The document provides an overview of the GCSE Film Studies course, outlining its aims and objectives. It discusses how students will develop their knowledge of mainstream Hollywood films from the 1950s and 1970s-1980s, as well as more recent independent and international films. All films will be studied in relation to key developments in film history and technology. The timeline of developments discussed includes the first moving images, silent cinema, the Hollywood studio system, the introduction of sound and color, and modern technological advances like CGI and portable cameras.

1. GCSE Film Studies
The History of the
Film Industry

2. Aims and Objectives
The WJEC Eduqas specificationinGCSEFilmStudiesisdesignedtodraw onlearners'enthusiasm
for filmandintroduce themtoa wide varietyof cinematicexperiencesthroughfilmswhichhave
beenimportantinthe developmentof filmandfilmtechnology.
Learnerswill developtheirknowledge of USmainstreamfilmbystudyingone filmfromthe 1950s
and one filmfromthe later70s and80s, thuslookingat twostagesinHollywood'sdevelopment.
In addition,theywill be studyingmore recentfilms –a US independentfilm aswell asfilmsfrom
Europe,includingthe UK,SouthAfricaandAustralia.
Key developments infilmand filmtechnology
All filmswillbe studiedinrelationtokeydevelopmentsinfilmandfilmtechnology –bothto
provide acontextfortheirstudyof filmandto understandhow theirchosenfilmsreflectkey
developmentsinthe historyof filmandfilmtechnology.Learnerswillbe requiredtogaina
knowledge of:
the firstmovingimagesandsilent film
the rise of Hollywoodandthe developmentof sound
the introductionof colour film
the emergence of widescreentechnologyand3D film
the developmentof portable camerasandSteadicam technology
the role of computer-generatedimageryin film.

3. Timeline of key developments in film and film technology
You need to know the following events and this booklet helps you to learn and
understand this timeline.
1895 First moving images (Lumière brothers)
1895 – 1927 Development of silent cinema from early short films to full-length feature
films, during which period the foundations of filmmaking were established
– e.g. cinematography, the principles of lighting and continuity editing
and an extensive range of mise-en-scène, including location shooting
1920s Gradual emergence of a vertically integrated Hollywood film industry,
established by 1930 into five major studios (Paramount, Warner Bros,
Loew's/MGM, Fox [Twentieth Century Fox in 1935] and Radio Keith
Orpheum [RKO]) and three minor studios (Columbia, Universal and
United Artists) – the so-called Big 5 and Little 3
1927 Alan Crosland's, The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson - the first feature film
with a soundtrack
1935 Rouben Mamoulian's Becky Sharp, the Technicolor Corporation's first
feature length, 'three strip' colour film
1948 Paramount court case which prevented studios from owning all phases of
the production, distribution and exhibition process ('vertical integration')
which led, in the 1950s, to the emergence of independent film production
and agents producing films for the Hollywood studios to distribute and
exhibit
1950s Emergence of widescreen and 3D technologies as a response to the
growth of television and the corresponding decline in cinema
attendance
late 1950s Although not the first examples, lightweight, portable cameras were
produced suitable for hand-held use (which had an immediate impact on
documentary filmmaking and were used by a new generation of directors
in France – French 'new wave' directors)
1970s Steadicam technology developed by cinematographer Garrett
Brown (a stabilising device for hand-held cameras to keep image
'steady' whilst retaining fluid movement). First introduced, 1975
1990s More widespread use of computer-generated imagery, most
significantly onwards pioneered by Industrial Light and Magic in the 1970s,
resulted in a move away from filmed 'special effects' to visual effects created
digitally in post-production to the computer generated imaging of characters in
films

4. Genre
Task 1: What do you already know?
What isa genre? Write a definition andlistall the differentgenresthatyouknow.
What filmsfall intoeachgenre?Findanexample of afilmforeachgenre.
Challenge task: Canyou explainthe commonfeaturesof eachgenre?
For example,horrorfilmsalwaysuse conventions suchasdarkness,isolatedlocations,blood,stormy
weather,supernatural,etc.

5. Task 2: What do you think?
Films,aswe knowthemand recognise themtoday,were bornin1895.
Can you name all of the major inventionsthat neededtohappento filmsbefore youget to the
kind of filmsyou findin the cinema today?
 e.g. Cameras
 filmprojectors
 audiosoundrecording

6. Answers:Cameras,filmprojectors, audio soundrecording,sound effects,technicolour,digital
film, CGI (computer-generatedimagery),computers,3D,widescreen.
Let’s start with modern day film making – 1990s +
Task 3
1. Watch the first 7 minutes of this BBC Click programme.
BBC Click:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmKFUffO5G4
2. Also watch this clip on What 15 Movies From2019 LookedLike Behind
The Scenes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3djdugD0b0
Notice how modern film production is very reliant on technology: green
screen, cameras, computers. Whatwe see on screen is very different to what is
on the set. Films today use a lot of computers to develop scenes during post-
production and this can turn a swimming pool into an ocean!

