Movies: Mass Producing Entertainment - PowerPoint Presentation

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Slide1

Movies:Mass Producing Entertainment

Chapter 8

Draft Copy 8/1/16Slide2

Practical Special Effects: How real is real?

Mad Max: Fury Road

features lots of practical special effects.

But are practical effects “more real” than digital effects?

Problem is more with badly done digital effects.

Real question is “Do effects help tell a compelling story.”Slide3

Early Movie Technology1870s & 1880s:

Marey and Muybridge.1894: Thomas Edison opens first kinetoscope parlor.Lumière brothers invent portable movie camera & projector.

Early 1900s: Nickelodeon theaters become popular.Slide4

Telling a Story With Film1903: 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

conventionsSlide5

D.W. Griffith 1915:

Birth of a Nation.Created the feature-length film.

Griffith

’

s

Intolerance

required outside funding.

Era of movie stars started under Griffith.Slide6

The Studio System

Movies as mass produced artStudios control all levels of production

(Vertical Integration).

Talent works under exclusive contract to studios.

Block

bookings force theater owners to take films they may not want as well as more popular ones.

Development

of talking

picturesSlide7

Response to the Studio System

1919: United ArtistsDirectors and actors take over.

1940s

: United States vs. Paramount

The beginning of the break-up of the studio system under anti-trust laws.Slide8

The Blacklist

1947: House

Un-American

A

ctivities

C

ommittee 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.Slide9

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 theatersSlide10

The Blockbuster Era

1975: Jaws creates the summer blockbusterSuccession of big-budget films with very wide

release

2015/16:

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

has biggest box office to date.

1939:

Gone With The Wind

sold the most tickets.

1990s: Home video becomes as important as theatrical release.Slide11

Digital Production & Projection

1977: Star Wars brings computer-controlled cameras to movie making.2004:

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

becomes first major film to have all-digital sets.

2007:

300

shows movie with digital sets can be successful.

Late 2009/10: Digital and 3-D digital projection grow in popularity.

IMAX screenings

become premium revenue source.

Film screenings growing in popularity again.Slide12

What Makes a Movie Profitable?

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

Or…Slide13

What Makes a Movie Profitable?

Make a movie with:A small budget.

A clear target

audience.

Modest box office

expectations.

Makes

a great return on

investment—think

Bridesmaids,

Paranormal

Activity

series

, and Slumdog Millionaire.Slide14

Popularity of Bollywood Films

World’s biggest source of movies

Big musical numbers cross-language

barriers

Having influence on western

films

Known as masala or

s

pice

moviesSlide15

The Bechdel Test

Are there two or more women who have names in the movie?

Do they talk to each other?

Do they talk to each other about something other than a man?Slide16

Diversity In The Movies

2016 – All Oscar acting nominees are white.

#

OscarSoWhite

hashtag highlighted lack of diversity.

Academy tends to be older,

white,

and male.

Problem of ‘

whitewashing’Slide17

Movies & Censorship

1920s: Birth of the Production Code (Hays Code). Attempting to avoid government imposed rules

Strict rules on sex, profanity, and

violenceSlide18

Failure of Code

Movies reflected the changing social values of the post WW II America.By the early 1960s many movies released without code approval

1968: MPAA launching movie rating system, still in use today with some

modifications.Slide19

Ratings

Original Ratings:G – General audiences M – Mature audiencesR - 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 admittedSlide20

Movies As a BrandDomestic box office

International distribution rightsPay-per-view rightsPremium cable channel rights

Network television

Home video

Book rights

Toys and clothes

Product placementSlide21

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

Streaming

services such as Hulu and Netflix have given small independent films greater distribution.