This essay is an opportunity for you to research and write about a development in filmmaking (and the film industry) in the first stages of cinematic history (1895-1945). This period coincided with the invention of the motion pictures, the emergence of the first dedicated movie theaters (nickelodeon era) — followed by the motion picture palaces of the 1920s — the industry’s migration to Hollywood, the formation of the studio system, the coming of sound, the influx of European filmmakers and actors, the emergence of international film movements (German expressionism, Soviet Montage, Surrealism, etc.), the rise of the star system and genres, the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, and both world wars.
You are free to focus on a development in film history that is American or international in scope. I’d like to see you familiarize yourself with the subject (through research) and then discuss its ramifications and impact on cinema. How and why did this shift in filmmaking and/or film industry happen? What were the “pressure points,” whether societal or industrial (or both), that compelled this development? That is to say, what historical, cultural, and/or filmic forces helped to provoke this development? You may screen and reference a movie or two that illustrates and relates to your subject, but film analysis is not the focus of this essay. Regardless of what you focus on, your essay must be grounded in research. Of your sources, at least one must be “secondary” academic (from either a scholarly book or journal article) and at least one must be “primary” (original, from the era in question).
A few words of caution: 1) this is not a thumbs-up, thumbs-down review, and long plot synopses are discouraged; 2) avoid the wikipedia overview essay format — you are welcome to use wikipedia as a source, but hone in on your subject rather than gloss over it; 3) avoid using long quotations; paraphrase and cite properly, and otherwise use your own voice.
Here are a few topics that fit the mold and give you a sense of how to approach this essay:
• What led up to the 1948 Paramount Decree (that banned block booking and signaled the end of the Studio System)? (This case originates in the 1930s.)
• The institutionalization of the Hays Production Code; what led up to it and how did it come to be? How did filmmakers adjust, and/or how did Hollywood cinema change after it was enforced?
• Rise of “poverty row,” “B” movies, and/or exploitation cinema — think Reefer Madness (1936). Why and how did it emerge when the Hollywood studio system was well in place? What was its impact on cinema?
• Rise of synchronized sound processes. My lecture and our reading get into it, but there’s much more to research on this topic.
• The rise of propaganda cinema; Leni Riefenstahl (in Nazi Germany), whose Triumph of the Will remains the most studied example, comes to mind, but also: the American directors (Capra, Stevens, Wyler, Ford, and Huston) and their role in WWII, or the great Brit documentarian Humphrey Jennings (also WWII), or even the “agit-prop” stuff coming out of the Soviet Union (e.g., Dziga Vertov)
• The emergence of documentary cinema, most famously by Robert Flaherty, whose Nanook of the North (1922) came out at a time when categories such as “documentary” and “narrative” cinema were not yet clear-cut.
• Exhibition practices and developments during any phase of this early history, including the nickelodeon era, the motion picture palace era, etc. There are fascinating kinds of movie exhibition that you may want to research, including traveling movie exhibitors and the drive-in, for instance. There’s a fair amount written on exhibition, and there are many angles with which to take when discussing this important (and often neglected) part of cinematic history.
• The rise of regional (rather than national), independent, often language-focused studios and filmmaking in the 1930s, such as Yiddish, Chinese, and Spanish, which were made for specific audiences in certain cities.
• There are a few actors of color that found ways to make it in (and sometimes along the margins of) Hollywood, including Anna May Wong and Paul Robeson. There are others, and their struggles and successes are illuminating.
• You could focus on a genre that emerges during this era and research its origins, influences, and how it helped establish a studio or actor or filmmaker; and also how it paved the way for later iterations of the genre.
• For those of you who may be interested in music, how did the film score evolve in the first decade+ of synchronized sound?
Formatting: 5-7 pages (double-spaced), 1″ margins, 12-point font
Citation: at least one academic source (scholarly journal article or book) and at least one primary source from the period in question (e.g., trade journal, newspaper article, original studio materials, interview, etc.); APA or MLA (parenthetical or footnotes fine), with complete and proper works cited/bibliography page
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