Juan Monroy — Film and Home Video

Historical Eras
- silent era
  - 1900–1930
- studio era
  - 1930–1960
- post-studio era
  - 1960-present
Studio System
- film studios
- industrial production
- controlled
  - actors
  - writers
  - directors
  - technicians
  - equipment
Star System
- actors and actresses
- Rudolph Valentino
- Lillian Gish
- Mary Pickford
- Charlie Chaplin
Self Regulation
- Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, 1922
  - Will Hayes
  - control star scandals
  - Fatty Arbuckle
- Motion Picture Code, 1930
  - crime
  - sin
  - wrong doing
Coming of Sound
- expensive technology
- slow to develop
- Warner Brothers
- Jazz Singer, 1927
- “talkies”
Vertical integration
- five major studios
  - Paramount
  - Lowes/MGM
  - Warner Brother
  - 20th Century Fox
  - RKO
- production
- distribution
- exhibition
Classical Hollywood Genres
- crime stories
  - Little Caesar (1930)
- detective films
  - Maltese Falcon (1941)
- film noir
  - Double Indemnity (1944)
- suspense
  - 39 Steps (1935)
- historical epics
  - Gone with the Wind (1939)
- westerns
  - The Searchers (1956)
End of the Studio Era
- attendance peaked in 1946
- government forced breakup of vertical integration, 1948
- emergence of television, 1948
- studios declined, 1950–1960s
  - RKO went out of business
  - other studios changed hands
  - independent gained more power
New Distribution
- first-run distribution
- cable TV
- rented videocassettes
- DVD sales
- Netflix effect
New Theatrical Forms
- lower attendance
- higher ticket prices
- adolescent audiences
- 3D
- IMAX
- digital projection
Big Six
- Sony-Columbia
- Fox
- Paramount
- Universal
- Warner Brothers
- Disney
- part of media conglomerates
- independent filmmakers
Film Industry
- directors
- producers
- writers
- visual designers
- directors of photography
- music director
- film editors
- special effects technicians
- casting directors
- and many more…
Artist guilds
- Writers Guild
- Screen Actors Guild
- Directors Guild
Film Financing
- major studios
- national governments
- multinational organizations
- local municipal subsidies
Windows
- theatrical
- international distribution
- pay-per-view
- pay cable
- DVD rentals and sales
- paid downloads
- streaming through Netflix
- network exhibition
- basic cable networks
- TV syndication
- all are changing…
Film Ratings
- Motion Picture Association of America
- segmented audience by age
- in response to declining film audience
- rating system, 1968
  - G: for all ages
  - PG: parental guidance suggested
  - PG–13: parents strongly cautioned to give guidance to children under 13
  - R: restricted; those under 17 must be accompanied by parent/guardian
  - NC–17: no one under 17 admitted
Film Piracy
- copying of films with advent of VCR
- consumers may record a broadcast or cable TV program
- copy protections on DVDs
  - possible to crack copy protections
- distribute on the Internet
  - new tools to identify pirates