Hollywood Cinema - Culture of Viewing - Assignment Example

R.Preeti 14/7/2007 Hollywood Cinema Culture of viewing Hollywood is the world’s most famous film industry and it contributes to some of the world’s finest films ever made. The place in California has become home to the world’s most famous film industry. It is not only the largest screen of attraction, but it also employs some of the best technologies and performers, that the world has seen. Hollywood, today, is synonymous with glamour and glitz, movies and magic. However, there is a good amount of history and development that took place, before all that we see today, happened. Technological advancements, improvements in terms of the style, script, the industry and the like. This essay attempts to outline the development, the technology and the whole industry of Hollywood, which is a very important part of world cinema, as a whole. Early Years of Cinema Cinema, as we see it today, is not the result of an invention and a head-long jump. It ahs taken several decades and a couple of centuries for cinema technology and culture to reach, where it stands today. It has been a revolutionary, besides an evolutionary tale of growth and development. Hollywood movies have been at the pinnacle of this development. Motion pictures started with the invention of the kinetoscope, by Thomas Alva Edison. The latter was a cabinet in which a continuous loop of Dicksons celluloid film (powered by an electric motor) was backlit by an incandescent lamp and seen through a magnifying lens. [Wikipedia]. Capitalising on the popularity of this kinetoscope, Robert William Paul came up with the idea of displaying moving pictures for group audiences and thus, invented the Film Projector which debuted in 1895. During the same time, the Lumiere brothers invented the cinematograph, which consisted of the camera, projector and the printer. Movies, during this time were about one-minute long and usually presented a single scene from everyday life or public occurrences. It did not involve any techniques and technicalities like editing or camera movements. However, the popularity of motion pictures led to the bloom and growth of the industry in the 19th century. This was primarily because of the fact that the audiences were entranced by the capturing of live movements of everyday life, on screen---a novelty that was not seen before. Until this time, the whole of Europe experienced this boom. However, with the end of the World War 1, the focus of this boom shifted to the United States of America, which started assuming the top position. The first major success that American cinema faced was that of ‘The Great Train Robbery’, directed by Edwin. S. Porter. In 19, director D.W.Griffith shot the first ever Hollywood film, ‘In Old California’. His ‘Birth of a Nation’ is still celebrated as the pioneering films of celluloid. Then came the era of film makers like Alfred Hitchcock, Ernst Lubitsch and the like. From the beginning, the film makers tried to devise ways and means of synchronising sound with the moving visuals. This, however, was possible only in the 1920s. Until then, the silent era of films was prevalent. During this time, the average viewership of Hollywood films was a brilliant ninety million per week! Then came the era of sound and music, with the Warner Brothers introducing the Vitaphone system, with the capturing of live acts and adding recorded background music to it. By 1929, Hollywood was almost fully sound oriented. From here started the Great Era of Hollywood, till the 1940s. The technology used in these early years of film making ranged from the initial zoetrope to the kinetoscope, from the cinematographe to the mutoscope. All these devices were the results of years of inventive attempts and finally, they captured live actions and motions, to present before the audiences, a mesmerising world of charm and life. The Hollywood Industry Though the Hollywood consists mainly of the process of film making and other aspects that are more artistic and tech-inclined, it is also perceived as an industry. This is primarily due to the fact that it employs so many technicians and artistes. The industry is the source of livelihood of thousands and it also contains numerous trade unions and labour unions, that protect and promote the interests of its building blocks---the members fo the industry. It is the largest film industry in the world, with the best technicians and artistes in its hold. Culture and Hollywood The mind-set and societal setup of the American society, during the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries were not too well-oriented to the likes of visual arts and the technological foray into arts. The American society was working its way to the top niche of the world, with the impact of the Industrial Revolution fresh and still very profound. The society was moving towards realising the concept of the American Dream, which was a great d riving force towards helping America become a super power. In this phase, the advent of the era of films had a great appeal, due to the fact that it collaborated art and technology, that was blooming. The amazement at watching live and animated human beings on screen, and observing their antics and gestures was a great source of entertainment and brought about a sense of wonder amongst the viewers, who were left mesmerised. This was the case in the silent era, when keen observation of the actions on screen was an inevitable part of viewing. With the coming and the introduction of sound bytes, the viewership became diverse, since it produced the audio-visual impact. Cinema was no longer a luxury or a source of entertainment outside the purview of one’s personal environment. It was had a universal appeal, due to its greater penetration and reach, into the society. Here was a mass medium that went beyond the borders and barriers of literacy, visual or audio deformities and the like, since it used a twin impact approach with its visuals and audio. Transcending boundaries, Hollywood movies became the hallmark of entertainment. The fashion and style statements fo the day came to be dictated by what was depicted on screen. Lifestyles began changing and people became more and more dependent on this media for improvisations of their existing conditions. It created a great stir in terms of the ideas put forth by these movies, the pace and style of entertainment and the whole aspect of idolising on-screen stars. The Americans and the whole world was exposed to this new art and technology that was available--- and they lapped up the opportunity, allowing it to grow and bloom and go on to occupy an important juncture in everyone’s everyday lives. Thus, Hollywood films not only provided entertainment and paved way for better technological advancements, but also changed the cultural setup, influencing numerous positive and negative alterations in all those lives that Hollywood films touched---in short, all and sundry. References Website: www.wikipedia.com Website: www.earlycinema.com “Mass Communication”, Keval .J.Kumar, Jaico Publishers. Website: www.answers.com Read More