AMERICAN FILM

Objectives

lTo understand how motion pictures developed in America.

lTo understand the contributions of the great filmmakers to American media.

lTo understand the history of film censorship.

lTo understand the challenges that have threatened the motion- picture business.

American Film History

lMotion-Picture Experimentation

l1912-1914

lStorytelling Motion Pictures

l1914-1919

lEconomic Expansion of the Motion-Picture Industry

l1919-1927

lSound Motion Pictures

l1927-1939

lChallenges to the Motion-Picture Business

l1940-Present

Step 1:
Motion-Picture Experimentation

lEdweard Muybridge

lThe first movie producer

lThomas Edison

lThe first movie machine

lEdwin Porter

lThe first to develop film’s potential

Edweard Muybridge

  First movie producer but he didn’t know it!

Eadweard Muybridge

lFirst to capture a subject in rapid unopposed movement.

lProduced the first motion picture: Occident Trotting

Thomas Edison

lInvented the first movie machine: kinetoscope

lProduced some of the first films in the United States

Edwin Porter

lMade effective use of editing

lUtilized innovative camera work

lUsed actors, costumes, sets, and staged schemes

Lumiere Brothers

lDeveloped a lighter-weight camera

lTook the camera out into the world

lBegan paid public performances

lMade the first commercial projection in a theater showing Edison films

Step 2:
Storytelling Medium

lDavid W. Griffith

lDrama and storytelling

lMack Sennett

lComedy and storytelling

David W. Griffith

lRefined film techniques

lDeveloped film as an entertainment medium

David W. Griffith: Refiner of Film Techniques

lCamera

lComposition and lighting

lEditing

lPhotographic effects

David W. Griffith: Father of Film

lDeveloped film as an entertainment medium

lEstablished film as a respectable art form

lConsidered the greatest film storyteller

lMade film a powerful medium

Mack Sennett: Father of Film Comedy

lApplied Griffith’s techniques to comedy

lFashioned a comic aesthetic that would become the standard

lEstablished the star system

lFilm industry’s first real producer

Step 3:
Economic Expansion of the Motion-Picture Industry

lMPPC vs. MPDSC

lThomas Ince

lAdolph Zukor

Hollywood: The Players

lMotion Picture Patents Company vs. Motion Picture Distributing and Sales Company

lMPPC: Edison and nine others

lMPDSC: Swanson and Laemmle

Hollywood: The Battle

lCourt action sets principles underlying economics of Hollywood

lFilms no longer sold by foot spurs advertising

lMovies become marketed worldwide

lIndustry obtained control of exhibition

Hollywood: The Upshot

lStudios controlled production, distribution, and exhibition

lIndependents took control of the cinema and created Hollywood

Thomas Ince

lIntroduced studio management

lDivided studio’s artistic and administrative functions

lIntroduced detailed shooting scripts, tight schedules, accountants

Adolph Zukor

lSigned the most popular stars

lIntroduced block booking

Step 4:
Sound Motion Pictures

lWarner Brothers’ gamble

lThe Depression

Depression Jitters

lDoor prizes offered to spur attendance

lGames/lotteries were instituted

lTicket prices dropped

lDouble bills became the order of the day

Step 5:
 Challenges to the Motion-Picture Business

lChallenges by the Courts

lChallenges by the Government

lChallenges by the Congress

lChallenges by Television

lEconomic Challenges

Challenges by the Courts

lU.S. vs. Paramount

lRuling

lVertical control was in restraint of trade and tended toward monopoly

lImpact

lStudios had to divest themselves and distribute but not exhibit film

Results of U.S. vs. Paramount

lProduction declines because studios could not depend on automatic rentals

lLow-budget films cut

lStudios were unable to make efficient use of back lots

lContract system disintegrates

Challenges by Government

lWill Hayes

lSavior or Czar?

Challenges by Congress

lHUAC and the hunt for Communists

Why HUAC?

lHUAC was the tail on the Communist Party’s kite

lHUAC chose Hollywood for its glamour

The Witnesses

lThe Friendlies

lDidn’t know names

lThe Unfriendlies

lWouldn’t give names

lCommittee for the First Amendment

lHollywood Ten

The Industry

lIssued Waldorf Statement

lDeplored actions of Hollywood Ten

lStated they would not employ a Communist

lBegan blacklisting era

lWorked with the American Legion

Challenges by Television

lDecline in movie attendance

lThemes of movies change

lLavish big-budget films feature famous stars

lBreakup of the single mass audience

Economic Challenges

lStudios become subsidiaries of large conglomerates

lProfits

lDecision making

lCreative process

lStudios become important as distributors

Conclusion

lMovies emerged in the 1920s as part of a budding media-centered culture; however, motion pictures were denied First Amendment rights until 1952.

lAs soon as film became a recognized institution in America, attempts were made to control it by:

lMunicipalities

lCongress

lCourts