Hollywood Studio System
Hollywood not just a
location but a set of
industrial and artistic
practices that have
dominated film
production.
Not only in North America
but globally.
Why Hollywood?
Climate and natural light?
- Yes but also the relatively short
distance from Mexican border,
handy for escaping Edison’s
agents.
Primitive cinema marked by
patent wars, litigation.
Main players: Thomas Edison
and The Biograph Company
France was leading
film producer in
early years;
Germany, Italy, UK
also important.
But World War One
changed that – from
1916 USA became
the world leader in
film production and
has remained that
way until present.
India has more films produced and
bigger audience: USA greatest value
Year
Admissions (Millions) Value ($US
Millions)
1. India
2006
3,997.00
1,600.00
2. US
2007
1,400.00
9,629.00
3. France
2007
177.52
1,472.06
4. China (PRC)
2007
176.20
455.00
5. Mexico
2007
174.20
596.00
6. Japan
2007
163.20
1,675.00
7. UK
2007
162.43
1,642.00
8. South Korea
2007
158.80
1,075.84
9. Germany
2007
125.40
1,051.92
10. Italy
2007
120.00
938.35
11. Spain
2007
116.90
881.78
Pioneers (1) Thomas Ince
• 1911 – Introduces assembly line
production
• Separation of planning and
Production.
• A minute division of labour in film
making factories – departments
with separate functions.
• Bureaucratic pyramid – “central
producer system”. Producers
supervised everything – gave jobs
out etc.
Pioneers (2) D.W Griffiths
Worked with Biograph
Pictures
Famous for huge
extravaganzas
• Required large sets, casts,
costumes etc
•Management Labour
Division
•Team work and specialist
areas
•Studio Factories.
Biograph first company to
make film in Hollywood
“In Old California” (1910)
Pioneers (3) Max Sennet
Ince and Griffiths partnered with Sennet in 1915 to
form Triangle Motion Picture Company.
(Griffiths parted from Biograph
as they had little faith in the
future of feature film)
Sennet “the King of Comedy”
The innovator of slapstick.
Pioneers cont
In 1915 Griffiths produced and directed “The Clansman”
(later called “The Birth of a Nation”) which was one of the
most innovative of American films.
Set during and after the
American Civil War, noted for its
innovative technical and
narrative achievements, its
status as the first Hollywood
“blockbuster”.
However, provoked great controversy for its treatment of
white supremacy and sympathetic account of the rise of
the Ku Klux Klan.
In 1919, founded United Artists (one of the “Little
Three” studios) together with:
Mary Pickford
Douglas
Fairbanks
But Griffith’s association with UA didn’t last long.
Charles Chaplin
The Studio System
In the 1920s ‘motion pictures’ became the most
popular form of entertainment and leisure
activity in America.
As Wall Street invested heavily in film, five major
Hollywood studios and three smaller ones
consolidated power to dominate the world
market.
The Three Elements
• Production – The making of the films
•Distribution – The network that brought the films to
the public – promotion, run times
•Exhibition – The “Big Five” initially owned their own
theatres
The Development – 1920s
The main film companies move from East Coast to
Hollywood
• Self-Regulation and Production Codes
• “industrialisation” of production
Introduction of Sound
Al Jolson
The Jazz Singer, 1927
The consolidation of
sound ushered in
“classic” period (aka
“Golden Age”) of
Hollywood
Roughly 1930-1950
Financing
Hollywood during its Golden Age between the
years of 1927 – 1948 operated a mode of
production called the studio system.
The studio system was an early form of “vertical
integration”
i.e. All stages of production including screenplays,
financing, production, post production, distribution
and exhibition were owned and controlled by the
studios to maximise their profits.
Distribution & Exhibition
Affiliated cinema chains ranged from 200- to 1500
“theatres” in size – accounting for 20% of total US
cinemas.
However – these cinemas accounted for 80% of
1st run houses and the most profitable subsequent
run houses (generally located in major
metropolitan areas).
Thus – these cinemas accounted for 50% – 80%
of the Box Office in any given market
Distribution & Exhibition
The only means of distribution and exhibiting a film
was through theatrical release (cinema exhibition)
The Big Five showcased their best films in studioowned picture palaces
To gain access to the most popular films, small
local cinemas had to buy exclusive-run deals from
the studio
This block booking meant studios could push out
the competition
Exhibition
Only in largest cities did majors’ theatres compete
directly. Elsewhere they pooled their product for
nationwide distribution. Thus one company’s hit
benefited all theatres.
Production and distribution were only important to
the extent they enabled the majors to maintain
favoured status in exhibition
Distribution & Exhibition
The Majors owned substantial theatre (cinema)
chains
The Majors raised the cash to acquire these
chains through the public sale of bonds and stocks
pre 1929 taking on long term debt
This is reflected in presence of investment
bankers, businessmen etc. on Motion Picture
Company
Distribution & Exhibition
Therefore:
“…The production of films, essentially fluid and
experimental as a process, is harnessed to a form
of organisation which can rarely afford to be either
experimental or speculative because of the
regularity with which heavy fixed changes (debt)
must be made.”
