MOVIES Chapter 7

A Long, Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far Away… Star Wars: most successful marketing campaign in history of films (ancillary rights) Sold to Disney in 2012 for $4.06 billion Disney made new trilogy and was very successful at box office Will also continue success of Star Wars on the business side, cross platforming across many of Disney’s media (TV, Gaming, Theme Parks, Consumer Products)

Movies Mirror Culture Movies mirror society that creates them (political messages, social agendas) Like other media, must adapt to changing technology Movies were nation’s primary form of visual entertainment before TV

Forming Motion Pictures Eadweard Muybridge: first to demonstrate moving picture 1884: George Eastman (Eastman Kodak) developed the first roll film Louis LePrince: invented the first motion picture using roll film -1888: Roundhay Garden Scene 1889: Hannibel Goodwin improved roll film by using celluloid, which was transparent and ideal for projection, moved quickly through a camera (allowing for a series of pictures)

The Kinetoscope Thomas Edison directed his assistant William Kennedy Dickson to combine Goodwin’s celluloid film with his incandescent light bulb and Le Prince’s camera to create the kinetograph and the single-person viewing system called the Kinetoscope April 11, 1894: America’s 1st kinetoscope parlor opened on Broadway in NYC Edison's Films

The Lumiere bros and cinematography In France (1895), Louis and Auguste Lumiere brothers developed the cinematograph (combined camera, film developer and projection system), which allowed for more than one person to view moving images on a large screen Dec. 28, 1895--The Lumiere Brothers debuted 10 short films in a Paris Café with their device Lumiere Show

Edison Launches American Movies Edison, inspired by the Lumiere brothers and motion picture interest, created the Vitascope (a large-screen system enabling longer strips of film to be projected without interruption), which hinted of movies as a possible mass medium April 23, 1896: First American premiere of a motion picture at Koster and Bial’s Theater in NYC. Motion pictures were just a sideshow in arcades but quickly became main attraction

Introducing Narratives Movies moved to the mass medium stage with the introduction of the narrative (telling stories) George Méliés (France): added fantasy to film --1899 film “Cinderella” --1902 film “A Trip to the Moon” (1st outer-space movie adventure) Edwin S. Porter (USA): 1902: The Life of an American Fireman 1903: The Great American Train Robbery (1st Western genre film) The Great Train Robbery

Nickelodeons Small movie theaters that cost a nickel to see; showed short films for about one hour Major development in the evolution of film as a mass medium Transcended language barriers with many immigrants to America Popped up in store-fronts, featured white sheet and secondhand projector and a piano player to provide background music 1907-1909: the number of Nickelodeons grew from 5,000 to 10,000 *Peaked in 1910, when industry became a mass medium

Controlling the Industry Motion Pictures Patents Company, 1908, founded by Thomas Edison in New Jersey Also known as The Trust Formed with a group of US and French producers and pooled patents to control the industry Made a deal with George Eastman to provide film only to companies approved by The Trust Adolph Zukor and William Fox and indie film companies were upset with Edison’s bullying tactics and led the demise of The Trust Many producers moved west to Hollywood

Three Levels of the Movie Business Production: Making movies (Securing the script, actors, raising money, filming) II. Distribution: Getting films into theaters III. Exhibition: Playing films in theaters Vertical Integration—controlling all three Adoph Zukor had his own plans to control the industry by controlling all three levels of the movie business. Zukor ironically implemented tactics to control the industry himself by controlling all three levels of the biz.

