The Golden Age - Article

 THE GOLDEN AGE - IT'S RISE AND FALL 

Some say "The Golden Age" was the rise of the dominating "big five", still present today, and the epicentre to Hollywoods glamorous name. Others say "The Golden Age" was the epitome of cruel contracts signed to actors and the controversial "Hays Code" implemented within many films. 

In the early 1920's, when studios such as 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Universal etc. where dominating the cinema's, the studio system became securely established. These studios rise to the top of the cinema food chain by being vertically integrated; as their names grew larger, these powerful studios gained the ability to produce, distribute and exhibit all of their films without the assistance of other companies, they consolidated all their films under their own production. By being vertically integrated, the "big five" were able to have far more control over the production process compared to other independent film companies. The studios also fulfilled the spectators expectations by having rather formulaic genre's, each genre the studios focused on had a similar structure, for example, gangster films usually included similar car chases and fight scenes. Due to their insane success, the "big five" films became a commodity to the average spectator. 

However, although the success of these studios were beyond imaginable, rather shady happenings were going on behind the scenes. Usually, popular actors where tied to long and tedious contracts making them forced to work within that specific studio. Additionally, these actors where usually type casted and where unlikely to be scene in films that reared away from the genre they are most successful in, making it difficult to be hired for other roles. 


Comments

  1. Lisa Socrates1 October 2020 at 11:27

    Louis, thank you for this lively and well-written review of the Golden Age. You set out many ideas and indeed opinions for the reader, offering a lively pace, detailed focus and informative overview of the key developments. I particularly enjoyed your not 'sitting on the fence' when debating the contracts and the studio system, as this enables the reader to gage your point of view. Your discussion of the big five and their vertically integrated style of production is excellent and relevant for those who need to grasp the key trends. Excellent knowlege and understanding of this area of assessment. Thank you again.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC

 CAPTAIN FANTASTIC: COMPONENT 1 SECTION B US FILMS SINCE 2005 A critic of American society, a questioning of values. The screenplay explicitly engages with those economical, political, cultural ideas.  An independent film.  KEY CHARACTERS: Ben - deceased wife, Leslie. Six children: Vespyr, Kielyr, Zaja, Bo-devan, Nai, Rellian. Dave and Harper. Jack  BEN CASH Liberalism / progressiveness  Anti-establishment / authority  Liberal education  Power and freedom (NOAM CHOMSKY) Questioning and rebelling against status quo  Being outside of the established system.  JACK BERTAND Tradition and convention Status quo / authority  Traditional education Order and conservatism  Conserving and preserving status quo Working within the system OPENING SEQUENCE:  Landscaping wide shots and pull focus of the surroundings and deer. Shallow depth of field. Handheld tracking shots of the deer. Zoom in. Value of freedom, a free animal.  Sudden...
Read more

AMY - Final essay

- Filmmaking can certainly be shaped by the filmmaker's approach. Regarding this genre of film, two main contrasts of documentary would be the well utilised approaches of observational and participatory. Observational technique being moulded by Kim Longinotto's classic form of "fly on the wall" - both the director and audience being voyeurs upon a story, reaching our own conclusion. Participatory filmmaking reflects the physical involvement of a director within the documentary, perhaps being a more "flawless" presentation of a narrative, shaped in a desired way for the audience. This theory stemming from Nick Broomfield's active participation in his own documentaries, constantly shifting perspectives with his own involvement. In the case of this essay, I will be discussing how Kapadia shaped the documentary "Amy" through the approaches he considered, majority being observational, though the end product may influence a certain suggestion of the ...
Read more

WASP ANALYSIS

  ELEMENTS OF FILM FORM IN SHORT FILMS:   Wasp   -         Arnold, 2003. -         Forward tracking shot.  -         Handheld camera. -         Fast pace editing in the fight scene.  -         Zoom ins of faces. Close up.  -         Montages of the area. -         Extreme long shot, motorway.  -         Extreme close up, interchanging edits of their faces.  -         Small children in a pub car park, contrast.    “Wasp”, made in 2003 and directed by Arnold, clearly portrays the deprivation and chaos within the lives of a single mum and her family of 4 children. The micro-elements of the short film a successful in creating an emo...
Read more