Economic Control of the Motion Picture Industry”,
Moe Huettig (1944)
Production Practice
•The Hollywood studio system of film-making
to type as genres with stars in the leading
roles standardised the filmmaking process
•All film personnel from director to creative,
technical crew to actors were employees of
the studio
•e.g. actors had a standard 7 year contract;
could be fined for refusing a part; could be
loaned out to another studio without their
consent
Production Practice
Each studio had a uniform style and
specialised in a particular genre
Exceptions to the rules were directors such as
Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford and Orson Welles
who fought to work within the system and
establish their own styles
The studios
The Big Five
The little Three “Poverty Row”
(top four of many)
MGM
United Artists
Grand National
Paramount
Columbia
Pictures
Universal
Studios
Republic
Pictures
Monogram
Pictures
PRC
20th CenturyFox
Warner Bros
RKO
“The Big Five” + “Little Three” = “The Majors”
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Established in 1924 from
parent company Loew’s
Inc (owner of many
cinemas)
Leader in stars and
glamour
- Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz (both 1939)
Hired top talent directors such as King Vidor, Clarence Brown,
Erich von Stroheim, Tod Browning.
Stars included Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Robert Montgomery,
Myrna Loy, Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, Judy Garland
and Spencer Tracey
Paramount
Established as distribution
company in 1914; acquired
by Zukor in 1917, who
merges it with his
production company
First “vertically integrated”
company
Stars included: Marlene Dietrich, Mary Pickford, Bing
Cosby, Mae West, Gary Cooper, Claudette Colbert, the
Marx Brothers, Dorothy Lamour, Carole Lombard, Bob
Hope, Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Paulette Goddard
Fox (Later 20th Century Fox)
•Established in 1913 by William Fox
•Known for musicals, westerns and
bipics
•During WW2, was third most
profitable studio
•Directors included John Ford
•Stars included: Shirley Temple,
Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe,
Spencer Tracy, Betty Grable
Warner Brothers
Established in 1924 by Harry, Jack and
Albert Warner
1st Sound film – The Jazz Singer
(1927) – profits allowed WB to acquire
theatre chain and graduate from
poverty row to major status
Musicals, gangster films
Stars included: Bette Davis, James
Cagney, Joan Blondell, Edward G
Robinson, Warner William and Barbara
Stanwyck
RKO
Born from merger in
1928
Stars included:
Lucille Ball, Fay
Wray, Cary
Grant and
Katherine
Hepburn
King Kong,
Bringing Up Baby
Unit production –
contracting to
directors. Gave
Orson Welles –
then a man of the
theatre and radio,
never having
made a film –
complete controlunprecedented for
Hollywood
Studios – to direct
and star in Citizen
Kane (1941)
The Little Three
The Big Five dominated the market but how do we account
for the success of the “Little Three” – Universal, Columbia
and UA – with very few cinemas?
Answer – No one studio had the capacity to produce
sufficient films to hill its subsequent run theatres which
needed up to 300 films per annum. The little three filled this
gap.
Columbia and Universal also made many B-pics for the low
end of the market.
UA was purely a distributor for small groups of elite
independent producers.
United Artists
Founded by silent film stars Mary Pickford and Douglas
Fairbanks in 1919 – married in 1920 and produced films
at their studio on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood.
Charles Chaplin and DW Griffiths (briefly) became
involved, each of 4 owning 20% state
Functioned primarily as a backer-distributor, loaning
money to independent producers and releasing their
films
Now part of MGM
Columbia
Founded in 1919 by brothers Jack
and Harry Cohn and Joe Brandt
Released its first feature film in August 1922. it adopted the
Columbia Pictures name in 1924 and went public two years later.
Columbia began to grow in the late 1920s, spurred by a successful
association with director Frank Capra.
Became one of the primary homes of the “screwball comedy”.
Major contract stars: Jean Arthur and Cary Grant (shared with RKO
Pictures).
In the 1940s Rosalind Russell, Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford and
William Holden
Now part of Columbia Tri-Star (owned by Sony)
Universal
Founded by, Carl Laemmle, second oldest Hollywood studio.
In 30s/40s, largely run by Irving Thalberg but lured to MGM,
leading to downturn in Universal’s fortunes
Sought an audience mostly in small towns, producing mostly
inexpensive melodramas, westerns and serials
Films include All Quiet on the Western Front and Imitation
of Life.
Created a successful niche with long-running series of
monster films, inc. Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Mummy.
The Star System
•Essential element of studio system
•The star system allowed the Hollywood studios to
“manufacture” the success of young actors and
new films. One of the key means studio used to
attract audiences
•Studios would select promising young actors and
create personas for them, often inventing new
names and even new backgrounds.
•Studios and stars began to specialise in particular
styles, genres and roles.
The Star System
In early years of the cinema, performers not
identified in films. Two main reasons:
1. Stage performers embarrassed to be in film.
Silent film was only considered pantomime, only
a step above carnivals and freak shows, and
actors afraid that appearing in films would ruin
their reputation.
2. Producers feared that actors would gain more
prestige and power and demand more money.
The Star System
Main catalyst for change – public’s
desire to know the actors’ names.
Film audiences repeatedly
recognised certain performers that
they liked.
Not knowing performers’ names
they gave them nicknames (such
as “the Biography Girl”, Florence
Lawrence, who was featured in
Biography films).
Florence Lawrence (18861938)
The Star System
Relatively unknown actors would be groomed for
stardom, given new names, personas and lifestyles that
would create positive publicity for the industry.
In return, actors were subject to restrictive contracts of up
to seven years, with relatively small salaries and few
holidays between films
James Stewart and Cary Grant were two of the very few
to be independent of studios
Star system part of the process which allowed each
studio to put out more than 500 films a year.
The Star System
Humphrey Bogart
(1889-1956)
Trade Mark
Typically played smart, playful,
courageous, tough, occasionally reckless
characters who lived in a corrupt world,
anchored by a hidden moral code.
