding of film as a complex art form
an ability to formulate stories and ideas in film terms
the practical and technical skills of production
critical evaluation of film productions by the student and by others
a knowledge of film-making traditions in more than one country.
Part 1: Textual analysis
- Construction according to narrative or other formal organizing principles
- Representation of characters and issues
- Camera angles, shots and movement
- Editing and sequencing
- Lighting, shade and colour
- Sound
- Location and set design
- Features determining genre
- Target audience
- Historical, economic, sociocultural and institutional factors
Part 2: Film theory and history
Aspects of film theory and history can be introduced to students by asking such questions as: Having followed the higher level film course, students are expected to- Who made this? demonstrate the following:
- Why?
- What can we tell about the film-maker(s)? • An understanding of the variety of ways in which film creates meaning.
- For whom was it made? How does it ad- • An understanding and effective use of appropriate film language. dress its audience? What is the nature of our • Originality and creativity in developing an idea through the various engagement with film? stages of film-making, from conception to finished production.
- What outside influences can we perceive in • Technical skills and an appropriate use of available technology.
- What tradition is it in (for example, American • A critical understanding of the historical, theoretical, sociocultural, gangster film, Bollywood musical)? economic and institutional contexts of film in more than one country • To what other works might it be connected? • The ability to research, plan and organize working processes
Part 3: Creative process—techniques and organization of production
The ability to reflect upon and evaluate film production processes organization of production and completed film texts.Initial planning Finding the idea• Research• Treatment and script developmentPitch and approval• Developing the proposal• Negotiating the proposal with the teacher• Receiving approval to proceedTechnical planning• Conceptualization• Visualization• Production scheduling• Editing and sound strategiesPhysical production• Pre-production• Production• Post-Production journalFilm Studies Syllabus
Four (4) day study cycle for each genre of film(Day 1) Learn about the genre (history, vocabulary, samples of genre)(Day 2) Watch part 1 of movie-take notes, answer questions on board(Day 3) Watch part 2 of movie-take notes(Day 4) Discuss movie in class, write up post-production analysisEarly Cinema-The History of motion pictures
Early Cinema-The History of motion pictures
Introduction
This lesson takes students through the invention of the Motion Picture including an introduction of early mechanisms, discussion of the pre-conditions for the invention, early genres, Lumiere, Edison, and the studio system. The formative assessment includes a visual slide presentation and the summative assessment, a cinema research decade project/visual slide presentation. Another option would be to incorporate an introduction to editing software and then the students create their final projects in the timeline of the software, learning interface, motion properties, audio, titles and transitions.
OBJECTIVES
Students will learn and understand the history of the motion picture including, but not limited to early mechanisms, pre-conditions of the motion picture, and the early studio system.
Students will learn and understand the process of researching and saving visual representations of key historical events and mechanisms.
Students will learn and understand tools within an editing software or slide presentation program to create a visual timeline of the history of motion picture.
Zoetrope in action
Zoetrope in action
The zoetrope consists of a cylinder with slits cut vertically in the sides. As the cylinder spins, the user looks through the slits at the pictures across. The scanning of the slits keeps the pictures from simply blurring together, and the user sees a rapid succession of images, producing the illusion of motion.
Project based learning:
Project based learning:
The directions for making a
PHENAKISTOSCOPE are
outlined in the presentation below.
Muybridge Movement
Muybridge Movement
and the bet
and the bet
Pioneering Britisher Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904), an early photographer and inventor, was famous for his photographic loco-motion studies (of animals and humans) at the end of the 19th century (such as 1882's published "The Horse in Motion"). In the 1870s, Muybridge experimented with instantaneously recording the movements of a galloping horse, first at a Sacramento (California) race track. In June, 1878, he successfully conducted a 'chronophotography' experiment in Palo Alto (California) for his wealthy San Francisco benefactor, Leland Stanford, using a multiple series of cameras to record a horse's gallops - this conclusively proved that all four of the horse's feet were off the ground at the same time.
Muybridge's pictures, published widely in the late 1800s, were often cut into strips and used in a Praxinoscope, a descendant of the zoetrope device, invented by Charles Emile Reynaud in 1877. The Praxinoscope was the first 'movie machine' that could project a series of images onto a screen. Muybridge's stop-action series of photographs helped lead to his own 1879 invention of the Zoopraxiscope (or "zoogyroscope", also called the "wheel of life"), a primitive motion-picture projector machine that also recreated the illusion of movement (or animation) by projecting images - rapidly displayed in succession - onto a screen from photos printed on a rotating glass disc.
Film in the 20's
Film in the 20's
Have you ever heard the phrase “the roaring twenties?” Also known as the Jazz Age, the decade of the 1920s featured economic prosperity and carefree living for many. The decade began with a roar and ended with a crash.
To paraphrase Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, and sometimes it was the worst of times.”
The 1920s was a decade of change, when many Americans owned cars, radios, and telephones for the first time. The cars brought the need for good roads. The radio brought the world closer to home. The telephone connected families and friends. Prosperity was on the rise in cities and towns, and social change flavored the air. A substantial growth of industry occurred in North Carolina, especially in the areas of tobacco, textiles, and furniture. Some rural farmers were leaving their farms in order to receive a regular paycheck in the factories. Unions were on the rise. Women shortened, or “bobbed,” their hair, flappers danced and wore short fancy dresses, and men shaved off their beards.
