Chapter 6Chapter 6

Film and Home Video

Goals of this chapterGoals of this chapter

We will discuss the history (progression) of motion pictures– Discussing film genres, studio and industry

organizations, audiences and editorial/policy issues

Early HistoryEarly History 1877 – Leland Stanford (Railroad millionaire and founder of

Stanford U.)– $25,000 bet– Resulted in photographer Muybridge’s first movie

Retinas and our “Persistence of Vision”

1888 – Edison invented the first motion picture camera; 4 years later, a projector– Lumiere brothers and screens

1900 – NYC had 600 nickelodeons (movie players)– These played short motion sequences, like that of a horse galloping

The Great Train Robbery (1903) became the first “movie” (a film that presented a story-the people ducking in the audience)

Early HistoryEarly History

Edison & Co. and the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC)– This moved film from NYC to Hollywood

First Feature Film - Film technique culminates in 1915 with Birth of a Nation, the first longer story film– Was the most popular film in U.S. for 20 years– But was also racist in tone—based in and around the

U.S. Civil War, it had KKK members as the heroes (and the film was subsequently used as a recruiting tool in later years for the KKK)

Major Phases in the MoviesMajor Phases in the Movies

Silent Film Era – 1903-1927– Established the standard genres still used today

Westerns: The Great Train Robbery (1903) War Movies: Birth of a Nation (1915) Horror: Dracula, Nosferatu (1922) Romance: The Sheik (1921) Physical Comedies: Charlie Chaplin, Keystone Cops Historical dramas: Intolerance (1916) Documentaries: Nanook of the North (1921) Action/Adventure: Douglas Fairbank’s Thief of Baghdad Melodramas: The Perils of Pauline (1914)

– Oriented toward action and set design– Developed many of the standard camera techniques/angles

Along with rules for their understanding

Major Phases (cont’d)Major Phases (cont’d) Talkies

– Warner Brothers & AT&T’s Western Electric Company pooled to create first talking film (The Jazz Singer, 1927).

– Ended the era of silent films Actors had to learn more subtle skills, had to have the voice

to match Studios had to learn to use sound effects and music

– Use of dialogue expanded the genres to include: musicals (Flying down to Rio, 1933) Crime dramas (Little Caesar, 1930) Animation (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937) Screwball comedies (It Happened One Night, 1934) Character Studies (Citizen Kane, 1941) Detective Movies (The Maltese Falcon, 1941) Suspense (Fritz Lang’s M, 1931) Monster Movies (King Kong, 1933) Film noir – dark skeptical films (Double Indemnity, 1944) Serials – played before the features, (Buck Rogers, 1936-40)

Major Phases (cont’d)Major Phases (cont’d) The Studio System

– Major studios gained control of the industry during the Great Depression causing substantial vertical integration

Smaller owners went out of business (est. 5000 independent theaters) 5 companies dominated:

– Paramount: Most profitable/powerful (major distribution network)– Loew’s/MGM – impressive recording facilities, major strides in technicolor– Warner Bros. – Comedies, genre films (Robin Hood) and cartoons– 20th Century Fox – combined power of two studios, developed new names and produced news

reels (Shown in theaters)– RKO – produced Citizen Kane (1941) but primarily focused on B-movies

– Studios aimed for prestigious feature films, but earned most of their money from B-movies (cheaply and quickly produced)

Since most people would go to the movies 2-3 times per week! In 1946 (the peak of audience exposure) approx. 90 million Americans went to the movies every week

(a $1.7 Billion/year industry)– 2003 total was around $9.2 Billion dollars!!