Almost always played a hard-boiled cynic
who ultimately shows his noble side.
Low-key, distinctive nasal voice.
Often wore bow ties.
Roles in film noirs.
Made 77 films from 1928- 1956
The Star System
Fred Astaire
(1899-1987)
Trade Mark
Top Hat and Tails.
His dancing
49 films from 1933-1981
Birth Name
Frederic Austerlitz Jr.
Birth Name
James Francis
Cagney
The Star System
Trade Mark
Famous for his
gangster roles he
played in the 1930s
and 1940s (which
made his only Oscar
win as the musical
composer/dancer/actor
George M.Cohan most
ironic).
Made 66 films from
1930-1984
James Cagney (1899-1986)
The Star System
His family moved to Hollywood in 1931, and
Tracy made 16 films in three years. In 1935 he
signed with MGM. He became the first actor to
win back-to-back Oscars. A few weeks after
completion of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
(1967), during which he suffered from lung
congestion, he died of a heart attack.
Made 78 films from 1930 - 1967
Spencer Tracy
(1900-1967)
The Star System
Birth Name
William Clark Gable
Trade Mark
Pencil thin moustache that
hugged his upper lip
Often played a virile, lovable
rogue whose gruff facade only
thinly masked a natural charm
and goodness.
Distinctive, powerful voice.
81 films from 1923-1961
Clark Gable (1901-1960)
The Star System
Cary Grant 1904-1986
Birth Name
Archibald Alexander Leach
Trade Mark
Mid-Atlantic accent.
Often played a handsome
bachelor.
Roles in romantic comedies.
Once told by an interviewer,
"Everybody would like to be
Cary Grant," Grant is said to
have replied, "So would I."
Made 73 films from 1932 -1966
The Star System
Joan Crawford
1905-1977
Birth Name
Lucille Fay
LeSueur
She was so dedicated to her fans
that she always personally
responded to her fan mail by typing
them responses on blue paper and
autographing it. A great deal of her
spare time and weekends were
spent doing this.
After her friend Steven Spielberg hit
it big, Joan sent him periodic notes
of congratulations. The last one
came two weeks before her death.
Made 102 films or TV
appearances from 1925-1972
The Star System
Rita Hayworth
(1918-1987)
Birth Name
Margarita Carmen Cansino
Ranked #98 in Empire (UK)
magazine's "The Top 100
Movie Stars of All Time" list.
[October 1997]
Made 66 films from 1926 - 1972
The Star System
John Wayne
1907-1979
Birth Name
Marion Robert
Morrison
Trade Mark
Westerns.
Slow talk and
deep voice.
War movies.
Made 171 films from 1926 1976
The Star System
Katherine Hepburn
1907-2003
Birth Name
Katharine Houghton Hepburn
Trade Mark
Playing strong independent women
with minds of their own.
Often wore slacks instead of
dresses, decades before it became
fashionable for women to do so
Distinctive way of speaking, with
what many say is a "Bryn Mawr"
accent.
Made 52 films from 1932-1994
The Star System
James “Jimmy” Stewart
1908-1997
Birth Name
James Maitland Stewart
Made 99 films from 1934-1991
Trade Mark
Soft-spoken, extremely polite
and shy manner, with a very
recognizable drawl in his voice.
Often played honest, average
middle class individuals who
are unwittingly drawn into some
kind of crisis.
Roles in westerns.
After 1950 he often played
tough, cynical and frequently
ruthless characters.
The Star System
Bette Davis
1908-1989
Birth Name
Ruth Elizabeth
Davis
Salary
Wicked Stepmother $250,000
Right of Way (1983) $250,000
Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
(1964)$200,000
Where Love Has Gone $125,000
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
(1962)$60,000 + 5% of the net profits.
All About Eve (1950)$130,000
Juarez (1939)$4,000/week
Dark Victory (1939)$3,500/week
Made 121 films from 1931-1989
The Star System
Birth Name
Virginia Katherine
McMath
Made 89 film and
television
appearances from
1929 - 1987
Trade Mark
Often starred with
Fred Astaire
Ginger Rogers (1911-1995)
The Star System
Birth Name
Eugene Curran Kelly
Trade Mark
Known for his innovative,
athletic style of dancing
“If Fred Astaire is the Cary Grant
of dance, I'm the Marlon Brando.”
Made 49 films from 1942-1987
Gene Kelly (1912-1996)
The Star System
Trade Mark
A killer smile, which he
called "The Grin"
A great physique, of
which director John
Frankenheimer said,
"Nobody ever looked
like Burt Lancaster in
The Crimson Pirate
(1952) ."
His movies often
reflected his very liberal
political beliefs.
Roles in westerns.
Very distinctive, clipped
manner of speaking.
Made 86 films
from 1946 - 1991
Burt Lancaster (1913-1994)
Birth Name
Burton Stephen Lancaster
The Star System
Trade Mark
Gravelly voice
Dimpled chin
Made 90 films from
1946 - 2004
Kirk Douglas (1916- )
Birth Name
Issur Danielovitch Demsky
The Star System
Birth Name
Ernestine Jane Geraldine
Russell
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
(1953)$400,000
The Outlaw (1943)$50 a week
Made 29 films from 1943 1986
Jane Russell (1921- )
The Star System
Salary
Judy Garland (1922-1969)
Gay Purr-ee (1962)$50,000 + 10% gross Judgment
at Nuremberg (1961)$50,000
A Star Is Born (1954)$100,000 + 50% of profits
Summer Stock (1950)$150,000
Words and Music (1948)$100,000
Easter Parade (1948)$150,000
The Pirate (1948)$150,000
The Harvey Girls (1946)$3,000/week
Girl Crazy (1943)$29,000
For Me and My Gal (1942)$2,000/week
Babes on Broadway (1941)$2,000/week
Strike Up the Band (1940)$500/week
Babes in Arms (1939)$8,900
Birth Name
The Wizard of Oz (1939)$500/week
Frances Ethel Gumm
Listen, Darling (1938)$500/week
Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938)$300/week
Made 32 films from 1936 Thoroughbreds Don't Cry (1937)$300/week
1963
Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937)$200/week
Every Sunday (1936)$100/week
The Star System
Marlon Brando
(1924-2004)
Birth Name
Marlon Brando
Jr.
