This document provides an overview of film, including its history, production process, associated fields like criticism and theory, and the film industry. It discusses how film developed from early visual devices like zoetropes into a global art form and business. Key aspects covered include how films are made up of frames to create the illusion of motion, the cultural impact of films, and how large-scale production involves many steps and financing.
At the Crossroadsof Business and ArtOBJECTIVESAfter petuniahita
At the Crossroads
of Business and Art
OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, you should
be able to:
n identify the Hollywood majors
a describe how a film's box office success is
measured
explain why box office gross is a misleading
indicator of a film's economic performance
n identify the ancillary markets and explain
their significance
describe the box office performance of U.S.
films in world markets
n explain how the U.S. film industry facilitates
the marketing of its product
u describe three key forms of Hollywood's
stylistic influence on world cinema
u explain how contemporary filmmaking
operates within an integrated market
define blockbuster production
u define product tie-ins and product
placement
describe the international marketing of
Jurassic Park
n explain how Hollywood
absorbs and
transforms foreign film style
363
364 CHAPTER 10 At the Crossroads
of Business and Art
Previous chapters have
examined the
aesthetics of cinema
in terms of
the medium's expres-
sive, structural elements.
These include
light, color,
sound, editing,
and so forth. It would
be
naive, though, to claim
that cinema's
expressive components
exist in a pure state or that film-
makers can work with
complete freedom
to pursue their
visions. The aesthetics of
cinema are
bound up with
technological, social and
economic factors,
and an introductory
understand-
ing of movies and meaning
would be incomplete
if it focused only
on cinema aesthetics in
isolation from these
other factors.
The art of cinema
resides at a crossroads,
where technology,
industry, and society inter-
sect. Movies are a business
as well as an art,
and cinema is a global
phenomenon.
This chapter examines
the business of film
art, the economic
context in which filmmakers
work and that shapes the
medium's artistic
possibilities. The inscription
on the famous MGM
studio logo was "ars gratia
artis" or "Art for art's
sake." But few studios or funding agencies
underwrite a production solely
for the sake of art.
Cinema aesthetics resides at the crossroads,
where technology meets
industry in a social context.
FROM LARGE SCREENS TO SMALL
A convenient way to illustrate the
relationship of technology, business, and aesthetics
is to consider changes in the size of cinema's
image and in how and where viewers en-
counter the medium. For more than a
century, the experience of cinema was a theatri-
cal experience. Moviegoers left their homes
and viewed large-screen images projected
ori celluloid film in theaters dedicated to that
purpose.
The Hollywood studio system from the 1920s into
the1950s was star-driven, and
the special iconic power of a film star lay substantially
in the pleasure viewers derived
from seeing stars projected to giant proportions on a large theater screen. It was their
on-screen charisma that distinguished movie stars, charisma that the large screen
magnified rather than diminishe ...
At the Crossroadsof Business and ArtOBJECTIVESAfter .docxjasoninnes20
At the Crossroads
of Business and Art
OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, you should
be able to:
n identify the Hollywood majors
a describe how a film's box office success is
measured
explain why box office gross is a misleading
indicator of a film's economic performance
n identify the ancillary markets and explain
their significance
describe the box office performance of U.S.
films in world markets
n explain how the U.S. film industry facilitates
the marketing of its product
u describe three key forms of Hollywood's
stylistic influence on world cinema
u explain how contemporary filmmaking
operates within an integrated market
define blockbuster production
u define product tie-ins and product
placement
describe the international marketing of
Jurassic Park
n explain how Hollywood
absorbs and
transforms foreign film style
363
364 CHAPTER 10 At the Crossroads
of Business and Art
Previous chapters have
examined the
aesthetics of cinema
in terms of
the medium's expres-
sive, structural elements.
These include
light, color,
sound, editing,
and so forth. It would
be
naive, though, to claim
that cinema's
expressive components
exist in a pure state or that film-
makers can work with
complete freedom
to pursue their
visions. The aesthetics of
cinema are
bound up with
technological, social and
economic factors,
and an introductory
understand-
ing of movies and meaning
would be incomplete
if it focused only
on cinema aesthetics in
isolation from these
other factors.
The art of cinema
resides at a crossroads,
where technology,
industry, and society inter-
sect. Movies are a business
as well as an art,
and cinema is a global
phenomenon.
