Near the end of the one-reel era, the director-unit system gave way to the producer-unit system. While studios maintained director-led units, many of the managerial tasks, particularly in the pre-production phase, that had traditionally fallen to directors were assumed by central managers. Thomas Ince of Triangle stopped directing in the early 1910s and soon became one of the industry's first – and most powerful – central producers, running a 43-acre studio facility with over 1,000 employees. This system was closely linked to the rise of feature filmmaking, which required significantly greater investments per film and therefore much more detailed planning and managerial oversight than in the one-reel era.
This control over production was accomplished primarily through the continuity script – essentially a complete blueprint for and record of a film shoot. The continuity script featured many of the same elements as the earlier scenario script, but in significantly greater detail. It also contained shooting dates, highly detailed description of actions, footage estimations for each shot, complete budgetary data, and information on release prints and distribution. The evolution of the continuity script is concurrent with a set of profound changes in film style, as filmmakers began to explore in earnest scene dissection (i.e., the division of scenes into multiple shots). This emerging mode of representation required careful attention to the proper matching of positions and movements across shots – and the most effective way to do so was by planning every detail in advance. The continuity script led to a further division of labor within scenario departments, with "creative" personnel responsible for developing film stories and continuity experts responsible for converting them into detailed scripts.
Friday, 21 October 2011
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
DVD cover analysis
Claire Danes was also a star at the time, because of her tv series, so seeing her name on the box would be appealing to the teenage target audience that she already had in her fanbase.
The close up of the two's faces right against each other shows that it is a romance, as the tight framing shows how close they are, representing their love for each other.
The gun, with an image of Mary and the cross attached to it suggests it may be set in a religious area, in this case the Hispanic area of LA.
Friday, 7 October 2011
Review of a film
The clip begins with silence, just watching the dog, from a long shot. This is a good way to observe the dog’s seemingly natural behaviour. It sets a serene and calm atmosphere within the scene, allowing the audience a moment to relax, yet building suspense within them, anticipating what might happen next. It is a key element of the whole film, and done here very well.
The still camera continues this long shot for a very long time, watching the dog’s twitches, suggesting something may be a little amiss, but there is nothing obvious, so suspense and tension is continued to be created.
There is a cut away to the living room, again a long shot, where the camera focuses on the opening of a door. All of this is done in silence to build the tension and fear within the scene.
Cutting to the bedroom and the living room alternately, showing the dog getting more and more worried at what appears to be nothing, will strike more fear into the audience. Dogs are supposedly better at sensing things than humans, so the fact a dog has sensed something worthy of leaving the room to investigate will make the audience fearful since they have no idea what to anticipate. They will fear the unknown.
The dog’s barking shows it is in distress. Even though this is done off camera, the off-screen diagetic sound scares the audience, making them wonder what on earth it could be that the dog is so fearful of.
The handheld camera held by the girl is unsteady to show it as a home-movie. Also, the girl’s trembling voice is another off-screen diagetic sound. These things show panic within the character as she has no explanation as to what happened, just like the audience, who can also be scared by not knowing what’s gone on.
There is a long scene, again a long shot, with the girl on the stairs, she is obviously distressed and the lack of anything around her suggests she is lonely and feels weak and small, as she appears to be on screen.
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
MGM label research
History:
- After gradually being built through purchasing higher quality workers, MGM surpassed Universal Studios as the largest studio in Hollywood, a distinction it would maintain for over 30 years.
- Fox tried to merge with MGM but the deal fell through.
Golden Age:
- Made films with glamour and sophisticated elements.
- Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, William Haines, Norma Shearer, and Joan Crawford were stars created by the label.
- one of the first studios to experiment with filming in Technicolor.
- The Wizard of Oz and Northwest Passage are two big films that were made in the early years.
- MGM made films that were sophisticated and polished to cater to an urban audience.
- MGM never lost money during the Great Depression
- MGM stars dominated the box office in the '30s
- MGM created the Hollywood star system
- MGM released very successful musicals with players such as Judy Garland Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and Frank Sinatra
After a huge fade for a number of decades, MGM became big again with the James Bond franchise. It also distributed pictures internationally through 20th century fox, rather than the older method through UIP which was accused of being illegal.
MGM has now been taken over and does not produce any films of its own right, though it is still in business.
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