Major Phases (cont’d)Major Phases (cont’d) Film vs. Television 1948-1960

– TV exposure, coupled with a general exodus to the suburbs reduced people’s time at the movies

– Concurrent with the TV threat, the government decided to break up the power in Hollywood

Forced Companies to exit from at least one aspect of the business: production, distribution or exhibition

– 1950’s RKO and Republic (a smaller co.) started selling broadcast rights of their movies to TV

Warner Bros. Followed in 1956 and this made up the majority of their earnings through the late 1960’s

– Disney began by producing content specifically for Television (Disneyland for ABC (1954-7) and Mickey Mouse Club (1955-9))

– Eventually TV networks were forced to buy programming from others (rather than create it themselves) due to the Fin-Syn rules

Financial Interest in Syndication – Gov’t regulation that promoted diverse content

Major Phases (cont’d)Major Phases (cont’d) Film vs. TV (cont’d)

– The film industry hoped that Technological Innovation would keep them profitable

By the early 1960’s almost all movies (in theaters) were in color (not true of TV) Widescreen projection gave audiences a larger viewing area

– For an excellent discussion visit:• http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/aspectratios/

widescreenorama.html Studios began producing big budget epics in an attempt to draw more moviegoers

– Ultimately, this timeframe saw the studio system disappear More independent producers would use the studios for distribution (no longer

content considerations)

A Few Good Men

Major Phases (cont’d)Major Phases (cont’d) Partnership: Movie Industry and Cable TV

– 1970-80’s saw HBO (first satellite cable channel) launch as a “movies-only” channel along with the invention of the VCR

This reinforced the market for older movies, and for the direct sale of movies to consumers

– By the late 1980’s, 90% of American homes owned a VCR This sparked a massive video rental business (beginning with independent

shops and ultimately merging into Blockbuster and Hollywood Video chains)

– At this point, the film industry began to release the B-movies straight to video and began producing made-for-TV movies

– Given the potential for subsequent rental/individual sales, the movie industry began producing for more segmented audiences—primarily ages 15-24

Major Phases (cont’d)Major Phases (cont’d) Return to Big-Budget Blockbusters

– 1977 – The release of Star Wars is considered another significant point in the movie industry’s history

Triggered a massive demand (and interest) in modern special effects—significantly raising the production costs of each movie

The “Star System” returns—paying superstar actors to play a role in a film as producers see profit potential of a big hit

– Major Studios now concentrate on releasing one or two major blockbusters a year

They still release many other movies of a lesser scale—but unlike B-movies of old, these movies do not provide the bread and butter for the industry (one blockbusters can fund the company for years)

– By the turn of this past century, rentals and direct-sales of videos/DVDs account for 2 times the company’s box-office earnings

Movie TechnologiesMovie Technologies Movie Sound

– Edison invented a sound system in 1913, but as mentioned, The Jazz Singer (1927) was the first successful film with sound (synchronized record)

– Migration to auditory encoding directly onto the film photoreceptor picks up variations in light shining through the

film, turns into a weak electric current that is passed through amplifiers and transformed into sound

– Digital Theater Sound (DTS) is similar to original method, using a CD that is synchronized to the film

This enables multi-dimensional surround sound

Movie Technologies (cont’d)Movie Technologies (cont’d) Image Quality

– Frame rate increased from 18 or 22 fps (in early films) to 24 fps

Got rid of jerky movements—gaps between frames became difficult to perceive (the whole image persistence thing)

– Film got wider going from 16mm to 35mm to 70mm Expanding field of vision to enhance realism

– Color films were introduced in 1910, but frames had to be painted by hand on each print

Cinemascope introduced a new color photography process in 1939 Technicolor was introduced in 1922 but was patented and not shared

until gov’t intervention in 1950. Most films were color by the 1960s.

Movie Technologies (cont’d)Movie Technologies (cont’d) Special Effects

– Earliest examples were that of stop-action effects (magician and box)

– As audiences become more sophisticated, other techniques are needed

Film background is actually another film being projected (in car scenes—typically still used, except methods have improved)

– “Modern” Special Effects date back to King Kong (1933) Used scale models combined with filming techniques Used fairly standard Rear Projection – images are projected behind the

actor who is in the foreground– These images were then composited—layers were flattened

First to use Front Projection – filmed actors in front of an image so that they appear to be part of it

Movie Technologies (cont’d)Movie Technologies (cont’d) Digital Revolution

– Within movies: Star Wars used computer-driven cameras to construct multilayered space battles Tron (1982) – used a 16 minute segment of digital animation in a live-action film Pixar’s Toy Story (1995) was the first major full-length computer animated film The Matrix’s Bullet-time is similar to Muybridge’s flying horse technique Computer graphics are beginning to replace scale models