Made 45 film and
TV productions
from 1950 - 2001
Trade Mark
Bizarrely unique voice with an extreme nasal tonality spoken in mumbles.
Frequently played young, somewhat misunderstood rebels in his youth (A Streetcar
Named Desire, The Wild One, On the Waterfront) and later powerful criminals (The
Godfather, The Formula, The Freshman, The Score).
The pioneering use of Method Acting
Often improvised his own dialogue.
The Star System
Tony Curtis (1925 -
)
Birth Name
Bernard Schwartz
Salary
The Boston Strangler $30,000/week
Operation Petticoat (1959)$700,000
The Vikings (1958)$25,000/week
Trapeze (1956)$150,000
Forbidden (1953)$1,500/week
The All American (1953)$1,500/week
Houdini (1953)$1,500/week
Flesh and Fury (1952)$700/week
Kansas Raiders (1950)$225/week
Criss Cross (1949)$75/week
Made 128 film and TV productions
from 1949 - 2008
The Star System
Rock Hudson (1925-1985)
Birth Name
Roy Harold Scherer Jr.
His size and good looks got him
into movies. His name was
changed to Rock Hudson, his teeth
were capped, he took lessons in
acting, singing, fencing and riding
He was the first major public figure to
announce he had AIDS, and his
worldwide search for a cure drew
international attention.
Made 74 film and television productions
from 1948 - 1985
Trade Mark
Deep, sensuous voice.
Thick black hair.
Moved from westerns to sob stories
to sophisticated comedies.
The Star System
Appeared on the first
cover of Playboy in
1953.
Trade Mark
Lisp, breathless voice
Platinum blonde hair
Voluptuous figure.
Made 33 films from
1947 - 1962
Voted 'Sexiest Woman of
the Century' by People
Magazine. [1999]
The licensing of
Marilyn's name and
likeness, handled
world-wide by Curtis
Management Group,
reportedly nets the
Monroe estate about
$2 million a year.
Aside from her birth
name of Norma Jean
Mortensen, she was
baptized and mainly
known throughout her
life as Norma Jeane
Baker.
Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962)
Birth Name
Norma Jean Mortensen
The Hay’s Code
During the 1920s, Will H. Hays was
made president of MPAA (The Motion
Picture Association of America). His
job was to protect films from state
censorship boards.
In 1930, a Production Code was
established setting guidelines for
what would and could not be shown
– no nudity, no profanity, no offensive
refs, no “miscegenation” i.e.
relationships between people of
different races.
The Production Code’s Effects:
Films as Ideological Frames
Scripts were screened according to the Code, but
by 1933 many standards relaxed.
In 1934, Hays set up the PCA (Production Code
Administration) which would place a seal on
“approved films”: only these could be released.
General effect – to make films more conventional,
closer to the social mainstream, more middleclass, less adventurous
The Production Code’s Effects:
Films as Ideological Frames
“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.”
The Production Code’s Effects:
Films as Ideological Frames
The sanctity of marriage and the home had to be
upheld. “Pictures shall not imply that low forms of
sex relationship are the acceptable or common
thing …”
Portrayals of miscegenation (inter-racial
relationships) were forbidden …
“Scenes of Passion” were not to be introduced
when not essential to the plot. “Excessive and
lustful kissing” was to be avoided, along with any
other treatment that might “stimulate the lower and
baser element…”
The Production Code’s Effects:
Films as Ideological Frames
Film genres affected included women’s pictures
(from “fallen woman” to women’s concerns – e.g.
family and marriage) and comedies (e.g. crossclass romances)
Hollywood Style
“Hollywood” – not only a set of industrial
practices but a particular way of telling
stories, especially with regard to
1. Narrative
2. Editing
Hollywood Conventions
The classical Hollywood narrative organised around
one or more goal-driven protagonists whose desires
determine the cause-effect ordering of the plot
Often a second, embedded plot line – e.g. saving the
western town from the outlaws may also involve
helping out and finally falling in love with the school
marm, for instance.
Moreover, the time and space serve the story, which
is often generic or formulaic
There is clear closure with the protagonists achieving
or failing to achieve their goals.
Hollywood Style
Narrative and Narration
“Classic Hollywood narration focuses on an nindividual or
small group of individuals who early on encounter discrete
and specific goals that are clearly attained or clearly
unattained by the film’s end.
The goals tend to exist in two spheres, and their pursuit is
developed along parallel and often interdependent plot
lines. One sphere is private, generally a heterosexual
romance; the second is public – a career advance, the
obliteration of an enemy, a mission, a discovery and the
like”
The Classic Hollywood Cinema (1985), BY David Bordwell, Janet Stauger, and
Kristin Thompson.
