Eadweard Muybridge
-was the first person to make a moving picture after being hired by Leland Stanford to settle debate of whether or not horses lifted all four feet off the ground at any time during their gallop. He set up cameras that were separated and triggered as the h
Etienne Jules Marey
A chronotographer that studied the flight of birds. He realized he couldn't study the movements because they were too fast to observe and analyze succession of movements. in 1882, he perfect the photographic gun the size and shape of a rifle capable of ta
Thomas Edison
Was the inventor of electric lightbulb and the graphaphone which was a device that could record and playback sound. He begins to think: What if people had a small mopping image to view with the music? Hires and oversees WLK Dickinson who, through Edison's
WKL Dickson
In 1889, Dickson begins working for Edison to create a 35mm film camera. He technically is the person that invents the kinetograph in 1891 but because he works for Edison and his company, Edison gets the credit. The camera weighs 100 lbs and Edison and Di
Augustus & Louis Lumiere
owned a photography company they inherited from their father and were interested in doing new types of photography. When they heard about Edison's doings, they decided they wanted to make a motion picture system and invent a build hand-cranked camera AND
Vaudeville
It was a family friendly show with small entertainment done on a small stage with multiple acts on one bill & had acts for everyone: singers, dancers, stand-up comedy. It was a program changed weekly (interstate vaudville circuit) which meant there was a
Vitagraph & J. Stuart Blackton
Former Vaudeville performer, founds Vitagraph. He got a hold of one of Edison's cameras, took it apart, improved it and patented the improvements. He then builds company, Vitagraph, and competes against Edison. Vitagraph comes up with the idea to create f
George Melies
was a magician and producer that would put on shows of magic tricks and stories aimed at children. Attends a Lumiere show and falls in love with the idea of movies so he creates his own company, Star Films. Makes Trip to the Moon; most famous film, 8-10 s
Edwin S. Porter
A filmmaker that worked for Edison's company
-saw that people wanted more films like Trip to the Moon
-created Jack and the Beanstalk (1902) and Life of an American Fireamn (multi-shot, "modern drama," real life events, animals, people, not so science fic
Nickelodeons
-they were converted store/theaters
-low admission of 5-10 cents which was competitive with Vaudeville and was accessible to all social classes
- Nickelodeon heyday 1905-1915
- Working class people, families with children, immigrants
- Showed: mix of thin
Motion Picture Patents Co
aka the Trust
- Edison, Biograph, Vitagraph- some of the main ones (out of 9 production companies) formed 1908
- Edison patented most of early cinema's technology
- Why was this advantageous- able to tax them and make more revenue for himself
- Stopped th
Carl Laemmle & Independent Moving Picture Co (IMP) / Universal
-wants to compete with the trust
-decides to create his own distribution company IMP to make movies
-owns theaters and distribution
-creates star system in order to stand out and attract people by using actors the public wanted to see
-Laemmle pulls the f
William Fox
-MPPC forms General Film Co, first nationwide distributor and buys out 58 of 69 distribution companies and puts 10 out of business; only ONE left
-refuses to sell his distribution company Greater New York Film Rental Co to Edison and MPPC
-Edison cuts him
D.W. Griffith
-most important filmmaker
-Biograph looking for Head of Production and gets the job
-oversaw the making of over 400 films
-classic "director" because of many film techniques:camera panning, dramatic lighting
-worked closely with actors (subtle acting is k
Adolph Zukor
-Hungarian immigrant to US
-involved in smalltime Vaudeville but saw he could make decent money off Nicklelodeons
-believed that if he could offer people something bigger and better, then they would pay more
-acquires North American rights for "Queen Eliz
Deluxe Theater/Picture Palaces
- Movie palace 1914- stopped being built during the Depression
- Wealthier people
- $2
- Air conditioning
- Ornate, themed ex: China, Egypt
- Not just functional
- Treated you well, even lower class people
- Showed feature films
- Music: full orchestras
-
S.L. "Roxy" Rothafel
-became leaden spokesman for picture palaces
-promoted ideas that picture palaces were an escape from people's problems: entering a new world with great vibes
-Famous for his grandiose theaters throughout NY as well as the building of Radio City Music Hal
Paramount & W.W. Hodkinson
-first nationwide film distribution
-Hodkinson worked for Edison and The Trust
-bought out local regional and territorial distribution systems and created Paramount
-could not be convinced to merge with Zukor & Famous Players
-Zukor went and bought off Ho
Block Booking
-a distribution policy evolved by Zukor
-offered their films on an all 5o films or nothing basis for the year-no in between
