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Studio System

Studio System


 During which decades was the Hollywood studio system at its most powerful?

the studio system was most popular between the 1920s and the 1960s, (this was also known as the "golden age" of Hollywood) when studios made hundreds of movies a year, not all them were successful, but many of them were (for example Casablanca).


 What were the major "big five" studios?

The ‘Big Five’ were the main studios that were making movies in Hollywood. They were MGM, 20th Century Fox, RKO, Paramount and Warner Bros. There were other film studios at the time, but none of them were as successful or as well known as the "Big Five"


What areas and roles in film production did the studio system have direct control over?

the studio system meant that the studio had control over basically every part of the film, hence why in Casablanca the director (Curtiz) is referred to as a "director for hire" as he wasn't really involved in the film as other directors (such as the director of apocalypse now). Everyone worked for the studio, from the actors to the editors. The studio system was about vertical integration.


Why was this factory method of production successful?

the factory method was successful because not only could studios gwt much more movies out then they could before (meaning at least one was likely to be successful), the less successful (b list movies) were sold to cinemas with the better movies in packages, meaning the studios could sell many movies off at once. 

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