Movies and film is a huge part of my very own life and millions across the world. Everyone loves movies and they are a great form of entrainment. Movies have come so far since the early 19th century. For instance, categories have broaden and the acting as well as the directing has improved. The whole operation of making a movie itself has evolved from a person holding a single camera. The whole city of Hollywood is an enormous hub for making movies.

Adolf Zukor was the first director who turned out really successful. He was a great business man as well. He was the first director to go to wall street for financial backup on his movies. He also made actors into celebrities. Zukor was one of the first “independent directors”. Independent directors were directors who worked for foreign studios and would road show their features as a way around the “Trust” that was set up by Thomas Edison. The Motion Picture Paten Company was intended on having complete control over the film industry. These directors were rebels sticking it to the man which was Thomas Edison. Movies are an art form and art can not be monopolized and controlled. These directors were essential in moving this industry forward.

The raise of Hollywood in the early 19th century was also a huge turn in the movie industry. The location seemed to be perfect for movie makin’. The weather was always warm, the sun was always shining, and the land was cheap. The land also was diverse for all different kinds of movies. Hollywood has woods, mountains, lakes, beaches, and ocean. What more would you need? There is also some sort of mystic sense that goes along with it being way out west and wondering what goes on out there. The famous movie actors living all in one area with so much spotlight on these people, it was and still is a city full of stars.

The concept of silent films really interest me. Silent films make the audience really have to engage with the film and pay attention. Eliminating the sound and the actors having conversations without words really make you dial in and focus on the story. You have to rely on facial expressions and your own mind to put the story together. This version of film (silent film) also leaves room for you to have your own view that might be different from someone else. Someone else might interpret the movie different because of having to figure it out on your own. Silent films also use music to show tension and help the audience get a feel for the scene and moment. In 1925, the industry was looking to expand and then started making movies with sound. With the amount of focus a silent movie takes to understand, these films would not work for todays audience. We as humans are very easily distracted with the technology that we are surrounded by and would never be able to actually enjoy a silent film.

Film also was treated differently compared to how people view film now. In the early 19th century up until about the 1990s, going out to the movie theater was a popular thing to do. Especially in the early 19th century, going out to the movies was fancy and a special occasion. Now we will put on a movie just for the hell of it. It is not as special now to us as it once was and that is because we have every movie at our finger tips. The sense of doing something special and out of ordinary no longer exist with movies.

The invention of motion pictures have captivated audiences all over the world with their unique way of telling a story; through moving pictures. The article Structure of New Hollywood explains the little known history behind original film production, distribution and exhibition. As photography entered society during the 19th century, a group of inventors found a way to display a toy with the capability of showing a series of pictures in a rapid progression. This created the illusion of a moving storybook with a rapid succession of events you could just watch instead of having to read or analyze for context. This tool was called a zoetrope and became wildly popular by society. This inspired a scientist to try using the zoetrope to portray the illusion of a horse galloping which won prizes and was even showcased at Stanford for it’s heightened quality during this early period when film was still being adapted.

Since then movies have given people the freedom to experience events through the feelings of being there and experiencing the emotions of as if they really were in that present moment. Audiences are able to relive moments of immense joy, heartbreak, romance, adrenaline and so much more through watching a movie being played on a screen. Since movie theaters have advanced in technology, screens have gotten bigger and 3D has become a desirable form of viewing by simply wearing a special pair of glasses.

The original movie production companies started out as 5 major competitors. Nobody really knew what to expect from these early films as directors and motion picture companies were still figuring out what would attract the public. These succeeded onto classic-novel adaptations, recruiting attractive men and women to become actors that people would want to watch and then making the plot simplistic and easy for anyone to follow. Movies in the 20th century have evolved so much and movie plots are more complex (drawing interest) from the viewer. Movies are not a ‘one size fits all’ concept and are made with different visions and target different audiences. More types of people are also represented as actors and directors have had the ability to form characters into being more open-ended to create uniquely. Some things about the Industry have changed while some have stayed the same however this is all still evolving as time goes on.

