Chapter 8 Draft Copy 8116 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 ID: 735340
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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.