Download - Mass Media and Society Chapter 8: Movies
Mass Media and Society
Chapter 8: Movies
Feb. 14, 2014
Chapter 8:Movies
• History of movies• Movies and culture• Issues and trends• The influence of
new technology
Movie history
• Hollywood becomes center of film production by 1915
• D.W. Griffith perfects techniques during silent era: parallel editing, panning, tracking shots
The MPAA• Motion Picture
Association of America formed in 1922
• Code of self-censorship predated modern ratings system
• Public attitude toward film stars divided, like today
From silent to color
• By 1930, films with sound fully replace silent films
• By end of 1940s, color films largely displaced black-and-white
• Color successes: “Gone With the Wind,” “Wizard of Oz,” animated films
The studio system
• Hollywood studios were vertically integrated, controlling production, release, distribution, viewing
• 1948: U.S. vs. Paramount brought an end to this total control
Golden Age: “Citizen Kane” (’41)• Late 1930s to early 1940s• “Citizen Kane”: Pioneering
techniques, realism, social critique, biopic loosely based on William Randolph Hearst
• 1953: Widescreen aspect ratio arrives
Hollywood blacklist
• 1947: More than 100 people in movie business called to testify before House Un-American Activities Committee
• Height of cold war with USSR; communism threatened U.S.
Modern movie landscape
• 1970s: Depictions of sex and violence
• Blockbusters, knockoffs, sequels
• Technically spectacular blockbusters vs. independent films
Movies mirrorour culture
• “Birth of a Nation”: 1915• Patriotic films in WWII era• “Bonnie and Clyde” 1967• Hays Code: in place until
1967; strictly enforced limits on movie content
• MPAA ratings: 1968
Movies shapeour culture
• Films play key role in development of tastes, desires, customs
• American myths and traditions: Westerns; heroes and anti-heroes
• Social issues in film
Issues and trends
• Hollywood studios (big 6) control 95 percent of the movie business today
• Blockbusters: huge marketing costs
• Independent films make their mark (“Pulp Fiction” 1994)
Issues and Trends
• “Avatar” (2009) in 3D• $190 million to make,
$150 million to market• Today’s average
Hollywood production budget, including marketing: $65 million
New technology
• TV vs. movies in 1950s• VCR: Popular by 1985• Rental market takes off• DVDs peak and decline• Netflix: home streaming• Redbox: Price is threat
Technology
• Industry goes digital: No film reloading, editing streamlined
• 3D makes resurgence• “Avatar,” “Alice in
Wonderland” (2010), “Gravity” are big hits in 3D
Movie criticism• Changing role amid rise of
Internet/blogs; fewer professional critics
• Roger Ebert: Popular with many audiences, transitioned to web
• Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB: aggregators and databases for information