Question for the class: What is your all time favorite movie and why?

Movies have been around for years but they have been ever changing. It first started with stop and go films that were 2-D and sometimes had no sound. You would have to read the words that would come on the screen after the person said it. Now these were the movies of the past and most likely will never be seen again, but it shaped movies of the future and the movies yet to happen. Everything has to start somewhere and more often than not the starting point will seem like stick figures compared to the end result. Now these movies started off very simple as I said before, but for their time this was a whole new world being discovered. The movie seen that was just a group of photos flipped through quickly and music playing in the background was beyond amazing for its time. Though these movies do not sound like much it is basically the same as what we experience today with the help of technology. The movie are still structured how we would see a movie today. An intro, plot, and a climax. People during the older movie time really looked forward to this planned out structure of a movie. In today’s world people are a lot less patient. They are looking for a plot and climax very quickly. Not looking for a build up they just want it straight forward.

Back when movies were first created there was a sense of togetherness when going to see a movie. It was a big deal back then. The family would get together and go to a movie theatre to watch the movie. Though we still have movie theatres today they are much different than they experienced at this time. Today, movies theatres are not a big as they were back then. Size wise they are huge, but not a popular. Why go out and pay to leave your house and watch a movie when you can stream it right to your television at the comfort of your couch. Streaming has become the way of the future. Is this because its the new technology that everyone feels they have to be a part of? Or is it just significantly better? In my opinion just the option of having to go out and deal with the public to watch a movie or just sit on my couch in my comfy clothes, I will choose to stay home every time. Streaming surfaces such as Hulu and Netflix have become huge. Both provide the same service but doing so in different ways. Hulu is known more for television shows and live television but also offering movies. Netflix is known for having most movies and their own original shows. In my opinion, movies theatres are on the way out, especially with COVID right now. Do you, the audience, think so as well?

With this week’s look into the world of cinema, a lot of significance is placed on how movies interact and influence the world around us. It’s easy to think we have lots of control over how we think and act, but how true is that?

As talked about in the textbook, chapter 8: Movies, movies tend to reflect the time they are made. With this, popular beliefs or sentiments are commonly found tucked into the films. The movie Birth of a Nation by D. W. Griffith is a stellar example of this. Almost unsurprisingly, racism shows it’s face in the almost 3-hour film and is sadly cheered on. If that were to happen today, there would probably be shock or outrage instead of joy. Unfortunately, it’s a product of it’s time when the opinions they cared about would be those who cheer for the film. Eventually, it did spark riots mostly by those who were a victim of that oppressive narrative. But you have to imagine, there were probably those who supported and even defended the film, not seeing what is wrong with it. The common thoughts of the time probably provided them enough justification to ignore those who were hurt, and if I’ve learned anything about racists, opposition to their views only seems to make them retreat into those same views even further.

On the same idea of how movies influence us, Disney comes to mind almost immediately. Though there are definitely adults who enjoy some of their movies to this day, it’s well known that they’re produced for a child audience. Along with being produced for children, it’s almost a given that there’s some type of big lesson for kids to take away at the end of the movie. Now, most kids don’t just see that lesson and then toss it aside, a lot of the times it influences how they act and interact with others. Beauty and the Beast teaches you not to judge others by first glance, The Princess and the Frog teaches you that you need to work hard to get what you want, Aladdin teaches you that if you feel tied down by rules or standards, you need to change them. Through these fantastical stories and songs, children learn important life lessons on how to be good people and respect others and themselves. While a lot of the time things like this are positive, with the wrong intentions it can teach children to be intolerant of others and perhaps shun others for being who they are.

