Chapter 2:
Producers and Audiences: Hollywood and British Cinema (FS2)
Overview of the FS2 Unit
- Second unit in AS Film Studies focus on film industry and consumption
- You need a good understanding of the business of film and the issues involved in how audiences respond to film
- You will focus on the industries of British and Hollywood cinema
- FS2 exam is worth 30% of AS Grade
- Exam is 1hr 30min: 10mins to read paper 40mins to answer each question
- There are eight key areas you need to cover in your preparation for the exam:
- The Hollywood film industry then and now
- Film finance and film production
- Film distribution
- Film exhibition
- The British film industry, then and now
- Film consumption: the cinema and audience
- The star system
- Film and new technologies
Skills required for Unit FS2
- Two important skills associated with Producers and Audiences exam:
- The ability to articulate your understanding of how cinemas function as a business and how the business interacts with its audience. For this first skill:
- show your knowledge of the mechanics and functioning of the film industry
- evaluate how film financing, production, distribution, and exhibition are structured within the British and Hollywood systems
- identify similarities and differences between the film industries of both Britain and Hollywood
- YOU NEED TO SUPPORT POINTS WITH EXAMPLES
- discussion of the film industry's interaction with audience
- comment on how audience expectations affect the viewing experience + how audience feedback on films affects a film's performance
- The ability to articulate a critical understanding of your own experience as a consumer, fan and critic of cinema
- reflect on your own experience of film
- consider your own expectations of Hollywood mainstream products and independent film
- reflect on how publicity and advertising affect your choices of film viewing
- location of where you watch films, what format, and with whom should also become part of your discussions
The Hollywood film industry, then and now
- The profile and structure of Hollywood film industry has changed much over the years
- Legislation + economic factors have mean Hollywood then and now are significantly different to each other
- You will need to consider three key ares within discussion of this topic:;
- changes that have occurred in Hollywood film industry
- difference between Hollywood and British film industries
- type of film product that contemporary Hollywood film industry produces
The Hollywood studio system
- Hollywood studio system had its 'Golden Age' between 1930 and 1948
- This was when film production was on a 'production line model' CRITICISED: argued that films lacked imagination + created to a formula
- During this period, five film companies dominated the industry:
- Paramount
- Loew's (parent company MGM)
- Fox Film
- Warner Bros.
- RKO
- Three other companies existed in Hollywood: All three didn't own cinemas and were reliant on 'big five' to be sure of wide cinematic release
- Columbia
- Universal
- United Artists
- The five film companies were vertically integrated - they dominated American cinema screens + the global film market until 1948 due to them owning production, distribution, and exhibition.
- After the Second World War social climate in America began to change: families moved to suburbs to escape cities and the once guaranteed urban cinema audience could no longer be relied on.
- Box office takings dropped and many big movie palaces were forced to close
- Year of 1948 marked the end of supremacy from the 'big five': The Paramount Decree (supreme court ruling) forced 'big five' to sell their cinemas
Paramount
- Came into existence in 1916
- The focus of Paramount was slightly different to other big studios: wasn't controlled by a mogul figure + directors had more control over their work
- It became known as more of a 'director's studio'
- Had a huge amount of stars American + European - this mean their films had a very wide appeal
- Stars included:
- Marlene Dietrich
- Marx Brothers
- Bob Hope
- Bing Crosby
- Veronica Lake
- William Holden
- Barbara Stanwyck
- Became first studio to establish a global system of distribution for its films - meant that Paramount's big studio status was quickly established
- Beginning on 1930s saw massive profits: Directors such as Billy Wilder + Josef von Sternbery created popular and successful films
- However, Paramount declared bankruptcy and only emerged from financial problems in the late 1930s
- During Second World War: Paramount reached success once more: due to them having a lot of star power, massive chain of theatres, pleased audiences e.g. wartime tastes
- The 1948 Paramount Decree brought and end to this period of domination: it was the first studio to close cinemas, deconstruct vertical integration: Paramount never reached dominance again
Metro Goldwyn Mater (MGM)
- Very much controlled by its executives rather than directors
- This high level of studio control was criticised
- Came into existence in the early 1920s through a merger 'directed' by Marcus Loew's company, Loew Inc
- The distribution company Metro Pictures and Goldwyn Pictures were first to merge (hence name)
- MGM had an impressive array stars (all become major stars and secured major box office success):
- Lon Chaney
- Lillian Gish
- Joan Crawford
- Greta Garbo
- Mickey Rooney
- Judy Garland
- By the end of 1920s MGM has become a major player in the film-making business
- One of the few studios to not be affected by the Wall Street Crash of 1929 increasing its profits year upon year
- Irving Thalberg was driving force within film production and oversaw films being made by Paramount during this period
- After Thalberg's death David O. Selznick took over production - left to begin own studio
- Then Mayer took over production operation for MGM
- Like others in the 'big five' MGM struggled to function during the 1948 Paramount Decree
Warner Bros.