Production : The Star System Film executives did not realize viewers were not only fans of genres, but actors as well Adolph Zukor hired popular actors and formed the Players Company in 1912 (wanted to control movie production through exclusive contracts with actors) Mary Pickford was known as “America’s Sweetheart”; Her fame and salary grew to $15000/wk in 1917 In 1919, she broke away from Zukor and formed United Artists 1920s: The studio system prevailed, which provided a pool of talent for major studios

Distribution 1904: A film exchange system existed between Vaudeville theaters and movie producers (Producers received a portion of ticket gate receipts in exchange for short films) Edison attempted to control distribution by withholding equipment from companies not paying The Trust’s patent- use fees Block booking: developed by Adolph Zukor; forced exhibitors to rent films that had no stars to gain access to the ones that did (eventually outlawed as monopolistic) WWI allowed the U.S. film industry to shine, and the U.S. became the leader in worldwide commercial movie business **Hollywood continues to dominate the world market**

Exhibition Thomas Edison controlled industry with patents and Adolph Zukor bought up theaters to gain control of exhibition Studios built movie palaces to attract middle and upper class --1914: Strand Theatre (first movie palace) opened in NYC on Broadway, could seat 3,000 Mid-city theaters: Attracted the urban and suburban middle class

Major Studios Thrive…with Vertical Integration By the 1920s, the major studios had established vertical integration in the industry: The Big Five: Paramount, MGM, Warner Brothers, Twentieth Century Fox, and RKO The Little Three (didn’t own theaters): Columbia, Universal and United Artists These 8 studios make it very difficult for independent studios to survive in any aspect of the film industry

Big Five….and Disney Walt Disney was only successful newcomer in the 1930s; released Steamboat Willie—1st animated sound cartoon 1937: Disney released the first narrative length animated film— instant success (Snow White and the Seven Dwarves)

Film Industry’s Golden Age 1915-Early 1940s Began with feature-length narrative film in 1915 and Silent Era Peaked with the introduction of sound and the development of Hollywood Style Ended with the transformation of the Hollywood Studio System -post WWII

The Narrative D.W. Griffith was known as a pioneer in Hollywood Used previous narrative techniques all in one film, including varied camera distances, close-up shots, multiple story lines, fast-paced editing and symbolic imagery Created the first feature-length (more than one hour) film produced in America— 1915: The Birth of A Nation The Birth of A Nation was also the first blockbuster (popular movie) and set the standard in Hollywood for narrative films

Sound in Film Sound in Film 1927: Warner Brothers’ The Jazz Singer, first incorporated sound in the silent film (musical numbers and brief diaglogue) 1927: Fox Studios featured newsreels before film began; recorded sound directly on to film, which became the standard sound system for the industry 1928: Warner Bros. The Singing Fool with Al Jolson was the breakthrough film for sound Set the standard for sound in movies By 1935, “talkies” were the standard in film

The Development of Hollywood Style Three main components: the narrative, the genre, and the author (or director) 1. Narratives: Includes the story (what happens to whom) and the discourse (how it is told) 2. Genres: Categories (most familiar: comedy, romantic comedies, drama, action, adventure, mystery/suspense, western, horror, gangster, fantasy-science fiction) Film Noir (black film): developed in the U.S in the late 1920s until after WWII (ex. Sin City—2005) 3. Authors/Directors: develop a particular recognizable style or interest in a category (ex. Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Tyler Perry, Quentin Tarantino, Gary Marshall)

Alternatives to Hollywood Global Cinema: American films are 90% of global market, yet less than 2% of films seen in the U.S. today largest foreign film industry is in India— Bollywood (1000 films/year are produced) II. Documentaries: Records actual people and settings and controversial or unpopular subject matter III. Indie Films: Small budget films; festivals like Sundance help indie films generate industry buzz, as do streaming services like Netflix

Hollywood Adapts to Television Movies focused on subject matter TV would not condone (alcoholism, anti-Semitism, mental illness, racism, adult-teen relationships, drug abuse and sexuality) Many technological improvements, such as Technicolor, Cinerama, CinemaScope, and VistaVision (featuring wide-screen images, multiple synchronized projectors, and stereophonic sound)…and then the introduction of 3-D movies and Panavision

Governing the Industry The movie industry is governed by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which adopted a Motion Picture Production Code in the 1930s and enacted a ratings system in 1967 (R, PG, PG-13…)