It’s a little scary to think something so simple as a bad movie when you’re little can make you who you are today. That doesn’t always have to mean that you’re a bad person either, but it could mean it shapes your fears or first thoughts about things. Maybe you watched a scary movie with a monster that would hide in the shadows, now to this day you need to have a light on when you sleep or else you’re nervous. Maybe you watched a movie with a killer taxi driver and to this day, you’re a little too hesitant to get in a taxi or an uber. You know the person driving probably isn’t going to try and kill you, but because you saw it at a time in your life when you’re learning how the world works, your brain made that connection. How do you think movies influenced you throughout your life? To this day I can’t sleep with my door open because the amount of movies where someone watches their victim through the crack of the door or something like that. I used to also be scared of attics because of Beetlejuice! I always thought I’d somehow find him up there.

In 1891, Thomas Edison with an assistant named William Dickson created the kinetoscope.  The kinetoscope is a cabinet with a window through which individuals would experience the illusion of a moving image. The celluloid film strip is a sequence of images that are one a rapidly spined between a light bulb and a lens that created the illusion of motion. Edison Company began installing machines in hotel lobbies, parks, and penny arcades. Customers paid 25 cents for the admission.  In 1895, the brothers patented the cinematographe which is a lightweight film projector that could function as a camera and a printer, which was easy for outdoor filming. In December of 1895, was the first worlds commercial film screening, the sequence was about 10 short scene long.  Edison’s company also, purchased the right to improve projector that they call Vitascope.  

Nickelodeon was named because the admission casted 5 cents. Between the years of 1904 to 1908 about 9,000 nickelodeons appeared in the United States. The popularity of nickelodeon established film as a mass entertainment medium.  The peak of nickelodeon was 1910, there were about 20 companies in the United States. In the 1908, The leading 10 companies are Edison, Biograph, vitagraph, and other formed MPPC. Which stands for Motion Picture Patents Company. The MPPC’s goal is the standardize the industry and shut down the competition through monopolistic control.

One filmmaker transforms the silent film into an art and to unlock its potential as a medium of serious expression and persuasion. D.W. Griffith entered the film industry as an actor in 1907, he practiced parallel editing. Which is a film that alternates between two or more scenes of action, this could create an illusion of simultaneity. By 1915, most of the major film’s studios had moved to Hollywood. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, the major studios controlled every aspect the movie industry.

The products of mass culture, movies reflect cultural attitudes, trends and concerns, D.W. Griffith’s film The Birth of a Nation  presenting a racist perspective on the U.S. Civil War and it’s the aftermath, reflected racist concerns of the era in which it was produced. During the World War II, films reflected the patriotic sentiments of this time.  During the 1960’s to the 1970’s was the rise of the youth culture, movies adopted more liberal stances towards sexuality and violence. In the late 1970’s was the introduction of the VCR. The VCR was replaced by the DVD technology, which ends up being replaced by the Blu-ray Disc technology. DVD sales and rentals account for about a third of film revenues.

There are two types of television systems, the mechanical television developed out of Nipkow’s disc system.  In 1926, was the world’s first public demonstration of a television system in London. The mechanical rotating disks to scan moving images into electrical impulses. These images were always slightly fuzzy, the use of a spinning disk limited the number of new pictures that could be seen per second. Electronic television system was based on the CRT, the electronic bean could scan a picture in horizontal lines.

I have an interesting relationship with movies, sitting down and watching them I am terrible at – I usually fall asleep. I stopped going to the movies because I didn’t want to pay 12 bucks to take a nap. That being said my older brother was a film major at Ithaca College, which is in the top 5 film schools in the country with a lot of famous alumni and professors, so I have a lot of knowledge of them. ( which is how I knew the Jaws question in class). Most of my knowledge in horror movies as that is what my brothers focus is in.

Even though my relationship with movies isn’t the best I have seen those early films including a trip to the moon. I know the film used to be on Netflix but I’m not sure if it’s still on. I know we talked a bit on it in class but made in 1902 and being just under 20 minutes it was revolutionary. It’s amazing to watch and thinking about watching this as the first real film ever must have been a wild experience.

