A New Corporate Hollywood<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Home-Box-Office Market:<\/strong> This market began to emerge when paid tv, network television, and videocassettes began their reign by the end of the 20th century. Many conglomerates like Warner bros and Disney now controlled popular media more so than studios did in the 1930s. Then in fall of 1980 the Screen Actors Guild, also known as SAG, went on strike. In response to this strike Universal locked all of the major film guilds out. This sent SAG leadership into an instant panic. The reason for this strike was because the actors wanted revenue shares from the home-box-office market. The studios stated that this market was important, but time was needed for the market to be established before talking about sharing the revenue. SAG eventually backed down and the studios won. (Lewis 358 – 360)<\/p>\n\n\n\n VCR:<\/strong> After 1979 the film industry made diversification a priority. Since the 1950s studios already knew how to profit from network television, but the video cassette recorder, also known as VCR, was new and this technology during the 1980s seemed to show that in the future audiences could duplicate films for free. Both Universal and Disney sued Sony since they had just released a video recorder showing copyright concerns, and Universal and Disney wanted fees on every sale of Sony\u2019s video recorder machine. The court was not moved by Disney and Universal since VCR could be used in certain ways that did not break copyright laws, and Sony is not responsible for what consumers do with their technology. Studios then pivoted to selling and renting video tapes they recorded since it gave them a chance to gain money from it. (Lewis 361 )<\/p>\n\n\n\n Genre and Trends<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blockbuster:<\/strong> the 1980s and 1990s made Hollywood return to the formula of making big films and making them for the widest target audience possible. The most noticeable trend was blockbusters in Hollywood, these were called the event films since they gave audiences a sensational experience. This strayed away from old fashion ideas of plot and performance. This was fueled by two major successes in the box office known as Star Wars<\/em> (George Lucas, 1977) and Raiders of the Lost Ark<\/em> (Steven Spielburg, 1981). Both of these films were made to feel familiar and formulaic since the plotlines merged old genres of Hollywood’s classical era. This caused a nostalgic feeling with modern special effects, and during the 1980s this template that Lucas and Spielberg made was seen as a formula for success and studios took notice. (Lewis 362 )<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner:<\/strong> Science fiction had a resurgence in the 1980s due to the popularity of the first two Star Wars<\/em> films. Most of these films had a political and social comment on both the possible future, but the present as well. One film that was like this was Ridley Scott\u2019s Blade Runner<\/em> (1982). The film has technology that is used throughout a person’s normal life and it uses the viewers fear that technology is a threat to their daily life. The film shows the city space that mirrors the 1982 urban america, and shows the wealthy android creator living above the metropolis. The offworld suburbs promise that life is better there since there is no crime to spoil the city. The androids mimic human behavior so much that it is hard to tell the difference between a human and an android, and the film’s premise is if androids have become more human than actual humans. (Lewis 370 – 371 )<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alien Films (Historical Contex):<\/strong> The Alien <\/em>films are made up of multiple genres of horror, action adventure, and science fiction and just like blade runner it tries to show a political message within it. Within the film corporations attempt to bring back the alien monster as a bioweapon for them to use since they are ethically bankrupt. After many deaths the corporations give up, only to try again since the company saw that it has a higher benefit than the cost of a few lives. The bioweapon that is this alien is so profitable that they are willing to sacrifice both bystanders and employees. These films have a loud way of criticizing of conglomerate capitalism the second Reaganomics had destroyed almost every major American industry. These films show how corporations can care more about profit than the lives of both the innocent and their own employees, and these films were made when accidents like Three Mile Island (1979), Bhopal (1984), and Chernobyl (1986) were in the news on almost every channel. (Lewis 371 – 372)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Teen Comedy (John Hughes formula):<\/strong> Teen comedies were popular in the 1980s, and John Hughes made a formula that was mainly for white, suburban teens. This formula had a social outcast that did not fit into the clique based world that was high school, and the lesson that was mainly shown through his films and formula was for a person to be themselves. Hughes outcast was usually a person that was a droll and was