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HarryBenshoffandSeanGriffin.pptxHarry Benshoff and Sean Griffin
The Structure and History of Hollywood Filmmaking
Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin
Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin discuss “what Hollywood film is and how it developed.” It is important to understand that Hollywood film “can be identified by a specific set of formal and stylistic structures as well as by a set of historical, industrial, and economic determinants.” (21)
These structures, that can seem invisible or natural, shape “how Hollywood films represent America and how they conceive of issues of race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability.” (21)
Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin
The dominance of Hollywood film, both in the United States and abroad, can limit how others believe movies are made.
Hollywood films are films made in or around Hollywood, CA.
The impression of those not familiar with Hollywood is very different from its reality.
The global dominance of Hollywood, it seems that “Hollywood film is American film, obscures its historical development, and in effect works to naturalize the structure and style of its films.”
Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin
Benshoff and Griffin argue that the way this naturalization of the structure and style of Hollywood films are examples of “ideology working to erase the socially constructed nature of a specific cultural institution: Hollywood gains strength and power by making its form and practice seem to be basic common sense.” (22)
This naturalization of structure and style hides “the fact that Hollywood form and practice developed over time in response to specific socio-political factors and it also works to erase awareness that there are other ways of making (and understanding) film as a cultural artifact.” (22)
Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin
The dominance of Hollywood films means that many in the United States are not exposed to other types of films; Movie theaters in the U.S. rarely screen other types of films – independent films, avant-garde or experimental films, documentaries or foreign films.
The proliferation of Hollywood films means that for those brought up viewing these films may find other types of films “weird, boring, or badly made.” (22)
These other types of films and filmmakers have made deliberate formal choices, “in mise-en-scène, montage, sound, and narrative design,” that are not necessarily consistent with Hollywood style.
Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin
Benshoff and Griffin note that the dominance of Hollywood film worldwide means these films can have a “greater ideological impact on American culture (and arguably the world).” Its stylistic choices have “strongly influenced the ‘rules’ of how TV shows and computer games make meaning.” (23)
Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin
Classical Hollywood style is made up of “formal and stylistic conventions.”
Film form – “specific cinematic elements such as mise-en-scène and editing.”
Film style – a specific way “formal elements are arranged.”
Though this style is “not rigid or absolute,” it has been the same since the 1930s.
Hollywood style and business practices have been so dominant in the U.S. and globally that “classical Hollywood style is often considered the standard or ‘correct’ way to make fictional films.” (23)
Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin
Benshoff and Griffin posit that the “main objective of classical Hollywood style is to ‘spoon feed’ story information to the spectator.” Hence if plot points or style is “too different or challenging” audiences will react negatively to the film. (24)
This style appears to be invisible “because it does not call attention to itself as even being a style.” Ideally the viewer is emotionally connected with the film’s characters and narrative and is not aware of the “lighting of the sets or the edits between shots.” (24)
Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin
Arranging the formal elements in this way can prevent the viewer from questioning the story; s/he merely follows the narrative.
“All of the formal aspects of cinema under the classical Hollywood style work to keep the story clear and characters simple and understandable.” (24)
Style is “subordinate to story in classical Hollywood style.” The story or classical Hollywood narrative form is linear with a beginning, middle, and end. These stories usually have a protagonist, antagonist, and love interest.
Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin
One element the authors continually emphasis with Hollywood film is how is simplifies the story and characters. “Such ‘instant characterization” often draws upon pre-existing social and cultural stereotypes.” (25)
Hollywood films typically have closure and happy endings. “Any ideological issues or social strife that may have been raised by a film are allegedly resolved by narrative closure, and thus there is no longer any need for spectators to think about them.” (25)
Closure reaffirms the “status quo of American society” and this status quo is “white patriarchal capitalism.” (25)
Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin
Benshoff and Griffin explain that white patriarchal capitalism as an ideology in film means that most classical Hollywood films have white male protagonists who seek power or wealth. Their abilities seem natural due to the invisible style. Most other characters in the film are secondary to the protagonist.
