Old Vs New Hollywood Flashcards
What years are generally considered to define The Golden Age of Hollywood?
Between the late 1930s and the late 1950s / early 1960s.
What percentage of Americans went to the cinema weekly in 1946?
57%.
What are the three main components of the Studio System?
- Production
- Distribution
- Exhibition
What is Vertical Integration?
The control of Production, Distribution, and Exhibition by a single corporate entity – namely the studios.
Who were The Big Five studios?
- 20th Century Fox
- Warner Bros
- MGM
- Paramount
- RKO
What was the Motion Picture Production Code (Hays Code)?
A set of guidelines for self-censorship in Hollywood from 1930-1966.
List the three general principles of the Motion Picture Production Code.
- No picture shall lower moral standards
- Correct standards of life shall be presented
- Law shall not be ridiculed
What are the two key elements of Classical Hollywood Film according to David Bordwell?
- Narrative Logic
- Cinematic Time and Space
What is Narrative Logic in Classical Hollywood Cinema?
The narrative progresses as a character moves through struggle towards a defined goal.
In Classical Hollywood Cinema, how is time characterized?
Time is linear and continuous.
What techniques are used consistently in Classical Hollywood Cinema for continuity?
- Action match
- Shot/reverse shot
- Eye-line match
What does mise-en-scène primarily create in Classical Hollywood Cinema?
Believability.
Who is considered one of the first directors recognized as an auteur?
Alfred Hitchcock.
Which film is argued to be Hitchcock’s masterpiece?
Vertigo.
What is one of Hitchcock’s notable themes in his films?
Suspense.
What was unique about the way actors were contracted in the Studio System?
Actors were bound by seven-year contracts to a single studio.
What is the primary narrative focus in Classical Hollywood Cinema?
Romantic with a secondary narrative focused on crime.
What does the term ‘auteur’ refer to?
A filmmaker who has recognisable individual traits / styles
True or False: The Studio System was primarily focused on creating art over profit.
False.
Fill in the blank: The Big Five studios had distinct _______ and _______ associated with them.
[genres] and [styles].
What is the primary goal of the Studio System?
To make money.
When did the Studio System start to collapse?
Throughout the 1960s into the early 1970s.
What was one legal factor that contributed to the collapse of the Studio System?
The Supreme Court ruled that vertical integration practiced by the studios was a violation of the law.
How did demographic changes in America contribute to the collapse of the Studio System?
Most Americans moved to the suburbs, away from cinemas, and the demographics of cities changed to younger, educated, progressive audiences.
What technological advancement contributed to the collapse of the Studio System?
The invention of television.
What cultural shifts contributed to the collapse of the Studio System?
Shifts in culture, sex, politics, and lifestyles led audiences to become tired of old-fashioned Hollywood cinema.
What are three things to identify New Hollywood?
- The Mechanics of the industry
- Ideology and Values
- The Alternative Style
What was the goal of the young filmmakers emerging in New Hollywood?
To make personal cinema influenced by European movements like the French New Wave and Italian Neo Realism.
What was a financial advantage for studios in supporting New Hollywood directors?
The films were initially cheaper to make and seemed to make a profit.
What happened to the Production Code in 1967?
It completely collapsed.
What was a common characteristic of the endings in New Hollywood films?
The endings were often bleak and ambiguous.
Name some themes that New Hollywood films often reflected or commented on.
- Vietnam
- Civil Rights
- Feminism
- Public Assassinations
- Watergate
- The Counterculture
What type of protagonists were often featured in New Hollywood films?
Morally ambiguous or complex outsider anti-heroes.
What were some innovative editing techniques used in New Hollywood films?
- Jump cuts
- Intellectual montage
- Freeze frames
- Non-linear narrative structure
What film directed by Arthur Penn in 1967 revolutionized American cinema?
Bonnie and Clyde.
Who bought the rights to Bonnie and Clyde and also starred in it?
Warren Beatty.