- The Warner Bros. studio produced the very first film with sound (The Jazz Singer 1927)
- The 1929 Wall Street Crash did affect the studio, but only minimally because of the more independent financial structure of the company
- Warner Bros. began an almost 'production line' ethos of film making creating an output of 60 films per year
- Warner Bros. not director-focused its films were mainly genre-driven and targeted at the broadest audience (Little Caesar: 1930, The Public Enemy:1931)
- Darryl F. Zanuck product executive/mogul who oversaw production
- Gangster + musical genres were heavily utilised in their films proving very successful at the box-office (James Cagney + Humphrey Bogart stars that became popular with gangster genre)
- Late 1940s Warner Bros. was significantly different from what it was like in 1930s - Zanuck left to set up his own studio and Paramount Decree took its toll.
Twentieth Century Fox
- Founded in 1914 by William Fox
- The Fox Film Corporation really took off when it purchased sound processing technology and a chain of exhibition outlets in 1925
- In 1930 Fox departed from the company, leaving it in a large amount of loses due to him frequently producing expensive films
- 1935 was a significant year for Fox Film: in this year it merged with Twentieth Century Pictures becoming Twentieth Century Fox
- Darryl Zanuck (formerly production head at Warner Bros) was in charge of Twentieth Century Pictures therefore Fox Film gained a partner company and an established and very powerful mogul.
- 20th Century Fox didn't have a large amount of stars and was not very star-driven, however it did have a child star Shirley Temple and a western star Roy Rogers both having a massive box office appeal.
- Had a level of critical success which evaded other big five studios
- 1940 adaptation of John Steinbeck's The Grapes Wrath won two Oscars giving the studio a useful critical reputation.
- The shape of the studio was to change significantly after the 1948 Paramount Decree
RKO
- Was created in the 1920s through the merging of Radio Corporation of America, the cinema chain Keith-Albee-Orpheum and the film production company FBO.
- In 1931 the head of the studio David O. Selznick began unit production system meaning independent producers were drafted in
- By 1932 Selznick and RKO parted company due to financial losses
- 1933 was an important year as their most famous film was produced: King Kong which was a major box office success for the studio and a ground-breaking piece of animation which helped seal the studio's reputation
- The Gay Divorce (1934) and Top Hat (1935) also proved to be very financially successful for RKO - this bought together Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, in what was to become a hugely popular pairing.
- Unlike other major studios the crucial year for RKO was not 1948 - the Paramount Decree did have an impact on the company but the Orson Welles 1941 Citizen Kane really sealed the future of RKO.
- However when William Hearst discovered Welles' film he instructed publications to not carry advertising for the film taking it out of circulation
- Following problems with Citizen Kane and the 1948 Paramount Decree, RKO was in severe financial difficulty.
- Howard Hughes bought a share of the company however RKO never attained its previous status.
Hollywood Today
- In today's Hollywood the vertical integration of the Golden Age is no longer in existence
- Studios do not work on a production line model and do not control the means of production, distribution and exhibition
- Film studios may bring finance and studio facilities, but films are not exclusively generated 'in-house'
- Today's is home to many studios, the biggest of which are MGM, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, Paramount, Universal, Twentieth Century Fox, and DreamWorks
- Even though, 4/5 of the big five studios of the Golden Age still exist their control has greatly changed.
