CIN270Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: New Hollywood, High-Concept, High Tech
11 May 2018
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Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017
CIN270Y1
CLASS 17
What is a Blockbuster?
• Blockbuster = an EVENT film
• Announces itself like a “weather front”, weeks before release
• Unavoidable; a “turbulence” in the media
• Marketing hooks, promotion, pre-selling, merchandising tie-ins, etc. are crucial to
creating such an EVENT
• There is some kind of spectacle in these films
Blockbusters: Visual Pleasure
• A central part of this event is spectacle: visual pleasure
• Hall Jaws ending is a special moment for “New Hollywood” (shark explosion)
• Isn’t this what we expect from Blockbusters?
• Visual Spectacle and its attendant consumption
Looking at Blockbusters
• Methods of “monstration” (showing)
Ex. Jaws
• An EXHIBITIONIST cinema
• It makes things seen, but is aware of our seeing (filmmakers make films, while
completely aware that they will be seen – created with a mutual awareness of our
watching in mind – and so they guide and cue us in the way that we should be looking at
the film)
“Punctual Moments” (punctual meaning something that punctures the structure of the films)
• The 1970s recovery of the direct, aggressive, spectacular
• A drive towards DISPLAY
• Reliance on punctual moments: downtime interrupted by spectacle (Ex. in Jaws, times of
relaxation on the boat are interrupted by spectacle
• An attention-grabbing quality to a film’s design
The 1970s: Hollywood Reconfigured
• Hollywood: reinvigorated by Blockbusters
• High-cost, high-stakes, high-tech filmmaking
Ex. Pirates of the Caribbean (they sink 3 million dollars into it knowing that there will be
return)
• Hollywood wants to minimize economic risks and maximize profits
• “High concept”: simplified content; a reduction to visual style
The Blockbuster Era
• the “contraction of risk” new business tactics
• fewer films, higher stakes
• the “contraction of risk” also eliminates 1960s experimentation
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