Movies in the 20's were the beginning of the Hollywood industry. Movies were part of the growth of mass consumer culture that emerged in the 1920s. Movies and radio in the 1920s also made our country more homogeneous. Immigrants assimilate into American society over time.
Films really blossomed in the 1920s, expanding upon the foundations of film from earlier years. Most US film production at the start of the decade occurred in or near Hollywood on the West Coast, although some films were still being made in New Jersey and in Astoria on Long Island (Paramount). By the mid-20s, movies were big business (with a capital investment totaling over $2 billion) with some theatres offering double features. By the end of the decade, there were 20 Hollywood studios, and the demand for films was greater than ever. Most people are unaware that the greatest output of feature films in the US occurred in the 1920s and 1930s (averaging about 800 film releases in a year) - nowadays, it is remarkable when production exceeds 500 films in a year.
What do you think 'a symphony of horror' means? ...
The name of the actor playing Count Orlock is 'Max Shreck', how is this ironic?
Why are the names of the characters different in this appropriation of Dracula?
What do you think is the 'death bird of night' referred to in the first title?
Buster Keaton is considered one of the greatest comic actors of all time. His influence on physical comedy is rivaled only by Charlie Chaplin. Like many of the great actors of the silent era, Keaton’s work was cast into near obscurity for many years. Only toward the end of his life was there a renewed interest in his films. An acrobatically skillful and psychologically insightful actor, Keaton made dozens of short films and fourteen major silent features, attesting to one of the most talented and innovative artists of his time.
It was the baby-boom for iconic movie monsters (1920s-40s): Dracula, The-Invisible-Man, Phantom-of-the-Opera, The-Wolf-Man, The-Mummy, Lorre‘s Dr. Gogol and Lanchester’s Bride. All menacing yet tragic figures that, for the most part, touched our hearts.
...And along came sound
...And along came sound
Optical Sound and
Optical Sound and
Phono-film (1923)
Phono-film (1923)
The advent of sound on film
Part 1: Sound Film History-The story of the man who just wanted to be famous for "something" gets his shot with a little help from a light expert.
Part 2-How did the movies learn to talk?
Part 2-How did the movies learn to talk?
The Jazz Singer was the first feature length film to feature synchronised music and dialogue, but that does not mean that it was the first film in history to feature sound. In this video we will be discussing the impact of the jazz singer on Hollywood, the development of the talkies and the invention of synchronised sound in movies. What was the first film with Sound and how was it invented?
A clip from The Jazz Singer, the first live-action film with sound.
It is known for being the first feature film with sychronized sound elements. This film produced by Warner Brothers began the decline of silent films. Even though "The Jazz Singer" was not the first film to use sound, it proved to be the first one to use spoken dialogue as part of the dramatic action. While the film was still mostly silent, it did contain sections of prerecorded and synchronized dialogue and music, which movie audiences had not heard before. Though sound in film was dismissed as a fad at the time, The Jazz Singer's memorable line "you ain't heard nothin' yet" clearly pointed to the future of film-making. A clip from The Jazz Singer, the first live-action film with sound.
The golden age of hollywood/30's
The golden age of hollywood/30's
Musicals / Dance Films are cinematic forms that emphasize and showcase full-scale song and dance routines in a significant way (usually with a musical or dance performance as part of the film narrative, or as an unrealistic "eruption" within the film). Or they are films that are centered on combinations of music, dance, song or choreography. In traditional musicals, cast members are ones who sing. Musicals highlight various musical artists or dancing stars, with lyrics that support the story line, often with an alternative, escapist vision of reality - a search for love, success, wealth, and popularity. This genre has been considered the most escapist of all major film genres.
King Kong 1933 vs King Kong 2005
King Kong 1933 vs King Kong 2005
Film Ratings history and system
Film Ratings history and system
1922-William Hays forms the Motion Pictures Distributors Association of America, or what is now the MPAA
1930–1968 MPDAA President William Hays creates the Motion Picture Production Code of moral censorship guidelines, also referred to as the Hays Code.
Resources and worksheet for the Hays Code
Resources and worksheet for the Hays Code
THEHAYSCODE.pdf
TV Ratings vs Movie Ratings
TV- MA means “Mature Audience Television.” It's the Not Rated version of R. R applies to movies that have strong language, sex, and violence, by accordance of the MPAA. Unrated is a cut extended with raunchier content that was not been seen by the MPAA. This usually applies to R Rated movies.
In its early years, Hays and the MPPDA devoted much of their energies to public relations, building partnerships with local civic organizations and publishing materials touting the industry’s positive effect on American culture.
They also instituted a set of editorial “don’ts” and “be carefuls” for film producers in 1927.
However, the MPPDA and Hays are best remembered for the Hollywood Production Code, instituted in 1930. Even though his name is on it, the code was a collective effort between the MPPDA and prominent Catholic leaders within the film industry, namely publisher Martin Quigley and George Cardinal Mundelein of the Chicago Archdiocese.
The code put strict limitations on depictions of violence, sex, crime, and drug and alcohol use. Conversely, it encouraged patriotism, law-abiding behavior, and religious moral values.
What is a biopic?
What is a biopic?