The textbook again does a good job of explaining the mechanics behind films and how the technology works. I think the part on silent films is super interesting and I wish there was more on it. It’s something we don’t really see nowadays but is a cool genera. One movie recently that used it was ‘A Quite Place’, it was so successful because it removed the sound of movies that we have gotten used of.

Films have become a major part of our society in how we pass our free time, how we learn new things, and how we just entertain ourselves in a world that can not do the things characters in film can do. In today’s world films can look like its a capture of our own universe with characters in it. Films can also involve the greatness of animation or CGI, which can include films completely animated like Princess and the Frog or magical CGI based like Avatar. This has led to the popularity of movies to become a huge sector in the American life style and economy with box offices setting continuous records in the billions mark.

One of the most successful businesses in the film making industry would be Walt Disney. Disney was originally founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt and Roy O. Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; it also operated under the names The Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before officially changing its name to The Walt Disney Company in 1986. Unlike most film making companies that started locally Disney was one of the only ones to not be bought up by other corporations.

Instead of being bought Disney is now most likely the largest company in the United States; this being because they have diversified their owned companies to many sectors of the new social media age. This has created a lot of backlash over their apparent monopolizing nature. But they have stayed true to the aspect of making magical movies that change the game of film making. This includes such films such as the Star Wars Franchise, the mickey mouse franchise, and many other films that were staples of their company such as Chicken Little their first ever 3D movie.

What I ask you guys is do you think its getting to a dangerous area where large companies like Disney own almost all content related businesses?

Do you think there will be other companies to subvert Disney as the top dog?

Motion pictures have been a very important part of people’s’ lives for many centuries. back in the early 1900’s, motion pictures have evolved into the form of enjoyment for many families and individuals all over the world. The concept of the motion picture was first introduced to a mass audience in 1891 through Thomas Edison’s kinetoscope. In 1895 the Lumière brothers released the cinématographe. This meant motion pictures were projected for the audience to view. In 1910 film was a popular form of entertainment with the nickelodeon theater. Thomas Edison began the production of motion pictures in 1888. Thomas Edison and his assistant William Dickson created the first device that could record moving pictures. These motion pictures were only a few seconds long and didn’t have any sound. After Edison’s invention of motion picture the industry started to be successful. Hollywood was the spot for the production of motion pictures. The reason Hollywood was booming was because it was a ideal location for the industry and land was sold for cheap. Many of the people who moved to Hollywood that joined the industry, came to Hollywood to get away from their parents companies and to make a name for themselves. Then technology stepped into the picture. The introduction of the VCR was in the late 1970s. This made home movie viewing easy for families. The VCR was replaced by DVD technology in the late 1990s, which is now being replaced by Blu-ray Disc. 

This led to the development of the “Big Five” studios. They consisted of MGM, Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, and RKO. These studios not only produced and distributed films, but operated their own theater chains as well. The Little Three “major minor” studios were Universal, Columbia, and United Artists (UA). They produced and distributed top films but they did not have their own. The industry was growing, there were some setbacks that studios had to face. The major issue they faced was the supreme court’s Paramount Decree. This turned into a nationwide issue in 1948. The “Big Five” companies were seen as a monopoly and the supreme court passed an antitrust act to decrease their power. Another issue they faced was the growth of television. Watching television became more of a popular pastime for Americans, rather than going to the movies. These studios still produce films and are widely known in Hollywood.

As time passed these studios flourished during WW2 and The depression as they held monopolies in the film industry. There were many great movies that were made however from the late 60s to the early 70s some of the studios went under new ownership. This meant it was just another task for them to overcome. The article also talked about Jaws and how it flourished when it was released. Then things such as HBO were developed and delivered movies to people. The film industry has really changed and grown throughout the years but it is sad how TV has somewhat taken control and people have lost interest in the industry. In the short video Rise of the Studio System, Adolph Zukor was the biggest influential film producer of all time. He manages to do what Thomas Edison could not do. His success was from taking advantage of a fully industrial factory system of production. He was also first to appeal to Wall Street for financial banking. Zukor looked over seas for profits in the business. Adolph had a deep understanding of the public. He got the public to idolize the stars going to the movies, it became its own social movement. 

