...filmmaking. It can be said that Edison through his company started the first Oligopoly in the film industry because he owned most of the film equipment’s patents such as projectors, camera and film stock. Filmmakers who used their own cameras and projectors because of budget constraints where prone to lawsuits from Edison. Despite of Edison’s negative attitude towards small filmmakers, an independent cinema movement began to save the artistic element of filmmaking. To stay away from lawsuits, independent filmmakers moved to southern California to continue their work. California in the early 1900’s provided perfect terrain such as the ocean, hills, desert and also great weather to shoot all year round. But the most important factor for Hollywood to lure these independent filmmakers was its district court supported them against Edison trust lawsuits. Many filmmakers moved to California and produced many small but creative films. But many who started as independent filmmakers, later started the second wave of Oligopoly in the west such as Louis B. Mayer and the Warner Brothers. The Edison trust were struggling to produce movies which appealed the consumers and also by 1915 the Supreme Court of the United States cancelled all Edison’s patents. In...
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...Stanley Kubrick, a “talented shit” (Baxter) and Hitchcock “The Master of Suspense” and what I gather to be mainly just a sick, obsessive pervert. That all being said, these men faced the new world that was emerging in film. It was the early 1960’s and the Hollywood Studio System collapsed which led to an intense weakening on censorship rules. From fluffy tales of love, suggestive and symbolic vampires, and only whispers and innuendos to appease the audience need for guttural expose, rose the dawn of sex and violence. This concept of weakened censorship paved the way for two very disturbed, very brilliant people to move to the forefront of mainstream cinema. Stanley Kubrick was a targeted to resurrect “Spartacus” at the beginning of his career and it was an instant classic and quite a feat for someone as new as he was. Hitchcock on the other hand was riding on success after success with his films “Vertigo” and “North by “Northwest.” While they had many differences in genre and execution, they were both...
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...skilled painter in the world and find upon picking up a camera that he or she may lack the skills necessary to produce something of quality. The difference between still photography and video may be more slight, but there is still a level of knowledge on the mechanics of film and movement necessary for making this transition. However, now more than ever, the film industry is seeing a rise in the number of filmmakers with a fine arts education. Due to the exclusive nature of the Hollywood film industry, it is clear that what these artists are producing is not the typical low-budget, unrefined student film. Oftentimes, there is a very evident influence based around Andy Warhol's career path and individual works that these artists tend to follow and become successful in doing so. Andy Warhol produced radical mixed medium photography, moved on to installation motion picture art, and then feature films. Perhaps artists like Warhol have always been best at pushing the limits – they are not afraid of breaking the rules, trying something different or shocking, and taking a risk upon exhibiting the results. Linda Yablonsky in her contribution to ARTNews credits Andy Warhol as the specific artist, and reason, that has convinced current artists to make their way into film; this movement is surprising audiences with the compositions produced. Yablonsky compares and contrasts such artists' work from before and after this transition and states that generally, “their movies are extensions of...
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...WHAT IS HIP HOP? By: Mohammed Al-Salem Hip Hop is a cultural movement that developed in New York in the 1970’s, primarily for the African-American and Latino population. Hip Hop consists of four elements; MCing, deejaying, graffiti art and breaking (b-boy/b-girl). The cultural pillars that Hip Hop is founded on are comedy, rivalry, nursery rhymes, storytelling, poetry, and rhyming tendencies in humans. Hip Hop was born in the South Bronx at a summer block party. The father of Hip Hop, DJ Clive “Kool Herc” Campbell is a Jamaican that built upon the Jamaican tradition of toasting. Toasting is rapping the impromptu poetry over music, with this tradition in mind DJ Kool Herc created the blueprint for Hip Hop music as he began to isolate the instrumental portion of the record, creating the break beat; an isolation of one particular section of a musical composition to have a vamp for an MC or b-boy/b-girl. He then added another turntable and bought two copies of the same record to elongate the break beat – this technique is the foundation of Hip Hop and eventually led to the deejaying styles of a pair of legendary deejays, Afrika Bambaataa and Grand Master Flash. Since the first rap record in 1979, “Rapper’s Delight” by Sugar Hill Gang, Hip Hop as a culture has grown immensely and is continuously spreading around the world influencing so many lives. However, before Hip Hop music even existed there were music genres like jazz, rhythm and blues, soul and funk that have...
