The "star system" was a method of developing and advancing the popularity of Hollywood movie stars. The system, which began during the height of the Hollywood studio system era, emphasized the image of the actor instead on the actual acting. The movie studio's profits were driven by the popularity of the stars that appeared in their films. According to Rocco, the stars had long term contracts with the movie studios that paid them a weekly salary, and the stars were identified with specific types of characters that would often be repeated in many movies. Belton stated that "the star provides the studio with a tangible attraction, an image that can be advertized and marketed, offsetting the less tangible qualities of the story, directing, acting, art direction, costume design, and overall studio style" (89). The star system was embraced by movie studios because the popularity of the actors heavily influences the demand for the films.
A Hollywood star is known mostly for the characters they have portrayed in the movies in which he or she acted. The audience typically does not get introduced to the real person, and it is often difficult to distinguish the star from the roles they play. Belton stated that stars are made up of three personalities- the movie star, the actor, and the real person (95). Many actors and actress try to shield their personal lives from the public, while others embrace the public attention they receive from the media and the public. According to Belton, an actor or an actress becomes a star when their persona rises above their on-screen performances (96). There are numerous actors in the world, but only a fraction will become a star. According to Whitty, transforming from a actor to a star can be a ...
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.../www.eonline.com/news/528740/happy-49th-birthday- robert-downey-jr-check-out-his-5-essential-roles-from-the-past-decade>.
Meyer, Josh. " Robert Downey Jr. Arrested Again on Drug Charges." 27 Nov. 2000. Los Angeles Times. 01 May 2014. < http://articles.latimes.com/2000/nov/27 /news/mn-57768>.
"Robert Downey Jr." 2014. The Biography.com. Web. 01 May 2014. .
Rocco, Serge. "The Decline of the Hollywood Studio System or a End of the Magic Concept." 26 April 2011. Web. 01 May 2014. .
Whitty, Stephen. "Movie Stars vs. Actors: How to tell the Difference." 21 April 2013. New Jersey Online. Web. 2 May 2014. < http://www.nj.com/entertainment/ index.ssf/2013/04/movie_stars_vs_actors_how_to_t.html>
The stars, particularly Hollywood stars, made a huge contribution to attracting vast numbers of people to the cinema.
In Hollywood political conflict was also paving the way for what would later occur in Hollywood as the HUAC would attack the industry. Big business controlled the lucrative industry and the companies that controlled the market were eight major studios in Hollywood. The Metro-Goldw...
All fame begins when you do something noticeable. For example, actors and actresses build upon their careers and reputations by achieving excellence in their personal goals, as well as perfecting their public performance.
For example, women began wearing pants after actress Markebe Dietrich began wearing them on screen. Undershirts also lost its trend as Clark Gable appeared on screen without one. Not only did the industry change how people dressed, but it also changed how Canadians live, going to Hollywood to work and pursue their careers. The film industry has greatly influenced the lives back then and even now, from producers, script writers, famous actors, and many more.
Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there lived a princess. Her name was Princess Leia. Growing up, she didn’t realize that one day, she and her twin brother would be travelling through space, fighting the dark side, fighting their father. This is Star Wars, the epic battle between good and evil. This is a very iconic movie series, one of the best sci-fi there is! Although, that is my opinion, I have a feeling many people would agree with me. As we take a look inside the film series, you’ll see a picture of what might be out there, and we have George Lucas to thank for that!
The star text of a celebrity can help to decipher their image and transitions they may undergo. In order to better understand these transitions, one must know the definition of a star text. A star text is the sum of everything we affiliate with celebrities, which includes their body of work, promotion, publicity, and audience participation (Jackson, 08/09/16). One must note that “celebrity doesn 't happen because someone has extraordinary qualities – it is discursively constructed by the way in which the person is publicised and meanings about them circulate” (O 'Shaughnessy and Stadler 424). Destiny Hope Cyrus, “an American singer and actress, became a sensation in the television series
... ed (BFI, 1990) we read … “contrary to all trendy journalism about the ‘New Hollywood’ and the imagined rise of artistic freedom in American films, the ‘New Hollywood’ remains as crass and commercial as the old…”
The Studio System Key point about the studio system could be: Despite being one of the biggest industries in the United States, indeed the World, the internal workings of the 'dream factory' that is Hollywood is little understood outside the business. The Hollywood Studio System: A History is the first book to describe and analyse the complete development, classic operation, and reinvention of the global corporate entities which produce and distribute most of the films we watch. Starting in 1920, Adolph Zukor, head of Paramount Pictures, over the decade of the 1920s helped to fashion Hollywood into a vertically integrated system, a set of economic innovations which was firmly in place by 1930.
A new edition to the course lineup, this week's film classic, Sunset Boulevard. This film will focus on the culture and environment of the Hollywood studio system that produces the kind of motion pictures that the whole world recognizes as "Hollywood movies." There have been many movies from the silent era to the present that either glamorize or vilify the culture of Hollywood, typically focusing on the celebrities (both in front of and behind the camera) who populate the "dream factories" of Hollywood. But we cannot completely understand the culture of Hollywood unless we recognize that motion pictures are big business as well as entertainment, and that Hollywood necessarily includes both creative and commercial
I will begin my essay by looking closely at the narrative of Sunset Boulevard to see where and how the film represents the Hollywood Studio System. At the beginning of the film the audience is introduced to Joe Gillis, a script writer who is struggling to pay his rent as he in unable to sell his scripts to the ‘majors’ of Hollywood. The film follows Joe to ‘Paramount Pictures’ one of the major studios in Hollywood, which the film pays a large self reference to as the producers of Sunset Boulevard as well as representing the studio system.
The ‘New Hollywood Cinema’ era came about from around the 1960’s when cinema and film making began to change. Big film studios were going out of their comfort zone to produce different, creative and artistic movies. At the time, it was all the public wanted to see. People were astonished at the way these films were put together, the narration, the editing, the shots, and everything in between. No more were the films in similar arrangement and structure. The ‘New Hollywood era’ took the classic Hollywood period and turned it around so that rules were broken and people left stunned.
Moviemaking is a risky business, for it is not always profitable. Only one in ten films ever recovers its initial investment from theatrical exhibition. In fact, four out of ten movies never recoup the original investment. In 2000, the average studio film cost had a total cost of over $80 million per film. No other industry in the world risks that much capital to make, finance, produce ...
celebrities to seem closer to a “real” person. This personality trait of celebrities has the potential
Movie stars. They are celebrated. They are perfect. They are larger than life. The ideas that we have formed in our minds centered on the stars that we idolize make these people seem inhuman. We know everything about them and we know nothing about them; it is this conflicting concept that leaves audiences thirsty for a drink of insight into the lifestyles of the icons that dominate movie theater screens across the nation. This fascination and desire for connection with celebrities whom we have never met stems from a concept elaborated on by Richard Dyer. He speculates about stardom in terms of appearances; those that are representations of reality, and those that are manufactured constructs. Stardom is a result of these appearances—we actually know nothing about them beyond what we see and hear from the information presented to us. The media’s construction of stars encourages us to question these appearances in terms of “really”—what is that actor really like (Dyer, 2)? This enduring query is what keeps audiences coming back for more, in an attempt to decipher which construction of a star is “real”. Is it the character he played in his most recent film? Is it the version of him that graced the latest tabloid cover? Is it a hidden self that we do not know about? Each of these varied and fluctuating presentations of stars that we are forced to analyze create different meanings and effects that frame audience’s opinions about a star and ignite cultural conversations.
Maria G Mackavey. Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge. Hollywood: Sep 2006. Vol 9 iss; pg244 6pgs