This chapter examines
the business of film
art, the economic
context in which filmmakers
work and that shapes the
medium's artistic
possibilities. The inscription
on the famous MGM
studio logo was "ars gratia
artis" or "Art for art's
sake." But few studios or funding agencies
underwrite a production solely
for the sake of art.
Cinema aesthetics resides at the crossroads,
where technology meets
industry in a social context.
FROM LARGE SCREENS TO SMALL
A convenient way to illustrate the
relationship of technology, business, and aesthetics
is to consider changes in the size of cinema's
image and in how and where viewers en-
counter the medium. For more than a
century, the experience of cinema was a theatri-
cal experience. Moviegoers left their homes
and viewed large-screen images projected
ori celluloid film in theaters dedicated to that
purpose.
The Hollywood studio system from the 1920s into
the1950s was star-driven, and
the special iconic power of a film star lay substantially
in the pleasure viewers derived
from seeing stars projected to giant proportions on a large theater screen. It was their
on-screen charisma that distinguished movie stars, charisma that the large screen
magnified rather than diminishe ...
Founded on June 15, 1985, the studio is headed by the directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata and the producer Toshio Suzuki. Prior to the formation of the studio, Miyazaki and Takahata had already had long careers in Japanese film and television animation and had worked together on Holst: Prince of the SunandPanda! Go, Panda!; and Suzuki was an editor atTokuma Shoten'sAnimagemangamagazine.
At the Crossroadsof Business and ArtOBJECTIVESAfter petuniahita
At the Crossroads
of Business and Art
OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, you should
be able to:
n identify the Hollywood majors
a describe how a film's box office success is
measured
explain why box office gross is a misleading
indicator of a film's economic performance
n identify the ancillary markets and explain
their significance
describe the box office performance of U.S.
films in world markets
n explain how the U.S. film industry facilitates
the marketing of its product
u describe three key forms of Hollywood's
stylistic influence on world cinema
u explain how contemporary filmmaking
operates within an integrated market
define blockbuster production
u define product tie-ins and product
placement
describe the international marketing of
Jurassic Park
n explain how Hollywood
absorbs and
transforms foreign film style
363
364 CHAPTER 10 At the Crossroads
of Business and Art
Previous chapters have
examined the
aesthetics of cinema
in terms of
the medium's expres-
sive, structural elements.
These include
light, color,
sound, editing,
and so forth. It would
be
naive, though, to claim
that cinema's
expressive components
exist in a pure state or that film-
makers can work with
complete freedom
to pursue their
visions. The aesthetics of
cinema are
bound up with
technological, social and
economic factors,
and an introductory
understand-
ing of movies and meaning
would be incomplete
if it focused only
on cinema aesthetics in
isolation from these
other factors.
The art of cinema
resides at a crossroads,
where technology,
industry, and society inter-
sect. Movies are a business
as well as an art,
and cinema is a global
phenomenon.
This chapter examines
the business of film
art, the economic
context in which filmmakers
work and that shapes the
medium's artistic
possibilities. The inscription
on the famous MGM
studio logo was "ars gratia
artis" or "Art for art's
sake." But few studios or funding agencies
underwrite a production solely
for the sake of art.
Cinema aesthetics resides at the crossroads,
where technology meets
industry in a social context.
FROM LARGE SCREENS TO SMALL
A convenient way to illustrate the
relationship of technology, business, and aesthetics
is to consider changes in the size of cinema's
image and in how and where viewers en-
counter the medium. For more than a
century, the experience of cinema was a theatri-
cal experience. Moviegoers left their homes
and viewed large-screen images projected
ori celluloid film in theaters dedicated to that
purpose.
The Hollywood studio system from the 1920s into
the1950s was star-driven, and
the special iconic power of a film star lay substantially
in the pleasure viewers derived
from seeing stars projected to giant proportions on a large theater screen. It was their
on-screen charisma that distinguished movie stars, charisma that the large screen
magnified rather than diminishe ...
