Crash Course Questions

According to the Crash Course video,Why do cinema audiences end up with "only reboots and dystopian fantasies"?
Because Hollywood is driven by trends. The success of one genre or film means others will jump onto the bandwagon and make something similar to also make money.


According to the Crash Course video, what is Classical Hollywood Cinema?
Classical Hollywood Cinema is a era between the 1930s and the 1950s when the studios perfected a style of film. The stories were generic and the movies were filmed on constructed sets


What is high key lighting and who uses it?
A flat generic form of lighting that ensured the entire image was clearly visible, it was used by classical Hollywood film


What happened in the European Film Industry after WW2?


Who was Roberto Rosellini and what did he do?
Roberto was a working director before the war and started shooting again right after it ended. They wanted a more raw and authentic style. They had barely any film making tools (because of the war studios were wrecked)  but used this to their advantage, they used this to reflect a harsh reality they saw around them.


Which film movement was he associated with?
Italian Neo-realism


What happened in the late 1950s in France?
A group of opinionated young film lovers started writing for a movie magazine (Cahiers du Cinema). They hated the studio system and the films coming out of them

What did critics of the Studio System accuse them of?
They accused them of making unimaginative literary adaptations that mimicked the classical Hollywood style. And that the studio system in US and France were spoon feeding their audiences rather than respecting their intelligence.


Who was Jean-Luc Godard?
He was part of the opinionated film lovers who wrote for the magazines. who wrote a scathing attack on 21 major French directors


Did Jean-luc Godard admire any Hollywood directors? Elaborate.
 Yes, he liked John Ford, Howard Hawks and Orson Welles.


What is the French New Wave?  Describe and name 3 directors and films.
It was when the critiques began creating their own films and they became recognized as major international film stars.
 Jean-Luc Godard shot Breathless
 Jacques Rivette made Paris Belongs to Us
 Claude Chabrol made his second film Les Cousins
 and Francois Truffaut directed The 400 Blows


What happened in the US in 1948 and what effect did it have on their film industry?
There was an anti trust lawsuit (United states vs Paramount Pictures) which forced the major studios to give up their theatre chains. This made the film industry be full of all types of films not just the type the biggest studios wanted to show in their theatres.


What happened in the US in the 1970s? Describe.




What do studio executives like?
Money


Why was Bonnie and Clyde a watershed moment in US film history?
Because it was about a pair of charismatic depression era bank robbers on a crime spree. It was a American film that was like a French New Era film. It included unapologetic sexuality, casual humour and brutal violence.


Which other films were made in this period?
Denis Hopper and Peter Fondas, Easy rider. The graduate (1987) and Midnight Cowboy (1969)


What is New Hollywood Cinema? When was it? Name 3 directors and films.
It is when old studio executives began to retire and new ones joined, they were shaped by the same social forces as the younger film makers e.g. the rise of counterculture and  Watergate era politics. Small film makers were able to be financed by major Hollywood Studios
It lasted from 1967-1980s
Directors like Martin Scorses, Francis Ford Coppola and Brian de Palma were major directors were were able to make films that satisfied the hungry audience.


What were Summer Blockbusters? When did they arise? Give 2 examples of directors and films.
Directors like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas created the first summer blockbusters were Jaws, Star Wars and Raider of the Lost Ark.


What happened to Hollywood Studios at this time?
The studios were being purchased by multinational, large corporations which changed the way the studios worked. There was now stockholders to satisfy marketing departments to consult and risk assessment to consider. It was all very corporate.


What happened to US Cinema in the 1990s? Describe with examples
The arrival of a new set of independent film makers and mini studios Directors like Spike Lee, Steven Soderbegh, Paul Thomas Anderson and Quentin Tarantino made films for independent companies like Miramax and New Line Cinema. Although they didn't have the resources of the major film studios, the success of films like Do the Right thing and Pulp Fiction showed there  was a hunger for risky, original American films that continue today