Exam 2

Question 1

The studio system

Answer 1

From the mid-20s to the 1960s, studios churned out films like factories

Question 2

The Eight Majors

Answer 2

Biggest studios in Hollywood

Fully integrated operations

Question 3

The Big Five

Answer 3

Paramount 
Loew's (MGM)
Fox
Warner Bros.
RKO

Question 4

The Little Three

Answer 4

Universal
Columbia
United Artists

Question 5

Vertical integration

Answer 5

The studio owns the means of
Production: studios, equipment, sets, stars, directors
Distribution: shipping and film sales, promotions (PR)
Exhibition: movie theater chains

Question 6

Block booking

Answer 6

Studios sell films as a “package”, usually dozens of films at a time
Theater owners had to purchase films ahead of time, w/ no knowledge of whether or not they’d performed well at their theater
If the entire slate wasn’t booked by a theater, they could wind up getting no films from that studio at all

Question 7

Mode of Production

Answer 7

Factory-style “Fordist” production model
Films were “packaged” together according to a budget by a producer or a studio head
Budget came from NY offices, Hollywood made and distributed the films
Labor was divided up very strictly: directors directed, screenwriters wrote scripts, and actors acted
There were some deviations, but this was typical

Question 8

“A” and “B” pictures at the Majors

Answer 8

“A” and “B” refers to budget, not quality

“B” pictures would typically be sold to theaters as the lower half of a double-bill

Question 9

The Production Code

Answer 9

Set of production rules adhered to by the studios from 1934 thru the mid-50s, when the system started to collapse
Self-imposed censorship to avoid government interference in Hollywood
The production code administration(PCA) was overseen by Joseph Breen, outspoken critic of Hollywood’s content
Restricted depictions of violence and sex

Question 10

Continuity Editing

Answer 10

Known as “the invisible style”
The goal was to mask the process of filmmaking from the audience
Make them pay attention to the story, not the editing, camera, or acting
Strict continuity editing was employed by the studios

Question 11

Technicolor

Answer 11

Technicolor process involves multiple film strips being photographed at the same time using different filters
Green, red, cyan
Earliest processes were “two-strip”
From 1922-1952 it was the most widely used color process in Hollywood
Technicolor became known for its vibrant, highly saturated color in 1930s

Question 12

Film genres

Answer 12

Genre= “type” in French
Categorized by formula and repetition, w/ minor variations between products
In Hollywood, genres were the basis of film production
Though not all films were genres films, these formed the backbone of the studio system’s profit structure

Question 13

Popular Genres of the 30s

Answer 13

Musical
Comedy
Gangster Film

Question 14

The Nouvelle Vague

Conditions and Context

Answer 14

Growing youth culture
International film culture(art cinema facilitating exchange of ideas and theory among national cinemas)
Popular Film journals
Film clubs
The rise of film schools
Between 1958 and 1967 a number of film schools start throughout Europe, the USSR, Scandinavia
Young directors start to make their first films

Question 15

Cahiers du cinema

Answer 15

Many of the new wave directors started as critics and writers for Cahiers
“Auteur theory”- the director should express a personal vision of the world that manifests in the film’s narrative and style

Question 16

Style and Key Directors

Answer 16

Formally adventurous- breaks in style completely
Jean-Luc Godard increasingly pushes the boundaries of narrative storytelling
Heavy use of “jump cuts” in Breathless, vignette/tableux storytelling in Vivre Sa Vie
Intense interest in Hollywood, especially genres and the style of Hollywood films; turning those conventions on their heads
Francois Truffaut advocated the self-conscious rejection of traditional structure in film narrative
The 400 Blows was an international success kick-started the French New Wave, opening doors for other directors associated w/ Cahiers du Cinema

Films focused on a distrust of authority
Political and romantic affiliations are always suspect
Plots were built around digressions and chance events

Question 17

What is Art Cinema

Answer 17

Existed alongside Mainstream narrative
Ex: surrealism, expressionism, French Impressionism, the Soviet Avant garde, Italian neorealism, and the French wave

Art films are typically not necessarily designed for a mass audience
They are difficult
Art films are made in opposition to Hollywood’s “invisible style” which is dominant mode of filmmaking throughout the world

Question 18

Czech New Wave

Answer 18

Films were intended to make the Czech people aware that they were participants in a system of oppression and incompetence which had brutalized them all
Featured long, unscripted dialogue, absurd humor, and non actors
Films were extremely political, but they were often metaphorical