During the 1930's, Hollywood's big five movie studios, which included Paramount, MGM, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, and RKO, dominated each part of the movie making process using vertical integration. They were able to take full control of each aspect in the processes necessary to distribute and create films. These industries relied heavily on the marketing technique of the 'star system' which created a particular star "face" or characteristic of the separate studios. This allowed for the connection of Hollywood stars to different genres. This formation popularized and characterized the different studios and what kinds of films they created. Famous stars such as Judy Garland, Humphrey Bogart, and Fred Astaire were associated with singing, crime investigation, and tap dancing.
Since each star promoted different types of audiences, it was important for each studio to have a hefty number of talented stars in order to create diversity and variety. The studios were only able to successfully produce genres of films if they had matching talent. For example Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were used to create singing and dancing blockbusters, while Humphrey Bogart specialized in creating mystery and crime solving blockbusters. And because the studios made each actor/actress sign a contract proclaiming them to one movie studio, the stars were the central focal point to each film industry. This best illustrates how the studio system took complete control over the film studios and monopolized the industry.
No comments:
Post a Comment