a world – weary young person trying to survive both high school and suburban family life. The pursuit of happiness that a character strives for has to overcome useless parents and teachers, and teenagers who are on a high horse about status and looks. Characters are able to gain happiness, but they must believe in themselves, which as stated previously, is the main lesson most of the time. These films show what is was like for Gen-X teens trying to live through their adolescence years in suburbia, and the films are both cynical and romantic. (Lewis 375 – 376)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Auteur Filmmakers<\/p>\n\n\n\n Steven Spielberg and George Lucas:<\/strong> Both of these directors dominated the box office in the 1980s, and no other two filmmakers have done the same in a decade in American Film History. They also remained popular throughout the 1990s as well. Lucas did not make any films from 1977 and 1999, but remained important because of his modern postproduction company known as Industrial Light and Magic (ILM for short). ILM did postproduction from 1980 and 1999, and became one of the industry’s top special effect companies. ILM worked on and supervised postproduction on over 150 films. Both of these directors share a common theme and style when compared together. The themes of childhood and extreme use of special effects provide audiences a visual and aural spectacle. Many of these films appear nostalgic since they refer to comic books and 1950s sci-fi movies, and many of the narrative stakes made by both directors are often apocalyptic. The heroes of Lucas and Spielberg movies are often child-like since they see that is what men would be like if they could. These directors made attraction based cinema popular again such like it was in the beginning of the early twentieth century. The main bottom line for these directors is the box office since their films are so popular they too became popular. Their continued success after the 1980s is in direct contrast to the fortune for many auteurs from the 1970s. (Lewis 377 – 381)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oliver Stone (and his Films):<\/strong> Stone broke into the film industry by winning an Oscar for his first screenplay that was produced known as Midnight Express<\/em> (Alan Parker, 1978). Stone was born during the baby boom and two big events that happened for this generation was the assassination of JFK and the Vietnam War where Stone earned a bronze star and purple heart. Stone goes over the assassination of JFK in his film JFK<\/em> (1991) and he makes the case that the Vietnam war was the reason for his assassination since JFK was thinking about pulling out US assistance from Indochina. Stone also got his first of two academy awards for his directing in Platoon<\/em> (1986), which is a part of his Vietnam trilogy. Stones heroes in his films are typically made up of ill-fated truth tellers, and one example of this is Chris Taylor and Ron Kovic in Salvador<\/em> (1986). Sones eye for political matters has made himself newsworthy and he uses this to make himself an unrivaled celebrity in American cinema during the 1980s and 1990s. His politics made it hard for reviewers and audiences to see that he was a good filmmaker, especially since he had a strong command of filmmaking with his technique and style. Even though Stone is an award winning director many disregarded him in Hollywood by the end of the 90s since he made political films during the time period when studios wanted to be safe, and the violent films he made used violence to make audiences think about what the violent image could possibly mean. Stone continued these political films by making documentary interviews with foreign leaders like Fiedel Castro, Hugo Chavez, and Vladimir Putin. These films gave both American audiences and his audience the chance to judge the leaders for themselves. His most noteworthy films are W.<\/em> (2008) about George W. Bush, and Snowden<\/em> (2016) about the whistle-blower who worked for the NSA. (Lewis 382 – 385)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spike Lee(and his films):<\/strong> Lee became famous for making politically motivated films, but he also experienced a decline in popularity since many audiences want for these types of films waned as the 90s ended. The film She’s Gotta Have It<\/em> (1986) and the Nike ads made Lee popular before he was known as an important filmmaker. Most of his fame comes from Do the Right Thing<\/em> (1989) this big studio film speaks about racial conflict in America located within urban areas. The film ends with two different quotes, one from MLK jr that promotes peaceful protests, but the other one was by Malcolm X who pushed for change no matter the means. The film also had a dedication to victims of police shootings that were racially motivated, and this framing shows how it is all at one historical, topical, and political. Lee then viewed race issues in all of his following films, one such example is Jungle Fever<\/em> (1991) where it looks into an interracial affair between a married black couple. As the 90s ended his fame grew so much that his attendance at basketball games