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Motion Pictures

Chapter 9

© 2009, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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CHAPTER OUTLINE

• History of the Motion Picture• Motion Pictures in the Digital Age• Defining Features of Motion Pictures• Organization of the Film Industry• Ownership in the Film Industry• Producing Motion Pictures• Economics• Feedback• Movies at Home

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HISTORY OF THE MOTION PICTURE

• Motion pictures (including TV) are possible because of:– Phi phenomenon (consecutive light sources

appear to be single source that moves)– Persistence of vision (see image for split

second after it has disappeared)

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The Edison Lab

• Thomas Edison & William Dickson– Edison thought profits would come from

hardware sales

• Kinetoscope (1889)– Camera and viewing device– Sprocket-fed film

• Vitascope (1896) – Edison’s projection-version – Generated novelty interest, didn’t last

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The Nickelodeons

• Public interest rekindled when films began to be used to tell a story (narrative films)– Stationary cameras (Melies’ A Trip to the

Moon)– Editing and movable cameras (Porter’s The

Great Train Robbery)

• Nickelodeons: 50-90 seat theaters– Demand for films soared– New film studios were created

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Zukor and Griffith

• Introduced long films

• Adolph Zukor: Queen Elizabeth (4 reels)

• D. W. Griffith: 1915 Birth of a Nation (3 hours)– In response to racist content, films targeting

black audiences appeared• The Realization of a Negro’s Ambition (George &

Noble Johnson; 1916)

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Birth of the MMPC

• Motion Picture Patents Company (1908)• Tried to restrict movie production and

distribution to the 9 companies making up the MMPC – Leading film and equipment makers pooled

their patents

• Attempt backfired; independent producers and smaller filmmakers appeared

• By 1917, MMPC was powerless

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The Star System

• Independent studios capitalized on popularity of particular actors and actresses– Florence Lawrence, Charlie Chaplin, Mary

Pickford– United Artists: studio created by the stars

• Interest in stars led to longer movies and more comfortable theaters

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Consolidation and Growth

• Increased costs encouraged consolidation– Filmmakers became distributors and theater

owners– Theater owners bought film studios

• Block booking: theater owners had to book some lower quality films if they wanted to get the top films

• By 1989, US filmmakers controlled 80% of worldwide film market

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The Roaring Twenties

• Salaries and production costs skyrocketed

• Untamed excesses

• Industry tried self regulation– Motion Picture Producers and Distributors

Association • helped avert government regulation

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The Coming of Sound

• The Jazz Singer (1927), Warner Brothers– Sound film possible since 1918

• Studios hadn’t wanted to spend money experimenting with sound

• Double features– Response to Depression’s affect on profits

• Technicolor and animation– Additional efforts to encourage attendance

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The Studio Years

• 1930-1950: The studio years• 1939-1941: most significant period for motion

picture achievement– Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach,

Citizen Kane

• Government brought suit against several studios– Charge: Studios’ vertical control over production,

distribution & exhibition presented a monopoly. • 1948 ruling: studios must divest themselves of at least one

type of holding (most sold their theater chains)• Block booking was also prohibited (deprived studios of

guaranteed exhibition for all their films)

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The Film Industry Reacts to TV

• Late 1940s: TV cut into movie profits• Hollywood fought back:

– Refused to advertise films on TV; refused to show old films on TV; tried to bar film stars from appearing on TV

• Hollywood tried to woo audiences back– Technology: 3-D, Cinerama – Content: “spectacle” films, musicals, adult-oriented

themes• Eventually Hollywood started cooperating with

TV– Late 1950s began supplying programs to network TV

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Realignments: The Film Industry from 1960-1990

• Major studio power declines & independent productions increase

• Hollywood works more closely with TV

• Film controls loosen; switch from regulating content to regulating audiences– MPAA rating system (G-PG-R-X)

• Updated in 1985 (PG-13; replace X with NC-17)

• Film revenue and budgets increase

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Contemporary Trends in Motion Pictures

• Challenges: Piracy and illegal file sharing

• Admissions continue to decline– Box office revenue has increased but that is

due to higher ticket prices

• DVD sales/rentals are chief sources of income

• Six big companies dominate the industry

• Modern film content is highly varied

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MOTION PICTURES IN THE DIGITAL AGE

• The digital revolution is affecting all elements of the motion picture industry

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Making Digital Movies

• Most special effects are digitally-generated

• In some films, only the actors are real

• In some films, not even the actors are real

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Digital Distribution to Theaters

