BLOG Module 7: A New New Hollywood

Home box office market

Hollywood transitioned into a new era where cable television began to take off. Studios are creating films that would perform well on cable channels and encourage people to rewatch them from home (Lewis 360).

VCR

With cable and watching films from home becoming an interest, the VCR helped make this possible. The VCR allowed viewers to watch and replay movies while giving them the ability to pause, rewind, and fast forward. The large success of the VCR encouraged studios to create films that would resonate with viewers for a longer period of time and make them want to watch it again (Lewis 361).

Genres and Trends - Blockbuster

After auteur filmmaking came blockbusters beginning in the 1980s. The idea of blockbusters was to prioritize big-name actors, visuals, and budgets. Filmmakers also created films around large marketing campaigns where merchandise, and now, at home viewing, lead to large profits (Lewis 362).

Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner

Blade Runner by Ridley Scott served as an example of the importance of style during the early stages of blockbuster films. This film featured a futuristic look that consisted of bright neon lighting and a satisfying rainy city. This Scifi movie became popular in the at home film-watching market (Lewis 370).

The Alien Films

Alien films by both Ridley Scott and James Cameron showed how filmmakers can coexist in the same universe while both finding success. Scott’s film focused more on horror, while Cameron’s film focused more on action (Lewis 371).

Teen Comedy (John Hughes’s “formula”)

John Hughes mastered the teen comedy genre by following a formula that consisted of relatable characters, suburban settings, and stories about growing up and fitting in. The ultimate goal of this formula was to make teens relate to films while mixing in some comedy (Lewis 375).

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are widely known for jumpstarting the blockbuster era with many of today’s most popular franchises, such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones. In addition to their innovation with storytelling and special effects, they showed the power of marketing through toys and merchandise, marking the beginning of the blockbuster era (Lewis 378).

Oliver Stone

Oliver Stone became well known for his politically themed films such as Platoon and JFK. His films would explore themes of history and war in America and would use fast-paced editing and intense scenes to help tell the story (Lewis 381).

Spike Lee

Spike Lee is an African American filmmaker who focuses on societal issues and has a strong focus on black voices. One of his popular films, Malcom X, is an example of the strong messages Spike Lee shared that discussed race and identity in present-day America (Lewis 385).

Tim Burton

Tim Burton is a filmmaker who is known for creating dark and gothic-style films that tap into German Expressionism. His famous films, such as Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands, showed that through a blockbuster film era, filmmakers can still create something original with much emotional depth (Lewis 390).

David Lynch

David Lynch is a filmmaker known for creating films that explore themes of fear and feature psychological discomfort. One of his most famous films, Blue Velvet, accomplishes this by combining mystery and horror into one film that shows how weirdness could be combined with emotional storytelling (Lewis 391).

Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino started his career as an independent filmmaker. He would go on to create films that would feature things such as nonlinear storytelling, stylized violence, and pop cultural references. He shows this in films such as Pulp Fiction, which ultimately proved how independent filmmaking has the ability to compete with larger studios (Lewis 393).

Joel and Ethan Coen

The Coen brothers created films such as Raising Arizona and Fargo, which combined crime and comedy. Their films featured dark humor, which helped make characters feel more memorable. Their contribution to the independent filmmaking market helped show how successful independent filmmakers can be without big name studios (Lewis 401).

Steven Soderbergh

Steven Soderbergh played a large role in the independent filmmaking market, particularly through his film, Sex, Lies, and Videotape. His independence allowed him to try out different styles and technologies. Not only was he an independent filmmaker, but he also worked with studios. This combination showed that filmmakers are not stuck with one or the other and can find success in both at the same time (Lewis 402).

Kathryn Bigelow

Bigelow became a popular female filmmaker primarily because of her work with action films. In films such as Point Break, she incorporated high emotions along with striking visuals, which complemented the intense action well. With action being a male dominated genre, she showed that female filmmakers could also find success in this genre (Lewis 408).