- Films that are produced in Hollywood have also grammatically changed
- Many films are star vehicles - however stars are not attached to one studio so they can continuously switch
- One of the most significant products of today is the 'blockbuster'
Blockbusters
- Blockbusters share a set of characteristics almost renders them a genre in their own right: these type of films provide much of the scheduling at cinema outlets
- Function of blockbusters is predominantly economic
- The success of a blockbuster can bankroll many of the smaller film projects that a studio or a production house wishes to develop.
- Producers will consider the release date of their blockbuster carefully in order to secure maximum return
- The failure of a blockbuster can signal economic disaster for investors
- The four main characteristics that blockbusters share are designed to attract the broadest possible audiences:
- Blockbusters have very simple storylines that are easy to understand and have universal appeal
- Blockbusters are populated by characters that are easy to understand
- Blockbusters are marketed on their 'look'
- Blockbusters become a brand
Film finance and film production
- The first stage for any film's production is to secure financial backing this is often a complex and lengthy task
- To secure a finance is for the production company to generate a lot of confidence in the potential revenue of a film to create an environment where investors feel they must invest
- Film is one of the biggest potential exports a country can have and the returns can be enormous.
- Statistically, within the Hollywood film market, only one in ten films released will make a significant financial return for investors.
The Package
- To generate a kind of confidence that will secure investors, producers of a film must put together an attractive proposal this is called a "package"
- A "package" consists of number essential elements:
- A script 'treatment': Can run over ten pages of information concerning storylines, characters and locations
- The generic profile of the film: Details of the genre, how genre elements will be developed potentially, key stylistic or thematic features may be outlined
- The proposed budget of the film
- Visual representation of key scenes
- Key Personnel: inclusion of directors and actors (if confirmed) if not they can still be included but may seem more speculative for investors. Others include editors
and cinematographers
- Potential spin-offs, merchandising and tie-ins
Investment
- Today it is common for a film to have numerous sources backing - the 'green light' cannot be given to a film project unless all necessary financial backing is secured
- Producers might even pre-sell the film to a distribution company in order to generate the finances of production
- Once the producer has the money behind the project, the next stage of the production process is to get the script for the film developed and the project underway
Costs
- There are two types of cost that are incurred during the film-making process
- Firstly 'above the line' costs: predictable types of cost for the producer e.g. salaries + fees for the film's stars, director and personnel. These would have been calculated before the film went into production.
- Then 'fixed costs' these do not change during production
- The second one is 'below the line' costs: these are costs that are not easy to predict e.g. locations, film stock and costumes. These costs easily escalate during the production of a film. If extra days of shooting are needed the script needs to be rewritten or extra equipment has to be hired then these costs can increase greatly.
Production
- Once above the line costs have been determined the first draft of the script has been completed and the budgeting of the film has been organised the film is ready to leave the pre-production stage and enter production.
- The production stage is primarily that of filming.
- Most potentially hazardous and expensive part of the whole process: where producer tries to keep actors, directors, personnel within budget
- The shooting schedule of the film should act as a means of organizing time and personnel.
- Variable costs such as weather, illness, and artistic differences between key personnel, can, however, extend a shooting schedule and inflate the film's below-the-line costs.
Post-production
- Once all the filming is completed the next stage is post-production: the stage where the film is edited
- Producer, director and the editor of the film will often have input into the editing process
- Not just editing images, the sound editing is just as important
- The standard process is for the editor to construct a rough cut where the scenes are loosely assembled around the ideas within the script.
- Finish edit is achieved when final decisions have been made
- Who makes the finished edit varies: Directors often fight for the 'final cut' and the number of DVD and video versions of films that promise 'the director's cut'
- Once the finished edit has been achieved, any special effects needed have been included and the soundtrack for the film has been added, the film is ready for distribution.
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