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...industries made it difficult for other cultures to produce and distribute their own cultural products. Supporters of American popular culture argue that the universal reputation of American media products promotes a global media system that allows communication to cross national boundaries. American admired culture in addition challenges authority and outmoded traditions. Critics of American culture argue that cultural imperialism prevents the development of native cultures and has a negative impact on teenagers. Teenagers in other nations have rejected their own cultural music and dress. Instead, they want to wear American jeans and listen to American recording artists. Rock groups from other countries will even sing in English rather than use their native tongue. Media corporations are attempting to begin operations in nations around the world, some countries want to protect their domestic media and culture industries. Some nations, including Norway, Denmark, Spain, Mexico, and South Korea, have established government subsidies to preserve their own domestic film industries. The British government proposed a voluntary levy on the revenues from domestic film theaters, which show predominantly Hollywood movies. These theater revenues could then be used to sponsor the British commercial film industry. However, the proposal was not passed by Parliament. Culture ministers from a diversity of nations have been discussing how they can protect their own cultural identities in an increasingly...
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...in a prestigious NASA program had an idea—a romantic, albeit crazy, idea. He wanted to give his girlfriend the moon. Literally Thad convinced his girlfriend and another female accomplice, both NASA interns, to break into an impregnable laboratory at NASA's headquarters—past security checkpoints, an electronically-locked door with cipher security codes and camera-lined hallways—and help him steal the most precious objects in the world:the moon rocks. Mezrich has pored over thousands of pages of court records, FBI transcripts, and NASA documents, and has interviewed most of the participants in the crime to reconstruct the madcap story of genius, love, and duplicity all centered around an Ocean’s Eleven style heist that reads like a Hollywood thrill-ride. Mezrich uses his trademark narrative non-fiction style to tell the story, which basically means it reads like fiction. While his stories are extensively researched and are factual (though perhaps biased in some cases), the books are written in such a way that they are very engaging and easy to read. Sex on the Moon went by much more quickly than an average work of non-fiction; it was fascinating and the pages flew by. Thad Roberts is portrayed as a lost and wandering soul who finally found a home at NASA. He became a leader among his peers and those around him really looked up to him. He made a name for himself with those he worked under and was respected for his work ethic and intelligence. So, then, why in the world would...
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...(c) Bedford/St. Martin's bedfordstmartins.com 1-457-62096-0 / 978-1-457-62096-6 SOUNDS AND IMAGES Movies and the Impact of Images 187 Early Technology and the Evolution of Movies 192 The Rise of the Hollywood Studio System 195 The Studio System’s Golden Age 205 The Transformation of the Studio System 209 The Economics of the Movie Business 215 Popular Movies and Democracy In every generation, a film is made that changes the movie industry. In 1941, that film was Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane. Welles produced, directed, wrote, and starred in the movie at age twenty-five, playing a newspaper magnate from a young man to old age. While the movie was not a commercial success initially (powerful newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, whose life was the inspiration for the movie, tried to suppress it), it was critically praised for its acting, story, and directing. Citizen Kane’s dramatic camera angles, striking film noir–style lighting, nonlinear storytelling, montages, and long deep-focus shots were considered technically innovative for the era. Over time, Citizen Kane became revered as a masterpiece, and in 1997 the American Film Institute named it the Greatest American Movie of All Time. “Citizen Kane is more than a great movie; it is a gathering of all the lessons of the emerging era of sound,” film critic Roger Ebert wrote.1 CHAPTER 6 ○ MOVIES 185 (c) Bedford/St. Martin's bedfordstmartins.com 1-457-62096-0 / 978-1-457-62096-6 MOVIES A generation later...
