1. Shoup Hall 207 Tom Henderson, speaker
SPJ TONIGHT! 7 p.m.
Shoup Hall 207
Tom Henderson, speaker
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2. From Flickering Images to Hollywood Studios & Stars
Movies: Part II
From Flickering Images
to Hollywood Studios & Stars
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3. Technology Motion pictures combine: 1. Still photography
2. Persistence of vision
3. Projection of images
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4. Early technologies Celluloid film stock Kinetograph and kinetoscope
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Early technologies
Celluloid film stock
Goodwin, 1889, who sold patents to Eastman
Kinetograph and kinetoscope
Dickson and Edison, 1890s
Projection system
Lumiere Brothers, 1895
Vitascope
Edison, 1896
Nickelodeons boomed
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Movies History 11/07/04

5. Photography 1727: Chemists discover silver nitrate reacts to light
1839: Louis Daguerre used pewter, later copper for prints (daguerreotypes)
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6. Photography George Eastman 1884: invents flexible film (cellulose)
Calls his portable camera “Kodak”
100 exposures
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7. Persistence of Vision Peter Roget 1824
Images stay in memory for 1/10 second
Pictures on spinning wheel
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8. Persistence of Vision Eadward Muybridge
Won bet with California Gov. Leland Stanford (1877)
Did all 4 feet of a galloping horse leave ground at once?
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9. Persistence of Vision
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10. Motion Pictures Thomas Edison
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Motion Pictures
Thomas Edison
Envisioned image device similar to phonograph
1887: 1st patent for motion picture camera
: Camera tested by assistant, William Dickson
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Movies History 11/07/04

11. Projection Systems Auguste, Louis Lumiere (France)
Projected movies onto large screen
Made possible multiple viewing
35mm standard
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12. Projection systems
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13. JAMM 100 K. Bird
Early film styles
Lumiere Brothers in Paris shot documentary scenes of everyday life.
French magician Georges Melies: fairy tales and science fiction stories
American cameraman Edwin S. Porter created early narrative structures.
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Movies History 11/07/04

14. Early Films No story, just motion Viewers fascinated by simple scenes
Fred Ott’s sneeze
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15. 1902: A Trip to the Moon George Melies (France) Storytelling
10-minute shorts
Slow motion, animation
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16. 1903: The Great Train Robbery
Edwin S. Porter
1st U.S. movie to tell a story
12 minutes long
1st Western
Editing to create suspense
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17. 1915: Birth of a Nation D.W. Griffith 3 hours long
Shot without a script
Civil War, Reconstruction
Criticized for racial stereotypes
Praised for technical innovations
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18. Three basic economic divisions of the movie industry
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Three basic economic divisions of the movie industry
PRODUCTION: camera and projector technology, scripting, filming
DISTRIBUTION: marketing and delivering films into theaters
EXHIBITION: the theater industry that delivers movies to the public
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Movies History 11/07/04

19. Thomas Alva Edison, Inventor and Entrepreneur
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Thomas Alva Edison, Inventor and Entrepreneur
Desired control over all three facets of the motion picture industry--production, distribution, exhibition
His strategy: to gain control over PATENTS to movie technology
How? Accused other inventors of violating his patents to tie them up in lawsuits.
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Movies History 11/07/04

20. THE MOTION PICTURE PATENTS COMPANY (MPPC)
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THE MOTION PICTURE PATENTS COMPANY (MPPC)
Thomas Edison formed MPPC (the “Trust”) in 1908 as a Patents Pool.
Cooperative of leading U.S. and French film companies
Dominated the film industry from
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Movies History 11/07/04

21. How MPPC controlled the industry
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How MPPC controlled the industry
Controlled (but did not own) means of production, distribution, and exhibition.
The MPPC was a monopoly (also called a trust), and excluded other film studios from the available technology.
Eastman sold film only to members
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Movies History 11/07/04

22. WHY did the MPPC fail? Could not meet product demand
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WHY did the MPPC fail?
Could not meet product demand
Independent producers bought film stock from overseas.
Independent producers attracted viewers with longer feature films and recognizable stars.
Independent distributors set up a non-MPPC distribution network.
1912 Antitrust case in Supreme Court (Fox)
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Movies History 11/07/04

23. JAMM 100 K. Bird
In 1915, by Supreme Court order, the MPPC disbanded. However, by that time, it had already fallen apart due to challenges of “independents.”
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Movies History 11/07/04

24. Who were these “independents”?
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Who were these “independents”?
Ironically, the very same people who would institute a far more effective and long-lived oligopoly to control the industry--the Hollywood Studio System
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Movies History 11/07/04

25. THE RISE OF THE HOLLYWOOD STUDIO SYSTEM (1925-1948)
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THE RISE OF THE HOLLYWOOD STUDIO SYSTEM ( )
From Monopoly (the MPCC) to Oligopoly (the Studio System)
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Movies History 11/07/04