7. Now let’s travel back in time to the 1890s…
The firstrecordedmovingimagescame fromtwoFrenchbrotherswhose experimentationwith
photography, combinedwithseeingEdison’s‘Kinetoscope’.
The brotherswere:
Auguste and Louis Lumière
Theywere Frenchinventorsof photographicequipmentand
theydevisedanearlymotion-picture cameraandprojector
calledthe Cinématographe.
(“cinema”isderivedfromthisname).
The year was 1895.
Task 4
Watch thisclipto see theirfirstfilm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nj0vEO4Q6s
Watch this10 minute cliponthe Lumiere brothers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFkSjdaqbyE

8. Task 5 – summary
Make notes on the Lumiere Brothers by finishing thesentences.
The year was...
The inventorswere named…
They inventedacameracalled…
It created…
Challenge task: Do some research on the Lumiere brothers.List 5 more facts about them.

9. 1895-1927, Developing Silents
Duringthe earlylife of cinema, silentfilmswere the onlyoption - increasinglyaccompaniedbya
live musician/musicians.Thisperiodsawbasicfilmlanguageestablished - the principlesof
continuityediting,lighting,mise-en-scène andthe rise of the ‘feature length’film(1hour+).
Task 6
Watch this clipof an earlysilentfilm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgQpI-jpJao
Watch this 9 minute clipon The SilentEra:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROOV9tucra0&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtN-Bd-
H_TGq72CN50Fpv_JX&index=10
Notice howthisfilmisdifferenttothe Lumiere brothers’earlyfilms.
Thishas:
 A set
 A plot
 A range of characters
 Costumes
 Lightingtechniquesare emerging
 BUT NOSOUND
Language
alert
Continuityrefersto action movingthrough multiplelocationswithoutinterruptions.So one longpiece offilm that is not
edited.(Continuous)
Continuityediting iswhen film isedited but doesn’t lookit.The editingisso good you don’t notice it.
Mise en scene –this is a French term that means ‘placed in the scene’and refersto props,locationsand any detailin a scene
that addsto the audience’sunderstandingofwhat’shappeningin the film.

10. 1920s, The Studio System
Americancinemarose toprominence inthe 1920s withthe adventof the ‘StudioSystem’.Mostof
these studiosstill,sortof,existtoday!Theyturnedfilmmakingintoan industrial
processand createdthe ideaof Hollywood.
There were 5 main studios in 1930:
• Paramount
• Warner Brothers
• Loew’s/MGM
• Fox (20th CenturyFox)
• RadioKeithOrpheum
And three minor studios:
• Columbia
• Universal
• UnitedArtists
Theywere calledthe Big5 andthe Little 3.

11. Task 7
Answerthe questionsbelowbasedon your reading.
Duringwhichyearswere silentfilmsdeveloped?
Name twoexamplesof basicfilmlanguage thatwere alsodevelopedduringthistime.
What doesthe termmise enscene mean?
Name the ‘Big6’ studiosthatbeganto grow in powerduringthe 1930s.
Name the ‘Little 3’ minorstudiosthatbeganduringthe 1930s.
What iscontinuityediting?Canyouthinkof a modernfilmthatusesit?

12. The introduction of sound and colour – 1927, 1935
1927, The Jazz Singer
 The JazzSinger (1927) starred musical star Al Jolson.
 It was the first feature filmto have a synchronisedsoundtrack, includingsynchronised
speechandsinging.
 Thiswas the birthof the ‘talkies’ –filmwhere the speechwassyncedtomatch the mouth
movement.
 The Jazz Singercontainsmusical sequencesusinglive soundrecording.The moviegoerswere
electrifiedwhenthe silentactionswere interruptedperiodicallyforasong sequence with
real singingandsound.Jolson'sdynamicvoice,physical mannerisms,andcharismaheldthe
audience spellbound.
Task 8
Watch a clipof The JazzSinger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22NQuPrwbHA

13. 1935, Becky Sharp
In 1935 the release of Becky Sharp (Robert
Mamoulian) heraldedthe feature lengthuse of the
‘three strip’ technicolourprocess for colouringfilm
and openedtogatesto many competingcolour
technologies.
Task 9
Watch thisclipfrom BeckySharp:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7Zezn-S6UQ
What is three-strip technicolour?
Technicolorisa colourfilmprintingprocessinventedin1916. It was the most widelyusedcolour
processinHollywoodfrom1922 to 1952 and celebratedforitssaturatedlevelsof colour.Itwasused
mostcommonlyforfilmingmusicalssuchasThe Wizardof Oz andSingin'inthe Rain and usedfor
Disney’sanimatedclassicssuchasSnowWhite and the SevenDwarfsandFantasia.
"Technicolor"isthe trademarkfora seriesof colourmotionpicture processespioneeredby
TechnicolorMotionPicture Corporation(asubsidiaryof Technicolor,Inc.),now adivisionof
TechnicolorSA.The process involvedcapturingthe individual colourcomponentsred,greenand
blue onthree individual blackandwhite negatives.

