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 film form 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?
Freudian psychoanalysis
Voyeurism
Fragile masculinity
Women as damsels
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 were the primary genre conventions and 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.
