Autumn Task 1 2009
The main contribution the Lumiere Brothers gave to early cinema was, they invented it. They had their first screening on December 28th 1895. This showed 10 short films and was only short about 20 minutes. It was held in Paris. Here it was also the first public demonstration of their new invention (a new device) the Cinematograph this ran as a camera, projecter and printer all in one!
The success of “The Jazz singer” in 1927 gave a long term problem for Hollywood in the 1930s because, a period of confusion came across the film industry. Studios now had proof that a “talkie” would make them money. So this is what everyone wanted. All of the studios had to keep on top of their money profits so they didn’t go bankrupt. But to make the films you had to have alot of equipment and obviously money to buy the equipment, from new camera equipment to new projection facilities, this made the studios initially hesitant to invest as expence was high and not many people had the right kind of money. Also if the film didn’t make it big then the studio would go bust. But when sound was invented this then persuaded studios that talkies were worth investing in.
Vertical Intergration is where the major studios realized they could maximize their profits by controlling every stage of a film’s life: production (making of the film), distribution (advertising, getting people to be invterested in it), and exhibition (owning first-run theaters in major cities). So they owned everything! The big 5 worked to get vertical intergration as they wanted to own everything they could to keep going. They then owned the power to create very good sets, (scenery/background). There were 8 companies altogether: RKO who went bust in 1940s, Warner Brothers, Universal, MGM, Paramount,, 20th Century Fox, U.A, Culumbia. U.A this hired studios (United artists).
The cinema industy came close to bankrupt between 1952 and1970 because Tv had been created so most of the people had TV’s so didn’t need to go out when they had a TV infront of them. Alot of the cinema halls got turned into Bingo halls!
The role for modern film producers in organising the making of a new film is called the package system. This is where you create a film script and take it to a low down producer he will then read it and tell you if it’s worth anything. If it is he will pass it on to a higher up producer who will look at it and if it’s any good he will pass it on until it reaches the top this then means if it gets created the producer can either have a credit on the TV screen or he/she can have money. If he/she was to create another film it would be better for them to have a credit as it would go straight to the top, they are more interested in a credit!