Preview

Short Essay on the Film Industry

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
638 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Short Essay on the Film Industry
"Blockbuster." "World Wide Fame." "Billion Dollar Studio Production." All of these words have at one point or another been associated with the great classic films since the dawn of the cinematic industry. The most memorable upbeat, romantic, or inspiring films are persistently produced at a time when the surrounding morale is slowly deteriorating, almost as a testament to the constant transformation of the media. This evolution has been semiotically studied by great minds such as Henry Stubbes and John Locke, used largely for interpretation purposes. It is noted that the media has the power to influence social and political behavior, resulting in culture and popular trends, instead of natural forces, that guide us. For the conservatives residing in our great nation, the mere presence of this semiotic theory is virtually unbearable. However, when examined at a closer range these thoughts become vivid and clear- even our precious notion of personal choice is clearly a subjective distortion of the media's influential opinion.
Popular culture has been transforming itself furiously for the better part of this century- always inventing new "fads" and slang terminology. However within the past few years, the rapid change has been digressing- the newest trends are to revert back to earlier decades. Some wonder why this retro movement is gaining such a fierce following...maybe it's because everyone recalls the simplicity of their youth. Such pictures as "The Wizard of Oz" and "Casablanca" refer to a time when there was truly something to fight for, a time when the worlds of entertainment and politics collided in a prosperous manner. This viewpoint cannot be argued, as The Second World War was in full swing during the production of both films. Also, both are infused with strong relationship-centric plotlines, a common worry among Americans in wartime.

By examining two still shots taken from these classics, we are allowed a better insight a to what makes our social
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Final Essay, Intro to Film Eng 225
    • 2759 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Final Essay, Intro to Film Eng 225

    Rarely has a film impacted an audience and held the test of time as the film Gone with the Wind. I have always been curious if director, Victor Fleming and producer, David O. Selznick and screenplay writer, Sidney Howard knew what they were creating a masterpiece and how this film would have such an enormous impact on audiences for years to come. Interestingly enough there were some who thought the film should not be made, as Irving Thalberg said to Louis B. Meyer in 1936, “Forget it Louis, no Civil War picture ever made a nickel” (Ten Films that Shook the World). This romantic melodrama was released in January, 1940, yet it was at the 1939 Academy Awards that Gone with the Wind was nominated for thirteen awards, the eight awards that were won were Best Picture, Director, Actress, Supporting Actress, Screenplay, Color Cinematography, Art Direction, and Editing (Ten Films that Shook the World). ”If the total income for Gone with the Wind were to be adjusted for inflation, it would be considered the most successful of all time” (Ten Films that Shook the World). When you think of “Gone with the Wind” from a film criticism standpoint, it’s hard to judge it by the Auteur Theory, which states that the director is supreme overlord of a films artistic merit because in the case of Gone with the Wind, Fleming takes a back seat to Selznick. The film chronicles the grandeur and splendor of the Old South, how it crumbles during the Civil War and the New South during reconstruction. The characters are basically simple folk living a simple life until their world is shattered by the Civil War and this devastation creates a new world, one which will require courage and resilience to survive. Selznick genius in the aspects of cinematography lighting, sound, costumes and societal impact and genre…

    • 2759 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Manchurian Candidate Comparison
    • 1236 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Manchurian Candidate Comparison

    The transition of Hollywood movies from their birth to date has been tremendous, not only from black and white to color, from physical film stock to digital format, from the silent era to the use of 3D surround sound systems but even the portrayal of emotions has been altered to satisfy the demands of the present generation. The curiosity of film makers has now been diverted to fulfill the demands of the current audience rather than to express their own imagination. The best technique to ‘measure’ the impact of social variables on movies would be to compare a classic version of a movie to its modern remake. In my essay I will contrast the 60’s version of the movie the Manchurian Candidate to its’04 version. The alterations of the latter version…

    • 1236 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Howard Zinn Summary
    • 1047 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Howard Zinn Summary

    Since the mid 19 century, Hollywood film production has been the most dominate movie cinema throughout the world. Hollywood has produced motion pictures because it was very innovating and creative for this particular period in the film production industry. This type of filming industry has become important to the American society, and there are beliefs that Hollywood has influential effects on a society as well. Howard Zinn was a professor and currently is a book publisher, a play, and musical writer. Howard soon realizes in his career, something seems to be odd about the way Hollywood makes films in history.…

    • 1047 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Terminator 2: Judgment Day
    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Terminator 2: Judgment Day

    As Lewis points out, the studio films of the 1980s and 1990s were put together as packages based more on profit than artistry, while the marketing and promotion resembled that of a political campaign, with as much as one-third of the budget going to advertising costs (2008, p. 399). Today, however, with no norm being the norm, especially in the realms of financing and marketing, films are advertised and distributed individually--sometimes based on the target audience or projected success of the film--in arrangements worked out by the studios, producers, and…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Sacrifice In Casablanca
    • 1391 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Sacrifice In Casablanca

    Casablanca is one of the best films produced by the World War II Hollywood propaganda machine. During this period of time, in 1943, the movie was among one of the one hundred war films that represents the Office of War Information’s early intentions of truthfully representing the war. The Motion Picture was filmed to educate the public about the issues surrounding the war as well as the causes of and reasons for the war. Casablanca is one of the greatest propaganda films ever written, the film's message of self-sacrifice and of a love lost and found has communicated to several cultures and made an immediate impact to its core American audience.…

    • 1391 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Jim Stark's Rebel Without A Cause
    • 1064 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Jim Stark's Rebel Without A Cause

