1. Movies and the Impact of Images
Chapter 7

2. “. . . [W]e need to ask big-picture questions such as what purposes movies serve for us today, compared with their earlier intent; how strong an impact the U.S. film industry has on society and culture in our own country and in others; and where the film industry may be headed in the future.”

3. Early History of Movies: The Precursors of Film
The Magic Lantern projects images painted on glass plates.
1800s
Thaumatrope “combines” images when twirled, 1824
Zoetrope makes images appear to move, 1834

4. Early History of Movies: Development Stage
Muybridge projects photographic images on wall for public viewing, 1880
Eastman develops roll film, 1884
Le Prince invents first motion-picture camera, 1888
Creates first motion picture, Roundhay Garden Scene
Goodwin creates celluloid, 1889

5. Early History of Movies: Entrepreneurial Stage
Edison and Dickson
Create kinetograph (camera) and kinetoscope (single-person viewing system)
Create vitascope, which projected longer filmstrips without interruption
Lumière brothers
Develop cinematograph, combined camera, film development, and projection system

6. Early History of Movies: Mass-Medium Stage
Méliès (France)
Introduces first narrative films
Uses new filming and editing tricks
Porter (U.S.)
Adapts Méliès’s innovations to make America’s first narrative film
Introduces first close-up, western, chase scene
Nickelodeons
Attract workers and immigrants to the movies

7. Evolution of Hollywood Studio System
Edison’s “Trust”
Cartel of major U.S. and French producers
Exclusive deal with Eastman
Zukor and Fox
Leave East Coast for Hollywood
Bypass the Trust; file suit that breaks its hold
Create Paramount, Fox
Studio system
Vertically integrated, creates film oligopoly

8. The Three Pillars of the Movie Business
Production
Studios control all “talent” via exclusive contracts
Distribution
Early film exchange system
Block booking distribution (Zukor)
European markets
Exhibition
Studios purchase first-run theaters
Develop movie palaces, mid-city theaters

9. Hollywood’s Golden Age
Narrative techniques developed
Varied camera distances, multiple story lines, fast-paced editing, symbolic imagery
New types of film develop including:
Crime, horror, westerns, war, science fiction
Introduction of sound
Further establishes narrative style
Sets new commercial standards in industry
The Jazz Singer first talkie
Fox introduces newsreels

10. Setting the Standard for Narrative Style
Hollywood narrative
Recognizable characters
Clear plot
Special effects
Hollywood Genres
Action/Adventure, comedy, romance, drama, mystery, gangster, western, horror, fantasy, musicals, film noir
Hollywood authors
Movie directors develop specific style, interest
George Lucas, Steven Spielberg

11. Breaking the Gender and Racial Barrier
Female directors struggle for recognition.
Lina Wertmuller, Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola
Minority groups, including African Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans also struggle for recognition
Some have succeeded as directors:
Spike Lee, Ang Lee, Chris Eyre, Wayne Wang

12. Alternatives to Hollywood
Foreign Films
Small percent of films seen in U.S.
Documentaries
Noncommercial films usually require grants
Cinema verité
Tackle controversial subject matter
Independent films
Created on shoestring budgets
Shown to smaller audiences

13. The Transformation of the Hollywood Studio System
Paramount decision
Major studios forced to end vertical integration
Opens up opportunities for new forms of exhibition, like drive-in theaters.
Flight to suburbs
Americans buy more consumer goods.
Marriage age drops, fewer “movie dates”
Television
Keeps Americans home

14. Television Changes Hollywood
Movies feature more serious content
Alcoholism: The Lost Weekend
Sexuality: Peyton Place, Lolita
MPPA launches ratings system
Movies develop new technologies
Technicolor, stereophonic sound

15. Home Entertainment
More than 50% of domestic revenue for Hollywood studios comes from video/DVD rentals
DVD sales declining
Blu-ray has not helped improve video store sales.
Internet video streaming is the future.
Allows viewers to download videos through Netflix, Xbox, Apple TV devices, Hulu, Fancast
Movie industry needs to adapt

16. Economics: Money In Box-office sales DVD/video sales and rentals
Studios get about 40% of the theater box-office take in first “window” for movie exhibition
DVD/video sales and rentals
50% of all domestic-film income for major studios
Cable and television outlets
Pay-per-view, video-on-demand, premium cable, network and basic cable

17. Economics: Money In (cont.)
Foreign distribution
International box-office gross revenues almost double U.S. and Canada box-office receipts.
Independent-film distribution
Indies pay studios 30–50% of box-office and video-rental money they make from their movies.
Licensing and product placement
Action figures, snacks, products “seen” in a movie
Synergy, or promotion throughout subsidiaries of media conglomerate

18. Economics: Money Out Production Marketing, advertising, print costs
Fees paid to actors, directors, personnel, costs for special effects, set design, and so on
Marketing, advertising, print costs
Can add almost $36 million in costs per film
Post-production
Film editing, sound recording

19. Economics: Money Out (cont.)
Distribution
Screening a movie for prospective buyers
Exhibition
Constructing theaters, purchasing projection equipment
Acquisitions
Buying up other media-related companies

20. Uncertainties in the Digital Age
Broadband Internet service
More movie fans are likely to download movies from Web
iTunes Store rentals, Netflix instant viewing, Hulu
Challenge of digitizing movies
More 3D films require new projection systems

21. Movies in a Democratic Society
Consensus narratives
Provide shared experiences
Bridge cultural differences, create “global village”
Stifle voices of other, underrepresented cultures
Impose mainstream, Western ideas about values, actions on others
Watch movies with a critical eye
Seek other cinematic voices