New Hollywood In The 1970s

1960s cinema reflected the tremendous social changes, transitional cultural values, fun, fashion, and rock ‘n’ roll of the

Hollywood cinema is primarily subjected to telling stories. The inclination of Hollywood narratives comes not just from good chronicles but from good story telling. The following essay will discuss Hollywood’s commercial aesthetic as applied to storytelling, expand on the characteristics of the “principles of classical film narration” and evaluate alternative modes of narration and other deviations from the classical mode.

In the mid 1970’s the movie industry seemed to have a huge recovery with the

In this book, King examines the Hollywood “Renaissance” from the late 1960s to the late 1970s as well as some of the industrial factors that shape the current dominance of the corporate blockbuster. King begins by stating that there are two distinct periods when addressing “New Hollywood” including the Hollywood Renaissance and the New Hollywood. Geoff King analyses new Hollywood dynamically and accessibly in his text and discusses diverse films, film makers and film companies apart from concentrating on the interactions between the film texts, social contexts, and their producers by using examples across Hollywood and its genres. He further discusses how positions of studios within media conglomerate, and the relationship between production for big and small screens as well as the influence of television, advertising and franchising on the New Hollywood have been transformed the form of the films (King 137-140).

A set of practices concerning the narrative structure compose the classical Hollywood Paradigm. These conventions create a plot centering around a character who undergoes a journey in an attempt to achieve some type of goal (). By giving the

As the movie industry moved into the 80's and 90's a new and distinctive type of film emerged. This new style was the Hollywood studio blockbuster. As the studios began making more and more blockbusters a vacuum was created that independent film makers were happy to fill. Though opposites in style, they compliment one another in the main goal of Hollywood: making a profit. These two distinctive styles of film have simultaneously worked together to see the reemergence and recovery of the movie industry.

Old Hollywood was revered for its glamour, elegance, innovation, and stars. One thing it was not well-known for, though, was its diversity. Its stars were mostly beautiful white performers, all glamorous and talented in their own right, but nevertheless, all the same. Due to the obvious racism of the time period, culture, and of Hollywood itself, African-American actors tended to take a backseat, no matter how talented they were. Furthermore, even when they did have their opportunity to perform, they were depicted in not-so-flattering ways, their direction paling in comparison to their white counterparts, even if their talents were similar. Performers such as Lena Horne and the Nicholas Brothers had to fight tooth-and-nail to even get recognized in the film musical industry, and even when they eventually got featured, it was not in the best of lights. Still, their efforts showcased that African-American performers were just as talented, if not more skilled, than many of the white actors on the screen.

When someone says the word “Hollywood”, my mind has no problem painting a detailed picture. Films with grand orchestras, multi-million-dollar lighting, costumes, and makeup, big name actors; these things all come to mind. However, in the third chapter of Bordwell and Thompson’s Film Art, a set of conventions considered to be part of classical Hollywood filmmaking are listed. These conventions are tagged on to what we would expect to see in a classical Hollywood film. They are included in the themes and elements of the plot and narrative that we have come to expect from the films that we watch and love, but may not often be consciously consider. One of my favorite films, Dead Poet’s Society, is not exempt from this—it too includes several key

During the “golden age” from the early 1930s to the 1950s, the studio system employed a “producer-unit system” to make movies that would “value both profits and aesthetic value” (Barsam & Monahan, 2016, p. 469). With this manager and producer-heavy structure, standardization became possible in filmmaking which led to films with a “studio look,” meaning that movies, particularly from the major studios, had a “predictable technical quality, often at the cost of stylistic sameness” (Barsam & Monahan, 2016, p. 470).

During the early 1960s, the Hollywood in America was rapidly losing money. Fewer people went to the cinema and fewer films have been made. And a number of spectacular flops have almost bankrupted Hollywood film industry. Till the late 1960s and early 1970s, the baby boomer generation along with the end of the Vietnam War has created an opportunity of changing and saving the situation of Hollywood. For a period that has changed audience’s demographics from a middle-aged high school educated audiences to a younger college-educated audiences. And affected by the French New Wave, directors injected films with a jolt of freshness, energy and sexuality. That period is known as the New Hollywood or the Hollywood Renaissance. Among the films have been made at

Hollywood’s Golden Age started when major studios had survived the financial crisis of the 1920s, and decided not to be put in that kind of situation by introducing the contract system to all of their employees. This strategy assured that the studios where less likely to be exposed to high risks, and where sometimes more in favor of the studios. With total power over productions the studios where able to keep production costs at a manageable levels, as well as exclusive rights to certain stars of the era. Even thought employees who were part of the contract system enjoyed steady employment, compensation, and other benefits, the studios reserve the right to cancel or void any contract at their discretion sometimes without merit. Everything about

During the course of this essay it is my intention to discuss the differences between Classical Hollywood and post-Classical Hollywood. Although these terms refer to theoretical movements of which they are not definitive it is my goal to show that

“The French New wave was a coherent movement, which existed for a limited period of time, and whose emergence was favored by series of simultaneous factors intervening at the close of the 1950s, and especially during 1958-9” (pg. 2). Matilda applied urban settings to the film to give it a more urban feel to its story, which was something the French New Wave movement heavily influenced in the film industry. Matilda (1996) was also influenced by the New Hollywood movement because its use of linear narrative. Matilda (1996) followed the guidelines of introduction, rising action, and solution throughout the film. Matilda (1996) focused on the realism of the characters, and this was an idea that the New Hollywood was mainly focused on. Matilda (1996)

Screenwriters are often depicted and/or viewed as whiny control freaks, sell-outs, or unimportant figures during production and post-production; but why does this stigma exist? The answer lies in various folds within the history of screenwriting itself. A single entity was not solely responsible for attaching such reputations to screenwriters, rather multiple, from studio heads to novel writers, and even screenwriters themselves. These developments in the screenwriter’s persona entangled with the evolution of film as a medium itself, as well as with the public view of the entire industry. However, interestingly enough, these often negative images have also been solidified by misconceptions printed by film historians as well. Therefore, the weaving web that culminated to the perceptions of today began at films conception in the 1890s, and did not cease until recent times.

1970s American cinema can be viewed as an extension to and, to a certain extent, the aftermath of the cultural explosion that took place in the previous decade. Jon Lewis, in his book American Film, argues that around 1968 a new auteur renaissance befell Hollywood. Directors like Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, and several others came to the forefront of film and received generous funding from the studios for their projects. The cause of this can be traced to the change in censorship laws which took place during the ‘60s; where the studio-model of filmmaking had prospered under the old strict PCA censorship rules and regulations, the only model that seemed