Hollywood Style
Hollywood narrative tended to be straightforward,
unambiguous
Action should be in tight chain of cause and effect
Even where there is narrative complexity, there
should not be indeterminateness i.e. things should be
explained by the end
To ensure this, a high degree of “redundancy” i.e.
repetition of important plot information
Hollywood Style
The Continuity Editing System
One of main ways of delivering “verisimilitude” in
classic Hollywood narrative
Developed from early cinema but firmly established
before talking era predominant style of editing in
narrative cinema and carried over into television
Purpose – to smooth over the inherent discontinuity of
the editing process and to establish a logical
coherence between shots (“invisible editing”)
Hollywood Style
The continuity editing system
Main Features
• match on action
•Eyeline match
•The establishing shot
•The 180 degree rule
•Avoiding jump cut (i.e. two sequential shots of the same
subject take from camera positions that vary only slightly) by
use of
•Continuous diegetic sound
•30%rule
Genre and Hollywood
A large part of Hollywood’s output operated within
established genres
Genres have “semantic” elements, i.e. images,
iconography we expect of a a genre’s “repertoire of
elements”
They also have “syntactical” – e.g. story shaped as
in “rise and fall” structure of classic gangster film
But genres rarely “pure” – even in classical era
tended to merge and mature (but less so than in
1980s on)
Genre and Hollywood
Most popular Hollywood genres
Action-adventure
Biopics
Comedy
Detective, gangster,
suspense thriller
Epics and spectacles
Horror, science fiction,
fantasy
Social problem films
Musical teen pics
War films
Westerns
Film noir
Melodrama and the
“woman’s film”
The end of the Golden Age
In 1948 the United States government on behalf of
MGM brought a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures
for blocking booking
The resulting 1948 anti-trust laws in America made
this practice illegal. The studios had to sell their
cinema interests
The result, effectively brought the studio system and
Hollywood’s Golden Age to a close
The end of the Golden Age
Other reasons for the decline:
Post-war – many couples started families (the
“baby boom”
Mover to suburbs and new leisure activities
Cinemas tended to be in old city centres
The rise of television
The end of the Golden Age
“Divorcement”
1948 – Paramount decree
Leads to majors becoming distribution companies
Studios offered finance and use of studio facilities
Rise of independent producers and agents
agents replace studios’ packaging function
Transition period
Example
The Searchers (1956)
d. John Ford
Production Company owned
by rich businessman CV
Whitney
Warner Bros shared
investment and profits,
distributed film but did not
make it
Transition Period
Little three no longer had disadvantage of not
owning cinemas
Made transition to new situation more easily than big
five
By mid 50s, studios selling back catalogue to
television
Making content for TV Networks
Transition to Modern Hollywood
Changing Studios
During the 1980s large multi-national businesses
began to include media companies in their practices
of merger and acquisition
As a result the major Hollywood studios have gone
through many ownership changes
Transition to Modern Hollywood
Changing Studios
Columbia
Independent until 1982
Owned by Coca-cola 1982-1987
Independent holding of Coca Cola 1987 – 1989
Owned by Sony 1989 to present
Transition to Modern Hollywood
Changing Studios
Universal
Independent to 1982
Merged with International Pictures 1946 -1952
Owned by Decca 1952-1962
Owned by MCA 1962 – 1990
Owned by Matsushita electric 1990 – 1995
Owned by Seagram 1995-2000
Owned by Vivendi (who bought Seagram) 2000-2004
Owned by General Electric 2004 - present
Transition to Modern Hollywood
Changing Studios
20th Century Fox
Independent to 1985
Owned by News Corporation 1985 to present
News Corp has controlling interest in e.g. The
times and The Sun; Sky
Many media interests in US, UK, Australia, the Far
East
Transition to Modern Hollywood
Changing Studios
Paramount Pictures
Independent to 1966
Owned by gulf and Western 1966-1984
Owned by Paramount Communications (new Gulf +
Western Co) 1984-1993
Owned by Viacom 1993 to present
Transition to Modern Hollywood
Changing Studios
Warner Brothers
Independent to 1967
Owned by Seven Arts productions 1967-1969
Owned by Kinney National 1969-1975
Kinney now named Warner Communications 19751989
Merger with Time Publications 1989 to present –
Time Warner
Transition to Modern Hollywood
Changing Studios
MGM
Independent to 2005
Owned by Sony (as part of its Columbia-Tri-star
stable) 2005 to present
Transition to Modern Hollywood
Changing Studios
United Artists
Chaplin and Fairbanks bought out by financiers in early 50s
“Studio” without actual studio – but fewer overheads. Offered
finance to independent producers
Successful: The African Queen (1951) Moulin Rouge (1952)
Also, the James Bond franchise (starting 1962); Beatles Hard
Day’s Night (Richard Lester, 1964)
Taken over by Transamerica in 1967
Sunk by Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate (1978) which went
enormously over budget
Subsequently absorbed in MGM (now owned by Sony)
Transition to Modern Hollywood
Rise of the package – unit system
Studios no longer had long term exclusive contracts
for creative personnel
Writers, directors, producers and stars able to
negotiate their deals with majors using agents
Agencies not studios negotiated “creative personnel
packages” with film companies
Transition to Modern Hollywood
Rise of the package – unit system
Principal Agencies
International Creative
Management
Creative Artists Agency
William Morris Agency
Transition to Modern Hollywood
1960s – Also sees television emerge as substantial
market for the studios product (and use of film for
drama series)
Shift of TV production from New York to Los Angels
Transition to Modern Hollywood
Also beginning of blockbuster
strategy
Classic Hollywood had a few
prestige films and runaway hits –
e.g. Gone With The Wind (1939)
-But relied on steady stream of A
films for guaranteed profits
Post “Divorcement”, producing
blockbusters a conscious strategy
Transition to Modern Hollywood
The Ten Commandments (1956; $43 million)
Around the World in 80 Days (1956; $23 million)
The Bridge Over the River Kwai (1957; $47.2 million)
South Pacific (1958; $17.5 million)
Ben Hur (1959; $36.5 million)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962; $17.7 million)
The Longest Day (1962; $17.6 million)
Cleopatra (1963; $23 million)
Thunderball (1965; $27.5 million)
Dr Zhivago (1965; $46.5 million)
The Sound of Music (1965; $79.9 million)
Transition to Modern Hollywood
1950s/1960s saw more segmentation of market including
“drive-in movies”, exploitation films
Foreign “art” films also attracting an audience
Away from mainstream
e.g. La Dolce Vita (Fellini, 1960)
But despite enormous success of The Sound of Music
1960s saw biggest slump since WWII – cycle of expensive,
heavily promoted commercial flops.
