New Technologies

Many things have greatly influenced the film in throughout its history, such as methods of filming and progressing technologies used. When films were first being created they were nothing more than sequences of scenes put together one after the other. Back then people couldn’t just create their own films and publicly display them for the world to see, like today.

              The internet and digital cameras opened up a whole new world for amateur filmmakers. People could grab their cameras, make a short film of whatever they wanted, then turn around and post it on the internet. This has desensitized many people from the experience of new films. Movies and films used to be for the professionals only, and the only way you could watch is if you went to a movie theater. As if televisions weren’t enough to cause heartbreak to the movie theaters. Today we have the internet, and other options such as ‘Redbox’ or ‘Netflix’, which allows us to comfortably sit at home with little to no cost and not have to waste the gas to go watch an outrageously priced movie in an overcrowded theater.

Cinerama and Cinescope used to be the new big thing that attracted audiences to the theatres. But like anything else, people got board with it and new things were needed to come out all the time to keep the interest of the audience. First it was larger than life screens, then it was blood and gore, and after that large explosions. Now it has gotten so bad that every other movie has to come out in 3-D, because there seems to be nothing else other than plots that can really surprise us. Advanced digital technologies have allowed our generations to become used to watching somebody’s leg get cut off, or watching a building being blown into a million pieces.

3-D technology has become so appealing and popular to the general public that people for some reason see the urge to buy a $3,000 3-D flat screen. So they can put on the annoyingly oversized glasses and watch their everyday shows in “3-D”. Have you ever watched a regular show in “3-D”? There is virtually no difference. People can essentially watch a 3-D movie at home and not have to go to the theaters to watch a movie.

All of these innovations in technology have desensitized us from the ‘WOW’ factor of anything Hollywood tries to throw at us. We no longer get surprised from blood and gore and we no longer become shocked from huge explosions, although we still enjoy it. We can now go attempt to film out own ‘block-buster’ in our own backyards and hope it becomes a huge success. It is time for something new to be thrown at us, we are over due for something amazing in theatres, and yet we get stuck with 3-D. Is that all you’ve got Hollywood?

New Waves in the Cinematic Ocean

The “American New Wave” or post classical Hollywood began in the early 1960’s when audiences to theatres was half of what it was 20 years earlier. Because of this loss, the film industry was not making money, therefore needed to revamp entirely. There were many changes in the production aspect to make films more interesting, in attempt to draw in more crowds. Hollywood began to embrace new technology, such as Cinerama and Cinescope to produce movies much larger than before. Movie producers also started selling movies to TV companies to acquire more of a profit. The popular cast that had been used earlier was proving to become too expensive, so production companies started hiring independent filmmakers and foreign actors to shoot films. In this period, “baby-boomers” had become the bulk of the movie audience, which greatly affected what kinds of movies were being produced; because of this the United States created a systematic classification for movies, with the ‘G’, ‘PG’, ‘R’, and ‘X’ ratings that we see today. Because of these changes “Hollywood moved from studio to independent production, but the story-telling form of the films remained much the same” (Oxford 450). Directors now also became recognized as an extremely important part of the film, rather than just a hand for hire, who would be considered the center of production at the time, with little studio control.

            The French New Wave was influenced greatly by Neo-Realism and classical Hollywood. Its directors, who denied the classical filmmaking fashion that had become the template for making films, defined the French New Wave. These directors were young and full of fresh ideas that reflected their youthfulness. The French New Wave films had been using unheard of techniques in the film industry, such as clearly cut scenes with no attempt at creating fluidity.

            American and French New Wave had many similarities and just as many differences. The French New Wave came ten years before the American did. However, French New Wave was greatly influenced by the American “Auteur Theory”, which in turn influenced the “American New Wave.” Young directors with fresh ideas that would greatly impact how movies would look while being filmed directed in both New Waves. However, the American would still have the Studio above the director, just with much less control over the film during production. Each New Wave was kick started by different events. The French New Wave was developed directly after World War II. Where the American was forced onto the Studios by the major downturn in movie attendance and the reoccurring flop of extremely expensive productions. Though different from each other, both New Waves would effect world cinema and lead to changes in directing aspects and ratings.