History of motion pictures Movies today shaped by

History of motion pictures Movies today shaped by a history and culture emphasizing profits, avoiding controversy

Early moving pictures n Phase 1: movement Lumiere Brothers, Edison Phase 2: story telling, art n One Reelers n D. W. Griffith n Adventures of Dolly Lonedale Operator

Rise of Hollywood Impatience within industry n Desire to innovate n Move to western U. S. n Rural LA: sunshine plentiful, little rain, many barns n

Birth of a Nation, 1915 D. W. Griffith’s pioneering feature film n From Dixon’s The Clansman n Cost: $100 K; revenues $18 m n 3+ hours n Technical quality high n Highly racist – reactions n Movies = middle class medium n

Rise of the star system Economics of star system n Chaplin, Pickford, Arbuckle n Creating stars: Theda Bara n Rudolph Valentino n

Movie industry structure n n Concentration of ownership Edison, Motion Picture Trust Zukor: Vertical Integration – production, distribution, exhibition Coming of Sound: Big 6 production, distribution, exhibition

Caution, self censorship Fearful of govt. regulation n Extensive self censorship n Hays Office– 1920 s Motion Picture Code, 1934 n Legion of Decency, 1930 s-60 s n Least Offensive Programming n Lowest Common Denominator n

Business Practices Golden age of the movies, 1928 -48 n Formula n Block booking n Blind selling n

Post World War 2 1. Attendance plummets due to q TV, suburbs q Movie costs soar q Paramount decree, 1948 2. Efforts to revive industry q Innovation q Blockbusters q Formulas

Hollywood revival Switch to TV production n Selling old films to TV n Home video n