The Life And Work Of Roger Corman

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 they are applicable in a broad way to a cinema tradition that dominated Hollywood production between 1916 and 1960 and which also pervaded Western Mainstream Cinema (Classical Hollywood or Classic Narrative Cinema) and to the movement and changes that came about following this time period (Post-Classical or New Hollywood). I intend to do this by first analysing and defining aspects of Classical Hollywood and having done that,

In “A Century of Cinema”, Susan Sontag explains how cinema was cherished by those who enjoyed what cinema offered. Cinema was unlike anything else, it was entertainment that had the audience feeling apart of the film. However, as the years went by, the special feeling regarding cinema went away as those who admired cinema wanted to help expand the experience.

MOTIVATIONAL ESSAY & JOURNAL ALEXANDROS PATERIMOS 21700191 EDITING Y1 T1 SUMMARIES OF READINGS: AN INTERVIEW WITH FILM EDITOR WALTER MURCH:

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.

Hollywood cinema also produces its own realities on the big screen. As Cecil B. De Mille. Goldfish and Samuel Goldfish claimed during the production of the first motion picture, “when real life doesn’t fit a preconceived image, create another reality” (xi). Since that 1913 statement, Hollywood has fostered this type of reality-making that results into an escape for its audiences. Aside from the physical escape of traveling to the movies or Blockbuster in order to view these films, audiences are also invested in the characters they view on screen. However, Webb informs the public that “what appears on the screen is a stylized version of real life (or a plausible vision of imaginary worlds) that is made possible by the prolonged collaborative effort of hundreds, working in support of a celebrated few” (3). The “reality” of the cinema lies in producers, directors, actors, back-lots, etc. involved in its creation rather

“The biggest mistake we have made is to consider that films are primarily a form of entertainment. The film is the greatest medium since the invention of movable type for exchanging ideas and information, and it is no more at its best in light entertainment than literature is at its best in the light novel.” - Orson Welles

Being one of the world’s most popular art forms, it was inevitable that these archetypes would find their way into film as well. In this essay I will argue that the

"The film of tomorrow will not be directed by civil servants of the camera, but by artists for whom shooting a film constitutes a wonderful and thrilling adventure." Francois Truffaut. Auteur Theory suggests that the best films will bear their maker’s ‘signature’. Discuss

    Film and literature are two media forms that are so closely related, that we often forget there is a distinction between them. We often just view the movie as an extension of the book because most movies are based on novels or short stories. Because we are accustomed to this sequence of production, first the novel, then the motion picture, we often find ourselves making value judgments about a movie, based upon our feelings on the novel. It is this overlapping of the creative processes that prevents us from seeing movies as distinct and separate art forms from the novels they are based on.

Diehl, Digby. "Directors At Work: Roger Corman" Directors in Action: Selections from ACTION. Ed. Bob Thomas. New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1973. 32-38

In the late history of film, few individuals have truly made something so unparalleled that it could influence the entire business. Tim Burton has delivered an extraordinary measurement of movies that elevate the inquiry, is Burton one of these individuals? Might he be clever to merely be a ordinary, if topsy-turvy, producer who has figured out how to convince everybody he is phenomenal, or would he say he is the splendid visual craftsman who utilizes his abilities to make marvelous motion pictures? The director's part in present-day Hollywood is loaded with controversy. He has earned the status of auteur. Burton is a director who has had an effect—both in the business and on the silver screen goers—and whose movies, so uncommon in their honest

‘There are…two kinds of film makers: one invents an imaginary reality; the other confronts an existing reality and attempts to understand it, criticise it…and finally, translate it into film’

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

Beginning roughly with the release of Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Stopped Worrying and Loved the Bomb in 1964, and continuing for about the next decade, the “Sixties” era of filmmaking made many lasting impressions on the motion picture industry. Although editing and pacing styles varied greatly from Martin Scorcesse’s hyperactive pace, to Kubrick’s slow methodical pace, there were many uniform contributions made by some of the era’s seminal directors. In particular, the “Sixties” saw the return of the auteur, as people like Francis Ford Coppola and Stanley Kubrick wrote and directed their own screenplays, while Woody Allen wrote, directed and starred in his own films. Kubrick,

Hollywood today spends more money on movies than ever before, with an average budget of $140 million per movie. ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’; the most expensive movie ever made; cost approximately $378.5 million and that was five years ago. This isn’t surprising since history is witness to a rising trend in money spent on movies, however, even after adjusting for inflation, their impact on the industry isn’t as large as their budgets. Over the years, lower cost productions like B-Movies have played a major role in carrying the industry forward by keeping it stable, moving and profitable in times of trouble. B-Movies came to be the need of the hour after The Great Depression and World War II. Money was tight everywhere and Hollywood could not continue making extravagant movies therefore they turned to low budget commercial films. These movies not only have an economical significance in Hollywood, they have made more than one contribution to the industry. These low risk movies provided directors, writers and producers with a wide scope for experimentation and led to the creation of many genres and sub-genres. The origins of B-Movies are humble but over the years that they grew in Hollywood, they became more significant and successful, yet their progress from “Rags to Riches” remains more a behind-the-scenes heroic act than a superhero