Studios no longer connecting with audiences, especially the
young
Combined industry losses 1969-71: $600 million (Variety)
The American New Wave
Brief Period of transition to New Hollywood
Commercial losses led to new strategy – with blockbuster strategy
stalling, Hollywood saw period of widespread and unprecedented
innovation
With the collapse of the old studio system, producers and
executives no longer had the power to control creative film-making
Influence of a new wave of filmmaking from France (Nouvelle
Vague), encouraged Hollywood independents to experiment and
develop their own unique styles.
The American New Wave
Brief Period of Transition to New Hollywood
Nouvelle Vague introduced new production arrangements, new
directors, new actors, new shooting styles
Francois Truffaut
Jacques Demy
Jean-Luc
Godard
Claude
Chabrol
Alain Resnais
Agnes Varda
The American New Wave
Without overthrowing rules of continuity system,
these directors “loosened up” the rules
The Graduate (d. Mike Nichols, 1967) also showed
influence of New Wave in its editing
It also indicates that it is post-Hays Code (which
broke down in 1967) to be replaced by modern
rating system by MPAA in 1967
Catching up with changes in public attitudes
The American New Wave
Flowering of American filmmaking for few years from late 60s
– early 70s
Studios – in desperation – financed films they did not have
much sympathy for but which found youthful audience
The Graduate (1967)
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Easy Rider (1969)
d. Mike Nichols
d. Mike Rafaelson
d. Dennis Hopper
The American New Wave
The American New Wave
Not independents – (unlike, e.g. John Cassavetes)
They relied on studio finance – but given
independence by desperate studios and absorbed
spirit of independents
According to Peter Biskind (“Down and Dirty
Pictures”), following traits characterise mainstream
and independent films:
The American New Wave
Hollywood Mainstream
Independent
Fantasy and escapism
Realism and engagement
Avoided controversial
subjects
Expensive
Embraced controversial
subjects
Cheap
Stars
Unknowns (even non-actors)
Final cut for director
Genre-based and formulaic
Personal vision, unique and
sequel-proof
Individual sensibility (often
writer-director) with right of
final cut
Made by committee
Director no right of final cut
The American New Wave
Hollywood Mainstream
Independent
Director as craft person- forhire
Director as creator of art
Spectacle, action, special
effects
More intimate, privileging script
and mise-en-scene
Avoided challenging popular
Made films without audience in
tastes (preview screenings etc) mind – if they found one, more
likely to be niche rather than
mass audience
Finances cushioned by
ancillary markets
Not much thought to
distribution
Conventional wisdom and
mainstream ideology
Challenged both
Hollywood made “movies”
Indies made “films” (or Cinema)
Transition to Modern Hollywood
1970s – recovery of the industry
1972 – The Godfather
(Paramount) revives box office
1974 – Hollywood’s total earnings
surpass post war peak (1946) for
first time.
New wave experimentation over by
mid – 70s
1975- present – The New
Hollywood
The New Hollywood
Unprecedented boxoffice success
jumpstarted
Hollywood’s
blockbuster mentality
Effectively ended reign of smaller, idiosyncratic, stylistically
adventurous films.
(Coppolla’s The Conversation (1974) – one of the last)
“Megapictures may have saved the major companies but they
also shrank the auteur aspirations of the early 1970s” David
Bordwell
The New Hollywood
1975 – Jaws establishes modern blockbuster prototype:
• pre-sold property
•Packaged by agency
•Saturation booked (“Frontloading”)
•Heavy marketing
•Commercial tie-ins/merchandising
•A summer hit
•Discovers new baby-boomer audience
1977 – Star Wars cements Jaws model
1978 – Jaws 2 released creating franchise
Hollywood “High Concept”
“High concept” an expression coined to describe
tendency identified from 1980s (and associated in
particular with Producers Don Simpson and Jerry
Bruckheimer) – a kind of filmmaking dominated not
only attempt to maximise box-office but film shaped
to needs of wider marketing, tie-in etc.
Hollywood “High Concept”
Essence of high concept film, which can be
condensed into one simple sentence that inspires
marking campaigns, lures audiences, and separates
success from failure at the box office
Films can be expressed in terms of other films, e.g.
Alien = Jaws in space
Top Gun = Star Wars on earth
Hollywood “High Concept”
High concept films became fully integrated with
their marketing so that a single phrasese.g. “Just when you thought it was safe to go back
in the water ..”