At the Crossroadsof Business and ArtOBJECTIVESAfter .docxjasoninnes20
At the Crossroads
of Business and Art
OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, you should
be able to:
n identify the Hollywood majors
a describe how a film's box office success is
measured
explain why box office gross is a misleading
indicator of a film's economic performance
n identify the ancillary markets and explain
their significance
describe the box office performance of U.S.
films in world markets
n explain how the U.S. film industry facilitates
the marketing of its product
u describe three key forms of Hollywood's
stylistic influence on world cinema
u explain how contemporary filmmaking
operates within an integrated market
define blockbuster production
u define product tie-ins and product
placement
describe the international marketing of
Jurassic Park
n explain how Hollywood
absorbs and
transforms foreign film style
363
364 CHAPTER 10 At the Crossroads
of Business and Art
Previous chapters have
examined the
aesthetics of cinema
in terms of
the medium's expres-
sive, structural elements.
These include
light, color,
sound, editing,
and so forth. It would
be
naive, though, to claim
that cinema's
expressive components
exist in a pure state or that film-
makers can work with
complete freedom
to pursue their
visions. The aesthetics of
cinema are
bound up with
technological, social and
economic factors,
and an introductory
understand-
ing of movies and meaning
would be incomplete
if it focused only
on cinema aesthetics in
isolation from these
other factors.
The art of cinema
resides at a crossroads,
where technology,
industry, and society inter-
sect. Movies are a business
as well as an art,
and cinema is a global
phenomenon.
This chapter examines
the business of film
art, the economic
context in which filmmakers
work and that shapes the
medium's artistic
possibilities. The inscription
on the famous MGM
studio logo was "ars gratia
artis" or "Art for art's
sake." But few studios or funding agencies
underwrite a production solely
for the sake of art.
Cinema aesthetics resides at the crossroads,
where technology meets
industry in a social context.
FROM LARGE SCREENS TO SMALL
A convenient way to illustrate the
relationship of technology, business, and aesthetics
is to consider changes in the size of cinema's
image and in how and where viewers en-
counter the medium. For more than a
century, the experience of cinema was a theatri-
cal experience. Moviegoers left their homes
and viewed large-screen images projected
ori celluloid film in theaters dedicated to that
purpose.
The Hollywood studio system from the 1920s into
the1950s was star-driven, and
the special iconic power of a film star lay substantially
in the pleasure viewers derived
from seeing stars projected to giant proportions on a large theater screen. It was their
on-screen charisma that distinguished movie stars, charisma that the large screen
magnified rather than diminishe ...
Founded on June 15, 1985, the studio is headed by the directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata and the producer Toshio Suzuki. Prior to the formation of the studio, Miyazaki and Takahata had already had long careers in Japanese film and television animation and had worked together on Holst: Prince of the SunandPanda! Go, Panda!; and Suzuki was an editor atTokuma Shoten'sAnimagemangamagazine.
The difference between vector and raster graphics is that raster graphics are composed of pixels, while vector graphics are composed of paths. A raster graphic, such as a gif or jpeg, is an array of pixels of various colors, which together form an image.
Humans have probably attempted to depict motion as far back as the Paleolithic period.Shadow play and the magic lantern offered popular shows with moving images as the result of manipulation by hand and/or some minor mechanics.
3. • This 16 mm spring-wound Bolex "H16" Reflex
camera is a popular entry level camera used in
film schools.
4. • A film, also called a movie or motion picture,
5. • It is produced by recording photographic
images with cameras, or by creating images
using animation techniques or visual effects.
The process of filmmaking has developed into
an art form and industry.
6. • Films are cultural artifacts created by specific
cultures, which reflect those cultures, and, in
turn, affect them.
7. • Film is considered to be an important art
form, a source of popular entertainment and a
powerful method for educating – or
indoctrinating – citizens.
8. • The visual elements of cinema give motion
pictures a universal power of communication.
9. • Some films have become popular worldwide
attractions by using dubbing or subtitles that
translate the dialogue into the language of the
viewer.
10. • Films are made up of a series of individual
images called frames.
11. • When these images are shown rapidly in
succession, a viewer has the illusion that
motion is occurring.
12. • The viewer cannot see the flickering between
frames due to an effect known as persistence
of vision,
13. • whereby the eye retains a visual image for a
fraction of a second after the source has been
removed. Viewers perceive motion due to a
psychological effect called beta movement.
14. • The origin of the name "film" comes from the
fact that photographic film (also called film
stock) has historically been the primary
medium for recording and displaying motion
pictures.
15. • Many other terms exist for an individual
motion picture, including picture, picture
show, moving picture, photo-play and flick.
16. • A common name for film in the United States
is movie, while in Europe the term film is
preferred.
