World Film History I, 4

1
World Film History I, 4

• Hollywood at the height of the silent era
• Breakthrough of sound film
• Animated films

2
Hollywood vertical companies, early 20s

• The Big Three
• Paramount-Publix (sic)
• Loew's, production company Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer
  (MGM)
• First National Pictures
• The Small Five
• Universal
• Fox
• Producers Distributing Corporation
• Warner Bros.
• United Artists (UA)

3
The Production Code (Hays Code)

• The Big Studios establish the Motion Picture
  Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA.
  Director Will H. Hays
• Regulations about susceptible topics in1924
• More strict rules in 1927 and 1930
• The actual Motion Picture Production Code in 1934
  
• Without Production Code Administration (PCA)
  approval a film produced by a MPPDA studio could
  not be distributed. Fine 25 000
• The code was enforced for about twenty years

4
Some Masters of silent comedy

• CHARLIE CHAPLIN The Kid (1921), A Woman of Paris
  (1923), The Gold Rush (1925), The Circus (1927),
  City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936)
• BUSTER KEATON The Three Ages (1923), Our
  Hospitality (1923), Sherlock Jr. (1924), Seven
  Chances (1925), The General (1927), Steamboat
  Bill Jr. (1928)
• HAROLD LOYD Safety Last (1923), Girl Shy (1924),
  For Heavens Sake (1925)

5
Versatile masters

• CECIL B. DE MILLE The Cheat (1914), The Little
  American (1917), Old Wives for New (1918), Don't
  Change your Husband (1919), Why Change your Wife?
  (1920), The Ten Commandments (1923), King of
  Kings (1927)
• ERICH VON STROHEIM Blind Husbands (1919),
  Foolish Wives (1922), Merry-Go-Round (1923),
  Greed (1925), The Wedding March (1928)
• KING VIDOR The Big Parade (1925), Wings
  (1927),The Crowd (1928)

6
Some of the Greatest Spectacles

• CECIL B. DE MILLE The Ten Commandments (1923),
  King of Kings (1927)
• ROUL WALSH The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
• FRED NIBLO Ben Hur (1926)
• ERICH VON STROHEIM Merry-Go-Round (1922),The
  Wedding March (1928)

7
Breakthrough of sound film

• Early attempts to combine film phonograph
• Erik Tigerstedt experiments with sound-on-film
  and amplification.
• German Tri-Ergon patent for (a detail of) an
  optical soundtrack system in 1919
• Lee De Forests Phonofilm with electronically
  amplified sound on film, early 20s
• The Western Electric Company system with
  synchronized gramophone records by 1924
• Warner Brothers decides to invest in sound in 1926

8
Western Electric, RCA and Tobis-Klangfilm
agreement in 1930

• Tobis-Klangfilm got full rights to Central Europe
  and Scandinavia
• Western Electric and RCA got full rights to the
  USA, Canada, Australia, New Zeeland, India and
  the Soviet Union
• Tobis-Klangfilm got 25 , Western Electric and
  RCA 75 of Britain
• Rest of the world open to competition

9
Early animation

• EMILE RAYNAUD Moving images in praxinoskope
• J. STUART BLACKTON Humorous Phases of Funny
  Faces (1906), The Haunted Hotel (1907)
• LADISLAV STAREVICZ Cameramans Revenge (1912)
• WINSOR MCCAY Little Nemo (1911), Gertie the
  Dinosaur (1914), The Sinking of the Lusitania
  (1918)
• JOHN RANDOLPH BAY The Artist's Dreams (1913)
• EARL HURD Animation technique based on
  transparent layers of celluloid
• MAX DAVE FLEISCHERIN rotoscoping live action
  film projected on paper to draw lines of
  characters

10
Animation in early sound film

• MAX DAVE FLEISCHER Betty Boop, Popeye
• OTTO MESSMER (producer PAT SULLIVAN) Felix the
  Cat (1920-27)
• FRANK TASHLIN, BOB CLAMPETT, TEX AVERY and CHUCK
  JONES created Warner Brothers characters such as
  Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny ja Elmer Fudd.
• WALT DISNEY (UB IWERKS) Steamboat Willie (1928),
  Silly Symphonies series (from 1929), The Three
  Little Pigs (1933), Snow White and the Seven
  Dwarfs (1937), Fantasia (1940), Dumbo (1941)

11
Abstract animation

• WALTER RUTTMANN Lichtspiel Opus 1, 2 (1921)
• VIKING EGGELING Symphonie Diagonal
• MAN RAY Retour à la raison (1924)
• LOTTE REININGER Die Abenteur des Prinzen Achmed
  (silhouette animation,1926).