• Traditional distribution (physical)– Duplicated copies of celluloid film are sent to

theaters

• Digital distribution (electronic)– Can use disc, satellite, optical fiber, Internet– Eliminates scratches, dust, “gate jitter”– Drawback: cost of equipping theaters to

handle digital content

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Digital Distribution to Home

• Multiple sources for digital film content– Apple TV, AOL, MovieLink, iTunes

• Long range popularity remains to be seen

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Digital Projection

• Not yet manufactured in large scale

• Challenges:– Ensure color/sharpness of traditional film– Cost ($150,000 per screen)– Relatively few movie screens are equipped

with digital projectors

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Mobile Movies

• Movies are probably the least portable of all media, but there are options.– Portable DVD players becoming more popular– DVD players installed in vehicles– Download to laptops– Experimenting with films on cell phones

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User-Generated Content

• Given the nature of film production, user-generated content is not yet a major part of the medium

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DEFINING FEATURES OF MOTION PICTURES

• Most expensive mass media product: High production, marketing, distribution costs

• Dominated by conglomerates

• Strong aesthetic dimension; medium most discussed as art form

• Movie-going continues to be social experience

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ORGANIZATION OF THE FILM INDUSTRY

• The film industry can be divided into three areas

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Production

• Films produced by variety of organizations and individuals

• Major studios finance/distribute independent films

• Major studios typically organized around– Film production– Distribution– TV production– Administration

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Distribution

• Supplying prints of films to theaters– Also distributes TV programs & DVDs

• Film advertising and promotion

• Most distribution done by large companies

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Exhibition

• Exhibitors over-expanded in the late 1990s

• By 2007, about 37,000 screens– Upgrades include digital surround sound and

stadium seating– Multiplex (12-18 screens per theater) are still

the rule• Some exhibitors target older market• Improved soundproofing and concessions; valet

parking

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OWNERSHIP IN THE FILM INDUSTRY

• The film industry is dominated by conglomerates– Walt Disney Company (Disney; Touchstone;

Buena Vista)– Time Warner (Warner Brothers)– Paramount/Viacom– Sony/MGM– NBC Universal– News Corporation (20th Century Fox)

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PRODUCING MOTION PICTURES

• There are three main phases in moviemaking

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Preproduction

• Writing the story:– Story ideas, treatments, scripts

• Meanwhile, producer works on:– Financing, talent, behind-the-camera

personnel, locations, general investment interest

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Production

• Actual filming of movie

• $400,000 - $500,000 per day (moderate budget)– Average 70 days– Less than 2 minutes of usable film per day

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Postproduction

• Editing

• Special effects

• Sound

• Release print

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ECONOMICS

• Movies are expensive medium.

• In 2007, average film cost $100 million to produce and market

• Revenue comes from– US and foreign box office– DVD– Miscellaneous video sources

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Financing a Film

• Financing options:– Direct loan from distributor– Pickup– Limited partnership– Joint venture

• Distributing revenue:– Producer and distributor agree on dividing gross

receipts– Distributor first to be paid– Lastly, actual production costs are paid

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Dealing with the Exhibitor

• Distributor’s license sets terms of exhibition– Run length, holdover rights, dates, clearance– Financial terms include:

• Split percentage• Sliding scale• 90-10 deal

• Concession sales are major revenue source for theater owners

• Onscreen advertising also generates revenue

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Promoting a Film

• First three days are critical

• Pre-opening media promotion and advertising tries to get people into theaters for opening weekend

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FEEDBACK

• Film companies get feedback in various ways.

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Box Office

• Variety magazine: weekly box-office figures– Data provided by Nielsen Entertainment Data

Incorporated

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Market Research

• Audience research is influential– Test pilot lines– Test scripts– Test rough cut of films

• Focus groups are often used to get detailed analyses of audience reactions

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Motion Picture Audiences

• Average weekly attendance is declining

• About 60% of audience is under 40

• Frequent moviegoers (at least 12/year) account for ¾ of admissions– Young, single, well-educated, middle class,

urban

• Attendance highest in July/August, lowest in May and 1st two weeks in December

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MOVIES AT HOME

• Home video (Hollywood’s biggest revenue source)– DVD revenue has not expanded much in recent years– High-definition HD might reinvigorate the market– Home video market driven by big hits– Interval between theatrical and home release is

shrinking

• Pay-per-view (PPV) • Premium cable channels