A biographical film, or biopic for short, is a film that tells the story of the life of a non-fictional or historical person. Biopics use the central character(s) to show an important discovery, period in history, or dramatically relevant period within their lives to tell a contemporary lesson. That all seems straightforward, but there are some serious discrepancies in how you should pronounce biopic as well.
COOL NOTE: Thomas Edison's Execution of Mary Queen of Scots (US, 1895) prefigures the genre but perhaps the earliest biopic is Jeanne d'Arc/Joan of Arc (Georges Méliès, France, 1900).
Biopic Films (or biographical pictures) are a sub-genre of the larger drama and epic film genres, and although they reached a hey-day of popularity in the 1930s, they are still prominent to this day. 'Biopics' is a term derived from the combination of the words "biography" and "pictures." These films depict and dramatize the life of an important historical personage (or group) from the past or present era. Sometimes, historical biopics stretch the truth and tell a life story with varying degrees of accuracy.
Big-screen biopics cross many genre types, since these films might showcase a western outlaw; a criminal; a musical composer; a religious figure or leader of a movement; a war-time military hero; an entertainer; an artist; an inventor, scientist, or doctor; a politician or President; a sports hero or celebrity; or an adventurer.In many cases, these films put an emphasis on the larger events (wartime, political or social conditions) surrounding the person's entire life as they rise to fame and glory. Some begin with the person's childhood, but others concentrate on adult achievements. Biopics have existed since the earliest days of silent cinema in films such as French filmmaker Georges Melies' feature-length epic Jeanne D'Arc (1899) (and Cecil B. DeMille's Joan the Woman (1916) with opera star Geraldine Farrar), D.W. Griffith's religious epic Judith of Bethulia (1914), Abel Gance's innovative six-hour-long epic Napoleon (1927), and director Lloyd Ingraham's Jesse James (1927) with Fred Thomson as the western outlaw.
Film during the war years-1940's
Film during the war years-1940's
Hollywood During the War Years:
The early years of the 40s decade were not promising for the American film industry, especially following the late 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, and the resultant loss of foreign markets.
However, Hollywood film production rebounded and reached its profitable peak of efficiency during the years 1943 to 1946 - a full decade and more after the rise of sound film production, now that the technical challenges of the early 30s sound era were far behind.
Advances in film technology (sound recording, lighting, special effects, cinematography and use of color) meant that films were more watchable and 'modern'. Following the end of the war, Hollywood's most profitable year in the decade was 1946, with all-time highs recorded for theatre attendance.
What was old is new again!
What was old is new again!
The movie to the left is the first of what was to be several recreations of this type of movie. What is the name of the more recent version?
War Movies
War Movies
The movie industry, like every other aspect of life, responded to the national war effort by making movies, producing many war-time favorites, and having stars (and film industry employees) enlist or report for duty.
The US government's Office of War Information (OWI), formed in 1942, served as an important propaganda agency during World War II, and coordinated its efforts with the film industry to record and photograph the nation's war-time activities.
Films took on a more realistic rather than escapist tone, as they had done during the Depression years of the 30s.
Film Noir
Film Noir
It was beginning in the early 1940s, that film noir, such as The Maltese Falcon and Laura, began to appear. The films of the 1940s reflected the disillusionment felt in the country, especially with the soldiers returning home and women losing their jobs at the end of the war.
Foreign Films
Foreign Films
The film industry changed radically after World War II, and this change altered the style and content of the films made in Hollywood. After experiencing boom years from 1939 to 1946, the film industry began a long period of decline. Within just seven years, attendance and box receipts fell to half their 1946 levels.
Part of the reason was external to the industry. Many veterans returning from World War II got married, started families, attended college on the GI Bill, and bought homes in the suburbs. All these activities took a toll on box office receipts. Families with babies tended to listen to the radio rather than go to the movies; college students placed studying before seeing the latest film; and newlyweds purchasing homes, automobiles, appliances, and other commodities had less money to spend on movies.
Anime
Anime
Japan Animated Films was founded in 1948, but you probably know them as Toei, the film company which bought Japan Animated Films in 1956 to create an animated division. They released Hakujaden (The Tale of the White Serpent) in 1958. With a runtime of 78 minutes, it was the first feature-length color anime film.
Post-war affluence and leisure (50's)
Post-war affluence and leisure (50's)
The 50s decade was known for many things: post-war affluence and increased choice of leisure time activities, conformity, the Korean War, middle-class values, and the rise of modern jazz.
The rise of 'fast food' restaurants and drive-ins (Jack in the Box - founded in 1951; McDonalds - first franchised in 1955 in Des Plaines, IL; and A&W Root Beer Company - formed in 1950, although it had already established over 450 drive-ins throughout the country), changed the pattern people had followed to go home for dinner straight after work.
There was a baby boom, the all-electric home as the ideal, white racist terrorism in the South, the advent of television and TV dinners, abstract art, the first credit card (Diners Club, in 1951), the rise of drive-in theaters to a peak number in the late 50s with over 4,000 outdoor screens (where young teenaged couples could find privacy in their hot-rods), and a youth reaction to middle-aged cinema.
Older viewers were prone to stay at home and watch television (about 10.5 million US homes had a TV set in 1950).
