1. Mass Media and Society
Chapter 8: Movies
Feb. 14, 2014

2. Chapter 8:
Movies
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History of movies
Movies and culture
Issues and trends
The influence of
new technology

3. Movie history
• Hollywood becomes
center of film production
by 1915
• D.W. Griffith perfects
techniques during silent
era: parallel editing,
panning, tracking shots

4. The MPAA
• Motion Picture
Association of America
formed in 1922
• Code of self-censorship
predated modern ratings
system
• Public attitude toward film
stars divided, like today

5. From silent to color
• By 1930, films with sound
fully replace silent films
• By end of 1940s, color
films largely displaced
black-and-white
• Color successes: “Gone
With the Wind,” “Wizard of
Oz,” animated films

6. The studio system
• Hollywood studios were
vertically integrated,
controlling production,
release, distribution,
viewing
• 1948: U.S. vs. Paramount
brought an end to this
total control

7. Golden Age:
“Citizen Kane” (’41)
• Late 1930s to early 1940s
• “Citizen Kane”: Pioneering
techniques, realism,
social critique, biopic
loosely based on William
Randolph Hearst
• 1953: Widescreen aspect
ratio arrives

8. Hollywood blacklist
• 1947: More than 100
people in movie business
called to testify before
House Un-American
Activities Committee
• Height of cold war with
USSR; communism
threatened U.S.

9. Modern movie
landscape
• 1970s: Depictions of sex
and violence
• Blockbusters, knockoffs,
sequels
• Technically spectacular
blockbusters vs.
independent films

10. Movies mirror
our culture
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“Birth of a Nation”: 1915
Patriotic films in WWII era
“Bonnie and Clyde” 1967
Hays Code: in place until
1967; strictly enforced
limits on movie content
• MPAA ratings: 1968

11. Movies shape
our culture
• Films play key role in
development of tastes,
desires, customs
• American myths and
traditions: Westerns;
heroes and anti-heroes
• Social issues in film

12. Issues and trends
• Hollywood studios (big 6)
control 95 percent of the
movie business today
• Blockbusters: huge
marketing costs
• Independent films make
their mark (“Pulp Fiction”
1994)

13. Issues and Trends
• “Avatar” (2009) in 3D
• $190 million to make,
$150 million to market
• Today’s average
Hollywood production
budget, including
marketing: $65 million

14. New technology
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TV vs. movies in 1950s
VCR: Popular by 1985
Rental market takes off
DVDs peak and decline
Netflix: home streaming
Redbox: Price is threat

15. Technology
• Industry goes digital: No
film reloading, editing
streamlined
• 3D makes resurgence
• “Avatar,” “Alice in
Wonderland” (2010),
“Gravity” are big hits in 3D

16. Movie criticism
• Changing role amid rise of
Internet/blogs; fewer
professional critics
• Roger Ebert: Popular with
many audiences,
transitioned to web
• Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB:
aggregators and
databases for information