As we continue to explore film, this week’s classes focuses on the beginning of the Studio System in Hollywood, and the impact that censorship and sound began to have on the creation of movies. In particular, we focused on the movies Sunset Boulevard [IMC DVD 791.4302 S958 2002] and Psycho [IMC DVD 791.436 P974 1999].
Sunset Boulevard is a fascinating movie because there are so many layers to it—it is a film noir, but also a parody of that genre. It tells a story about Hollywood and film making which had forgotten about its old-time silent movie stars and the directors that made them big. The introduction of sound had changed the type of movies being produced and made dialogue crucial, which took emphasis away from the original idea of a “moving picture”. Censorship had also began in Hollywood, taking form with the Hays Code of 1932. This code outlined exactly what films could and could not show, which affected Billy Wilder’s original opening scene for Sunset Boulevard. Instead, Wilder was forced to write a new opening scene, which included some inventive camera work. Truly a wonderful film, it becomes even more fascinating the more you learn about it.
Our second movie, Psycho, is a Hitchcock thriller which he specifically shot with a low budget in a backlot in order to give the film a more visceral feel. The Hays Code (also known as the Motion Picture Production Code) mentioned earlier was beginning to erode by the time that Psycho was being made. Paramount, who had a contract with Hitchcock, did not want him to film this movie, and as a result, denied him his usual budget. Thus Hitchcock decided he would finance it himself, and kept costs low by using a backlot set, shooting in black and white (which also helped to tone down the gory scenes), and by using his television crew instead of the crew used to shoot North by Northwest. Sound played a huge role in this film as well, with the shower scene being the most famous for its use of music to increase the tension of the audience. In addition, in the beginning of the film, the viewer is introduced to a new type of sound, called internal diegetic, where the character is imagining dialogue that is happening in the world of the film, but only we as the audience can hear it.
Next week will be the last week of the class, focusing primarily on Taxi Driver (and perhaps a little of American Beauty). Stay tuned and keep following along at https://letterboxd.com/peterstanley/list/1001-movies-you-must-see-before-you-die/ .
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