Teen, youth market (50's)
Teen, youth market (50's)
The 50s decade also ushered in the age of Rock and Roll and a new younger market of teenagers. This youth-oriented group was opposed to the older generation's choice of nostalgic films, such as director Anthony Mann's and Universal's popular musical biopic The Glenn Miller Story (1954), starring James Stewart as the big band leader, duplicated in Universal's follow-up musical biography The Benny Goodman Story (1956) with Steve Allen (his film debut in a serious dramatic role) as the talented clarinet player. They preferred Rock Around the Clock (1956) that featured disc jockey Alan Freed and the group Bill Haley and His Comets (singing the title song) and many others (such as the Platters, and Freddy Bell and The Bell Boys) - it was the first film entirely dedicated to rock 'n' roll. It was quickly followed by two more similar films featuring Alan Freed (as Himself) -- Don't Knock the Rock (1956) and Rock, Rock, Rock (1956).
Elvis
Elvis
Also, singer Elvis Presley made movies after his records went gold. He could draw teens by the droves to the box office.
His screen debut was in Fox's Civil War drama Love Me Tender (1956) (originally titled The Reno Brothers), with a #1 single hit song ballad. He also appeared in Paramount's Loving You (1957) (noted for his first screen kiss, and for being his first Technicolor film), and then in his MGM debut film Jailhouse Rock (1957) - generally acknowledged as his most famous and popular film.
His screen debut was in Fox's Civil War drama Love Me Tender (1956) (originally titled The Reno Brothers), with a #1 single hit song ballad. He also appeared in Paramount's Loving You (1957) (noted for his first screen kiss, and for being his first Technicolor film), and then in his MGM debut film Jailhouse Rock (1957) - generally acknowledged as his most famous and popular film.
James
James
The anguished, introspective teen James Dean (1932-1955) was the epitome of adolescent pain. Dean appeared in only three films before his untimely death in the fall of 1955.
His first starring role was in Elia Kazan's adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel East of Eden (1955) as a Cain-like son named Cal vying for his father's (Raymond Massey) love against his brother Aron.
His first starring role was in Elia Kazan's adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel East of Eden (1955) as a Cain-like son named Cal vying for his father's (Raymond Massey) love against his brother Aron.
Bandstand first began as a local program for teens on WFIL-TV (now WPVI), Channel 6 in Philadelphia in early October, 1952. In mid-1956, the new host chosen for ABC-TV's American Bandstand was 26 year-old Dick Clark. By the time the show was first aired nationally, in mid-1957, it had became a mainstay for rock group performances.
Rock Around The Clock, a 1955 Columbia movie, featuring Bill Haley and His Comets, Tony Martinez and his Band, Freddie Bell and the Bellboys, Alan Freed, the Platters.
B-movies
B-movies
A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not an arthouse film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature (akin to B-sides for recorded music).
These movies targeted teens and were outrageous in nature. But it didn't start out that way. We explore the term B-Movie in more detail.
Threat of TV
Threat of TV
Movie studios begin producing TV shows in the 1955-1956 TV season.
The ABC TV show Warner Brothers Presents was the first television program produced by Warner Brothers Pictures, and marked the introduction of the major Hollywood studios into television production. It was a survival tactic for the studios to pioneer in television series production. In the same year, Twentieth Century-Fox Hour played on CBS (from 1955-1957) and MGM's documentary series MGM Parade on ABC. And later, in the mid- to late 50s, Warner Bros. studios produced more TV shows, such as their first hit series Cheyenne (1955-1963 with Clint Walker), Maverick (1957-1962, first with James Garner) and 77 Sunset Strip (1958-1964).
Hollywood was obviously fearful of television's dawning in the early 1950s. Indeed, the studios forbade their movies and stars from appearing on the small screen at all. Fearful of losing audiences to the screens in their living rooms, Hollywood enticed filmgoers with expensive epics, gimmicky 3D releases, stereo sound, enhanced color technology and widescreen formats such as CinemaScope, VistaVision and Panavision. Bwana Devil (1952) was the first full-length 3D talkie.
The early sitcom I Love Lucy (on CBS, beginning in 1951); its stars Lucille Ball and husband Desi Arnaz had founded Desilu Productions in 1950
the family show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (on ABC, from 1952-1966)
The Donna Reed Show (on ABC, from 1958-1966)
The Honeymooners (from 1951 and after)
Lassie (on CBS, from 1954-1971)
Gunsmoke (on CBS, from 1955-1975) with James Arness as Matt Dillon
This is Your Life (on NBC, from 1952-1961)
Westerns (Silent-Era - Today)
Westerns (Silent-Era - Today)
Westerns are uniquely American. The genre made up the dominant film genre from 1903 until about 1960.
The movies fall into numerous other categories, including , Film Noir, Classic, Spaghetti, Revisionist, and B-movies.
Edwin S. Porter’s innovative 1903 short, The Great Train Robbery
Stereotypes in Westerns
Stereotypes in Westerns
As movie genres go, the Western is a workhorse. It draws from a well of cultural symbols meant to capture the essence of America, including the freedom of the open frontier and the righteous self-determination of man. Standing tall inside this cinematic shorthand is the cowboy himself, a figure commonly understood to be an excellent shot who rides horses and who, above all, is white.
