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- History of Film
- History of Film: New Hollywood
- Fall of the US Studio System
- Suburbanization
- Rise of Television
- Paramount Decision
- Decline of the Movies
- suburbanization atomizes film audience
- economic prosperity encourages consumer goods
- television aggressively promotes quality programming
- filmgoing was very inconvenient
- Major Studios
- MGM
- Warner Brothers
- United Artists
- Paramount
- 20th Century-Fox
- Columbia
- Disney
- Universal
- Studios in Crisis
- declining attendance
- fewer films
- large studio facilities
- Roadshow
- Sound of Music (1965)
- road showed at 266 screens
- ran for as long as 20 months
- successful
- West Side Story (1961)
- El Cid (1961)
- How the West Was Won (1962)
- Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
- less successful
- Cleopatra (1963)
- Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)
- Battle of Britain (1969)
- Doctor Dolittle (1967)
- Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)
- Star! (1968)
- Paint Your Wagon (1969)
- youth audiences largely dismissed these films
- similar to French cinema (1958)
- Studio Acquisitions
- Universal = MCA (1962)
- Gulf + Western = Paramount (1966)
- Warner Brothers – Seven Arts = Kinney National
- United Artists = Transamerica Corporation
- MGM = Kirk Kerkorian (MGM Grand Hotel)
- US Production Code
- Developed in 1930
- Martin Quigley and Daniel Lord
- Catholic Legion of Decency
- Guidelines
- sex
- religion
- governmental authority
- Production Code Administration
- Weakening of Production Code
- American Films
- The Man with the Golden Arm (Otto Preminger, 1955)
- Baby Doll (Elia Kazan, 1956)
- Foreign Films
- MPAA
- Motion Picture Association of America
- Will Hays (1922–1945)
- Eric Johnson (1945–1963)
- Jack Valenti (1966–2004)
- solve the box-office decline
- modernize the Production Code
- Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf? (1966)
- controversy over the word “screw”
- labelled for “eMature Audiences”
- rated “Approved”
- big box office success, small production
- prompted released of adult- oriented dramas
- Blow Up (1967)
- scene with female, full-frontal nudity
- could not be cut
- successful release in Europe
- released in US by Premier Films
- box office success
- spelled the end of the Production Code
- studios were largely distributors not producers anymore
- The Ratings System
- designed to segment audience by age groups
- initiated four age-based ratings
- actually fostered filmmaking creativity
- Factors for a New Wave Cinema
- government support
- national film academies
- young generation of engaged cinephiles
- MPAA Ratings
- adopted in 1968
- segmented movie audiences by age
- gave filmmakers new freedom
- New Conglomerates
- diversification
- new moguls had no idea how to make movies
- left filmmakers work independently
- Old Moguls Retire
- Jack Warner
- Daryl Zanuck, 20th Century-Fox
- New Generation of “Film Brats”
- “movie consciousness”
- cinephiles
- foreign films
- influence on contemporary culture
- Filmmakers
- Robert Altman
- Woody Allen
- Martin Scorcese
- Francis Ford Coppola
- George Lucas
- Steven Spielberg
- Hollywood Gold Rush
- Godfather (1972)
$285 million
- The Exorcist (1973)
$22.2 million
- American Graffiti (1973)
$55 million
- Jaws (1975)
$130 million
- Rocky (1976)
$56 million
- Close Encounters (1977)
$82 million
- Saturday Night Fever (1977)
$74 million
- Star Wars (1977)
$190 million
- Return of the Blockbuster
- studios released very few films, about 10 high grossing
- minimize risks
- release during Christmas and summer seasons
- advertise on television
- saturation release during an opening weekend
- Jaws
- summer release
- television ads
- released to 500 screens
- extended run
- Packaging
- studios cultivated relationships with producers
- agents could package clients
- powerful talent agencies
- International Creative Management
- Creative Artists Agency
- deals
- development deals
generated income for the agents, producers, scriptwriters, and stars
- overall deals
paid stars and directors for vanity projects
- housekeeping deals
gave production companies an office on the studio lot
- Apocalypse Now
- Francis Ford Copolla
- three years to shoot
- cost over $30 million
- cost overruns
- Heaven’s Gate
- Michael Cimino
- $40 million, highest of the 1970s
- United Artists released a shorten version
- earned less than $2 million
- UA collapsed, absorbed by MGM
- End of New Hollywood
- ironically the rise of New Hollywood, led to a general mistrust of directors
- studios would reign in control of directors in the 1980s
- executives would interfere with productions
- Superman
- megapicture built on…
- packages
- deals
- stars
- special effects
- $40–55 million production
- high star salaries
- Gene Hackman
- Marlon Brando
- Mario Puzo
- elaborate sets
- special effects
- franchise films
- two films shot at once
- grossed $80 million in US run
- Richard Donner
- director
- no artistic pretensions