USA Unit 3 (0.7) Flashcards
During the 1920s few major companies controlled production,distribution &exhibition how many films did they produce?(hollywood)
What genres and stars did the industry organise its output around?
-They produced around 600 films per year, the movie industry organised its output around genres.
-Organised output around genres such as westerns, romance or comedy.
-Stars like Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Valentino.
By the 1930s what was the chief entertainment of Americans?
What development created new genres?
-Films.
-Sound fostered verbal comedy, musicals and crime films as new genres.
-The first being ‘The Jazz Singer’
When did film first become vital for US society? How did it function?
-During WWII it was seen as vital for national morale.
-It was supervised by the Office of War Information. Cinema audiences soared during the war, reaching their all time high in 1946.
What genre of music found black muscians in high demand during the 1920s? What did prohibition bring about?
What did critics of Jazz music argue?
-Jazz.
-Prohibition brought speakeasies during the 1920s, many of which hired jazz muscians to attract customers.
-Conservatives saw the genre as a threat to traditional values.
What influence did Radio have on popular culture? What was Swing?
-Radio brought music to more consumers and stimulated the sale of sheet music and phonography records. It helped the rise of ‘crooners’ like Bing Crosby.
-Swing dominated the Jazz scene from 1935-45.Benny Goodman’s orchestra is credited with launching the swing craze and the big band era. By the later 1930s, hundreds of dance bands were playing in hotels, ballrooms and night clubs.
What is the broadcast station KDKA regarded as? What did it offer? How many stations were there by 1922?
-The broadcast station KDKDA(1920) is regarded as the birth of Americans broadcasting.
-KDKA offered a weely schedule of talk and music. As public interest soared, 500 stations were on air by 1922.
Did the Great Depression affect the popularity of Radio? What did popular formats include?
-NO. By the 1930s, popular formats were well established.
-Popular formats included situation comedies, variety and music programmes, newscasts, daytime serial dramas and evening drams of many kinds.
What did Roosevelt make in the 1930s to ‘sell’ his New Deal measures? Betweeen 1928-45 what was the percentage increase of radio advertising? How many stations was there by 1945?
-Roosevelt made ‘fireside chats’ in the 1930s.
-Radio’s share of all advertising soared from under 1% in 1928 to 15% in 1945.
-By 1945 there were over 1,000 radio stations.
How many Americans had Tvs in 1948? By 1955? When did colour sets become affordable? By 1980 what did the vast majority of homes have?
-1948 only 172,000 Americans had Tvs.
-1955 there were 32 million sets- 75% of all households.
-Colour sets became affordable in the 1960s.
-By 1980 majority of homes had colour and scores of channels to watch.
Until mid 1950s who was Tv aimed at? Once the industry took off what did sponsors insist? What did established networks CBS and NBC sponsor?
What percentage of the population faviourted TV as a leisure activity according to polls (1960)?
-Initially TV was aimed at viewing of highly educated people.
-Once TV took off sponsors insisted on shows that appealed to mass audiences.
- CBS and NBC sponsored general interest programmes.
-By 1960 polls reported that TV was the favourite leisure activity of nearly half the population. Most Americans watched TV for more than 3 hours a day.
How was revenue managed by Tv producers? What unhealthy sponsors did TV producers cater to? What sorts of people were portrayed favourably?
-By a large extent most Tv producers were dependent on advertising for their revenue.
-Tv producers catered carefully to sponsors (such as cigarette companies.) and worked hard to reflect perceived norms.
-Businessmen and professional people were favourably portrayed. Fathers were all knowing, mothers supportive and children obedient.
Was TV ethnically representative in the 1950s? What issues were off limits?
- Few programmes in the 1950s featured black Americans (unless they were servants or domestic workers) as main characters.
-Socio political issues were mainly off limits. So was Frankness about sex.
What did Critics of TV argue?
-That Tv’s power was large and harmful;
-Strengthened violent tendencies in people.
-Sabotaged the reading habit.
-stifled conversation.
-Induced a general passivity of mind.
-Harmed radio, newspapers, magazines and cinema.
-gave enormous boosts to the advertising industry.
What did proponents of film argue about its contributions? Are viewers passive? Were advertisements the causes of unhealthy lifestyles?
-They claimed TV was hardly all powerful.
-Tv viewers were far from passive and argued heatedly about what they had seen.
-Commericals did not sweep all before them. Millions of Americans smoked and bought cars before the rise of Tv commercials.
According to proponents of TV do viewers draw conclusions as a collective or individually? What do they argue Tv helped define?
-According to Tv analysts viewers look at texts in highly individualised ways.
-Viewers were not passive receptacles. They made choices. The class, gender, religion and ethnicity of people affected responses.
-Proponents argue that Tv helped define a new national culture. They may have helped to standardise tastes and diminish regional and social divisions.
