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The close of a decade. 1956-1959. Hollywood’s attack on tv. Television is now a permanent fixture Hollywood’s attack: No movies were to be shown on television No movie stars were to appear on a television program ban on actors lifted in 1956 Used technological advances to lure people out.
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The close of a decade 1956-1959
Hollywood’s attack on tv • Television is now a permanent fixture • Hollywood’s attack: • No movies were to be shown on television • No movie stars were to appear on a television program • ban on actors lifted in 1956 • Used technological advances to lure people out
Technological Changes • Color Film • Advent of wide-screen cinematography • These two effects created effects that the television could not match. • 2 competing systems created the wide-screen film: • Cinerama • CinemaScope
Cinerama • 3 cameras • 3 projectors • A large curved screen • “How the West Was Won” • Proved to be too costly and impractical
Cinemascope • 1 camera • Was more effective and less expensive • Soon other studios werer creating similar wide-screen formats
The Blockbuster • Lavish, lengthy and spectacular • Came into existence in 1956 with 3 epics: • Around the World in 80 Days • War and Peace • The Ten Commandments • The Bridge on the River Kwai
Blockbusters cont.. • Because of costs, the extravagant epic would enjoy a limited life span. • Some of these films can be considered to be among Hollywood’s greatest productions containing some of Hollywood’s finest music. • Religious films are the most sensational epics of the time.
A New American Cinema 1960-1976
60’s transformation • Peak of the Cold War • Threat of total nuclear annihilation • Civil rights • Assassinations • Moon landing • The Vietnam War
The Influence of tv • Television cameras recorded many historic events. • Instead of bringing people together, it illustrated the issues that separated them. • Division based on race, sex, and age led to open and often violent confrontations. • Traditions and authority were questioned in every aspect of life.
New Wave Cinema • Huge French influence on film in the late 50’s early 60’s • Auteur-director/artist • Just as an author controls all aspects of a book, the auteur manipulates every detail of a film: • Script • Cinematography • music
New wave… • Traditional narrative techniques from the 30’s are no longer adequate • New trends: • Innovative plots (unclear beg and endings) • Ambiguous moral implications • Unconventional plot lines • Allowed exploration of: slow motion, jump cutting, and freeze frames
New wave directors • Showed great concern for psychological importance of mise-en-scene and music • Music was used to help establish a mood • No more mirroring the action, underscoring individual emotions, and loud endings. • Music created atmosphere and was detached from the details of the story
Psycho 1960 • 1st outstanding film score relecting new wave ideas. • Alfred Hitchcock • Chose to shoot in black and white • Most famous creative shot: • The shower montage • Moves rapidly between 87 shots with a cutting technique that seems as violent as the scene itself.
Cont… • By the end of the shower montage the audience imagines that it has seen nudity and a knife stabbing a body, but both are implied, not shown.