Production Contexts

Hollywood

Hollywood is an area in California, Los Angeles that is famous for film production. The ‘Motion Pictures Patent Company had control over the films process by making sure film makers only used ‘Edison's’ equipment or stock from people that were part of his trust. Eastman Kodak was part of this trust but in 1911 Eastman Kodak modified his contract so he could sell raw film stock. From the late 1920’s to early 1940’s America’s cinema was produced by the Hollywood Studio system, by a number of entrepreneurs including Warner Brothers, Louis B. Mayer, William Fox, Carl Laemmle and Adolph Zukor began building the Hollywood system in the 1920’s. These Hollywood studios began owning their own cinemas towards the end of the 1920’s. This meant studios could produce and distribute their own films. They would also use a term called ‘Block Bookings’ to distribute their films to other cinemas.

This period of film making between 1920’s to late 1940’s was know as Classic Hollywood. With the ‘Golden’ age being between 1930 and 1948. There were eight major studio’s five of them who were fully integrated conglomerates- Fox Film Corporation, Loew’s Incorporated, Paramount Pictures, RKO Radio Pictures and Warner Brothers. This meant they had ownership of a production studio, distribution division, theater chain and contracts with actors and filmmaking personnel. Classic Hollywood introduced the star system. Big names meant more money from viewers. Actors and Actresses including Ava Gardner and Rita Hayworth brought the viewers to the theatres. This meant stars were signed to a contract to one particular studio, some contracts running for seven years. The studio had the rights to the stars. This meant they could loan them out to other studios if they desired.

In 1948 the Hollywood Studio system was brought to an end. A court ruling meant studios could no longer produce, exhibit and distribute their own films. After the 1960’s came ‘New’ Hollywood, filmmakers were more adventurous with their story telling. This was because the studios were losing money and audiences were becoming interested in the growing film industries in Europe and Japan. Films like Easy Rider and Bonnie and Clyde helped to bring money back into Hollywood studios.

Hollywood today has more than a dozen studios in Los Angeles, but these studios no longer make films they make film deals. The introduction of TV also meant Hollywood moved into creating TV studios. This loosened the grip of the major film studios on the production of films; meaning independent producers had the opportunity to grow. They would work on a film at a time basis and would look to the major studios for finance and distribution; this then gives the rights to the major studios.

Hollywood studios are still able to distribute their films so well because their:

•      Using well known stars
•      Using well known directors
•      Choosing storylines they know are going to sell

Bollywood

Bollywood is the Mumbai-Based- Hindi- Language film Industry in India

It is the largest film producer in India, but is also considered to be the largest film production centers in the world. Bollywood aims to release around a 1000 movies a year, which is twice the amount of Hollywood. The golden age for Bollywood movies was from the late 1940’s to the 1960’s. They produced films that the working class could relate too.

In the 1970’s commercial cinema grew, as the film finance corporation were not seen as doing enough. This then led to Bollywood overtaking America as the world’s largest film producer. The 2000s have seen Bollywood’s worldwide popularity continue to grow which has improved the quality; cinematography and technical advances in post e.g. special effects and animation. They began influencing musicals in the western world and brought back an interest into the musical film genre. Moulin Rouge is said to have been inspired by Bollywood musicals.

Bollywood studios are funded by:

• Private Distributors
• Large Studios
• Indian banks and Financial Institutions
• Illegitimate sources

Studios are mainly just shooting spaces but some are beginning to fund movies like Hollywood studios. Bollywood films are often funded on the basis of star cast, story and the director’s reputation. Anyone in India with a large sum of money and the right contacts can fund a film. Most banks stay away from the risk factor of making films, which is why there are so many illegitimate sources or they use, other finance/capital markets i.e. real estate, jewelry making, construction. Distributors help with funding Bollywood movies. They tend to pay 30-40 percent of a contracted amount during production and the remainder on delivery of prints. When distributing Bollywood films they tend to be released in major Indian cities and highly populated south Asian communities like North America, UK and East Africa first. This means for the smaller parts of India and less populated Asian countries it takes longer for the films to reach their cinemas.

An issue that can cause this is piracy, piracy is a huge issue within Bollywood, as films can take so long to get to certain areas viewers are resulting in watching pirate copies. This means Bollywood are losing out on money. Piracy has also become a big issue in all areas of film but it affects Bollywood the most. Bollywood also has a Star system like Hollywood. Famous names help sell the movie. The idea of the Bollywood style of film is slowly moving into British mainstream cinema with films like Slumdog Millionaire and Bride and Prejudice. The only problem with Bollywood films is that they are massively influenced by Hollywood and over do it with the visual effects.

British

The first moving pictures to be developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park in 1889 by William Freise Greene. In the 1920’s British films were losing out to upcoming Hollywood, dropping the amount of British films viewed in Britain dramatically.  The problem with British cinema was that it could not stay up to date and would get behind on technology. This made British people want to see American films. In 1927 Parliament brought in the Cinematographers Trade Bill, designed to ensure there was a guaranteed home market for British made films. This meant that a minimum of 5% of the total number of movies shown had to be home produced, rising to 20% by 1936. The result was more movies, but the majority being of very poor quality.

This did lead to lots of young directors having the chance to make films, and helped Alfred Hitchcock become one of Britain's influential young directors.

In 1940’s the Second World War helped with movie making in the UK. Even though many of the employees were being engaged in war work, available manpower was reduced to one third and half of the studio space was available. Only sixty films were produced annually.

New realism in wartime pictures and a demand for documentaries gave a whole new look to British films. Initially, many cinemas closed down for fear of air raids, but the public needed a way of escaping the reality of war, and turned to the more gentle versions available in the cinema. what makes a British film is that:

•      A company that is registered, centrally managed and  controlled in the UK must produce it.
•      It is produced and directed by someone from the UK.
•      It has a UK cast.

What makes it different to an independent film is how it is funded. A variety of factors can affect a movie and production context is one of these. Whether a film is from Hollywood, Bollywood or Britain there is certain aspects and qualities a film has that the audience can link to the production context.

For example:

•       Technologies of Production
•       Distribution and Exhibition
•       Trends
•       Genres and Cycles
•       Stars