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...fact that America was becoming more receptive of confident women who embrace their sexuality. Around 1990, the third wave of feminism began in America which abhorred the notion that women had to look and act a certain way, but celebrated differences. This wave renounced any discrimination women faced because of their sexual orientation or economic status (Holgrave 3). Women were gaining success in the business world and were beginning to make comparable wages to men. Likewise, women were exploring their sexuality. They no longer needed a man to complete them and many were content to stay single for much longer or even to explore relationships with other women (Holgrave 4). Along with this wave emerged a new, more liberated femme fatale. Breaking previous matrimony norms, these women were often single business women, living a life that mirrored that of a young bachelor. No longer confined to being a housewife, they held professional jobs and made good salaries. They were seeking higher education and making their mark in both the business and political worlds. An example of this new femme fatale is Alex from Fatal Attraction. Unlike the early femme fatales who were often homemakers and housewives, she is a single businesswoman, a successful editor for a publishing company. She becomes attracted to Dan and lures him into a sordid affair, eventually becoming obsessed with him. She maniacally follows him and brings raving threats upon him and his family. Alex is a bolder and much...
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...can differ in its exact meaning due to interpretation. This makes it an almost undesiferrable term for both historians and critics alike. Critic, Ian Christie claims that the term is, ‘always open to dispute and redefinition.’[1] This claim has very strong foundations. The very nature of Avant-Garde film requires it to be at the forefront of experimentation. As new techniques are explored and boundaries are broken down, what may have been at the forefront of experimentation in the Fifties for example, may be one of the most used techniques in Hollywood by the Seventies or now. This gives the impression that to remain innovative, Avant-Garde directors must change style to fit what is required of them during their particular time period. The mention of Hollywood hints at the relationship it has with the Avant-Garde. Murray Smith describes Avant-Garde as a ‘personal mode’, and goes on to say the films are made by, ‘filmmakers alone or in combination with private patronage and grants from arts institutions.’[2] It seems easy to glean that Avant-Garde cinema works outside the Hollywood community. This ‘personal mode’ gives filmmakers a chance to make films for reasons beyond money. To test limits, reaction and technique is more important. Perhaps these films are made not for an audience, but for the pleasure of the filmmakers themselves. Smith does not mention funding...
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...Have you ever seen a movie and automatically thought after now I know their crime story? When people talk about crime, most people are just basing there story off of something they saw in a movie or something they saw on television. Most of the crimes in movies are; assault, bribe, armed robbery, manslaughter, or racketeering, just to name a few. For example the movie “Public Enemies” starring Johnny Depp, it portrays a rough outline of the infamous John Dillinger and his gang. When I first saw this movie I was amazed because the story that they showed wasn't at all what I expected, I expected to see all major crimes take place one after another and grueling shootouts the whole movie but they showed his kind and calm side and it actually turned out to be a great movie. Another example of crime and the movies but on the other side of the law would be any of the “X-Men” series. These people may be mutants but most of them use their gifts for good rather than break the law. A classic example would be “Robin Hood”, he broke the law only to help those in need. (rottentomatoes.com) There are other examples where crime and the movies coexist on both sides of the law, whether it would be cheering for the good guy or cringing when a killer kills their victim, movies cannot show you the whole story and cannot show you the real justice system. During my research I came across this essay called “Does Movie Violence Increase Violent Crime?” (Dahl & DellaVigna, 2006) an excerpt from the essay...
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...Reflections on The Cultural Value of Film Statistics can be used to show that Britain’s film industry is now the third biggest in the world and a prime destination for inward investment. This success story was heralded by James Purnell, new Minister for the Creative Industries, in a speech to the Institute of Public Policy Research in June this year.[1] But what is the relation of this economic success to the vibrancy and breadth of our film culture? A further look at the statistics provided by the UK Film Council for 2004 shows that last year domestic production fell from 44 films to 27, where domestic is taken to be films made by a UK production company shot wholly or partly in the UK. In 1997, the year when the government set up the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, UK production had been at a record high, and 84 domestic productions were registered. In terms of what UK audiences could see in 2004, beyond American features and American co-productions, the rest of the world share of the market in UK and Ireland was just 2.7%, a figure which betrays the failure of film policy to encourage interest and understanding in the stories of what goes on beyond our shores. Last year also saw the consolidation of companies operating in the exhibition sector and a series of momentous deals which changed the landscape of UK exhibition. In August 2004, Terra Firma acquired both the Odeon and UCI cinema circuits for a total of 580 million pounds, acquiring a 35% share of...