Hollywood and Home Entertainment 1970s: Cable and the videocassette transformed movie exhibition; Hollywood tried to stall the arrival of the VCR— filing lawsuits to prevent customers from copying movies from TV The DVD helped invigorate the flat sales of the home video market as people began to acquire new movie collections on DVD The rental business has been going downhill with the Internet (Hollywood Video closed in 2010 and Blockbuster in 2013) The rental business has only seen minimal profits recently, thanks to Redbox, but even the kiosk rental business began to flatline by 2013.

The Future of Home Entertainment Future of video rental business is in Internet distribution (Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Google Play, and iTunes) through devices like Roku, Apple TV, TiVo Premiere, video game consoles and Internet- ready TVS With wide-screen, HD, 3-D TVs and surround- sound systems, home entertainment is growing and keeping up with the movie theater business Also, home entertainment is getting SMALLER (can stream movies on iPads, tablets, laptops, and smart phones)

Economics of Movie Biz Blockbusters: studios release one or two big hits /year to make up for all of the failures Revenue from six major sources: 1. Box office revenue (about 40%) 2. Home video market, including VOD( (iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, Hulu Plus, and Netflix and cable subscription) and subscription streaming, and then DVD sales and rentals, 3. Premium cable (HBO and Showtime), then network, cable, and finally syndication 4. Foreign market and distribution (25%) 5. Independent producers/filmmakers distribution (studios get 30- 40% of profits) 6. Merchandise licensing and product placement in films

Top 10 Box Office Champions of All Time Star Wars: The Force Awakens BV $936,662,225 2015 2 Avatar Fox $760,507,625 2009^ 3 Titanic Par. $659,363,944 1997^ 4 Jurassic World Uni. $652,270,625 5 Black Panther $650,923,549 2018 6 Marvel's The Avengers $623,357,910 2012 7 Star Wars: The Last Jedi $620,097,892 2017 8 The Dark Knight WB $534,858,444 2008^ 9 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story $532,177,324 2016 10 Beauty and the Beast (2017) $504,014,165

Studio Expenses and Revenue… ---Studios rely on heavy advance promotion and synergy (sale of a product throughout the various subsidiaries of the media conglomerate) ---Companies promote the movie and then the book form, soundtrack, calendar, T-shirts, Web site and toy action figures, as well as the “behind-the scenes, making of” story on TV and the Internet. --Disney has been very successful with synergy promotion

Major Studios Six major studios: Warner Brothers Paramount Twentieth Century Fox Universal Columbia Pictures Disney Account for more than 86% of revenue generated by commercial films and control half of the movie market in Europe and Asia

Movies and the Digital Turn Biggest challenge of movie industry today----Internet Movie industry has more quickly embraced Internet than the recording industry with illegal file-sharing Services like Netflix and Hulu have become very popular for movie fans Movies are also in quality formats for tablet and mobile phone viewing In 2012, movie fans accessed more movies through digital online media than through physical copies, such as DVDs and BluRay discs

Alternate Voices: Digital Video Digital Video: (replacing celluloid film) cheaper, more accessible than standard film equipment, is replacing bulky cameras with less-expensive, lightweight digital video cameras, also helps see product instantly and allows for additional footage without concern for high-cost of film stock and processing. With digital video and computer-based editing programs, movies can be made for just a few thousand dollars---excellent for indie filmmakers Preservation of digital content is an issue filmmakers have to contend Vimeo, YouTube and Netflix have grown into leading Internet sites for the screening and distribution of low-budget short indie films

Cultural experiences and final thoughts… Culturally, movies serve as consensus narratives (a term describing cultural products that become popular and provide shared cultural experiences) No other mass media is so fragmented: today’s movies are created by one group (writers/producers), funded by one group (investors), sold by a third party (distributors), and shown by another group (exhibitors).