Instructor: Nico Maestu
Spring 2009
SBCC
FS107: Contemporary American Film
Section 58993
Tues. & Thurs. 3:00-5:05 PM
Film Approaches
Not judging a film > analyzing
Different approaches to studying film:
– Historical > history of the time
– Industrial > the film industry and its effect on film
– Cultural > how does culture affect films
– Auteur Studies > a particular director
– Genre Studies > focusing on a genre
– Stylistic > focusing on the style of a film
– Ideological > analyzing the meanings of a film
Late 1950s to the present > by decade:
• 1/2 semester: 1960s and 1970s
• 1/2 semester: 1980s, 1990s, 2000s
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Overview of Class
To 1950s:
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What is the Hollywood Studio System? Why did it thrive?
Big 5 and Little 3 / Production Code
Problems in the 1950s
Studio System falls apart
1960s:
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Attempts to stay alive: Musicals and Blockbusters
Rise of International films / Art cinema / New Audiences
Studio takeovers > corporations / Multiplex
New directors, New actors
Sexuality and violence explored
1970s:
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1969-1971: slump
College educated filmmakers / breaking yet aware of traditions
Rise of the Summer “event films”
Revisiting genres / Vietnam
Rise of Home Video
Overview of Class
1980s:
– Larger corporations buying out studios / News Corp, Coke,
Times
– High Concept films / Rise of sequels / MTV
– Independent films / Youth films / Teen films
– Special effects: Tron, The Abyss
– Neo-noir / Erotic Thrillers
1990s:
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Titanic: major blockbusters
DreamWorks / Miramax
Internet marketing / DVDs / Special effects
Neo-noirs
2000s:
– Tent-poles / mass international box office
– Rise of Comic book films / J-horror / “Splat Pack” / Hong Kong
– DVD formats / Home Viewing / Simultaneous releases
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Class Website
http://instructors.sbcc.edu/maestu
Class Forum for Weekly Writings
http://filmstudiesonline.com/courseforums/
How to succeed in this class?
• Come to all class sessions and watch all the films.
• Take notes during lecture, discussions, and films.
• Ask many questions – do not leave until you understand what we
are discussing.
• Participate during class discussions.
• Read the book on time.
• Complete your weekly journal writing assignments on the forum.
• Start early with your paper.
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Hollywood Studio System
Lasts from 1915 to 1950s: mass
production of high quality
product (films)
Vertical Integration:
• Production
• Distribution
• Exhibition
“The genius of the system”
Big 5 and Little 3 distributed 95%
of all films produced in the US
Big 5 (fully vertically integrated):
– MGM
– Paramount
– Warner Brothers
– 20th Century-Fox
– RKO
Little 3 (partially integrated):
– Universal
– United Artists
– Columbia
Oligopoly: control of a market by a
small group of companies
Production in Hollywood
Studios are in the Los Angeles Area:
– Backlots
– Employed 3-6,000 people
– The Ranch: large property
1. Studio boss
2. Head of Production
3. Producers (see film from script to end product)
Story departments > crucial to Studio System
Star system:
– Long term contracts (7 year contracts)
– Type cast
Clip from American Cinema: The Studio System
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Exploitative elements in
the early 1930s
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Gangster films
Betty Boop
Jean Harlow
Barbara Stanwick
Mae West
And others.
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Regulation of Content
Motion Picture Producers and
Distributors of America (MPPDA)
Catholic Legion of Decency
1930: Production Code
1934: Production Code Administration
Lasts to 1966
Production Code
General Principles
1. No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence
the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil
or sin.
2. Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and entertainment, shall
be presented.
3. Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation.
Particular Applications
I. Crimes Against the Law
1. Murder
2. Methods of Crime should not be explicitly presented.
3. Illegal drug traffic must never be presented.
4. The use of liquor in American life, when not required by the plot or for proper characterization,
will not be shown.
II. Sex
1. Adultery, sometimes necessary plot material, must not be explicitly treated, or justified, or
presented attractively.
2. Scenes of Passion
3. Seduction or Rape
4. Sex perversion or any inference to it is forbidden.
5. ......
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Hollywood Style
Studio System: Vertical Integration and Contracts
Production Code: Regulation of content.
Led to a particular Film Style, which would dramatically change
once the System and Code fell apart.
Post-War Period
1947: beginning of Hollywood decline
Some reasons:
– Television: 1946: first large scale network programming; 1949:
close to 1 million televisions ; more convenient for suburban
families.
– HUAC (House of Un-American Activities Committee): late 1940s
to mid-1950s / investigating Communism.
– Paramount Decrees: 1948 > no longer Vertical Integration.
– Rise of Independent Productions: directors, actors, and others
form their own production companies and are now represented
by Talent Agencies > Package Productions.
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Hollywood
differentiates itself from
TV
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5.
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Color
Widescreen processes
3-D Films
Improved sound
Big budget blockbusters
Changing content / Ratings
Changing audiences
By 1956, Hollywood would enter the TV business.
Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980)
“Master of Suspense”
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Made over 60 films from 1922 to 1976.
Known for his cameos from 1927 on.
Promote his image.
Major influence.
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Began his career in Germany.
Continued in Britain.
Came to the US in 1939.
TV production in 1950s and 1960s.
Psycho (1960)
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Paramount: no salary but 60% of negative
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TV Unit at Universal
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Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles
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Using the “star” for impact
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Promotion and Marketing / staying in line
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About: Watching / doubling / mothers
Cameo: Wearing hat near the office / early
in the film
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Week 1 Questions
• What is your reaction to this film?
• Does this film's look, style, and content adhere to Classical
Hollywood conventions? Why or why not? Be as specific as
possible.
• What do you think has made this film so significant in U.S. film
history?
• What in this film might be considered controversial according to
what the Studio System had been producing since the 1930s?
• Go to www.imdb.com and do a search of the film?
• On the left sidebar click on Company Credits. What company(ies)
produced the film? What company(ies) distributed the film? What
does this reveal about the Hollywood industry at this time period?
• On the left sidebar click on Box office / business. What was the
film's budget and what was the Gross total? Does this appear to
have been a profitable film? Why do you think this film was popular
or unpopular when it was released?
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