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First film screening
The first ever public screening of a film was by the French inventors, the Lumiere Brothers, in Paris. They screen ten very short films of everyday events, such as workers leaving a factory and bathing in the sea. -
Period: to
Genre
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Hollywood's first film released
Hollywood and Los Angeles has become the accidental home of the US film industry due to filmmakers trying to escape the agents of Thomas Edison, the movie patent holder, and their demands for copyright payments. D W Griffiths directs a short film called, In Old California, in Hollywood. Within 15 years all the main studios are based in the town. -
Hollywood Studio System
The Studio System (Contract Stars and Crew, Assembly-line film production and vertical integration) becomes fully established. An integral part of this system is the use of film categories or genres to make and market films. -
GENRE
- Genre is a critical tool, a concept that helps scholars to study films and filmmaking as well as audiences’ response to film.
- Steve Neale refers to a genre's need for "instances of repertition and difference."
- By comparing similar groups of films produced at different periods in film history or in different countries, we can begin to see the importance of economic, social and cultural influences and the context of each film’s production and reception. Genres are dynamic.
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Defining Genres
A media teacher and writer, Nick Lacey, said genres could be defined by a "Repertoire of Elements."
Narrative - themes and plots
Characters - representation and stereotypes
Style - technical elements
Setting - locations
Iconography - audio and visual codes -