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...Parental Liability Many things in life are viewed by the actions people take in their normal everyday activities. The actions we take reflect the personality the individual has been raised up to be. When a person steels a car and is under aged should their parents be held accountable for the actions their child has committed? There are many answers to this question have been expressed throughout the World Wide Web, articles and book in plenty different ways. Most of the answers express come from the same mentality that the parental accountability should only be imposed to a certain age of a child. In my belief, parents should be held responsible for what their child does up to the point of the second year of high school due to the reason of self-control, basically 16 years of age. The child could be held responsible at that point because the education levels have become so advance to the point where they learn in middle school and in high school classes deductive reasoning – right from wrong. Their social skills are also more developed. There are other factors that are related other than age such as the parental liability child’s act and the characteristics of the child after their parents have showed them the way to make the right decision. Almost every state has some sort of parental responsibility law which holds parents or legal guardians responsible for property damage, personal injury, theft, shoplifting, and/or vandalism resulting from intentional or willful acts of...
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...Disney and the American Princess: The Americanization of European Fairy Tales [pic] Marina Alexandrova Student number 3021874 MA Thesis, American Studies Program Utrecht University Course code 200401064 23943 words 12 August 2009 Contents Title page………………………………………………………………1 Contents……………………………………………………………….2 Introduction……………………………………………………………3 Chapter 1: European Fairy Tales and Values about Gender and Class………………………………………10 Chapter 2: Disney Animation and American Culture…………………24 Chapter 3: Disney Animation and (Gender) Commodification…………………………………………..55 Conclusion…………………………………………………………...73 Bibliography…………………………………………………………78 Introduction Among the various aspects which define contemporary life, popular culture – and in particular, American popular culture – is undoubtedly one of the most ubiquitous and long-lasting. Throughout the twentieth century, people around the world have enjoyed film, music, animation, and written works by various authors and artists. One of the most famous and significant American entertainers of the lot has been Walt Disney, introducing millions of children and adults to his world of limitless (or so is widely believed) imagination and magic, from the earliest short cartoons produced in the 1920s, to full-length feature animations such as Snow White and the Seven...
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...Copyright © 2005 Stuart Fischoff. All rights reserved. 1 Media Psychology: A Personal Essay in Definition and Purview by Stuart Fischoff, Ph.D. Introduction The subject matter of media psychology is a mother lode of material that psychology has actively mined for decades, but only within the last ten to fifteen years has the enterprise emerged as a distinct and explicit subdivision of psychology. Media psychology found its inspirational roots more than 90 years ago within the discipline of social psychology and in the early work of social psychologist Hugo Münsterberg concerning the psychology and the psychological impact of film. Published in 1916 under the title, The Photoplay: A Psychological Study, it was the first empirical study of an audience reacting to a film. Münsterberg also provided such a keen analysis of a screenplay's (then called a photoplay) grammar of visual construction and nascent cinematic conventions and their psychological impact on the audience, that his incisive words still echo today in numerous film school lecture halls and classroom seminars. And there was psychologist L.L. Thurstone, arguably the Father of Attitude Scale Construction and Measurement (a signature area of theory and research in social psychology), who developed scales for the measurement of attitudes toward movies for the famous and notoriously politicized Payne Fund Research in 1928. This study’s practically avowed purpose was to indict (not investigate) the medium of film...
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...This article is about the cultural movement. For the music genre, see Hip hop music. For other uses, see Hip hop (disambiguation). Graffiti of "hip hop" in Eugene, Oregon Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic subculture that originated in African-American and Hispanic-American communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx.[1][2][3] DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, B-boying and graffiti writing.[4][5][6][7] [8] Since its emergence in the South Bronx, hip hop culture has spread to both urban and suburban communities throughout the world.[9] Hip hop music first emerged with disc jockeys creating rhythmic beats by looping breaks (small portions of songs emphasizing a percussive pattern) on two turntables, more commonly referred to as sampling. This was later accompanied by "rap", a rhythmic style of chanting or poetry presented in 16 bar measures or time frames, and beatboxing, a vocal technique mainly used to imitate percussive elements of the music and various technical effects of hip hop DJ's. An original form of dancing and particular styles of dress arose among fans of this new music. These elements experienced considerable refinement and development over the course of the history of the culture. The relationship between graffiti and hip hop culture arises from the appearance of new and increasingly elaborate and pervasive forms of the practice in areas where other elements of hip hop...
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