-had to get all of the studio's films or get none of them
-became a hugely successful strategy: even worst film of the year could d
Birth of Hollywood
-1913: move from predominantly NY all the way to California: So Cal, Hollywood
-"350 Sunny Days a Year": very few days lost to cold weather
-companies can be shooting all year long by depending on natural sunlight
-variety of location: movies set in all d
Thomas Ince & The Studio System
-created the factory/mass production system in film
-Inspired by the assembly line format of Ford Motors, Ince revolutionized film production by introducting the idea of division of labor
-Hiring separate individuals as directors, writers, etc allowed Inc
Mary Pickford
-first Hollywood movie star: discovered at 19
-America's sweetheart with the curls
-ideal of victorian girlhood
-marries biggest male star and form it couple
-discovered by D.W. Griffith in the beginnings at Biograph, which is what made her a star --> wor
Theda Bara
-aka The Vamp
-anti Mary Pickford: mature and sexuality is foreground
-first screen "vamp," woman who could use her sexuality to seduce a man
-only 2-3 of her films actually survived
-her slogan: "Kiss me my fool
Mack Sennet
-finds idea of slapstick comedy and creates own short film slapstick factory: Keystone studios
-vaudeville comedian who worked for Griffith at Biograph
-leaves Biograph, creates Keystone studios in 1912: most great comedians get their starts at this studi
Charlie Chaplin
-most famous comedian
-with brother Sydney Chaplin in Fred Karno Comedy Troupe, toured in American Vaudeville and in Britain as well
-did a comedic drunk act
-December 1913: Chaplin joins Mack Sennett & Keystone.
-quickly gained success, played many leadi
First National
-Paramount/Famous Players is dominating and theater owners fear this
-theater owners decide to start their own production/distribution company (want an alternative to Paramount)
-theater chains would finance films if studios gave the movies to First Natio
Vertical Integration
-Exhibition, Distribution, Production
-first nationwide feature film distribution company created by W.W. Hodkinson in 1914; bought many territory distribution companies, opened new offices, created Paramount
-Zukor & Famous Players bought out Hodkinson's
United Artists (1919)
-make their own movies and rely on FN and paramount for distribution (not vertically integrated - no theaters)
-get tired of distributors taking 30-40% of the money so they make the UA distribution company
-created by Charlie Chaplin, Pickford, Douglas Fa
MGM & Marcus Loew
-most significant theater owner in NY
-Loew's theaters are most profitable theaters in America
-Marcus Loew also fears the dominance of Paramount
-owns theaters and decide to move to CA to start his own vertically integrated company (Metro)
-buys Goldwyn
Silent Hollywood
The Dream Factory:
-Paramount
-Loew's MGM
-20th Century Fox
-FN
-Universal
-UA:distributing products of indie producers
Douglas Fairbanks
-co-founder of United Artists (United Artists: first vertically integrated company for independent producers; only company that did not block book films_
-plays go-getter, All American boy types on the screen
-in 1920, transforms image, and stars in "The
Rudolph Valentino
-born in Italy, came to US as young person, struggling to survive
-was a burglar
-got into acting, played mainly villains but then started playing leading roles
-transformed image of masculinity in US: impossible romantic with women
-Breaks out in 1920 &
Clara Bow
-women gaining right to vote
-new, "modern" woman, the flapper
-greatest of all flapper stars
-rejected Victorian traditions: wore shorter dresses, drop waist, little undergarments
-dance Charleston, drink bootleg alcohol from flasks
-ultimate statement:
Greta Garbo
-becomes MGM's greatest star
-from Sweden, appeared in films in Europe
-head of MGM took trip to Europe to gather new people to be part of MGM, including Greta Garbo
-became personification of passion, love, romance
-always "the other woman" in films
-som
Westerns & Tom Mix
-most popular genre from mid 1920's to 1970's: most inexpensive to make
-Mix: uncomplicated western hero
Buster Keaton
-very physical actor
-started out at age 3 in vaudeville, "the three Keatons," had their own comedy act
-real name: Joseph Francis Keaton. Legend says Harry Houdini gave him the nickname Buster (buster=name for a great fall)
-a veteran of vaudeville comed
Cecil B. DeMille
-leading director at Paramount for about 40 years into the 1950's
-DeMille made biggest budget film each year
-carries on Griffith tradition of super spectacular films (without the morals, politics, etc. Just fun films)
-name was popular, people expected
Hal Roach
-Producer/director
- New comedy factory appears in the late teens
- Known today for putting together a fat and skinny comedian (the Laurel and Hardy Team)
- Put together a group of little kids and followed them around- The Little Rascals
-comedian
Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle
-discovered Buster Keaton
-became Paramount's leading comedian in the early 20's.