26. Silent Pictures Harold Lloyd Comedy: ‘Safety First’ Did his own stunts
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27. The Talkies Sound on film (SOF) Microphones Sound recording Amplifiers
Synchronization
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28. 1927
The Jazz Singer
Al Jolson
2 songs
354 words of dialogue
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29. 1920s: Studio system
Producers moved from New York to southern California
Attempt to avoid patent lawsuits by MPPC
Popular actors became stars
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30. The “Big Five” and the “Little Three”
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The “Big Five” and the “Little Three”
The “Big Five” or the Majors:
Warner Brothers
Paramount
20th Century Fox
Loew's (MGM)
RKO (owned by RCA)
The “Little Three” or the Minors:
United Artists
Columbia
Universal
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Movies History 11/07/04

31. Control over Production
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Control over Production
Produced 60 percent of all U.S. feature films.
Produced 75 percent of "A" films (blockbusters).
Each of these studios produced about fifty movies a year.
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Movies History 11/07/04

32. Applied Factory Principles
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Applied Factory Principles
Centralized production and lots of employees
Division and specializing of labor
Standardizing and specializing of product
Grading films
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Movies History 11/07/04

33. Control Over Distribution
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Control Over Distribution
Eight studios collected 95 percent of all national film rental fees.
Trade practices effectively closed the market to films made outside the studio system.
Block booking
Marketing U.S. films in Europe
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Movies History 11/07/04

34. Control over exhibition
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Control over exhibition
Studio ownership of theaters created a need for studios to produce films for them.
Much money was invested in the building of theaters themselves, especially movie palaces.
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Movies History 11/07/04

35. How’d studios control exhibition?
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How’d studios control exhibition?
Studio-owned theaters (first-run): the studios owned only 15 percent of U.S. theaters, but 90 percent of nation's box office receipts
Movie palaces
Mid-city theatres
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Movies History 11/07/04

36. JAMM 100 K. Bird
What went wrong?
No one reason : four large factors came together in late 1940s
The Red Scare (The Hollywood Ten)
The Paramount Decision of 1948
Postwar Changes in Society
The Rise of Television
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Movies History 11/07/04

37. Red Scare and HUAC Hearings
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Red Scare and HUAC Hearings
Cold War paranoia about Communist messages in mass entertainment
Congress formed House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC)
1941 and 1947 HUAC hearings were "witch hunts" to remove so-called subversives from the industry (led by Senator Joseph McCarthy).
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Movies History 11/07/04

38. EFFECT OF HUAC HEARINGS
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EFFECT OF HUAC HEARINGS
Blacklisting of talented members of Hollywood community
Tarnished the Hollywood “Dream Machine” image
Created a climate of fear and dampened creativity within the industry
Wounds continue even today
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Movies History 11/07/04

39. THE PARAMOUNT DECISION
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THE PARAMOUNT DECISION
In 1948, Supreme Court ruled studio violation of Sherman Anti-trust Act, restricting fair trade.
Court ordered the Big Five studios to divest their theater chains.
EFFECTS: studios cut their film production by half; opened the way for independent producers.*
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Movies History 11/07/04

40. Postwar changes in society
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Postwar changes in society
Changing patterns of consumption
Less disposable income
Decreased attendance at downtown movie palaces
Returning soldiers
Baby boom
Suburbanization and new lifestyle
Nuclear families with young children
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Movies History 11/07/04

41. THE RISE OF TELEVISION Decline in motion picture attendance
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THE RISE OF TELEVISION
Decline in motion picture attendance
Film industry’s technological gimmicks to emphasize the spectacle of the big screen
Film industry cooperation with TV
Movies on TV became a continuous competitor with theatre for film customers
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Movies History 11/07/04

42. JAMM 100 K. Bird
HOLLYWOOD TODAY
Marriage of TV and movies: watching movies now takes place on the home VCR and DVD player as well as at the box office.
New Hollywood studios produce TV shows as well as feature films.
Most new movies flop at the box office, but losses are recouped through video and DVD market.
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Movies History 11/07/04

43. Sources of studio income today
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Sources of studio income today
Box office revenues
Video/DVD sales and rentals
Distribution of films globally
Studio distribution of independent films
Product placement in movies
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Movies History 11/07/04

44. The Modern Movie Oligopoly
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The Modern Movie Oligopoly
Warner Brothers
Paramount
Twentieth Century Fox
Universal
Columbia
Walt Disney
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Movies History 11/07/04

45. JAMM 100 K. Bird
Concept of SYNERGY
Synergy = the promotion and sale of a media product through the various subsidiaries of a media conglomerate.
Movies, books, soundtrack CDs, magazine reviews, toy action figures, T-shirts, posters, web sites, newspapers, TV interviews, cartoons, etc.*
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Movies History 11/07/04

46. For next class Television & the Power of Visual Culture
Read Chapters 5 & 6
Complete Chapter 5 Review Questions , Questioning the Media 1, 3 & 5
Complete Chapter 6 all Review Questions
Take online quizzes
Complete The Ratings Game exercise
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