TV Drama - Narrative

The regulations of the film industry in the UK & the US

United Kingdom:

The BBFC was established in 1912 as the British Board of Film Censors by members of the film industry. It began operating on 1 January 1913. Its legal basis was the Cinematograph Act 1909, which required cinemas to have licenses from local authorities. The Act was introduced for safety reasons after a number of nitrate film fires in unsuitable venues (fairgrounds and shops that had been hastily converted into cinemas) but the following year a court ruling determined that the criteria for granting or refusing a license did not have to be restricted to issues of health and safety.

In order to protect children from unsuitable and even harmful content in films and videos and to give consumers information they might need about a particular film or video before deciding whether or not to view it, BBFC examines and age rates films and videos before they are released. This ensures the highest possible level of protection and empowerment.

U- suitable for all                                              15- sutiable for 15 years and older

PG- parent guidence                                        18- adults

12- suitable or 12 years and over                  R18- adults work for licensed premises only

 America:

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is an American trade association that represents the six major Hollywood studios. It was founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) to advance the business interests of its members. In its formative years it took on the role of devising guidelines for film content which resulted in the creation of the Production Code, and currently administers the MPAA film rating system

1968:  G- general audience

            M- mature audiences (changed to PG)

            R- restricted audiences (no-one under 16, then changed to 17)

1980’s/1990’s:

           G- general audiences                                                 R- restricted audiences (under 17)

           PG- parental guidance                                       X- adults only (changed to NC-17 in 1990)

           PG-13- between PG and R                              X- added to the pornography industry 1980

 Comparisons:

·         US rating system is voluntary, film makers aren’t being forced to submit their films to the board for ratings. People signed to the MPAA agreed to submit all of their theatrical releases for rating.

·         Both of the film ratings follow the main theme of keeping a gap of five between each categories.

·         Both were set up by their respective film industries, but operate independently of these bodies. The full time examiners in both countries (around 16 people in the UK and 12 in the US) are not required to have any specific qualifications to train for the role, but are drawn from a variety of backgrounds, in an attempt to provide as wide a selection of views as possible, and represent the diversity of their nations. The BBFC is based in London, and CARA in Los Angeles – both national centres of film production.

·       In the UK, the BBFC has been classifying videos/DVDs since the passing of the Video Recordings Act in 1984. Even if a film has already been given a category for cinematic viewing, the BBFC will separately classify the DVD version of it, to be sold or rented. It is possible for a DVD of a film to have a different classification to the version shown in the cinema.

Audience Theory

‘Vertical Integration actively stifles creativity in the movie industry’

 

Vertical Integration is Production, Distribution and Exhibition. This means that the studio had total control over the movie stars and the people who worked there. Something that was also used was ‘Block Booking’ this was important to the studios because the company would sell multiple films to theatres as a unit. It would typically include one attractive A-Budget movie and the rest would be a mix of A-Budget movies and then B-Budget movies. Typically film studios would own their own theatres and this way they would be taking control of the whole studio process. By doing this it gave the studios more power ‘owning’ their stars. 

Vertical Integration stopped creativity because it didn’t allow actors and actresses to express themselves and branch out into other movies because they were ‘owned’. This way external studios couldn’t express themselves and this way they couldn’t expanded, but also actresses and actors couldn’t go to other movies that were picked just for them so the creativity of other films that were ‘perfectly’ right for one actor couldn’t be used due to the ‘star theory’. ‘Star Owning’ this was something that the studios did and they would control everything that they would do. Make them change their look and date other stars to make their studio look better. If a director wrote a film for someone that was controlled by another studio they wouldn’t be allowed to par take in the making of that film. Paramount had a star called Paulette Goddard and when she first joined Paramount this was a turning point in her careers, before she joined Paramount she was controlled by Charlie Chaplin and his studio called 'Charlie Chaplin Studios' she also dated him so when he hired her she soon became controlled by him.  She was put in his next box office hit, Modern Times in 1936. She signed a contract with David O. Selznick and appeared with Janet Gaynor in the comedy The Young in Heart (1938) because she wanted to be known because after 'Modern Times' she didn't have any up coming films. Before this Selznick loaned her to MGM to appear in two films but Selznick was worried about legal issues by signing her to a contract that might conflict with her pre-existing contracts with the Chaplin studio.

Paramount studios owned a chain of theatres the first theatre they owned was called ‘The Barn’ and the first film they showed was in Utah America and their studios were located in Hollywood America. Paramount ran two studios one in New York and one in Hollywood this made Paramount one of the big five because they owned two, they would have owned twice the amount of stars.