A decade of change- 60's
A decade of change- 60's
Cinema in the 1960s reflected the decade of fun, fashion, rock 'n' roll, tremendous social changes (i.e., the civil rights era and marches) and transitional cultural values. This was a turbulent decade of monumental changes, tragedies, cultural events, assassinations and deaths, and advancements.
The much-heralded Joseph L. Mankiewicz film Cleopatra (1963), filmed on location in Rome, brought together the explosive pairing of Elizabeth Taylor as the Queen of Egypt and future husband Richard Burton as Marc Antony, who brought more headlines with their blossoming romance than the budget problems. It proved to be a tremendous financial disaster for 20th Century Fox
Cultural Appropriation in film
Cultural Appropriation in film
Cultural appropriation, at times also phrased cultural misappropriation, is the adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from disadvantaged minority cultures.
Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.
The 70's-Blockbusters
The 70's-Blockbusters
The New Decade for Film-Makers:
Although the 1970s opened with Hollywood experiencing a financial and artistic depression, the decade became a creative high point in the US film industry. Restrictions on language, adult content and sexuality, and violence had loosened up, and these elements became more widespread. The hippie movement, the civil rights movement, free love, the growth of rock and roll, changing gender roles and drug use certainly had an impact. And Hollywood was renewed and reborn with the earlier collapse of the studio system, and the works of many new and experimental film-makers (wrongly nicknamed "Movie Brats") during a Hollywood New Wave.
The counter-culture of the time had influenced Hollywood to be freer, to take more risks and to experiment with alternative, young film makers, as old Hollywood professionals and old-style moguls died out and a new generation of film makers arose.
The "Blockbuster Syndrome": A New Kind of Gambling
The "Blockbuster Syndrome": A New Kind of Gambling
Origins
The industry recession and shakeout of 1969-1971 taught the majors that the regular flow of product was no longer profitable because there was no longer a regular and predictable audience for their films. In 1969, they had seen the low-budget "youth-cult" film Easy Rider (Dennis Hopper) return $19.2 million in domestic rentals, while the expensively produced musicals Hello, Dolly! (Gene Kelly) and Paint Your Wagon (Joshua Logan) lost $14 million between them. In the early seventies, however, several big-budget movies with more or less traditional appeal—Love Story (Arthur Hiller, 1970), Airport (George Seaton, 1970), and, especially, The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)—unexpectedly earned windfall profits. The conviction grew that the industry had experienced a cataclysmic market shift in which only a few films each year (perhaps one in ten) would make big profits, while the rest would break even or produce losses. History suggested that pictures with big budgets had the best chance of succeeding in a volatile market, but also—very clearly—that there was no way to guarantee a hit. Paramount president Frank Yablans put the new thinking to his colleagues succinctly: "We want one big picture a year. The rest are budgeted to minimize risk."1Indeed, by 1977 the top six of the 199 major films released accounted for one-third of the year's income, and the top thirteen for half (of those thirteen, all but one were distributed by a major).2 In the absence of any body of professional knowledge to predict a hit, the majors put their faith in aggressive marketing and promotion to create product awareness and sell their movies as special attractions. As Columbia Pictures president David Begelman explained in 1974, "We feel we must put out special event films because no one goes to the movies anymore as a routine exercise."3 If moviegoing had become less a matter of habit than discretionary choice, then each film needed to be sold as a "blockbuster"—a major event that would have the status of a unique experience—and sold on a global scale. This meant providing wide access through saturation booking, once reserved for dubious product only, combined with mass advertising to maximize audiences at the point of sale—a distribution strategy that grew ever more effective as the proliferation of Hollywood-sponsored multiplexes dramatically increased the number of screens available for saturation release.Origins
The 1980's
The 1980's
The decade of the 1980s tended to consolidate the gains made in the seventies rather than to initiate any new trends equal to the large number of disaster movies, buddy movies, or "rogue cop" movies that characterized the previous decade. Designed and packaged for mass audience appeal, few 80s films became what could be called 'classics'.
The era was characterized by the introduction of 'high-concept' films - with cinematic plots that could be easily characterized by one or two sentences (25 words or less) - and therefore easily marketable and understandable. Producer Don Simpson (partnered with Jerry Bruckheimer) has been credited with the creation of the high-concept picture (or modern Hollywood blockbuster), although its roots could be seen in the late 70s (i.e., the prototypical Jaws (1975), Saturday Night Fever (1977), Star Wars (1977), Alien (1979) - known in high-concept terms as "Jaws in Space").
Simpson was the first producer to understand and exploit the significance of MTV. His action-packed, loud, flashy, simplistic, and tightly-structured films brought crowds to the multiplexes every summer. His lowest common-denominator films reflected the MTV generation, such as in his debut film Flashdance (1983) - with its pop soundtrack and iconic 'freeze-frame' ending. Other successes followed in the 80s: Beverly Hills Cop (1984) with its 'fish-out-of-water' high concept, the sexy Thief of Hearts (1984), the high-flying Top Gun (1986) - the epitome of Simpson's technique, and the stock-car racing film Days of Thunder (1990) again with Tom Cruise. By the end of the 80s era as a result, most films were not designed for 'thinking' adult audiences (such as Driving Miss Daisy (1989)), but were 'low-brow' for dumbed-down teen audiences looking for sheer entertainment value or thrills (for example, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), James Cameron's Aliens (1986), or Die Hard (1988)).