14. 1948, The Paramount Case
This famous court case prevented the studios from owning the full chain of production,
distribution and exhibition. This led to the emergence of independent production
companies, or ‘indies’.
This case stopped studios from monopolising the filming industry and was seen by some as
the event that ruined the ‘Golden Age’ of the Hollywood film studios.
Task 10
Watch this clip on the Paramount Case: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4mmAj67yjM
Below write any questions youhave about this case.
Do you understand what happened in the case? Were there any words that you didn’t
understand?

15. Task 11
Complete the gaps in the timeline below

16. Post-War film Industry - 1948+
1950s, Widescreen/3D vs TV
AfterWorldWar II, an improvedformof black-and-white TV
broadcastingbecame popularinthe UnitedStatesandBritain,and
televisionsetsbecamecommonplace inhomes,businesses,and
institutions. One consequence of thiswasthataudienceschanged
theirhabitsandreducedthe amountof time theyspentat
cinemas.
To entice audiencesback,studioshadtodeveloptechnologyto
make the cinemaexperience more appealingthanwatchingTV at
home.
In the 1950s filmproducerscontinuedtodevelopnew waysof
expandingthe viewingexperienceinresponsetothe rise of
televisionownership. 3Dand Widescreenpresentationsbecame
popular. WidescreenwasalsoknownasSuperscope.
Task 12
Watch this film trailer from 1953 that promotes a 3D film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vl1exNDg4o
How would3D and widescreenfilmsappeal toaudiences?How dotheyimprove the cinema
experience?

17. Late 1950s, Handheld Revolution
Until the late 1950s, cameras were all static and often stood
on tripods meaning that filmmakers couldn’t walk around
with the actors or action.
In the late 1950s, the continued developments in camera
technology allowed for smaller and smaller cameras to
become available to film-makers. The French ‘new wave’ and
documentary makers used this to their advantage.
One downside of this was that some camera work could be
jumpy and so inventors continued to explore how to make
a moving camera that created a smooth shot.
Task 13
Watch this clip on Brilliant Moments of Camera Movement:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2c3JZ6X3f8
Researchandlist5 camera movementsthatdirectorsuse toaddmeaningtotheirfilms.
For example,trackingshot…

18. 1970s, The Steadicam
In the 1970s, Steadicam technology, pioneered by Garrett
Brown, allowed the camera to roam whilst maintaining a
fluid and smooth movement.
Task 14
Read this article on Garrett Brown and the invention of the Steadicam and answer the
questions: https://photobite.uk/story-steadicam-interview-garrett-brown/
What year was the Steadicam invented?
What was it originally named?
Name four films that were enhanced by Garrett’s invention of the Steadicam.

19. Which brings up back to where we started…
1990s, The Rise of the Machines
The 1990s saw an explosion in the use of computer
generated imagery, pioneered by Industrial Light and
Magic back in the late 1970s and 1980s. Filmed, practical,
special effects took a backseat to post-production
computer generated imagery.
Task 15
Watch this clip of early CGI from 1985:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOsxXi-tu_U
Then watch a few minutes of this clip of Top 10 best CGI from this decade:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwbXYySYwbc
It’scome a longway!
Explain what each of these terms mean:
GCI –
Green Screen –
Chroma key –
Special effects –
Post-production –

20. Test your knowledge
Use the following tasks to test and revise your knowledge.
Name the year
1. First moving images (Lumière brothers) [1]
2. Development of silent cinema from early short films to full-length feature films [1]
3. Gradual emergence of a vertically integrated Hollywood film industry, established by 1930
into five major studios [1]
4. Alan Crosland's, The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson - the first feature film with a soundtrack
[1]
5. Rouben Mamoulian's Becky Sharp, the Technicolor Corporation's first feature length,
'three strip' colour film [1]
6. Paramount court case which prevented studios from owning all phases of the production,
distribution and exhibition process [1]
7. Emergence of widescreen and 3D technologies [1]
8. Lightweight, portable cameras were produced suitable for hand-held use [1]
9. Steadicam technology developed by cinematographer Garrett Brown [1]
10. More widespread use of computer-generated imagery, most significantly pioneered by
Industrial Light and Magic [1]

21. Make your own Timeline
Cut out the events below, match them with their image and glue them on to paper to create
your own timeline. Remember to put them in the correct chronological order.