Chapter 9

Motion Pictures

Early Days

• Thomas Edison 1888 kinetoscope• Edison’s assistant William Kennedy

Dickson• Edison also borrowed ideas from Marey

and Muybridge and their photographs• Idea was actually Ptolemy Greek

astronomer who discovered persistence of vision

Early Days

• Persistence of vision—human eye retains an image on the retina for a moment after the image disappears

• Flip books• 1895 French brothers August and Louis Lumiere

took Edison’s projector to a larger scale and called it cinematorgraphe

• Finally, vitascope, developed by Armat and Jenkins—Vaudeville houses with live musical accompaniment

Early Days

• Popularity grows and so does price to a nickel thus nickelodeons

The Films

• A Trip to the Moon 1902• The Great Rain Robbery 1903• Birth of A Nation D.W.Griffith 1915• Civil War epic three hours• Pantomine• EPS Cycle movies remain in Elite stage

shortest period of time of any medium; more elite movies today than in early years

Comedy

• Recurring theme throughout all media; comedy is usually most popular genre

• Keystone Kops Mack Sennett 1912• Hal Roach Our Gang• Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy Who’s On

First?• Charlie Chaplin The Tramp• Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd

World War I

• Propaganda films

• War Effort

• 3 years over 175 films

• The Kaiser’s Finish

• This also sees Hollywood become the leading producer of films worldwide

Sound

• Many thought it would end the industry• Many actors with weak voices did not make

the transition• Dr. Lee De Forest one of the first sound on

film processes around 1923• Warner Bros. 1927 The Jazz Singer starring

Al Jolson; changes everything• Silent films disappear quickly

Censorship

• We should add this as the third step in the EPS cycle

• Every time a medium goes popular, a wave of social change comes about and morality is threatened

• Roaring 20s/Jazz Age• PCA Production Code Administration 1934• Motion Picture Producers and Distributors

Association 1922 Will H. Hays• Republican/Presbyterian—need I say more?

Censorship

• Hays gave fines for not getting the approval up to $25,000 a huge sum for that time

• First real challenge was Otto Preminger

• Released his films without Hays’ permission

• Classic line from Clark Cable was also cited by Hays

Studio System

• As we stated earlier, Payne Fund Studies show large numbers of teens going to movies weekly

• To keep up with demand, Hollywood develops a system of major studio producing hundreds of films each year

• Marketing departments create stars and contracts

Studio System

• Warner Brothers

• MGM Metro Goldwin Mayer (sp?)

• Paramount

• 20th Century Fox

• Universal

• RKO

• The Great Depression movies aid morale

Musicals and Other Genres

• Westerns

• Comedies

• Musicals Busby Berkley

• Gangsters

• Romantic comedies

• Frank Capra films It’s A Wonderful Life

• Blockbusters Gone With The Wind

HUAC

• 1947 House Un-American Activities Committee• Communist propaganda• Became a witch hunt• People were blacklisted and never worked again• Many would work under assumed names• Later credits were restored but many were ruined

and were guilty of nothing

Anti-trust

• 1948 Supreme Court

• Illegal monopoly of studios to operate all aspects from creation to distribution

• Created laws prohibiting ownership of studios and theatres by same company

Television

• 1948 TV networks emerge• Baby Boom after World War II kept many

home with small children• Sports such as baseball transferred well to

TV • Studios forced to create alternative

experiences gives rise to 3-D and color in films (TV was still B &W)

Ratings System

• One more time, a new medium forces culture to review its morals

• Because of TV, movies cater to youth culture and counter culture and contain sexually explicit and violent materials

• Blackboard Jungle• Causes concerns• Enter the ratings system of 1960s

Ratings System

• G

• PG

• R

• X (now NC-17)

• PG 13 added after Spielberg’s Gremlins and Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom

• XXX

1970s

• Disaster and violence become genres

• The Poseidon Adventure

• Towering Inferno

• Halloween

• Texas Chainsaw Massacre

1990s

• Special effects• Again, a response to programming on TV; cable

allowed for more explicit programming• Hollywood responds with big budget special

effects films• Video Rentals people believe will kill the industry• DVD digital video disk• Conglomerates• Future?