There are so many ways in
which one can first approach the topic of film. You can start from the
technical details of when and how the first motion picture was filmed or maybe
go into depth of the first filmmakers. I debated on how to approach this post
but nothing set in my mind until I started thinking about Hollywood. So why not
start with the history of American cinema?
To begin I’d like to mention
a brief history of motion pictures in a more technical aspect. We first come
significantly acquainted with motion pictures in 1872. Eadweard Muybridge, an
English photographer, decided to fix a row of cameras and quickly take pictures
of a galloping horse. As the horse passed the cameras he had placed on the side
of the track, Muybridge used a thread to trigger the shutter of the camera. He so
happened to shot this horse in Palo Alto, CA so in a sense you can say this was the start of cinema in America.
The Horse In Motion (1878) by Eadweard Muybridge
This event was a spark that
ignited more people to try and invent such a device that would capture moving
images. Thomas Edison was one of the first people who came up with such a
device (kinetoscrope). And so with the emergence of these more enhanced cameras, came the start of Hollywood.
The years between 1917-1960
is known as the Golden Age of Hollywood. This time in Hollywood began right
after the World War I and after the silent film era. The Jazz Singer was the first film in America to have sound.
Southern California is known
for its constant beautiful warm sunny weather. So why not have it as the
entertainment capitol of the world? That’s what filmmakers back in the early 20th
century thought as well. And thus Hollywood became the filmmaking hot spot.
Films during this Golden Age
were distinguished by their stagnant styles. The styles of these films had to
do with the story lines, themes and directing substance. The plot of these film
consisted of a beginning, middle and end. And the storyline always had the main
character undergo a series of struggles or obstacles that they had to overcome
to achieve a certain goal. The main genres of the films were dramas.
The directors of this time
in film had limited opportunities to explore different styles of directing.
Films were usually shot with many medium and close ups shots. Which lets the
audience see some of the scene’s background but its primary focus are the
characters.
Hollywood became inhabited by major movie studios. The Big Five, as they are notably referred to as,
were the top guns in the distributing of films. They consisted of: Warner
Brothers, 20th Century Fox, RKO Pictures, Paramount Pictures,
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). These studios had distinguished styles as well as
actors who would only appear in their films. Clarke Gable one of the most
famous actors of all time was MGM’s golden boy actor. These studios were
nicknamed “The Big Five” for a reason for they were the studios making the most
money. They owned most of the theaters, which left the other studios not in “The
Big Five” not as successful. “The Big Five” also used tactics like block
booking to up their revenue. Block booking was when these major studios made
theaters play only the group of movies they wanted them to play. This tactic
however was outlawed in 1948.
As I mentioned earlier, many directors were not very artsy with their directing and editing because of the certain style films at this time held. However, there were some directors in the classical Hollywood era that did stray from specific style of filmmaking. Alfred Hitchcock, for example, is most noted for some of his artsy scenes shown in his films like Pyscho. Hitchcock also drifted away from the a normal plot line by killing a main character in the middle of the film.
This time in cinema was a remarkable era. Many of the films made during The Golden Age Of Hollywood are now know as classics in American film. Not only that but they are referenced in other realms of pop culture endlessly.
- Casablanca (1942)
- Rebel Without A Cause (1955)
- Some Like It Hot (1959)
- Citizen Kane (1941)
- Psycho (1960)
“Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.” – Marilyn Monroe