After the innovations of the 70s, films in the 80s were less experimental and original, but more formulaic, although there was a burst of films eager to capitalize on new special effects (CGI) techniques - now available. Predictions were grim for the industry - production costs were soaring while ticket prices were declining. The average ticket price at the beginning of the decade was about $3, and over $4 by the end of the decade, while the average film budget was over $18 million. However, fears of the demise of Hollywood proved to be premature.
Steven Spielberg's and George Lucas' names have often been associated with the term "blockbuster" - and their films inevitably continued to contribute to the trend during this decade, such as The Empire Strikes Back (1980), the great and exhilarating escapist-adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Return of the Jedi (1983), and the childhood fantasy hit E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) with a lovable stranded alien, inspired by Peter Pan, the resurrection themes of Christianity, and with an anti-science bias. There were others that were successful, such as Ghostbusters (1984), Romancing the Stone (1984), and Back to the Future (1985), and their successive sequels.
StandbyMeFilm1986StudyGuideMoviePacket-1.pdf1990's-The Decade of Money, Mega-Spending and Special Effects
1990's-The Decade of Money, Mega-Spending and Special Effects
Nearpod
Nearpod
for the
for the
1990's
1990's
In the 1990s for the most part, cinema attendance was up - mostly at multi-screen cineplex complexes throughout the country. Although the average film budget was almost $53 million by 1998, many films cost over $100 million to produce, and some of the most expensive blockbusters were even more. In the early 1990s, box-office revenues had dipped considerably, due in part to the American economic recession of 1991, but then picked up again by 1993 and continued to increase. The average ticket price for a film varied from about $4.25 at the start of the decade to around $5 by the close of the decade. As indoor multiplexes multiplied from almost 23,000 in 1990 to 35,600 in the year 2000, the number of drive-ins continued to decline (from 910 in 1990 to 667 in 2000).
The VCR was still a popular appliance in most households (about three quarters of them in 1991) and rentals and purchase of videotapes were big business - much larger than sales of movie theater tickets. Rather than attending special film screenings, members of the Academy of Motion Pictures viewed Oscar-nominated films on videotape, beginning in 1994. The signs of the burgeoning of the digital age portended revolutionary change. In 1990, Kodak introduced the Photo CD player. And in 1992, the Second Edition of the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary, was also made available on CD-ROM. By 1992, broadcast TV was beginning to lose large numbers of viewers to cable-only channels.
To promote her film Ghost (1990), Demi Moore (who earned the nickname Gimme Moore) traveled with a bodyguard, masseuse, hair stylist, cosmetician, fashion consultant, and an assistant (who had an assistant). Reportedly, she ordered studio chiefs to charter two planes for her and her entourage while promoting both of her flop movies Striptease (1996) and G.I. Jane (1997).
Julia Roberts (with a $10 million salary) ordered the studio to have a jet ready in London to fly from Pinewood Studios back to the US for the weekend during the making of Mary Reilly (1996), at a cost of more than $41,000 per month--for approximately three months. It became clear that once stars were earning multi-million dollar salaries, a director and a studio could easily lose control of the film, especially when the demanding star was also one of the film's producers. Ironically, however, a highly-paid star in a big-budget film didn't guarantee a film's success.
High-Cost Demanding Stars:
In the mid-1990s, perks and the excessive demands of mega-stars sometimes reached epidemic proportions for many of the highest-paid stars (including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Cruise, Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson, Eddie Murphy, Kevin Costner, Harrison Ford, Robin Williams, Jim Carrey, Demi Moore, Julia Roberts, and others). They often demanded script approval prior to filming, directorial and other casting choices, approval of the use of images for publicity, restrictions on film scheduling, studio-paid personal and entourage jet travel, various 'extras' (such as a personal gym and trainer/nutritionist, limo service), their choice of the positioning of credits (for example, above the title and in relation to other stars), the inclusion of nudity and other 'body-related' clauses, and final-cut approval.
Groundbreaking Internet Film-Marketing: Case Study - The Blair Witch Project
Groundbreaking Internet Film-Marketing: Case Study - The Blair Witch Project
Foretelling new methods of Internet-based marketing, Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick's roughly-made, offbeat independent film The Blair Witch Project (1999) (from small-time distributor Artisan Films) was a quasi-documentary about an October 1994 horrifying camping trip and investigation of a local legend that was experienced by no-name actors: three vanished Montgomery College student film-makers (Heather, Josh, and Mike) in Maryland's Black Hill Forest (near Burkittsville).
The cult film reaped a greater audience (and box-office receipts) from Internet exposure and astute promotion and marketing. The 'Blair Witch' website, a popular destination for web surfers (with millions of hits), created tremendous advance buzz (is it real?) for this low-budget film that was directed by a group of students from the University of Central Florida in 8 days. It was innovatively shot on 16mm B/W and color digital video, and basically looked like a home-made film with unknown actors and poor production values.
Surprisingly, it easily became the most profitable film (percentage-wise) of all time, grossing $140.5 million (domestic) and $249 million (worldwide), but budgeted at only about $60,000 [a tremendous profit-ratio!]. Remarkably, it had no stars, no large marketing budget, no state-of-the-art special effects, and no creatures/monsters. Many believed that the story was true, rather than the ingenious marketing hoax that it was.
