Analysis Of Classical Hollywood Cinema

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 David Cook’s, “A History of Narrative Film," it is said that “the prevailing mode of postwar French cinema was literary adaption, which caused French films to become increasingly verbal and theatrical. It was against this tendency- identified as ‘the tradition of quality’ by Francois Truffaut and the other critics writing in Cashiers du Cinema, that the New Wave reacted in the late 1950’s and 1960’s.”

This paper was prepared for Introduction to Film History, Module 1 Homework Assignment, taught by Professor Stephanie Sandifer.

Article Three – Author: David Bordwell / Title of Article: The Art Cinema as a Mode of Film

Editing is a true art form. The editor strives to impart visual variety to the picture by skillful shot selection, arrangement and timing. He recreates rather than reproduces the photographic event to achieve a cumulative effort often greater than all the actions in individual scenes put together. A motion picture is a custom-made jigsaw puzzle in which filmmakers fashion the individual pieces. Each piece requires special attention so that it will merge harmoniously with pieces surrounding it. Many editors prefer to make their cuts on movements so that the actual switch from one shot to another is masked by the action. The editing in Steel Magnolias uses wipes and fades to transition from one scene to the other. The editor uses

The Golden Age of Hollywood was a time when Hollywood hit its peak successfully and economically, starting with the late 1920s, and met its decline due to corruption in the late 1950s. One would ask the question: “Where did the name Hollywood come from?” The name came from Harvey Henderson Wilcox and his wife, Daeida, who were owners of a small ranch west of Los Angeles. According to u-s-history.com, “Daeida, who, while on a train trip east met a woman that described her country home in Ohio, that had been named for the Dutch settlement of Hollywood. Liking the name, Daeida christened their ranch 'Hollywood,' upon her return.” (History of Hollywood, California) Movies during this time period became a vital form of entertainment for all Americans during this time period. By the 1910s, Hollywood was combined into its neighboring city Los Angeles, and many motion-picture studios began to open. Moviemakers rushed to Hollywood, and competition started to become widespread between directors and producers. By 1910, the first motion picture was made in Hollywood, titled In Old California, and soon enough, Los Angeles became second to New York in producing films also because of it’s quintessential weather for movies to be made in all year long during this time. As Hollywood began to industrialize, filmmakers began to work on the image of a “star”; they would continuously use these highly-paid actors in order to achieve a form of comfort for the general audience of the movies. Seeing

Early movies were shot and viewed as slide shows. With narrations like The Life Of An American Fireman, where instead of cutting we would see full clips linked together. When the filmmakers brought us from one action to the next they, repeated actions instead of cutting and letting

Six techniques of continuity editing are depicted in the film. These techniques are establishing shots, cross-cut editing, match on action, shot/reverse shots, re-establishing shots and eye-line match shots that give the movie structure.

In Matthew Bernstein’s essay, The Classical Hollywood Western Par Excellence, he states that while Stagecoach (John Ford, 1939) “appears to glorify American history, particularly its expansion westward at the expense of Native Americans” (299) it also develops an “acute social observation” of life on the Frontier and it challenges elements of the myth constructed around this history (316). The film Stagecoach depicts not only the struggles faced by pioneers traveling through Indian territory, but the belief among people during this time period that anyone can go to the West to get a “fresh start” and live a completely new life without social prejudice. However, Stagecoach proves this myth to be false for various reasons. One example of this would be when Mr. Hatfield offers Mrs. Mallory water from the water canteen on the stagecoach. Once she accepts his offer, Mr. Hatfield pours it into a silver cup for her and does not offer anyone else in the stage coach water. Ringo then makes a comment to Mr. Hatfield that he should give the other lady in the stagecoach, Dallas, water as well. However, Dallas has a reputation of being a prostitute. So, Mr. Hatfield decides to give her some water but refuses to lend her the silver cup to drink out of, he makes her drink it out of the canteen instead. This example proves that these people were not getting a “fresh start” and only the upper class can share such luxuries as a silver cup with only other upper class people, social

'Classical Hollywood cinema possesses a style which is largely invisible and difficult for the average spectator to see. The narrative is delivered so effortlessly and efficiently to the audience that it appears to have no source. It comes magically off the screen.'

Select two or more films from this course and compare and/or contrast them, using one or more of the above criteria (shared themes, etc.). SUPERFLY and DUTCHMAN

Another interesting use of camera cutting can be found in the in between scene where Cleo is roaming the streets of Paris. She is now becoming the one watching other people rather than being the one watched as she was in the beginning (probably because of her beauty and famous singer status). While she is watching the camera cuts between other people’s conversations and then while she is walking the camera is in essence her point of view. However during this walk, the people passing are watching her as well, thus proving that this is the transition time. The use of cutting between shots of her and shots of all these people passing her not only show this change in who is watching who, but also allows for a sense of time passing. Interspersed with these shots are images of people we have already met, the widow, the boyfriend, the piano player, as well as the images of a monkey resting on a clock and her wig resting on the mirror, these things conveying how the people who know her see her and how she sees herself. This is a genius montage because these two things represent the same thing, how people see her, how she sees people, and how she sees herself, and by interspersing them we see

Textual analysis for No Country For Old Men Similar text analysis of ‘No Country for Old Men’                  No Country for Old Men is a crime based thriller based in the deep southern states of     America.  The opening sequence of this film uses a variety of film making techniques such as cinematography, mise en scene, editing and sound to create tension and threat, and in this essay I will be picking out key bits which specifically do that.                  The use of mise en scene throughout the opening scene creates tension and threat with the use of setting.

The western movies are film genre where the scene generally takes place in North America during the American conquest of the West in the last decades of the nineteenth century. This genre appears since the invention of the cinema in 1985 finding its inspiration from literature and painting arts of the American Wild West. This genre reached its first success in the mid-twentieth century during the golden age of Hollywood studios, before it had being reinvented by European filmmakers in the 1960s.

The shot transitions are cuts which maintain the flow of the narrative and the character’s actions.