Paramount’s owner and founder Zukor built the ‘The Public Theatres Corporation’ which nearly had 2,000 screens this way they were producing a lot of money, there were 106m people compare to the UK they had about 44m. This meant that they were producing a lot more money than the UK theatres and during the 1920 in America there were a lot of immigrants coming over and the theatre was a ‘new’ place for them to visit. Also during this time it was the ‘silent ear’ so the films were easy to follow. Alfred Hitchcock was a famous director of manipulating sound he was one of the first to play with the sound to create tension and suspense. Richard Dyer said that ‘Stars as an image are constructed in all kinds of media texts other than films, but none the less films remain privileged instances of the stars image’. This shows that the films made the ‘stars’ that weren’t recognised for being them because they were opened by the studio they were only noticed for that.

Sia- Chandelier; Music Video Analysis

 

During this music video, they use a lot of wide-angle shots this way they are showing the background. Showing the fact that there is only one person in the music video. The music video is set in an abandoned house and this gives the music video lots more depth because the lyrics ‘Keep my glass full until morning light, 'cos I'm just holding on for tonight’ is reflected throughout the house, all of the furniture is ruined or is covered in graffiti this is therefore shown through the background. During the music video it follows a dance routine that is performed by Maddie Ziegler, she performs movements that correspond to the lyrics her movements are very quick and sharp, which relates to the theme of the song which is about having an alcohol problem. During the video the camera zooms into the girls face (reaction shot) this is showing her facial expressions to the lyrics, she repeats the lyrics ‘Keep my glass full until morning light, cos I’m just holding on for tonight’ and she is looking up and waves her hand while facing the sky. This is very effective because the actions are portraying the lyrics and is bringing the song alive by showing the actions an alcoholic would act.

The lighting at the start of the music video it is very bright, they use very high key lighting. This is a contrast with the out side of the world because the bright lights are coming into the old broken window. Also when they do the zooms onto the girls face its very bright and you can see all her features. This way all of her movements are on show and the key light helps highlight this. Halfway way through the song the camera follows the girl through the house and at the end of an corridor she is visible, the corridor is all black and then the tiny spot light at the end is highlighting her and this is very signified because it links back to theme and its showing that she is fighting her demons because throughout the song she is contently dancing around herself and ‘hurting’ herself and this is showing that she is in an constantly battle with herself. After she has done this she runs away and runs to the window and traps herself in the curtains and she is surrounded by light and this showing the contrast between her feelings or thoughts. ‘Won’t look down, won’t open my eyes’ this is sang while she is by the bright lights, which is a contrast between the actions and the lyrics because she is feeling like giving up or she is going somewhere where she doesn’t want to go but actually she isn't going somewhere bad she is by the light and is surrounded by it.

During the video the girl ‘Maddie’ is wearing a white wig and just a skin coloured leotard which could be portrayed as ‘Sia’. This links to the theme of the music video because its closely linked to alcoholism or the thoughts of a ‘party girl’. Her costume could be showing what a ‘party girl’ looks like before he goes out, that fact that she couldn't be wearing anything and he hasn’t started changing herself yet and that all she is thinking about is having a drink. ‘Sun is up, I'm a mess, Gotta get out now, gotta run from this, Here comes the shame, here comes the shame’ This is showing that she is upset with what happened to her and then she needs to sort herself out, she needs to ‘run’ form this situation which she cant run from because she can’t. When she sings the lyrics ‘123,123 drink’ Maddie dances in a very robotic manner this could be showing the actions the ‘Party Girl’ is taken she doesn’t understand why she is doing it, its like she has been told to perform all of these movements and she can’t do anything to stop herself so she just carries on.

The video has been taken in one very long take, everything is combined with each other and its looks like you are watching a story at the start you see the girl come home and then at the end of the music video she is waving goodbye. During the music video the main focus is always the girl, they don’t swap to photos or someone else this could show that she is in control. They are always following her around showing all the key movements she makes, by doing this you are seeing a different person throughout the music video the girls actions and you see her character changing showing what the ‘Party Girl’ goes through when she is left alone. The camera isn’t always showing close-ups of the facial expressions it also shows how she looks in the house, at one point in the music video she is dancing in the main room and the camera pans away leaving a long shot of the room and in the corner Maddie is dancing facing the wall this could show how her thoughts and feelings are taking over her actions that due to all the drinking she is forcing herself to feel and act in a certain manner.

How did Paramount Pictures use Vertical Integration & Star Theory

Class Notes

Vertical Integration:
- Production,  Distribution, Exhibition

Block Booking:

• -It's an important part of the studio system (was a practise).
• -Studios would sell multiple films to theatres as a unit.
• -Typically include only one attractive A-Budget movie that the theatre really wanted and then the rest would be a mixture of A-Budget films and B-Budget films.

This way Block Booking gave people a freedom of choose on what films they could watch

• -The Big Five owned the cinemas.
• -Sometimes one studio would own all the cinema chains in the city.
• -in 1945, 17% of the theatres in America were owned by the studios. Actors, Producers and  Directors were under control, the hand a contract.
• -Studios were also infamous for 'owning' their stars, this was something called the 'star system'.