-a comedian second in popularity only to Chaplin in the 1910s
-One of the most famous silent film actors in the 1910s
-He signed an unheard of 1 million dollar deal with Par
Sound Motion Pictures
-needed to solve issue of synchronization and amplification
-synchonized sound matches the screen
-amplified sound is loud enough for the audience to hear
-Edison's kinetophone: match record players with projectors: failed
-Gaumon Chronophone: (failed)
-R
Audion Tube & Lee De Forest
-Lee De Forest invented and patented the Audion tube in 1907: vacuumed tube that could amplify an electrical current --> creates volume
-He then set to work on developing sound for cinema.
-1919: improving on the german Tri-Ergon, he filed for a patent fo
AT&T (American Telephone & Telegraph), Western Electric, Sound on disk
-founded in 1876 by Alexander bell
-1914: AT&T and western electric lease the audio tube from Lee De Forest and attach them to their phone amplifiers to boost sound traveling long distances
-make speakers from it (used at games, train stations, etc.)
-191
Warner Bros
-Harry, Jack, Sam & Al Warner
-Investment bank Goldman Sachs & Waddill Catchings want to invest in the "new" Paramount Pictures and finds Warner Bros.
-1925-1926, WB has a great load of cash: use it in integrating their company by hiring more actors, work
Hollywood & Sound
-sound gets more popular and all of Hollywood is looking into it
-AT&T wants to break contract with WB and sell to all of Hollywood
-WB wants to still stand out since most companies are going to be getting sound so they decide to add singing sequences int
The Singing Fool
-90% talking; raises prices by 50% to $3-->changes the industry
Movietone
Fox and Theodore Case optical sound on film, famous for News segments
- Theodore Case had actually assisted Lee De Forest in his development of Phonofilm, but when Case wasn't given due credit in the patent of Phonofilm, they had a falling out.