Animals in Movies
Animals in Movies
History of Thriller and Suspense Films
History of Thriller and Suspense Films
These are types of films known to promote intense excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension. Thriller and suspense films are virtually synonymous and interchangeable categorizations, with similar characteristics and features.
If the genre is to be defined strictly, a genuine thriller is a film that relentlessly pursues a single-minded goal - to provide thrills and keep the audience cliff-hanging at the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds towards a climax. The tension usually arises when the main character(s) is placed in a menacing situation or mystery, or an escape or dangerous mission from which escape seems impossible. Life itself is threatened, usually because the principal character is unsuspecting or unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially deadly situation. Plots of thrillers involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with outside forces - the menace is sometimes abstract or shadowy.
Thrillers are often hybrids - there are lots of varieties of suspense-thrillers:
sci-fi thrillers (such as Alien (1979))
crime-caper thrillers (such as The French Connection (1971))
western-thrillers (such as High Noon (1952))
film-noir thrillers (such as Double Indemnity (1944))
even romantic comedy-thrillers (such as Safety Last (1923))
Another closely-related genre is the horror film genre (e.g., Halloween (1978)), also designed to elicit tension and suspense, taking the viewer through agony and fear. Suspense-thrillers come in all shapes and forms: there are murder mysteries, private eye tales, chase thrillers, women-in-danger films, courtroom and legal thrillers, erotic thrillers, surreal cult-film soap operas, and atmospheric, plot-twisting psychodramas. Thrillers keep the emphasis away from the gangster, crime, or the detective in the crime-related plot, focusing more on the suspense and danger that is generated. See also this site's listing of AFI's 100 Most Thrilling Films.
Characters in thrillers include convicts, criminals, stalkers, assassins, down-on-their-luck losers, innocent victims (often on the run), prison inmates, menaced women, characters with dark pasts, psychotic individuals, terrorists, cops and escaped cons, fugitives, private eyes, drifters, duplicitous individuals, people involved in twisted relationships, world-weary men and women, psycho-fiends, and more. The themes of thrillers frequently include terrorism, political conspiracy, pursuit, or romantic triangles leading to murder.
How do us editors recognize “good suspense”? More importantly, how do we make use of it?
How do us editors recognize “good suspense”? More importantly, how do we make use of it?
Film theorist Peter Bogdanovich once said, in these approximate words, that suspense is guided by an audience’s sympathy for its characters and an intense need for something dramatic to happen. Essentially, suspense instills a conflict of emotions in the viewer: we don’t want anything bad to happen to the film’s inhabitants, yet at the same time that is why the viewer is here: to endure some form of imagined danger and, in the end, overcome it.
Contemporary Cinema (Why NOW matters)
Contemporary Cinema (Why NOW matters)
History of CGI
History of CGI
🅒🅖🅘 🅒🅞🅜🅟🅤🅣🅔🅡 🅖🅔🅝🅔🅡🅐🅣🅔🅓 🅘🅜🅐🅖🅔🅡🅨
When done well, computer generated imagery can allow the filmmaker to achieve results that would be impractical (if not impossible) to recreate by other means.
Done badly, and it can totally undermine an otherwise fine movie.
We could fill an entire post with examples of the latter, but today we’re looking at notable movies that executed computer effects to a superb level, despite the fact that CGI barely existed at the time.
Fantasy Movie Genre
Fantasy Movie Genre
① Archetypes: Fantasy Genre
The Hero - Luke Skywalker. ...
The Mentor - Obi Wan Kenobi/Yoda. ...
The Ally - Han Solo. ...
The Herald - R2-D2. ...
The Trickster - C-3PO. ...
The Damsel-in-Distress - Princess Leia. ...
The Threshold Guardian - The Stormtroopers. ...
The Shadow - Darth Vader.
Brainstorm classic films from the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres.
You will most likely list Star Wars as a Science Fiction and Lord of the Rings as a Fantasy.
WATCH CLIPS
"What genre is Star Wars?"
"Science Fiction, of course!"
"Nope, contrary to popular belief, based on the traditional characteristics of genres, Star Wars is actually a fantasy, set in a futuristic world.
'Wait, that doesn't make sense! I thought science fiction was anything set in the future!'"
②
A brief description of Epic Fantasy archetypes
by Zach Nyhus
We will break into groups of three and choose a film they have all seen which portrays some of these mythic archetypes. Each group member would choose a different character from the film as an example of an archetype, and together, they would write a modern newspaper-style "Personals Ad" in the voice of that character, careful to not mention any specific character names. (I would give the students more than one class period to accomplish this.)
The students would then read their Personals Ads in front of the class, and the rest of the class would have to guess which archetype had written each ad, and explain their rationale for that conclusion.
__________________________________
③
Discussion of Science Fiction vs. Fantasy: By Brian Erlich
Science Fiction: Emphasis on imagined science and technology- issues with, future of , inventive technologies and science, etc. The key aspect of science fiction is that the narratives COULD happen based on our current technology and laws of nature. Therefore, much of science fiction does take place in futuristic settings, but definitely does not need to.
Fantasy: Imagined worlds using magic and other supernatural powers and phenomena. Often involves the hero journey coming into their own person through depredations and initiations. Often involves binary communities of good versus evil.