– Postproduction is also benefiting from digital techs Digitized film allows for non-linear editing which makes it very easy to rearrange scenes

when splicing together the final cut Digitized sound is similarly easy to manipulate

– Digital video is emerging now as a better alternative to the older film medium—cheaper, higher quality, easier to edit and distribute

Attack of the Clones (2001) was the first live action to be digitally shot

Movie Technologies (cont’d)Movie Technologies (cont’d) Movie Viewing

– Theaters try to enhance the aesthetic experience Add more impressive sound systems Higher quality projection Bigger screens When converted to DLP, may be able to downlink from a satellite

and present live content (NBA finals?)

– Home Viewing has vastly improved with flat panel TVs and surround sound—people are building media rooms

– Watching DivX on your PC (1/10 the original size of the DVD) is primarily done with illegal content, but should eventually be employed by the Studios to sell their product

Industry OrganizationIndustry Organization The Film Industry

– Today, 8 Major Film Companies exist: Columbia, Fox, MGM, Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros., Buena Vista (Disney)

and Tri-Star (Sony) Companies on average produce 15-25 movies per year (vs. 40-50 during the 40s);

spending $50-60 million plus $30 million in ads per film These companies make 2/5 of movies in the U.S.

Top Six Studio Owners (book pg. 176)

Media Group Main Movie Production Companies Time Warner Warner Bros., New Line Walt Disney Buena Vista, Miramax, Touchstone Vivendi Universal, PolyGram Films Viacom-CBS Paramount Sony Columbia, TriStar

Industry Organization (cont’d)Industry Organization (cont’d) Independent Film Makers

– Many independent filmmakers use the major companies for distribution

Playtone – Tom Hanks’ company Pixar – Steve Jobs’ company

– Many other “Indies” are produced—the challenge (aside from initial funding) is typically found in the distribution

Major distribution labels often don’t want to take a chance

– National and International Film Festivals are meant to give exposure to the Independent films

Super Size Me; Fahrenheit 9/11 Can create substantial media frenzy—catapulting the

director/writer/producer into the larger major players’ view Offers film students a chance to show their film to larger audiences

Industry Organization (cont’d)Industry Organization (cont’d) Film Distribution

– Most films are distributed by the major film companies Distribution includes: theaters, video, cable TV, and overseas releases Independent filmmakers typically have trouble making these connections on their own

– They can choose to sell the TV rights prior to release in order to finance nonstudio productions

– Films are distributed to a series of windows Distribution schedules linked to specific channels (domestic release, international,

pay-per-view, home video rentals and sales, network tv…

Consolidation and Change in Studio Ownership– Recent Trends:

Combination or integration with television networks Consolidation of studio ownership Foreign ownership Integration in International Operations

Film’s Relationship with SocietyFilm’s Relationship with Society Violence, Sex, Profanity, and Film Ratings

– MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) This organization has been rating movies since 1968 to present expectations of content

to the public– G – For all ages; no sex or nudity, minimal violence– PG –Parental Guidance suggested; some portions perhaps not suitable for young children,

mild profanity, non-”excessive” violence, only a glimpse of nudity– PG-13 –Parents strongly cautioned to give guidance to children under 13; some material

may be inappropriate for young children– R –Restricted; those under 17 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian; may contain

very rough violence, nudity or sexual situations– NC-17 –No one under 17 admitted; generally reserved for films that have longer or more

explicit sexual situations These standards are controversial in the filmmaking community—act as a form of

censorship Some groups feel that the restriction will make the film more popular with groups that

are “too young” for the rating Standards constantly are adjusted downward

Film Piracy– Illegal use of copyrighted material in the film industry is

estimated to cost hundreds of billions of dollars (in U.S. and abroad)

– VCRs were the original film piracy concern– Computers and digital copies of films are of greater concern to

the industry Makes it easier to distribute/share Studios are cracking down on:

– Major violators– University Campuses– Private Networks

Studios try to use anti-hacking technology, but have yet to succeed– Every time someone breaks the code, they post the solution on the net

Film’s Relationship with SocietyFilm’s Relationship with Society