Chapter 8 Movies: Mass Producing Entertainment

Early Movie Technology 1870s and 1880s: Marey and Muybridge View View

Early Movie Technology 1870s and 1880s: Marey and Muybridge zoopraxiscope View zoopraxiscope View

Early Movie Technology 1894: Thomas Edison: opens first kinetoscope parlor – manner to watch “moving pictures”, commercial possibilities are opened

Early Movie Technology Kinetograph: Leonard Cushing Kinetograph 1894Leonard Cushing Kinetograph 1894

Early Movie Technology The first U.S. copyright for an identifiable motion picture was given to Edison for Fred Ott's Sneeze.Fred Ott's Sneeze Edison opens his own film studio called Black Maria

Early Movie Technology Lumière brothers invent portable movie camera and projector: cinematograph

Early Movie Technology Early 1900s: nickelodeon theaters become popular Lumière brothers: ActualitiesArrival of a Train at La CiotatArrival of a Train at La Ciotat

Early Movie Technology Birth of Cinema

Telling a Story With Film 1903: 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 conventions View

D.W. Griffith 1915: Birth of a NationBirth of a Nation Created the first feature-length film Griffith’s Intolerance required outside funding Era of movie stars started under Griffith

The Studio System Stars worked directly for studios Block bookings Vertical integration Development of talking pictures View

Response to the Studio System 1919: United Artists created by directors and actors. Aimed to create at least 5 films a year 1940s: United States vs. Paramount: Studios owned theatres that only played films they created. Supreme Court ruled this was a violation of antitrust laws

The Blacklist 1947: HUAC 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.

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 theaters

The Blockbuster Era 1975: Jaws creates the summer blockbuster Succession of big-budget films with very wide release 2009–2010: Avatar had biggest box office to date 1939: Gone With The Wind sold the most tickets 1990s: Home video becomes as important as theatrical release

The Blockbuster Era Visit BoxOfficeMojo.com BoxOfficeMojo.com Take a look at the Yearly Box Office what films have you seen off this list Next, look at All Time. Are you surprised by some of the records. Choose a couple and explain.

Digital Production & Projection 1977: Star Wars brings computer-controlled cameras to movie making.

Digital Production & Projection 2004: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow becomes first major film to have all-digital sets.Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Digital Production & Projection 2007: 300 shows that a movie with digital sets can be successful.300

Digital Production & Projection Industrial Light & Magic ILMILM Late 2009–2010: Digital and 3-D digital projection grow in popularity.

What Makes a Movie Profitable? Make a big budget film with marketing tie-ins that sells lots of tickets Or…

The Blockbuster Era Visit BoxOfficeMojo.com BoxOfficeMojo.com Look at the Daily Gross – Research Paranormal Activity 4. What can you tell about the production of this movie that is largely different from say Skyfall

What Makes a Movie Profitable? Make a movie with A small budget A clear target audience Have a modest box office Make a great return on investment Think High School Musical 3, Little Miss Sunshine, Paranormal Activity

Movies & Censorship 1920s: Birth of the Production Code (Hays Code) Named after Will H. HaysHays Code Attempting to avoid local censorship rules Strict rules on sex, profanity, violence

Failure of Code 1960s: movies released without code approval 1968: MPAA launches movie rating systemMPAA

Ratings Original Ratings G – General audiences M – Mature audiences R - 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 admitted

Ratings Visit FilmRatings.comFilmRatings.com Find a film that you may have seen in the database – do you agree with the rating it received? Do films have to be rated? Who rates the films? If a filmmaker does not like the rating what can they do?

Ratings Are movies hurt by directors cutting scenes in order to get an “R” rating? Should there be an “A” rating that indicates that a movie is for adults only but is milder than a NC-17?

Movie Revenue Sources Domestic box office International distribution rights Pay-per-view rights Premium cable channel rights Network television Home video Book rights Toys and clothes Product placement

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

Popularity of Bollywood Films World’s biggest source of movies based in Mumbai, India Big musical numbers cross language barriers Having influence on western films Slumdog Millionaire