The authors state that Hollywood often reuses stories and characters. This is very evident with the number of sequels and remakes. They also mention genres and its iconography, the look and feel of a genre.
Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin
Benshoff and Griffin turn to the “specific economic and industrial conditions that determine how Hollywood produces its films.” They note that Hollywood films are both “formal and stylistic structures” and “an industry that produces certain types of fictional films for profit.” Hence “Hollywood is an excellent example of capitalism at work.” (28)
It produces films that it believes people want to see that reflect the dominant ideology. “Hollywood’s business practices use every tool at their disposal to lessen competition, increase buyer demand, and reduce the cost of production.” (28-29)
The authors make the argument that “Hollywood film’s merit is chiefly judged by its box office revenues.” (29)
Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin
Film can be divided into three parts: production, distribution, and exhibition.
Production is making the film – “the financing, writing, shooting, editing, etc.” (29)
Distribution is the “shipping of copies (or prints) of the finished film to various theaters.” (29)
Exhibition is where films are shown.
During the classical film era and prior, most studios were vertically integrated meaning they controlled all three aspects of the industry. It was an oligopoly.
Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin
As an oligopoly, the industry worked together and kept potential competitors weak or drove them from business. Benshoff and Griffin declare that these oligopolies worked and “continue to work to keep foreign and independent American films marginalized.” (29)
This marginalization has specifically affected minority filmmakers. Also note that “Hollywood’s control of production, distribution, and exhibition has not been limited to the United States alone.” Hence Hollywood films can impair filmmakers from other countries from showing their films in their home countries. (29)
This is a type of cultural imperialism, “the promotion and imposition of ideals and ideologies throughout the world via cultural means.”
Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin
With this dominance, it becomes more apparent how other types of films have problems being created and distributed. And this dominance has not altered significantly in almost one century.
Films affected American culture from their beginning. Nickelodeons, “small store-front theaters devoted solely to showing films.” were popular. As films grew in popularity, so did the theaters screening them.
In the 1910s, films were popular with immigrant populations. Then studios, in the 1910s and 1920s, created the “concept of the movie star.” (33)
Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin
During the Classical Hollywood era, typically this is considered the sound era (1930s to 1950s), the studio system was set in motion.
The Production Code was Hollywood’s attempt to censor itself to keep others from censoring their films. However it is a “good example of how discrimination can become institutionalized, embedded within a corporate or bureaucratic structure.” (36)
Benshoff and Griffin demonstrate how the Red Scare caused a type of mandated conformity after it was over. People who questioned the status quo were often labelled communists. Those individuals were blacklisted.
Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin
Hollywood’s oligarchy ended with the Paramount Consent Decrees. Interestingly with the independence of directors, stars, and writers along with theaters no longer obligated to screen Hollywood films, the films being created were not very challenging of the status quo.
The authors also note various movements that impacted films - Civil Rights Movement, the Beat Movement, as well as movements for Native Americans, Latinas/os, women, and homosexuals were prominent. These groups were considered counterculture.
Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin
After the end of the studio era, the Film School Brats become popular. They “revamp traditional genre formulas.” (40)
Though it’s a new generation of filmmakers, they are “mostly white, male, and heterosexual.”
Consider who is celebrated and why.
The Production Code gives way to the Ratings System.
Genre films that reinforce traditional ideologies and film form return; Benshoff and Griffin refer to these as nostalgic Hollywood blockbusters.
Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin
With the advent of corporate conglomerates, “large multination businesses that control multiple aspects of the entertainment industry,” and their marketing techniques of selecting projects that are pre-sold (have high name recognition) and saturation advertising and booking, independent films have challenges being seen.
Independent cinema did have some moments in the 1980s and 1990s. Now most of those studios have been bought out by larger corporations.
Benshoff and Griffin close the chapter observing though Hollywood has cutting edge technology, the content and ideology has not shifted dramatically. And Hollywood’s dominance keeps independent films and filmmakers marginalized.