became newsworthy. From the 1980s to 1990s he not only made films about race in America, but he also made his eccentric and idiosyncratic visual and aural style clear. His characters constantly break the fourth wall in order to show how all racist speech is pointless and offensive. Lee also uses racially charged stereotypes to show the discourse of race in America and show his voice on the white dominated industry as a black director. He made a documentary style political film about non-fiction issues, but after the 2000s he has only been successful once and it was the least political film of his work. (Lewis 386 – 387)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tim Burton(and his films):<\/strong> Tim Burton is in a group of people that could be called a successful auteur. Burton began working as an animator for the saccharine kids cartoon. Whilst being at Disney he made two projects Vincent <\/em>(1982) and Frankenweenie<\/em> (1984). Vincent<\/em> was an animated film about a boy who idolizes Vincent Price, but the other one was live action that has a boy reanimating his dog. Vincent<\/em> was shown in some theaters and won a few awards, but Frakenweenie<\/em> was shelved since it looked too weird for kids. Paul Ruben saw Tim Burton’s work and made him direct Pee-wee\u2019s Big Adventure<\/em> (1985) which was a commercial success. Burton\u2019s main line of films were for and or about kids. Another popular film of his is Edward Scissorhands<\/em> (1990) where it talks about a young man who is seen as a freak, then a hero, then is turned on by a town due to the false rumors that house wives spread about him. He continued to make takes on children’s culture such as The nightmare before Christmas<\/em> (Henry Selick, 1993). (Lewis 389 – 390)<\/p>\n\n\n\n David Lynch(and his films):<\/strong> David Lynch is in a group of people that could be called a successful auteur he went to art scholl and was learning how to become a painter before his first film Eraserhead<\/em> (1977). This film was way too odd for it to be a normal first run release, but he did become notorious for its showings in art houses during midnight movie runs. His next film The Elephant Man<\/em> (1980) earned eight award nominations for the film Academy, and it launched Lynch into fame. Years later he made another film that he would have complete creative control over called Blue Velvet<\/em> (1986), and it was a black comedy that was about a seemingly normal American town, but there was something that lay beneath the surface. This theme is something Lynch would revisit multiple times such as Twin Peaks<\/em> (1990 – 1991; 2017) and in Inland Empire<\/em> (2006). His other following films Wild at heart<\/em> (1990) and Mulholland Dr.<\/em> (2001) also follow the theme of looking into the dark side of a town, but they also look into the dark side of human behavior. These films also show the blurring of the boundaries between illusion and reality. Lynch is seen as one of the hardest auteurs of the 21st century since he did bring his name to a high regard, but his films are borderline weird cinema with Ocsar nominations. His tv series Twin Peaks<\/em> is credited with creating the new era of television and inspiring shows like The Sopranos<\/em> (1999 – 2007) and The Wire<\/em> (2002 – 2008). One film that does not fit with Lynch and his odd nature is The Straight Story<\/em> (1999). This film follows a straightforward manner of story and is a tidy and compact American film that is different from the rest of his craft. (Lewis 389 – 392)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quentin Tarantino(and his films):<\/strong> Unlike the other politically motivated films of other auteurs, Tarantino moved toward a more lowbrow asian martial-arts action for his films. He became one of the most talked about movie directors in Hollywood in the early 90s and had a knack for self-promotion. He used his fame from Reservoir Dogs<\/em> (1992) and Pulp Fiction<\/em> (1994) to overlook the rerelease of Switchblade sisters<\/em>. Tarantino also has a major appreciation for movies that are primarily found in art houses or video stores, especially those of the french new wave director Jean-Luc Godard. Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs<\/em> is a homage to American Gangster films of the past since it looks at the genre from its basics and reuses them in a parody sort of way. The opening scene of the film has the gang around the table talking about a Madonna music video, and this subject has nothing to do with moving the film’s story forward, but the conversation shows the ambience between the members of the gang. This same technique is used in Pulp Fiction<\/em> and Tarantino gained a Writing Oscar for this in 1995. Tarantino is also known for not following the strict chronological order of time within both of these films as well. Kill Bill<\/em> was originally met with bad press since the original film was 4 hours long. This was not good for a movie to try and sell like this, thus Tarantino then split the movie into two parts in order to compromise with his publisher. This film also shows him splitting away from the more theatrical style of his earlier work and it shows since his earlier film Reservoir Dogs<\/em> is dialouge heavy compared to the energetically shot action pieces of Kill Bill<\/em>. Tarantino wants to say that Kill Bill<\/em> is an independent film, but the budget was $55 million, so it is hard to see it as an independent film or even at least a normally funded independent film.