-Case ceas
RCA Photophone & RKO
-RCA photophone: optical sound on film; try to sell it to Hollywood --> RCA is shut out from Hollywood after everyone signs with AT&T
-David Sarnoff wants to create own vertically integrated company: buys Kennedy's booking office, Pathe American and Keith
Transition to Sound
Steamboat Willie, Mickey Mouse one of the earliest sound stars
-2 huge technical challenges: synchronization, amplification
-Kinetophone, Chronophone; so many disastrous inventions, could not keep in sync with films
-Lee De Forest: his patenting in 1906/1
1930's, Depression, New Deal, & Hollywood
-stock market crash 1929
-movie industry plummets
-huge debts for theaters and sound equipment
-1931-34, most companies slipping towards bankruptcy, Hollywood could not escape Great Depression
-spent most of 20's and 30's borrowing money to build theatres
The Candy Counter
-institution of food sales into theaters: alternate source of income
-most people would pick up candy, drinks, etc. next door or around the corner. Now theaters needed every penny they could get
-food sales worked out great: sold drinks, specifically Coca
Double Bill
-two movies for the price of one: the double bill
-smash hit, spread to every theater in America
-Hollywood horrified by this, theaters expected to give people twice as many movies
-couldn't stifle the double bill: Hollywood figured out how to do it witho
B Movies
-mainly produced by the "little 3" in order for theaters to fill their playing cards;
-second-rate productions that were popular during the Great Depression due to declining movie attendance as theaters began using ploys such as double features to lure in
National Industry Recovery Administration & National Industry Recovery Act
During the New Deal:
-went to every American business sector, tried to get businesses back on their feet, created board of fair practices
-Code of Fair Practices: written by board, how each sector of business should behave so no one goes under
-Hollywood
Guilds and Unions
-studios make 50% salary cuts for actors and directors --> go to Academy but realized hey weren't going to help
-Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences: created in 1927
Creative people collectively create the following in order to have a negotiating po
Mae West
-started off in Vaudeville, wrote and starred in her own plays on Broadway
-always challenged sexuality; hugely controversial
-was arrested three times for obscenity on stage
-saved Paramount when they were suffering greatly
-notorious throughout the coun
Censorship
-Edison himself created National Board of Censorship that approved all of Edison's films
-Hollywood early films come under attack: issues like divorce, nudity, sexuality
-some people also associated bad things with Hollywood-divorce, rampant drug use, a s
Production Code Administration
-by the office of WIll Hays, an office whose duties were to regulate the substance of motion-pictures with respect to censorship;
-enacted a set of guidelines which restricted theaters from producing images of sexuality and violence that would corrupt the
MPPDA & William Hays
-Hays is paid a lot to come to hollywood and take over the MPPDA (motion picture producers and distributors association)
-fights the bills against hollywood censorship
-helped coordinate technical standards
-promoting Hollywood again
-set up list of "don'
Production Code & Joseph Breen
-head of ensuring codes are carried out
-looks at everything from costumes to sets
-Catholic
-Before codes: Mae West
-After codes: Shirley Temple
-Principles of code are:
1) no sympathy for crime, evil or sin
2) correct standards of life- no white slavery
Hollywood Scandals
-William Desmond Taylor: Murdered; and when conducting investigation they learned a lot about him
-Wallace Reid:See him in Birth of a Nation ? he man, all American type; on his way to location and got in a train crash; production company give his morphine
Biograph
- WKL Dickson created the biograph- became disillusioned with Edison
- 1895 Dickson leaves Edison- had to make new equipment as different as possible than what he built for Edison
- Biograph based on flipbook
- 70mm width film => higher res, looked better
Paramount/Famous Players
- Paramount's famous players: tried to get stars who had fame in other mass media to exploit their popularity (radio, international)
- Bob Hope- radio comedian
- Bing Crosby- radio singer
- Road pictures- series of Hope + Crosby films around the world
Par
Feature Film
- in deluxe theaters
- Big stars, high production values
- $2 admission for silent films
- Feature originally meant anything that was advertised
- Changed to mean 1-2 hour long main part of the program
- Based on plays or books
Will Hays
- Postmaster general of US
- Lobbying force
- Social problem in Hollywood- every year beautiful young people would come out to Hollywood and crash the movies- one or two would succeed
- Casting couch- would sell their bodies in exchange for parts
- Hays s
Erich von Stroheim
- Considered the greatest artist working in Hollywood
- Career goes nowhere
- Directorial period goes on for about 10 years
- Doesn't fit into the Hollywood system, generates bad publicity
- Films were too long, goes over budget, has falling outs with stu
King Vidor
Director- parlayed success at MGM so they would allow him to make social commentary films
Florence Lawrence
The Biograph Girl"
Florence Lawrence: first movie star with fans and is hired by IMP
How Lamelle created the star system
William S Hart
- Tough west
- Serious morality plays always
- Not handsome, not young
Al Jolson
- WB bought The Jazz Singer and began building the first sound stages on Sunset
- Al Jolson- started in minstrel show, burlesque, vaudeville (top ??)
- Only one scene with dialogue
- Premiered October 6th 1927 in NY, two months after Don Juan- 25 or 30 th