07 - Hollywood 30s & 40s: 1929 - 1945 Flashcards
Continuity editing became standard during this time…
What is the basic principle of continuity editing?
4 such techniques?
To support smooth, logical transitions & space orientation.
Master shot
eyeline match cut
shot/reverse shot
match on action, etc.
The system was built around 8 Major companies.
5 major and 3 minor. What were these?
These companies were a part of what organization?
5 major (exerted Vertical Control) MGM, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, WB, & RKO
3 Minor
Universal, Columbia Pictures, and United Artists
All part of the MPPDA
What was the MPPDA?
The motion pictures producers and distributors of america
Org. performed functions on behalf of the industry (including self-monitoring content…)
What is Block Booking and Blind Buying that resulted in overbuying?
Block - exhibitor rented films in packages that include the “dogs” & the “hits”
Blind - exhibitor forced to book films unseen.
How did Vertical Control help studios?
allowed studios to influence/control styles, content and censorship… ultimately invited government intervention.
When was the 1st academy awards?
1929 (retroactively to 1927)
When was Hayes hired by the MPPDA? Why?
1922 - enforce restrictions on content & methods. (in light of subsequent Hollywood scandals)
When did the Hayes code come into effect? (What is its formal ‘label’?
1930, but not strictly enforced until 1934
Motion Picture Production Code
What was the PCA, when was it established, and who established/ led it? What enforced it?
1934 - Production Code Administration
established/led by Joseph Breen (until 1954)
Enforced by National Legion of Decency (Catholic legion of decency) - Seal of Approval
When did Vertical Control end? What happened in 1951?
1948 - competition from foreign policy and TV
1951 - movies covered under the 1st amendment (Freedom of speech)
When was the Hayes code replaced by the MPAA?
1968
When color ‘begin’ to be integrated into film? What new ‘system’ was created to allow easier integration of full colour?
Early days of film: tinting, toning, hand colouring, etc.
Technicolor was developed in the early 30s
What sort of films is John Ford known for?
reverence of the American landscape. Stagecoach (1939)
explored the forces set in motion by the european expansion in the New World.
Savagery of the wilderness - symbolized by the figure of that native American.
Indigenous peoples stood in the way of civilized order
What were some emergent genres of the 30’s?
The Musical The Gangster Film (30's atmosphere) Horror Films (Chiaroscuro lighting) Comedy (new expression with sound) Woman Pictures (domestic melodramas) Adaptations Cartoons & Walt Disney Film Noir
Film noir is largely a combination of two “movements”. What are these?
German Expressionism - nightmares & hallucinations (lighting & angles)
French Poetic Realism - femme fetales
What was Orson Welles’ first film? - When was it released?
Citizen Kane (1941) `
What was the NLD/CLD? How did it influence productions?
The National Legion of Decency (Catholic Legion of Decency) set in place to enforce the Hayes code.
** Implemented a seal of approval. A $25,000 was instituted for producing, distributing, or exhibiting any picture that had no received it
When was The Wizard of Oz released? The capacity of what kind technology does it demonstrate? Who directed? Performers? Production Company?
1939 Technicolor Victor Fleming Dorothy - Judy Garland MGM
When was Citizen Kane released?
Who directed/wrote?
Production Company?
Film a ‘bio’ about who?
1941
W/D - Orson Welles
RKO Radio Pictures
William Hurst
how is citizen Kane an example of a modernist film?
moving a way from and even questioning tradition
takes on a self-reflexive bend - Ideology at work…
What is one effect of the Hays Code that still persists in contemporary Hollywood film?
Restrictions were the strictest in sexual matters as opposed to violence, and as a result the use of violence skyrocketed. Which is still a notable theme in films today
How many films were produced in the 30s? What problem does this illustrate for theatres? By ___, the eight major studios were responsible for ___% of feature films released? What were the studios?
5,000 films were produced in the decade. Overbuying, which through blind buying and block booking, theatres understandably couldn’t show all the films they bought.
1939, 76%
Paramount, RKO, Fox, WB, MGM, Universal, United Artists, Columbia
Who was known during this time for their musicals? Who were the notable stars and is an example?
MGM, who used Fred Astaire and Ginger Roberts (first to NOT use background musical genre for musical)
Also went on to produce Meet Me in St. Louis, Singin in the Rain
What new kind of comedy developed in the 1930s? What is one example?
Screwball comedy; combination of intellectual and slapstick humour. Witty dialogue and reversal of usual male-female, dominant-submissive roles. It Happened One Night (1934) Capra
