Mainstream Cinema

Mainstream hollywood films follow specific standards and techniques. They have a clear plot line where each scene is progressing towards a goal. This is combined with together with music to create certain emotional reactions from the audience, you can also tell if the film is mainstream by the stardom of the cast members.

The romantic comedy or the “chick flick” is a good example of mainstream hollywood films. The norm for these types of films usually have the A list star as the lead with a less popular actress as her best friend. Pretty Woman and The Notebook are two perfect examples of mainstream hollywood. They both have A list lead characters that initially have some problem or issue that prevent them from getting the dream man, there are also some form of an obstacle where they make it seem like the couple will forever parted ways but what is a chick flick without some form of happy big romantic ending?

The Twilight series has also shown how much money can be made by using the same plot line of overcoming obstacles for the girl to get the guy. The first film Twilight made $35.7 million just on opening day alone. The second film New Moon gained the biggest midnight opening in the USA and Canada; but the third film Eclipse grossed $709 million worldwide making it the fourth highest opening weekend in domestic history.

Terri Schwartz states that The Twilight series may be hollywood’s most successful film franchise just because “they’re so dirt cheap to make.”

http://voices.yahoo.com/guide-hollywoods-mainstream-movie-529616.html

http://hollywoodcrush.mtv.com/2010/07/06/twilight-successful/

Auteur Theory

“A filmmaker, usually a director, who exercises creative control over his or her works and has a strong personal style.”

Auteur translated from french means “author”; auteur theory was started by film director and critic Francois Truffaut. Cahiers du  Cinema is a journal where auteur theory was discussed who was the “author” of a film. This group argued that films should reflect the directors personal vision.

Tim Burton is very well known for this dark and artistic movies. His first two shorts were developed from his work at Disney: Vincent(1982) and Frankenweenie(1984). “The combination of bizarre characters and the constantly shifting expressionist backgrounds produced a film that may best be described as ‘The Cabinet of Dr Caligari meet Ray Harryhausen.’ This was describing the short Vincent which was done in ‘claymation’ to tribute Burton’s idol Vincent Price.

Pee Wee’s Big Adventure(1985) was Burton’s first movie deal. This movie was created around TV personality Pee Wee Herman, it was filled with childish comedy and received poor reviews but still made audiences laugh with its charm and child-like state. Burton had a limited budget for this film still managed to create a sense of reality in the film and became a new visionary in Hollywood.

In 1988, Burton brought Beetlejuice to life which was a black comedy about “a dead couple disturbed in the haunting of their own house by a snobbish city family intent on redecorating.” Burton worked with Bo Welch to create one of the most visually distinct film sets. The budget for Beetlejuice was $13 million and with $1 million for visual effects alone, he stated that he wanted to make it look like the B movies he had grown up with. “I wanted to make them look cheap and purposely fake looking.” With this he created a slapstick horror and social satire.

One of Burton’s most well know film Edward Scissorhands has been called is masterpiece. IMBD states the plots line as…”An uncommonly gentle young man, who happens to have scissors for hands, falls in love with a beautiful teenage girl.” This film has been compared to fairytales in certain research they state that like a fairytale the young man finds love and fame and then is rejected from the heart of suburbia. Unlike a fairytale though Edward see a plea for tolerance for handicapped people. “Johnny Depp brings a feeling of tortured emotion to his almost silent character that lingers long in the memory.” American critic Rodger Ebert states, ” Burton uses special effects and visual tricks to create sights that have never been seen before. The movie takes place in an entirely artificial world, where a haunting gothic castle crouches on a mountain-top high above a storybook suburb, a goofy sitcom neighbourhood where all of the houses are shades of pastels and all of the inhabitants seem to be emotional clones of the Jetsons.”

Tim Burton is considered an auteur director because of his distinctive style and content from his work. His blend of dark humour and horror has made an impact on audiences and the industry of cinema.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/auteur

http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Academy-Awards-Crime-Films/Auteur-Theory-and-Authorship.html

http://www.timburtoncollective.com

Burton, Tim

Five Defining Moments in Cinema Pre-1930

Louis and Auguste Lumiere were inspired by Edison’s work and created the Cinematographe; they combined a camera, printer, and projector to create it. The Lumiere brothers were the first people to show their film to a paying audience in the worlds first movie theatre. They had a twenty minute showing of 10 short films, the first was Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory which was 45 seconds long.

http://www.filmsite.org/pre20sintro2.html

George Melies is a French director who wrote, acted, directed, photographed, produced and designed sets and costumes for A Trip to the Moon. This film is the first ever science fiction film that used innovative special effects and ran 14 minutes long. It was inspired by Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon (1865) and H.G. Wells’ First Men in the Moon (1901). It was named one of the 100 greatest films of the 20th century by The Village Voice, ranking at number 84.

http://www.filmsite.org/voya.html

In 1903 Edwin S. Porter directed and photographed The Great Train Robbery, it is the first narrative film which runs 10 minutes long and 14 scenes. Parallel editing, minor camera movement, location shooting and less stage-bound camera placement are just some of the innovative techniques used in the film; it also uses the first ever pan shots and ellipsis. This film was the most influential films to show the possibility of fictional stories on film.

http://www.filmsite.org/grea.html

D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation is a controversial film based on the former North Carolina Baptist minister Rev. Thomas Dixon Jr.’s anti-black play The Clansman. It’s controversy stems from the portrayal of African American men and then portrayal of the Ku Klux Klan who are the heros of the story. The film has criticism from the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People. Griffith also did cutting edge technical work that were first used in this film are now standard features of films.

http://www.filmsite.org/birt.html

The Jazz Singer was the first feature length Hollywood “talkie” film. In 1927 Warner Brothers produced the film with synchronised sound using a Vitaphone. Warner Brothers saw profits of $3.5 million at the box office. The actors for the film were not just chosen by their acting skills they were chosen also by their speaking and singing capabilities.

http://www.filmsite.org/jazz.html