17. • Additional terms for the field in general
include the big screen, the silver screen, the
cinema and the movies.
19. • Preceding film in origin by thousands of years,
early plays and dances had elements common
to film: scripts, sets, costumes, production,
direction, actors, audiences, storyboards, and
scores.
20. • Much terminology later used in film theory
and criticism apply, such as mise en scene
(roughly, the entire visual picture at any one
time).
21. • Owing to an absence of technology for doing
so, moving visual and aural images were not
recorded for replaying as in film.
22. • In the 1860s, mechanisms for producing two-
dimensional drawings in motion were
demonstrated with devices such as the
zoetrope, mutoscope and praxinoscope.
23. • These machines were outgrowths of simple
optical devices (such as magic lanterns) and
would display sequences of still pictures at
sufficient speed for the images on the pictures
to appear to be moving, a phenomenon called
persistence of vision.
24. • Naturally the images needed to be carefully
designed to achieve the desired effect, and
the underlying principle became the basis for
the development of film animation
25. • With the development of celluloid film for still
photography, it became possible to directly
capture objects in motion in real time.
26. • . An 1878 experiment by English photographer
Eadweard Muybridge in the United States
using 24 cameras produced a series of
stereoscopic images of a galloping horse, is
arguably the first "motion picture", though it
was not called by this name.
27. • This technology required a person to look into
a viewing machine to see the pictures which
were separate paper prints attached to a
drum turned by a handcrank.
28. • The pictures were shown at a variable speed
of about 5 to 10 pictures per second,
depending on how rapidly the crank was
turned. Commercial versions of these
machines were coin operated.
30. • Film theory seeks to develop concise and
systematic concepts that apply to the study of
film as art.
31. • It was started by Ricciotto Canudo's The Birth
of the Sixth Art.
32. • Formalist film theory, led by Rudolf Arnheim,
Béla Balázs, and Siegfried Kracauer,
emphasized how film differed from reality,
and thus could be considered a valid fine art.
André Bazin reacted against this theory by
arguing that film's artistic essence lay in its
ability to mechanically reproduce reality not in
its differences from reality, and this gave rise
to realist theory.
33. • More recent analysis spurred by Jacques
Lacan's psychoanalysis and Ferdinand de
Saussure's semiotics among other things has
given rise to psychoanalytical film theory,
structuralist film theory, feminist film theory
and others.
34. • On the other hand, critics from the analytical
philosophy tradition, influenced by
Wittgenstein, try to clarify misconceptions
used in theoretical studies and produce
analysis of a film's vocabulary and its link to a
form of life.
36. • In general, these works can be divided into
two categories: academic criticism by film
scholars and journalistic film criticism that
appears regularly in newspapers and other
media.
37. • Film critics working for newspapers,
magazines, and broadcast media mainly
review new releases.
38. • Normally they only see any given film once
and have only a day or two to formulate
opinions. Despite this, critics have an
important impact on films, especially those of
certain genres.
39. • Mass marketed action, horror, and comedy
films tend not to be greatly affected by a
critic's overall judgment of a film.
40. • The plot summary and description of a film
that makes up the majority of any film review
can still have an important impact on whether
people decide to see a film.
41. • For prestige films such as most dramas, the
influence of reviews is extremely important.
Poor reviews will often doom a film to
obscurity and financial loss.
42. Industry
• The making and showing of motion pictures
became a source of profit almost as soon as
the process was invented.
43. • Upon seeing how successful their new
invention, and its product, was in their native
France, the Lumières quickly set about touring
the Continent to exhibit the first films
privately to royalty and publicly to the masses.
44. • In each country, they would normally add
new, local scenes to their catalogue and,
quickly enough, found local entrepreneurs in
the various countries of Europe to buy their
equipment and photograph, export, import
and screen additional product commercially.
45. • The Oberammergau Passion Play of 1898 was
the first commercial motion picture ever
produced. Other pictures soon followed, and
motion pictures became a separate industry
that overshadowed the vaudeville world.
46. • Dedicated theaters and companies formed
specifically to produce and distribute films,
while motion picture actors became major
celebrities and commanded huge fees for
their performances.
47. • 1917 Charlie Chaplin had a contract that called
for an annual salary of one million dollars.
48. • From 1931 to 1956, film was also the only
image storage and playback system for
television programming until the introduction
of videotape recorders.