(Lewis 393 – 395)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Independents and Independence<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joel and Ethean Coen(and their films):<\/strong> The Coen brothers first appeared in the indie scene in 1984 with Blood Simple<\/em>, which was a film noir that was set in rural Texas. This was the surprising hit of the new york film festival. They were seen as auteurs overnight ever since this film and the brothers have constantly been in both independent films and commercial Hollywood cinema. The two main ingredients to the brothers style of filmmaking is pace and distance, one example is Blood Simple<\/em> is slow which is very different from many noir films, and the said can be same for Barton Fink<\/em> and their other neo-noirs. Almost all of the brothers’ films aim towards stupid characters doing stupid things, unlike the brothers who are university educated and are sons of college professors. The brothers are more than willing to make their characters go through anything in order to get a simple laugh, cool image, or a gross out effect. Many of their characters are put in simple or familiar genre situations, but all of the characters react in crazy stupid ways. The violence in their films is always seen as pervasive and explicit, and the films are usually marketed towards a college audience. This is especially prevalent in The Big Lebowski<\/em> where the violence is so extreme it is funny. One of their most popular films, Fargo has won two Academy Awards, and the brothers have both won many Oscar nominations. The Coens are very few who have successfully combined art-house street cred and modest commercial appeal. They have resisted the status quo from Hollywood and were able to be independent filmmakers rather than relying on a studio through a majority of their films. (Lewis 401 – 403)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Steven Soderberg(and his films):<\/strong> Soderbergh and his film Sex, lies, and videotape<\/em> (1989) has a lot to note here since the film earned $25 million for its release which was an unimaginable sum for such a formally challenging movie. He followed up this film with Kafka <\/em>(1991) which was so odd that it seemed he tried to ruin his career before it got off the ground. Soderbergh constantly failed to repeat the success he gained from the first film he made, until Erin Brockovich<\/em> (2000). He made a unique name for himself and became an A-list director on both sides of indie directing and studio directing. His best film is Traffic<\/em> (2000) since it has parallel narratives with multiple visual styles and it is challenging to anything that independent cinema has to offer. This film did so well at the box office it earned Soderberg an Oscar for Directing. All of his work is mixed with his signature style that characters are people in a self made exile and can range from a disillusioned housewife to a impotent vagabond. Similarly to Tarantino he plays with time with fast, slow, and loose narrative structure. His film Traffic<\/em> is both at once idiosyncratic and commercial which was new and unique to the new Hollywood at the time. (Lewis 404 – 405)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kathryn Bigelow(and her films):<\/strong> Bigelow had one of the most interesting careers within the world of Hollywood filmmaking in the 1980s and 1990s since she made movies men would make. Her film Near Dark<\/em> (1987) shows love for the western genre which is a male dominated and target genre. The same film also alludes to a classic known as Texas Chain Saw Massacre<\/em> (Tobe Hooper 1974). She then followed up this film with Blue Steel<\/em> (1990) which follows an ultra violent policewoman who is cut from the Dirty Harry<\/em> mold. Bigelow then tried to make a commercial big time film with a budget of $42 million with the film Strange Days<\/em> (1995) that had a gender twist with the woman being a buff bodyguard protecting a weaker man, but it did poorly in the box office with only earning $8 million. This pushed her out of the big time Hollywood scene. In 2010 however, she was the first woman to ever win and Oscar for best Director for her thrilling war film, The Hurt Locker<\/em> (2009) (Lewis 408 – 409)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Works Cited<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lewis, Jon. American Film: A History<\/em>. 2nd ed., 2021<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A New Corporate Hollywood Home-Box-Office Market: This market began to emerge when paid tv, network television, and videocassettes began their reign by the end of the 20th century. Many conglomerates like Warner bros and Disney now controlled popular media more so than studios did in the 1930s. Then in fall of 1980 the Screen Actors… <\/p>\n