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Transcript of Hollywood Movies as a form of American Culture A look at two examples: Dances with Wolves Lawrence...
Hollywood Movies as a
form of American Culture
A look at two examples:
Dances with WolvesLawrence of Arabia
Dances
American Culture & SocietySpring-Summer 2012/ Scott
Hollywood system
We use Hollywood to mean U.S. film industry.
Two main types today:
1. The Big Six studios Produce the large-scale movies Often distributed around the world
2. Independent film producers Smaller films
More artistic, more serious Aimed at smaller markets Sold to or distributed by Big Six
Hollywood facts
World leading filmmaking center for a century.
The huge consumer market in U.S. provides economic scale to support expensive productions.
Films and related products earned $11 billion in 2010.
Big Six studios specialize in blockbusters. Columbia (Sony) 20th Century Fox (News Corp.) Disney (Disney) Paramount (Viacom) Universal (Comcast) Warner Bros. (Time-Warner)
What makes a blockbuster?
Huge budget
Famous actors
Visual and audio spectacles (big moments)
High-quality special effects
Marketable to international audiences
What works internationally?
Recognizable actors and characters
Emphasis on action and emotion
Non-verbal story lines; minimum of dialogue
Humanitarian themes
Limited amount of cultural context
How do films make money?
Theater ticket sales
DVD sales
Related merchandise (toys, clothing, video games)
International sales Growing market: Asia. Studios are beginning to release films internationally
before showing them in the U.S. Examples: Battleship, The Avengers
Example: The Avengers
Total production cost: $220 million (Disney)
Total ticket income: $1.42 billion
U.S. market income: $588 million
International: $833 million
Foreign markets: At least 56
Percent watching in 3-D: 52%
Source: Los Angeles Times newspaper, June 17
What is an epic?
Grand dramatic (and musical) themes.
Historical values (based in real history)
Broad, expansive scenes that capture great works
Emphasis on human actions that affect big outcomes. (Winning wars, saving peoples, solving humanitarian crises.)
Lawrence of Arabia
Considered one of best epics.
Director: David Lean
Year released: 1962
Studio: Columbia
Story: Dramatizes true story of T.E. Lawrence, an unusual scholar and poet who helped Arab tribes to defeat the Ottoman Turks in World War II.
Movies as popular culture
The movie industry helps to shape popular culture. Think: Emphasis on anime. Fashions and styles.
It’s also shaped by culture and society. Consumers decide what is popular. Audiences comfortable with their ‘kind’ as heroes.
Movies also reveal the basis of cultural values. Sometimes they question social trends. Or offer a different approach to understanding. Example: Dances with Wolves.
Dances with Wolves
Example of a blockbuster made by actor-director to offer his own ideal interpretation of U.S. history.
Director: Kevin Costner
Year released: 1990
Studio: Tig Productions (Costner’s company)
An Army lieutenant befriends Indians and even wolves as he seeks to defend a natural life that cannot last as white settlers are moving west into the Great Plains.
Movie poster in Italian