49. • In the United States today, much of the film
industry is centered around Hollywood. Other
regional centers exist in many parts of the
world, such as Mumbai-centered Bollywood,
the Indian film industry's Hindi cinema which
produces the largest number of films in the
world.
50. • Whether the ten thousand-plus feature length
films a year produced by the Valley
pornographic film industry should qualify for
this title is the source of some debate.
51. • Though the expense involved in making
movies has led cinema production to
concentrate under the auspices of movie
studios, recent advances in affordable film
making equipment have allowed independent
film productions to flourish.
52. • Profit is a key force in the industry, due to the
costly and risky nature of filmmaking; many
films have large cost overruns, a notorious
example being Kevin Costner's Waterworld.
53. • Yet many filmmakers strive to create works of
lasting social significance.
54. • The Academy Awards (also known as "the
Oscars") are the most prominent film awards
in the United States, providing recognition
each year to films, ostensibly based on their
artistic merits.
55. • There is also a large industry for educational
and instructional films made in lieu of or in
addition to lectures and texts.
56. Associated fields
• Derivative academic Fields of study may both
interact with and develop independently of
filmmaking, as in film theory and analysis.
57. • Fields of academic study have been created
that are derivative or dependent on the
existence of film, such as film criticism, film
history, divisions of film propaganda in
authoritarian governments, or psychological
on subliminal effects of a flashing soda can
during a screening.
58. • These fields may further create derivative
fields, such as a movie review section in a
newspaper or a television guide.
59. • Sub-industries can spin off from film, such as
popcorn makers, and toys. Sub- industries of
pre-existing industries may deal specifically
with film, such as product placement in
advertising.
61. • At its core, the means to produce a film
depend on the content the filmmaker wishes
to show, and the apparatus for displaying it:
the zoetrope merely requires a series of
images on a strip of paper.
62. • Film production can therefore take as little as
one person with a camera (or even without a
camera, as in Stan Brakhage's 1963 film
Mothlight), or thousands of actors, extras and
crewmembers for a live-action, feature-length
epic.
• The
63. • necessary steps for almost any film can be
boiled down to conception, planning,
execution, revision, and distribution.
64. • The more involved the production, the more
significant each of the steps becomes.
65. • In a typical production cycle of a Hollywood-
style film, these main stages are defined as:
• Development
• Pre-production
• Production
• Post-production
• Distribution
66. • This production cycle usually takes three
years. The first year is taken up with
development. The second year comprises
preproduction and production. The third year,
post-production and distribution.
67. • The bigger the production, the more resources
it takes, and the more important financing
becomes; most feature films are not only
artistic works, but for-profit business entities.
68. References
• Acker, Ally (1991). Reel Women: Pioneers of the Cinema, 1896 to the Present. New York: Continuum.
ISBN 0-8264-0499-5.
• Basten, Fred E. (1980). Glorious Technicolor: The Movies' Magic Rainbow. Cranbury, NJ: AS Barnes &
Company. ISBN 0-498-02317-6.
• Basten, Fred E. (writer); Peter Jones (director and writer); Angela Lansbury (narrator) (1998).
Glorious Technicolor (Documentary). Turner Classic Movies. http://imdb.com/title/tt0274530/.
• Casetti, Francesco (1999). Theories of Cinema, 1945-1995. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
ISBN 0-292-71207-3.
• Cook, Pam (2007). The Cinema Book, Third Edition. London: British Film Institute. ISBN 978-1-
84457-193-2.
• Faber, Liz, & Walters, Helen (2003). Animation Unlimited: Innovative Short Films Since 1940.
London: Laurence King, in association with Harper Design International. ISBN 1-85669-346-5.
• Hagener, Malte, & Töteberg, Michael (2002). Film: An International Bibliography. Stuttgart: Metzler.
ISBN 3-476-01523-8.
• Hill, John, & Gibson, Pamela Church (1998). The Oxford Guide to Film Studies. Oxford; New York:
Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-871124-7.
• King, Geoff (2002). New Hollywood Cinema: An Introduction. New York: Columbia University Press.
ISBN 0-231-12759-6.
• Ledoux, Trish, & Ranney, Doug, & Patten, Fred (1997). Complete Anime Guide: Japanese Animation
Film Directory and Resource Guide. Issaquah, WA: Tiger Mountain Press. ISBN 0-9649542-5-7.