CIN270Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Classical Hollywood Cinema, His Girl Friday, Studio System
11 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Thursday, Sept. 16, 2017
CIN270Y1
CLASS 3
Hollywood, 1965-1970
- Intense change in Hollywood
- The old studio system was being “swept away”
- Why?
Industrial change is hard and was occurring rapidly during this period
Industry was changing in a snowball effect
INDUSTRIAL CHANGES: After-effects are easy to identify attendance was
down, box office revenue was down, Hollywood was making less, Hollywood
was trying to find new ways to make films (producing films cheaply in Europe to
counteract losses, etc.)
CULTURAL CHANGES: dramatic changes culturally, late 1960’s are convulsive
Hollywood appeared stale and stodgy, Vietnam and the anti-war movement,
civil rights became prevalent, racial tensions are pronounced (assassinations of
several black political figures, youth culture (the emergence of the youth culture
was very important)
Ex. Easy Rider counter-culture, sense of doom in the commune, see hippies, rock music,
experimentation of various kinds also prevalent in youth culture is disaffection with
consumerism, fatigue with capitalism, New Left politics advocated resistance and perhaps revolt
- The habits and principles of making film that Hollywood had developed
didn’t seem to support youth culture
was slow to engage with urgent social issues (slow to react)
faced business-related “market realities”
Hollywood filmmaking was ill-suited to the era
CHC (Classical Hollywood Cinema) was marked by decorum
The 1960’s were a challenge to decorum and cohesion
1960’s: New Content, New Form
- CHC = 1917-1960
- A “group style”
- Shared principles of construction
- Norms, schemas, etc.
- These are practical solutions to filmmaking problems
- “regulated difference”
Storytelling in Classical Hollywood Cinema
- stories are typically events that are in a cause-effect relationship and occur in space and
time (classic B&T definition)
characters wo have goals and desires, etc.
goals set an itinerary
Ex. His Girl Friday (1939)
CHC & Ideology
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
The old studio system was being swept away . Industrial change is hard and was occurring rapidly during this period. Industry was changing in a snowball effect. Cultural changes: dramatic changes culturally, late 1960"s are convulsive. Hollywood appeared stale and stodgy, vietnam and the anti-war movement, civil rights became prevalent, racial tensions are pronounced (assassinations of several black political figures, youth culture (the emergence of the youth culture was very important) Easy rider counter-culture, sense of doom in the commune, see hippies, rock music, experimentation of various kinds also prevalent in youth culture is disaffection with consumerism, fatigue with capitalism, new left politics advocated resistance and perhaps revolt. The habits and principles of making film that hollywood had developed. Was slow to engage with urgent social issues (slow to react) Hollywood filmmaking was ill-suited to the era. Chc (classical hollywood cinema) was marked by decorum. The 1960"s were a challenge to decorum and cohesion.