-Could sell the film to studio executives and
provide copy for massive advertising campaigns
single image or a theme song could instantly
remind potential audience members of the film,
and tie-in merchandise could generate millions of
dollars in additional income.
Hollywood “High Concept”
Top Gun
d. Tony Scott, 1986
Produced by
Don Simpson and Jerry
Bruckheimer
Classic “high concept”
film
Hollywood Today: Stardom
Hollywood filmmaking still dependent on the strong
relationship between the hero(ine) in the film and
audience identification with the hero(ine)
Stars have always been important vehicles by which
a film is financed and marketed
Hollywood Now: Stardom
Actors and their agents, not studios manage their
own careers
Actors can negotiate their own salaries often earning
millions per film
Some stars can “open” or “tentpole” a film, but star
presence in a film cannot guarantee box office
success alone
Hollywood Now: Stars
Dustin Hoffman
Birth Name
Dustin Lee Hoffman
Trade Mark
Famous for taking a wide
range of difficult roles, such
as a crippled street hustler
in Midnight Cowboy (1969);
an actor pretending to be a
woman in Tootsie (1982)
and an autistic in Rain Man
(1988).
Has a reputation for being
difficult to work with.
Salary
Rain Man
(1988)$5,800,0
00+% of
grossPapillon
(1973)$1,250,0
00John and
Mary
(1969)$425,000
Midnight
Cowboy
(1969)$250,000
The Graduate
(1967)$17,000
So far has made
65 films since
1961
Hollywood Now: Stars
Salary
Ishtar (1987)$5,000,000
The Only Game in Town
(1970)$750,000
Bonnie and Clyde
(1967)$200,000 + 40%
gross
All Fall Down (1962)$60,000
The Roman Spring of Mrs.
Stone (1961)$30,000
Splendor in the Grass
(1961)$15,000
29 film and TV productions since 1957 (Actor)
12 productions since 1956 (producer)
6 productions as a writer since 1975
5 productions as a director since 1978
Warren Beatty
Birth Name
Henry Warren Beaty
Hollywood Now: Stars
Al Pacino
Birth Name
Alfredo James
Pacino
Trade Mark
Volcanic tirade, smokeburnished voice.
Frequently plays men of
power and/or authority.
45 films from 1968
Hollywood Now: Stars
Robert De Niro
Birth Name
Robert Mario De Niro Jr.
Trade Mark
Often played characters that were often
prone to brutal violence and/or characters
who were borderline psychotics.
Known for method acting techniques with
his characters by heavily studying their
backgrounds.
Actor – 80 films since 1965
Producer – 31 films since 1989
Hollywood Now: Stars
Made 63 since 1977
Meryl Streep
Birth Name
Mary Louise
Streep
Trade Mark
Known for being a
perfectionist when
preparing for roles
Known for her ability
to master almost
any accent.
Awards:
Won 2 Oscars. Another
73 wins & 82
nominations
Hollywood Now: Stars
Julia Roberts
Tom Cruise
Birth Name
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV
45 films since 1987
Actor – 35 since 1981
Producer – 15 since 1996
Hollywood Now: Stars
Brad Pitt
Angelina Jolie
Birth Name
William
Bradley Pitt
Trade Mark
His laugh
Actor – 62
films since
1987
Producer – 17
films since
2006
Birth Name
Angelina Jolie
Voight
Trade Mark
Husky voice
Her full lips
Actor – 39 since 1982
Producer – 3 since
2005
Hollywood Now: Stars
Nicole Kidman
Birth Name
Nicole Mary
Kidman
Trade Mark
Often plays cold,
emotionally
vacant
characters.
Actor – 54 since
1983
Bruce Willis Birth Name
Walter Bruce Willis
Producer – 4 since
Trade Mark
2003
Frequently plays a man who suffered a tragedy, had lost something
or had a crisis of confidence or conscience.
Shaven head.
Headlines action-adventures, often playing a cop, hitman or
someone in the military.
Hollywood Now: Stars
Actor – 33
since 1990
Kate Winslet
Producer – 12
since 2004
Actor – 33
since 1991
Awards:
Nominated
for 3 Oscars.
Another 20
wins & 46
nominations
Awards:
Won Oscar.
Another 37 wins
& 59
nominations
Leonardo Di Caprio
Hollywood Now: Stars
Tobey McGuire
Birth Name
Tobias Vincent Maguire
Daniel Day Lewis
Trade Mark
Daniel Day
In-depth
and Lewis
exhaustive
preparations for roles.
Frequently collaborates with
directors Jim Sheridan and
Martin Scorsese.
Hollywood Now:
Stars Trade Mark
Highly defined cheekbones
Frequently plays
freakishly eccentric
outcasts whose oddities
are misunderstood by
society, and usually
have a flamboyant
appearance and
mannerism.
Frequently works with
director 'Tim Burton'.
Frequently bases his
performances on rock
stars.
Johnny Depp
Birth Name
John Christopher
Depp II
Hollywood Now: Narrative in
modern Hollywood
Some commentators argue that we are in a “postclassical” age, especially with regard to Narrative
David Borwell and Kirsten Thomson, however,
highlight the essential continuity between Classic
Hollywood Narrative and the present period, while
accepting there have been stylistic shifts
Hollywood Style
Hollywood narrative became more self-conscious
from 70s/80s
Classic era screenwriters aware of structure but
rarely codified
More recently, large number of how-to books on
screenwriting, seminars etc
“Screenwriter’s Handbook” by Nash and Oakley
(1978)
“Screenplay” by Syd Field (1979)
Hollywood Style: Narrative
Screen-writing manuals tended to identify a three act
structure in classic Hollywood film
e.g. Syd Field
(assumes 2 hour film script of 120 minutes, one page
= one minute if screen time)
I. The Set up: 30 pages – plot point A
II. The Conflict: 60 pages – plot point B
III. The Resolution – final act- 30 pages where
problem established by plot point A is resolved.