This weeks screaming was When The Lion Roars, and it touched on when MGM was first founded and opened. This showed how films were first made and created. MGM was founded in Culver City outside of Hollywood. After this Hollywood then became booming with new stars and eventually these people became big names in movies. He Who Gets Slapped was the first big movie created by them and showed people how movies were something people could appreciate and find funny. The public’s appetite for these shimmering silver images was insane. There was 45 buildings lots of land, its own police, a zoo, a school, and much more. MGMs first business was a creation of a corporate identity. The identity was dignity and strength and the use of a lion. Ben Hur was the most costly film in motion picture. It was a film that took 3 years and in 2 color technicals. They ended up having a new director, roles, and scripts changed because many didn’t like how expensive it turned out to be. There was 3,500 extras in Ben Hur. In 1927 sound began to rise and this would mean silent films would soon be done

Question for the class: Do you see the film business flourishing in the next 10 years?

In the early days of movies, the most prominent forms of film were live-action, stop motion, and 2D animation. Now in the present day live-action has reached heights that weren’t fathomable back in the early 1900s with movies integrating CGI and hardware that can create almost anything you can think of. This has led to movies like the critically acclaimed best-selling movie of all time, Avengers: Endgame which shattered almost all movie records last year. I’m not here to talk about live-action though, this is about the death of 2D film and how movies like endgame will probably keep it from coming back to the form it once was.

The beginning of the end started with the introduction of 3D animation which became very popular in the mid to late 90s where movies like “Toy Story”, “Bugs Life”, “Shrek”, and many more hit the scene. These movies were at first seen as a fad that would soon fade out, but my 2D loving 13-year-old self was soon mortified at the future of the genre with the release of “Princess and the Frog” as it was the last 2D movie Disney would release ever (or at least for the time being). 2D animation used to be such a juggernaut but where did it go wrong? Well the progression of technology would make these art styles obsolete and Disney being the money-hungry corporation they are wasn’t finding success in their 2D market which cause a second animation dark age for them with movies like “Fantasia 2000,” “Dinosaur,” “The Emperor’s New Groove,” “Atlantis: The Lost Empire,” “Lilo and Stitch,” “Treasure Planet,” “Brother Bear,” “Home on the Range,” “Chicken Little,” “Meet the Robinsons,” and “Bolt.” All of the movies listed (with the exception of 2) did below average for what Disney is used to and most are 2D films so the solution for Disney was to completely phase out the genre that they were built upon. This was a huge blow to the industry since most studios like to copy the Disney formula and try to copy their art style like Dreamwork with “Shrek” or Illumination with “Despicable Me”. 

Why is this a problem though? Doesn’t this change in the industry show the growth we have made since the early days of animation? Well to kill 2 birds with one computer and answer both questions, I’d like to say as someone who used to study 2D animation and wanted to make it his career for a short period of his life 2D animation allows for so many different styles and designs that don’t look generic much like the movies coming out now. When was the last time you saw a 3D animation that really redefined or stood out over the rest? Look at Toy Story 2, 3, and 4 which were all released 10 years apart from each other (give or take), they all look almost the exact same with little details changed to the art style. Now think about the different art styles of kids shows you have seen on TV where drastic changes to shows like Spongebob help give the audience a different view of the same character. Also, creative freedom with 3D can actually limit creators as it is extremely expensive to do big scenes in 3D film but for 2D it’s much easier, and require fewer resources. 

The question I would like to pass off to you is that do you disagree with the disappearance of 2D film or was it time to pull the plug and let 3D shine.