HOLLYWOOD HOLLYWOOD Stars & Studios
Jan 02, 2016
HOLLYWOODHOLLYWOOD
Stars & Studios
THE HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
• 1915-25: transition from Trust to STUDIO SYSTEM
• “Studio Era” typified by:– Picture palaces– Movie audience that included all classes– Standardized production of feature-
length films (1½ hrs)– Concentration of production in
Hollywood– OLIGOPOLY & VERTICAL INTEGRATION
OLIGOPOLY
• A few large firms control an entire industry
• Due to high cost of film production– Feature-length films were
expensive– Salaries increased, esp. for stars– Production values increased– Sound added to costs of equipment
& production
OLIGOPOLY
• Costs of distribution, picture palaces & converting to sound
• Small companies began to merge in order to compete
• By late 1920s, 8 companies controlled 91% of box-office
• These companies known as 8 Majors
VERTICAL INTEGRATION
• Company controls product from production to retail sale
• BIG 5– MGM, PARAMOUNT, FOX,
WARNER BROS., & RKO– Vertically integrated: production,
distribution & exhibition
VERTICAL INTEGRATION
• LITTLE 3– COLUMBIA, UNIVERSAL, & UNITED
ARTISTS– Not totally vertically integrated– Columbia & Universal in production
& distribution, but no theaters– United Artists only distributed films
“THE DREAM FACTORY”
• DIVISION OF LABOR – Labor highly specialized & efficient,
becoming highly unionized– THE CONTRACT SYSTEM
•Most workers under contract for 5-7 years
•Renewable by studio every 6 months• Studios maintained prop & costume depts• Filmed on own lots
“THE DREAM FACTORY”
• THE “STUDIO LOOK”– Consistent labor, props, settings
resulted in "Studio Look“– Studios tended to build their
films around their stars
Marlene Dietrich
Paramount Stars
Paramount Stars
The Marx Bros
Mae West
Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour & Bob Hope
Paramount Stars
Fleischer Bros. Studio
Popeye
Fleischer Bros. Studio
Superman
Fleischer Bros. Studio
Betty Boop
Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer
MGM Stars
Greta Garbo
MGM Stars
Clark Gable Spencer Tracy
MGM Movies
Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
MGM Movies
Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938)
Hal Roach Studio
Laurel & Hardy
Hal Roach Studio
Our Gang
MGM Animation
MGM Animation
Tex Avery’s Wolfie and Red
20th Century-Fox
20th Century-Fox Stars
Sonja Henie Shirley Temple
20th Century-Fox Stars
Betty Grable Tyrone Power
20th-Century Fox Movies
Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937)
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Stars
Humphrey
Bogart
Warner Bros. Stars
Bette Davis
Warner Bros. Animation
RKO Movies
Disney Animation
Mickey Mouse Donald Duck
Disney Animation
Snow White (1937)
Universal
Universal Serials
Walter Lantz Studio
Woody Woodpecker Chilly Willy
Universal Movies
Abbott & Costello
Universal Horror Movies
Universal Horror Movies
Columbia
Columbia Movies
Claudette Colbert Clark Gable
Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night (1934)
Columbia Movies
Batman & Robin
Columbia Shorts
The Three Stooges
United Artists
Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin & DW Griffith
Monogram Movies
Federal Bullets (1937)
Monogram Stars
The Bowery Boys
Republic
Republic Movies
ADAPTING TO NEW TECHNOLOGIES
• SOUND– Help define space– Offscreen sound creates sense of
3-dimensional world– Onscreen sound defines space it
comes from• DIALOGUE: sound a way of
developing characters & defining character traits
ADAPTING TO NEW TECHNOLOGIES
• MUSIC– Nondiegetic music reinforces
“proper” emotional responses– Helps define & identify characters– Both outgrowths of live music in
silent film exhibition– Market for records of film music
ADAPTING TO NEW TECHNOLOGIES
• SOUND DEVICES FOR CONTINUITY– Work with continuity editing
•Create smooth transitions between shots & scenes
•Keeping attention on narrative– SOUND BRIDGE– DIALOGUE HOOK
ADAPTING TO NEW TECHNOLOGIES
• DEEP FOCUS– By late 1930s, trend toward deep
focus– New film stocks & lenses– Adapted to CHC narrative style
•Establish relationships among characters in a number of planes
– Takes became longer
ADAPTING TO NEW TECHNOLOGIES
• COLOR– HAND-COLORING (1896-1910) & TINTING
& TONING (1910-27)– TECHNICOLOR
•TECHNICOLOR, INC. (1915) •2-COLOR TECHNICOLOR (1920s)
–Red & blue•3-COLOR TECHNICOLOR (1932)
–Red, green, & blue–3 rolls exposed simultaneously