The main difference between Science Fiction and Fantasy is the issue of realism. Science Fiction is POSSIBLE, while fantasy is totally imagined and IMPOSSIBLE to actually occur in our universe.
THEREFORE: Star Wars is actually fantasy: It is an imagined universe with a supernatural phenomena of "The Force" and the Jedi's versus the Dark Side (good versus evil binary). Finally, Luke Skywalker is the typical hero/journey character.
Film in the 2000's
Film in the 2000's
The First Decade of the New Millennium: Change and Innovation
Although technically, the new millennium dawned on January 1st 2001, the new decade of films (and film history) began on January 1, 2000. It began with trumped fears over Y2K and major terrorists attacks on 9/11/2001, was marked at its midpoint with the devastating natural disasters of the Asian tsunami of 2004 and of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and ended with the financial meltdown of the economy (the second crash and recession of the decade). The end of the decade was punctuated by James Cameron's revolutionary and major blockbuster film Avatar (2009), the highest grossing (domestic) film of 2009 - and of the decade. [It became only the fifth film in movie history to exceed $1 billion in worldwide grosses, and did so in less than 3 weeks.] The film soon surpassed the highest-grossing (worldwide) film of all-time - Cameron's own Titanic (1997).
The decade was overwhelmed by the ascendancy of Google, Amazon, YouTube, the blogosphere, Craigslist, new media and social networking sites (MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, etc), reality TV (capped by Survivor and American Idol), the popular game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Netflix, and 24/7 cable news shows - all competing for audiences or market share.
New tech products included ubiquitous laptops (smaller and smaller), the iPod, Skype, Hulu, eBooks, Blackberrys and smart phones. Television moved from analog to digital broadcasting - and new flat-screens replaced bulky cathode-ray tubes, video rental stores converted to DVDs, and dial-up connections became broadband. Answering machines, real Rolodexs, reservations by phone, heavy phonebooks and cellphones, lickable stamps, VHS tapes (and players) and insertable floppy disks all went by the wayside.
Although the first TiVo digital video recorder (DVR) shipped in early 1999, it wasn't until the decade of the 2000s, after further technological improvements, that it became a commonplace media appliance for recording TV programs - allowing for 'time-shifting' of viewing, and for fast-forwarding through commercials. However, the majority of DVRs now in use were being installed in cable or satellite set-top boxes, threatening to make stand-alone TiVo machines also obsolete. Sensationalized celebrity deaths were a new phenomenon -- surrounding the demise of Anna Nicole Smith, Michael Jackson, and Farrah Fawcett - among others.
Shorts
Shorts
In the beginning all films were short films only lasting a few seconds. The very first films were on Thomas Edison’s kinetoscope, a device that allowed one viewer to see a series of photographs on film telling a story or an action. These first films were filled with celebrities, current affairs and small exhibition shows. The first ever U.S. copyright for a motion picture was given to Thomas Edison for a five-second film of Thomas’ assistant Fred Ott sneezing.
Indie (Independent) Films
Indie (Independent) Films
Documentary Films
Documentary Films
Documentary Films strictly speaking, are non-fictional, "slice of life" factual works of art - and sometimes known as cinema verite. For many years, as films became more narrative-based, documentaries branched out and took many forms since their early beginnings - some of which have been termed propagandistic or non-objective.
PLEASE MAKE SURE TO DO RESEARCH WHEN WATCHING A DOCUMENTARY!
PLEASE MAKE SURE TO DO RESEARCH WHEN WATCHING A DOCUMENTARY!
THE FILMMAKER WANTS TO SHOW YOU THE ISSUE FROM THEIR VIEWPOINT, NOT NECESSARILY **ALL VIEWPOINTS**
THE FILMMAKER WANTS TO SHOW YOU THE ISSUE FROM THEIR VIEWPOINT, NOT NECESSARILY **ALL VIEWPOINTS**
Blackfish
Blackfish
theBLACKFISHinfluence.pdfThe_What_and_Why_of_Documentary_Warm_Up_Name.pdfSeaspiracy
Seaspiracy
Where to start?
Where to start?
Best documentaries in four (4) categories
Best documentaries in four (4) categories
Film in the 2010's and beyond
Film in the 2010's and beyond
According to the LA Times in late September 2011, Hollywood's business model was poised to make a revolutionary shift. Due to a rapid 40% decline in home entertainment revenue (from the once-profitable sale of DVDs, the previous revenue model), the newest switch would be to Video On-Demand (VOD) services and the acceleration of the digital delivery of movies over the Internet.
Many options would be developed to accommodate consumers' Internet-connected digital devices (smartphones, tablets, and TVs), in order to facilitate digital movie consumption (and collection) via downloads. The article ("The Revolution Will Be Downloaded") predicted: "It may be the biggest shift in Hollywood's business model since the explosion of the DVD in the late 1990s." However, the complexity of downloading a film on one device for viewing it on another device (in the bedroom, minivan, or portable DVD player) was a hurdle to be overcome.
Social Dilemma questions.docxOther Resources
Other Resources
Let this be a lesson to anyone of you who wish to turn a great idea into a movie.
Let this be a lesson to anyone of you who wish to turn a great idea into a movie.
Protect yourself!
Protect yourself!
b59488093ad6597de6f5b003c6c91a84.mp4
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