    As art imitates life, the story paralleled part of a new wave of films, which rebelled against the nostalgic pre-war idealism. Since the arrival of television, the average age of moviegoers had fallen significantly. The younger crowd craved plots and characters with which they could identify. Already attuned to the rebellious messages of another revolutionary social tidal wave, rock and roll, patrons sought the same theme on the big screen. The icon of this new cinema was the…

    • 1064 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Casino Royale: Theme of Terrorism
    • 3110 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Casino Royale: Theme of Terrorism

    Over a period of time, specific audiences construct expectations of different types of media, related to either what they have been told, or perhaps what the media have exposed them to in the past. Indeed, it could be argued that the success of a film to a large degree, rests on whether or not such expectations are met, surpassed, else the audience successfully surprised. Certainly, such expectations have to be addressed by the film, if it is to be considered satisfying for the audience, and in this way, elements within the film, such as character representations, the narrative and cinematography are all important components which allow this to be achieved. Additionally, the social and political context in which the film is being viewed must be considered, as it is against this background that their expectations will have been formed.…

    • 3110 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    How Is Cinema Shaped American Society
    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages

    How Is Cinema Shaped American Society

    This final essay will reflect how cinema has evolved as an industry and shaped American society. The paper’s first section will focus on four technical advantages that brought change to the Hollywood film industry. The second section will emphasize four major events that had an impact on American cinema.…

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Hollywood Film Analysis
    • 1985 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Hollywood Film Analysis

    This essay will take an in-depth look at the history of Hollywood during the late 60s and early 70s. This period of time is considered to have been a renaissance for American cinema, and was titled the ‘New Hollywood’ by cotemporary critics of the time. In order to understand the changes that Hollywood went through the late ‘60s, you first have to examine the preceding era of Hollywood filmmaking during the 30s and 40s. This was a period that is commonly referred to as Hollywood’s Golden Age; when the dream factories were in full swing and the audiences were in regular attendance. This period of time could be defined by a number of social, political or economic contexts, but it’s the filmmaking practices that were employed at the time which…

    • 1985 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Little Miss Sunshine: The Misconceptions Of American Culture
    • 1088 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Little Miss Sunshine: The Misconceptions Of American Culture

    In the history of cinema, few rivals can compete successfully with America. Hollywood movies dominate the world market and have strong cultural influences over the rest of the world. (EXPAND) However, people elsewhere who perceive America through blockbuster movies may not have the most accurate picture of American everyday life.…

    • 1088 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    1930s Movie Theater
    • 1024 Words
    • 5 Pages

    1930s Movie Theater

    The movie theater industry flourished with the attendance to movie theaters soaring. It was said to be that essentially all the population was attending movie theaters during this decade. The most influential reasoning for this spark of film was the craving for an escape from the people, who needed desperately to get away from their own lives, and experience someone else’s live and feel other emotions besides anguish and sorrow. Although the population’s yearning for an escape pushed the film industry to the top, the government assisted with the Works Progress Administration’s New Deal programs and the film and movie theater companies benefitted the industry by creating unique and intriguing genres and appealing advertisements. Today’s society also reaches to movies to take a break from reality and movie theater companies still continue to advance and innovate advertisements and the theaters themselves to increase the attendance. Even though, the decade of the 1930s was overall filled with misery and discouragement, the film industry was a positive aspect of this time with its new funding by the government it strived with advanced genres and…

    • 1024 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    It's A Wonderful Life Movie Analysis
    • 593 Words
    • 3 Pages

    It's A Wonderful Life Movie Analysis

    Although, the book “American Film and Society Since 1945” gives detailed explanations of films from the 1940’s; I find it difficult to understand the interpretations. For example, it is comparable to attempting to write a book report; without having read the book. Without the experience of actually watching the films mentioned in our required text; I feel lost in the translation of films that are considered iconic in American Culture. However, after doing some research, I do have opinions that seem valid.…

    • 593 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Fast and furious analysis
    • 401 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Fast and furious analysis

    This paper is 2-3 pages long. Use double space and font 12". Select a movie available to you and reflect on it with an emphasis on one particular issue that interests you more than others.…

    • 401 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    American Film History Analysis Essay
    • 2861 Words
    • 12 Pages

    American Film History Analysis Essay

    “If the outlaw hero’s motto was ‘I don’t know what the law says, but I do know what’s right and wrong,’ the official hero’s was ‘We are a nation of laws, not of men” (Ray 62). A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, by Robert Ray, looks at the various opposing values in America through the history of Hollywood films and cinema, which one vital value is the dichotomy of outlaw hero versus official hero. Official hero tends to be an idealogy of the law and society values, represented through characters such as police officers and lawyers, whereas outlaw hero tends to be more of an individual with own marks of traits, and own marks of actions. Ray discusses that in traditional films, how a single character can hold completely different traits , giving examples such as Terry, in the film On the Waterfront, who is a boxer but also a delicate person who also spends a chunk of time in taking care of pigeons as a hobby. But Ray’s most vital argument is about the thematic paradigm, the avoidance of choice, or the “denial of the necessity for choice” (Ray 63).…

    • 2861 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Visual Entertainment Media
    • 1202 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Visual Entertainment Media

    From its inception, visual entertainment media has not only shaped American culture, but also its values. While both TV and movies aired only what was socially moral and politically correct in their beginnings, they soon began to air what would garner the most ratings and money. We are a society that has made movie stars what they are today, yet we also criticize their every move. Visual entertainment media has come a long way from the censorship and monopolies of the 20th Century. While American culture has been shaped by visual entertainment media over the decades, visual entertainment media has been shaped by American culture at the same time.…

    • 1202 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More

Related Topics