Please have a look at the Box Office figures – what do you

notice?

Review any films you have seen this week

Classical Hollywood Cinema & Production,

Distribution & Exhibition

On the white boards write down three things you remember about Classical

Hollywood Cinema and the history of film.

Aims

• To explore the idea of Classical Hollywood Cinema and the studio System

• To understand the differences and links between CHC and contemporary US cinema

• To introduce the 3 main aspects of the film industry and their functions.

• To help you develop note taking skills – what is the key information

Classical Hollywood Cinema is a term used to describe American film production at a certain point in its history – mainly the 1930s and 1940s. It also describes a certain mode of production – a

way of making films.

As early as 1910 the US film industry was moving from the

East coast to California – specifically a small,

undeveloped rural area on the outskirts of Los Angeles

called……

Why do you think this happened?

In pairs think of three reasons why the film industry

moved from East to West?

By the 1930s film had both sound “talkies” and, sometimes,

colour.The Jazz Singer Gone With the World

Studios

By the 1930s most films were produced by a small number of

studios

Most of their names are familiar – who do you think they are?

• MGM• Warner Bros• Paramount

• 20th Century Fox• RKO

These were known as the BIG FIVE!

• Columbia• United Artists

• UniversalThese were known as the

LITTLE THREE

•The BIG FIVE were Vertically Integrated

•The LITTLE THREE were not

What was the difference?

There are 3 aspects to any industry:

Production

Distribution

Exhibition

There are 3 aspects to any industry:

Production

Distribution

Exhibition

Production

• Developing an idea• Writing a script

• Employing actors• Shooting

• Post-producing

Distribution

• Acquires the rights to the film• Decides/negotiates a release date

• Delivers prints to the cinema• Provides trailers and publicity material

• Negotiates promotional and merchandising deals

Exhibition

•Screens the films

•Any company which owns all three aspects of this process

is known as Vertically Integrated

The BIG FIVE

Production – made the films

Distribution – & publicised the films and put them into cinemas because

Exhibition – they owned the cinemas

The LITTLE THREE

Production – made the films

Distribution – & publicised the films and put them into cinemas because

Exhibition – they had deals with the cinema companies

Independent Cinema

There were some smaller, independent producers but

they usually made B movies

The Studios

Worked in a very industrial way. Films were made on a “Production Line”

with everyone having a specific role and responsibility. Stars were full

time employees and had little control over their roles. A director would

have little choice about the films he worked on.

Some studios specialised in particular genres…….

Genre

Universal made lots of classic horror

films like Frankenstein

Warner Bros produces lots

of melodramas such as

Mildred Pierce

MGM made lots of costume dramas and

musicals – their films were often

in colour and had high

production values

This was clearly an economically sound way of working since

everybody in the team would become a specialist on a particular

type of film and therefore able to set up equipment efficiently and

effectively.

Those setting up lighting could become

melodrama, horror or musical specialists

and be able to create the desired genre

lighting effects with the minimum of

direction, thereby saving time and

money.

The Bride of Frankenstein

This studio system broke down in the 1950s and 1960s when the US

government became concerned about the monopoly that the film companies had. The studios were

also struggling to survive against a new, exciting form of entertainment

Television!

Today there are still 3 aspects to the film industry:

Production

Distribution

Exhibition

3 Aspects

Production – there are still “big name” studios who produce many of the films we watch. Most of the big production companies are still American. Some films are “independent” and are produced outside the studios; they tend to be lower budget, are less star driven & are usually less successful at the box office.UK films are usually made by smaller companies, often set up to just make a single film.

3 Aspects

• Distribution – some big production companies distribute their own films. They have departments specifically to organise the marketing and promoting, to make trailers & posters and to ensure that their films reach as many cinemas as possible. Some production companies films, generally those making smaller, lower budget films, have to make deals with distribution companies to promote their films and make sure they are available to audiences. Most UK films are distributed in this way.

Distribution

Did you see Jurassic World in the summer?It took over £60m in the UK

Current global box office is  $1,662,897,056

Distribution

 How did you find out about the film?Can you remember how it was marketed?

Distribution

How were other, similar, films released this summer marketed. In groups find examples of the strategies used by distributors to sell

their films.

3 Aspects

• Exhibition – most films are still made for cinema release but other forms of exhibition are increasingly important. These figures are quite old because it has become impossible to track domestic consumption.

Homework

Listen to The Business of Showing from Mark Kermode’s The Business of Film.

The final Radio 4 programme which covers exhibition.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b054cbnp

Make notes on page 12 of your booklet