Hollywood Style: Narrative
Kirstin Thompson argues that a four-act structure is more
useful, being more solidly based on character motivation,
i.e. structured around ways in which goals defined
Based on four more or less equal parts plus epilogue
(based on typical 110/120 minute film)
I. The setup – 25-20 mins
II. Complicating action – 20-30 mins
III. Development – 20 – 30 mins
IV. Climax
Hollywood Style: Narrative
I.The Setup
-Establishes characters’ world, defines main
character’s purpose, culminates in near 30minute
mark
E.g. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf (d. Mike
Nicols, 1966) opens by presenting central couple
and introduces younger couple as their guests
About 30mins in Martha’s goal of torturing George
crystallizes and she changes into sexy outfit to
seduce younger male
Hollywood Style: Narrative
II. Complicating Action
Focuses/recast film’s central goals
Protagonist changes tactics of achieving goal or
faces entirely new situation
At first turning point in Witness (d. Peter Weir), boy
Samuel identifies killer, but this action precipitates
attempt on book’s life, in complicating action, book
flees to Amish farm where he must adjust to very
different circumstances
Hollywood Style: Narrative
II. Complicating Action (cont)
Often event ending complicating action arrives half
way through film.
Kramer v Kramer, complicating action consists of
Ted and Billy’s accommodation to each other in
film’s second section
“countersetup” - formation of new family- disturbed
by Joanna’s demand to take Billy back
Occurs at mid-point: 50 minutes
Hollywood Style: Narrative
III. Development
Where protagonist’s struggle towards goals
typically occurs, often involving many incidents
that create action suspense and delay
Often shows protagonist making little progress
towards main goals
Development serves to postpone main action and
to present delays or dwell on subplots, montage
sequences, comedy interludes etc fills out this act
Hollywood Style: Narrative
IV Climax
Often following “darkest moment” (scene in which crisis
forces protagonist to take action) section revolves around
whether or not protagonists’ goals can be achieved (mostly
they will be)
Flashback- Alex mist revaluate life after mentor Hanna dies
and after Jenny becomes stripper, Nick has pulled strings so
that Alex gets audition to ballet school and now she must
choose one path or another. Decides not to use acrobatic
show-dancing skills on judges, and wins admission
Hollywood Style: Narrative
V Epilogue
Confirms stability of narrative
Settles sub-plots and tying up motifs
Can be v. brief – last 50 seconds of Flashdance
shows Alex running out of her audition to meet Nick
at kerbside with her dog
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King must wrap
up three feature-length films – lasts about 11
minutes
Hollywood Style
According to David Bordwell:
“the new screenplay manuals’ reliance on act
structure, page counts, character arcs and the
mythic journey did not overturn the Classic
Hollywood dramaturgy. Rather, these procedures
filled it in, fine-tuned it, left less to trial and error”
(2006)
Hollywood Now: Some Conclusions
Distribution & Exhibition
Film revenue is no longer solely dependent on
box office receipts
The increasing importance of distributing films
through many windows is now what secures as
film’s financial success
From 1950 to mid 1970s, the film majors
exploited the popularity of television selling films
to networks and syndicates
Hollywood Now: Distribution and
Exhibition
In 1975, the introduction of Time Inc Home Box
Office TV and Sony’s Betamax VCR provided the
film industry with new outlets for their products
Video, DVD, television, cable, satellite, internet and
digital channels are new “alternative distribution
windows”
Hollywood Now: Typical Distribution
Sequence
Initial theatrical release of six months
DVD window for an indefinite period – many of the
majors now have own DVD labels and rental
companies so they do not need to sell video rights
to another company
Pay/ subscription/ digital television window for
approximately one year
Terrestrial television window
Hollywood Now: Distribution and
Exhibition
Today a major financier-distributor stands between
the producer and the exhibitor
For most part the distributor dictates the terms of its
deal with the exhibitor as well: the nature of the run,
the length of the engagement, the advertising to be
employed and the financial split of box-office
receipts between various parties
Hollywood Now
The six Hollywood majors – each owned by large
media- effectively dominate international film
industry.
Individual studios involved in fierce competition
with each other – but outside USA and in courts etc
they stick closely together.
Hollywood is in effect the MPAA, controlled by the
six majors.
Hollywood Now
Customs and Practices
• self-censorship through MPAA certification of films
•General agreement on average budget for mainstream film
($70 million + $30 million for marketing and P&A) (“print and
advertising”)
•Importance of script development
•Use of test screenings and audience feedback before
release
•Maintenance of technical quality through professional bodies
•Industry awards such as the Oscars to confirm “standards”
Hollywood Now
Hollywood operates an “oligopoly” – a market
controlled by group of powerful organisations.
Cost of entry to market very high – each studio
spends $1 billion + on “slate” of films.
NO guarantee they will make money – have
enough resources to sustain losses in one year
and make back losses in next.
Corporations also have range of other media
products generating income at same time.
Hollywood Now
Institutional features of mainstream studio film
• major stars
•Stars usually more important than director
•Big promotional campaign
•Wide distribution
•Clear story structure
•Recognisable genre elements (even if “generic
hybrids”)
•Targets all or most audience groups