Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
Movie industry during the depression
Effect of world war 1
Effect of world war 1
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Movie industry during the depression
Effect of world war 1
Effect of world war 1
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
BBBBBOOOOOOKKKKK The relationship between film and society continue in the 1930’s. With the start of the great depression came the start of the Breen Office. The Breen Office regulated films in the mid 1930’s and the movie makers decided to embrace the American Values the Breen Office was trying to stand for. Sklar states that this new sense of American Values in film helped to “boost the morale of a confused and anxious people by fostering a spirit of patriotism, unity and commitment to national values,” (3597).
Many films of the silent movie era are melodramas, which was a term used back then purely as a descriptive word to describe a movie and not a ‘negative’ term the way we use the term today. Chaplin’s film is a melodrama that invokes the emotions of his audience. Some elements of melodrama are present in Chaplin’s film The Gold Rush, the characteristics of a melodrama aid in analysing how melodramatic a silent movie is. An element of melodrama is, a situation - an occurring conflict in the film created by the screenwriter to evoke an intense emotional response from the viewers.
The concentration is on comparing and finding the changes that history made to this movie genre, especially considering the gender roles. Results will clearly explain the psyche of society in two different periods, which confirms that people reflect the movies as movies have an impact on people. The Introduction It is often said that the element of surprise makes the movie more interesting and leads the plot. There are many masters of storytelling
Over the fifteen weeks of the first semester of film school, we were taught many interesting types and styles of early world cinema which were extremely informative and influenced the filmmaking style of the whole class and made us better filmmakers instantly. One such ‘ism’ which inspired me the most was German Expressionism which is a unique characteristic of Weimar Cinema. In this essay I am going to talk about the history of this ‘ism’, its impact on cinema, some significant works and how it inspired me and influenced my filmmaking style. German Expressionism is one of the earliest artistic genres to influence filmmaking, and one that ostensibly prepared for some other cutting edge artistic styles and techniques. It is an artistic genre
German Expressionism has influenced thousands of films and filmmakers since the art movement began in the 1920’s. It is known for its dismissal of the standard conventions of Western filmmaking for a more off-kilter style of storytelling. Some film historians consider Metropolis (1927) to be one of the most groundbreaking German Expressionist films ever made. However, there are many instances throughout Metropolis in which it deviates from the eccentric Expressionist style. There are many obvious occurrences of expressionism during Metropolis, for example the opening machine sequence, but conventional Western techniques are also common in the film.
Of some of the many early films, Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931), can be noted for its impact on film history as being one of the first films of its kind. This new genre of film inspired many more films to come in the Universal Hollywood film era, due to its vast amount of new techniques that were used to support German Expressionist film production. German Expressionist film production occurred after World War One, and had the primary goal to create a world much different from which the creator lives in. Frankenstein, itself, also created strong ties to German Expressionism, which called for a new way of cinema. This new wave of Cinema was noted for its “great burst of artistic activity” (Mast, Kawin 104).
In “Aesthetic of Astonishment” essay, Gunning argues how people first saw cinema, and how they are amazed with the moving picture for the first time, and were not only amazed by the technological aspect, but also the experience of how the introduction of movies have changed the way people perceive the reality in a completely different way. Gunning states that “The astonishment derives from a magical metamorphosis rather than a seamless reproduction of reality”(118). He uses the myth of how the sacred audience run out the theater in terror when they first saw the Lumiere Brother Arrival of the train. However, Gunning does not really care how hysterical their reaction is, even saying that he have doubts on what actually happened that day, as for him it the significance lied on the incidence--that is, the triggering of the audience’s reaction and its subsequence results, and not the actual reactions and their extent. It is this incident, due to the confusion of the audience’s cognition caused by new technology, that serves as a significant milestone in film history which triggered in the industry and the fascination with film, which to this day allows cinema to manipulate and
3. Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927) Metropolis is an important example of German Expressionism and of early science fiction. A great inquiry on future of humanity, a critique of society, a prominent dystopian film. Fritz Lang’s remarkable work has dazzlingly designed sets, costumes and unpredictable characters.
They experimented with various editing and visual styles and techniques similar to that of the Italian Neo-realists By the late 1950’s the new wave directors had gained enough acclaim to move up to feature films. Elements of the French New Wave have been absorbed by the modern film industry and many unique styles and techniques are still present today. However, the New Wave did more than just contribute some new film techniques. The French New Wave created a societally and intellectually engaged cinema experience. The status of films became prestigious in a sense that they could spark political and social engagement and debate.
In the conclusion of the three-part war trilogy from Roberto Rossellini is a film titled Germany Year Zero. Released in 1948 and an Italian produced film, Germany Year Zero is shaped by Italian neorealism, an aspect intrinsic in the Italian films of the time. Italian neorealism attempts to paint a true reality of the situation at hand just as it objectively depicts a ruined post-war Berlin. Rossellini also presents melodramatic forms of narrative through the characters in the story in another form of objectivity and distance from emotion. Employing forms of Italian neorealism, Rossellini presents an evocative view of feeling for the audience to experience the situation alongside the characters.
At the end of World War II, Italy’s government started to fall, which made living there even tougher than it already was. The social class difference was an all time high and neorealism had become far more noticed by the people. Italian film was just becoming more popular and with everything happening in Italian society, filmmakers saw the opportunity to react. Italian cinemas began playing films showing difficulty within the economy along with problems in everyday life. This grabbed the attention of a significant amount of people including the government.
Baz Luhrmann is widely acknowledged for his Red Curtain Trilogy which are films aimed at heightening an artificial nature and for engaging the audience. Through an examination of the films Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby, the evolution and adaptation of his techniques become evident. Luhrmann’s belief in a ‘theatrical cinema’ can be observed to varying degrees through the three films and his choice to employ cinematic techniques such as self-reflexivity, pastiche and hyperbolic hyperbole. The cinematic technique of self-reflexivity allows a film to draw attention to itself as ‘not about naturalism’ and asks the audience to suspend their disbelief and believe in the fictional construct of the film.
Movies are one of the most popular forms of entertainment and also have one of the highest grossing markets around the world. The different genres and their popularity have shifted from the likes of old westerns, to blockbusting comic book movies. The many popular genres and methods of postmodern films today would have been frowned upon by the filmmakers and audiences of the past. Postmodernism has affected the art of filmmaking by transcending the traditional boundaries of storytelling and becoming an influential part of the postmodern world. Postmodernism is “any of a number of trends or movements in the arts and literature developing in the 1970s in reaction to or rejection of the principles, or practices of established modernism”(“Dictionary”).
There are many things that make a film interesting. This include historical context (ex. social, government, econ, etc.) and the theory around it. Films represent their times and everything that comes with it. On the other side, is the aesthetic.
Why did Hollywood become the dominant film industry with audiences inside and outside America by the end of the 1930s? Hollywood became the dominant film industry with audiences inside and outside America by the end of the 1930’s due to the implications of World War II Hollywood rose to become the dominant film industry with audiences inside and outside America by the end of the 1930’s due to the implications caused by World War II. The Hollywood era of the 1930’s, which is also known as the Golden Age, was filled with great benefits for the film studios of Hollywood. The main factors that, enabled Hollywood to become the dominant film industry by the end of the 1930’s included a combination of factors including: the rise of the five major studios, the Great Depression, and technological developments.