The close of a decade1956-1959

Hollywood’s attack on tv

Television is now a permanent fixture

Hollywood’s attack: No movies were to be shown on

television No movie stars were to appear

on a television program ban on actors lifted in 1956 Used technological advances

to lure people out

Technological Changes

Color Film Advent of wide-screen

cinematography These two effects created effects

that the television could not match.

2 competing systems created the wide-screen film: Cinerama CinemaScope

Cinerama

3 cameras 3 projectors A large curved screen

“How the West Was Won” Proved to be too costly and

impractical

Cinemascope

1 camera Was more effective and less

expensive Soon other studios werer

creating similar wide-screen formats

The Blockbuster

Lavish, lengthy and spectacular

Came into existence in 1956 with 3 epics: Around the World in 80 Days War and Peace The Ten Commandments The Bridge on the River Kwai

Blockbusters cont..

Because of costs, the extravagant epic would enjoy a limited life span.

Some of these films can be considered to be among Hollywood’s greatest productions containing some of Hollywood’s finest music. Religious films are the most

sensational epics of the time.

A New American Cinema1960-1976

60’s transformation

Peak of the Cold War Threat of total nuclear

annihilation Civil rights Assassinations Moon landing The Vietnam War

The Influence of tv

Television cameras recorded many historic events.

Instead of bringing people together, it illustrated the issues that separated them. Division based on race, sex, and

age led to open and often violent confrontations.

Traditions and authority were questioned in every aspect of life.

New Wave Cinema

Huge French influence on film in the late 50’s early 60’s Auteur-director/artist

Just as an author controls all aspects of a book, the auteur manipulates every detail of a film: Script Cinematography music

New wave… Traditional narrative

techniques from the 30’s are no longer adequate

New trends: Innovative plots (unclear beg

and endings) Ambiguous moral implications Unconventional plot lines

Allowed exploration of: slow motion, jump cutting, and freeze frames

New wave directors Showed great concern for

psychological importance of mise-en-scene and music

Music was used to help establish a mood No more mirroring the action,

underscoring individual emotions, and loud endings.

Music created atmosphere and was detached from the details of the story

Psycho 1960

1st outstanding film score relecting new wave ideas.

Alfred Hitchcock Chose to shoot in black and

white Most famous creative shot:

The shower montage Moves rapidly between 87 shots

with a cutting technique that seems as violent as the scene itself.

Cont…

By the end of the shower montage the audience imagines that it has seen nudity and a knife stabbing a body, but both are implied, not shown.