history of film making

The 1800's

Motion Toys

As the popularity for the magic lanterns increased, people in Europe and the U.S. wanted to be able to use magic lanterns at home. In fact, during the 1800's, no dinner party was complete without a magic lantern presentation. Various image projection devices proliferate for enjoying at the home were created. These were small devices called motion toys that were very different from the standard magic lantern. All of the origins of these devices lay in scientific experimentation. One of these experiments was based on a new concept (for the 1800's) called the persistence of vision, which is the eye's capacity to retain an image, even after its source has been removed. This idea prompted various efforts to built mechanisms that could make separate still images into a single moving image. From this concept, a number of inventions for projecting images were created. Here is a list of each one and their creator:

• Thaumatrope: created by John Ayrton in Paris in 1862. This was a round card attached to a string, while one side was a a picture of a horse and the other a picture of a man in a riding position. When the card was spun, it seem as if the man was riding the horse.
• Phenakistoscope: created by several different inventors in the early 1800's. This was a plate sized slotted disk with sequences of images that when spun, the person looking though the slots of this device saw a moving image.
• Zoetrope: created in the 1860's by several inventors and was very similar to the Phenakistoscope. It was a bowl like device with a strip of drawings around the interior circumference. When the bowl was spun, the viewer looked through slots where you could see a moving image. The word Zoetrope resurfaced when Francis Ford Coppola used this name for his production company and studio.
• Praxiniscope: developed in the early 1870's by Emile Reynaud. It was almost the exact same things as the Zoetrope only it used mirrors.

The First Motion Picture Ever Made

In the year 1872, a man named Eadweard Muybridge began experimenting on capturing moving images. This man placed twelve cameras on a race horse track, spread thread across the track, and attached the thread into contact with a camera's shutter. Once the horse ran across the track, it's legs broke the threads, causing the cameras to operate in sequence. The ending results were 12 photos showing a horse's gait. With an invention of his called the Zoopraxiscope, he was able to quickly project these images, creating what is known as motion photography and the first movie to ever exist.

Theatre Optique

These motion toys soon began competing with the magic lantern. Among the midst of all of the competition, the man who created the praxiniscope developed the praxiniscope theatre which was known later known as the Theater Optique. This device was basically the exact same thing as a praxiniscope only it utilized a lantern which was used to project the images onto a large screen, making it possible for an audience to watch.

The Invention of Film

In 1885, two men named George Eastman and William H. Walker developed the very first reel of film. Film was sensitized paper created with a gelatin emulsion. One year later it was replaced by celluloid, which was a synthetic plastic material invented in the 1870's which was used in the chemical compound cellulose nitrate.

Eddison's Kintegraph and Kintescope:

The Kintegraph was created be Thomas Edison's British employee William Kennedy Laurie Dickenson. It was a machine that could capture a sequence of images which was similar to a camera only it automatically took a picture of the moving image every half second. The images were then placed in his other invention, the kintescope. This device had a motor and shutter mechanism that ran a loop of film past an electric light source. The spectator would then peer through a small window to see the moving image.

After these two inventions were created, the Lumiere brothers ( Auguste and Louis) created a light weight hand cranked mechanism called the Cinematographe. It could take pictures and could project large images quickly when it was linked with projecting equipment familiar from magic lantern shows.

With the Cinematographe invented, German, English, Italian, British, and American inventors were becoming "hot on their heels". The race to create the next big invention that could surpass everything created this far in the history of film was heating up. The transition of film into the 1900's was stimulated by the increasing competition among the many inventors, the easy reproducibility of film, the ability to use propaganda in cinema, and in general, it's overall appeal to growing cities.

The 1900's

During the first couple of years in the 1900's, it was a time of great discovery for film. In this time period, the use of editing, backdrops, and a different approach to the flow of time in cinema were all becoming more apparent.

Editing:

Editing allowed movies to become more refined and story like. The important role of editing was never paid much attention to in the 1800's because the whole phenomenon of movie making was still fairly new to the public and the inventors of the many movie making devices. When editing, the directors were given the opportunity to perfect their material by changing the angle in which a scene was shot, or just be completely redoing the whole scene all together. Some of the earliest special affects were used due to the use of editing. Techniques such as making the transition of a distant shot to a close up were first created during this time. This was done by mounting the camera man on wheels and then on a track which physically moved the camera closer to what was being shot. This ancient movie technique was used for the very first time in the movie filmed in 1904 calledPhotographing of a Female Crook.

Cinematic Time:

One of the biggest differences in modern day film and primitive film would be the approach to temporary continuity ( the flow of time). In the early 1900's, you would see an event in a movie being replayed over again, but only in different angles( like an instant replay in sports). This may seem kind of strange to most people today, but this was considered one of the coolest things to do in a movie. You can see an example of this in a movie called A Trip to the Moon made in 1902. A rocket is shown being launched several times, all at different angles, and landing in the man in the moon's eye. This was considered quite comical for its time.

Made in 1903, The Great Train Robbery was directed by Edwin S. Porter who was a former camera man for Thomas Edison. It was a 10 minute long primitive action film that was based on the true story of the train robbery of 1900. This film used a number of innovative techniques, such as parallel editing and jump and cross-cuts. In a jump and cross-cut, two separate scenes of action are being shown on one screen and are split by a line going vertically or diagonally. A narrative story was told along with the film, making it one of the first movies to be plot-based as well as one of the most famous movies of its time.

The Nickelodeon Era

Around the year 1905, an inexpensive way to view movies was created - the 5 cent movie theatre! The period of time in which these theatres were built was called the Nickelodeon era, due to the cost of 5 cents for viewing. No longer would people have to see a movie in an upscale vaudeville house. By creating the 5 cent movie theatre, the general appeal of movies greatly increased, making movies more available and affordable to watch.

The 5-cent movie theatre helped movies make the transition into the 1920's by ultimately increasing the appeal of film and helped bring in a larger profit. The global spread of film was taking place due to advancements in movie making technology primarily in Europe and the new idea of using propaganda in film. World War 1 gave film makers a perfect opportunity to incorporate some early propaganda in their work and to start to filming documentaries. After World War I, change was in the air and the beginning of a cultural phenomena was become apparent: the rise of Hollywood.

The 1920's

The Rise of Hollywood

The 1920's was a time for the movie industry to really blossom and expand. It was the beginning of the studio and the birth of the "star". The majority of film making actually took place in the Hollywood area. In fact, during the mid 1920's, around 800 movies were being created each year. Hollywood was the rise of a new cultural phenomenon.

Hollywood's Entrance

Just the name itself brings thoughts of luxury, leisure, and stardom to one's mind. Hollywood made it's big entrance in the film industry due to it's inexpensive real estate and sunny climate which greatly appealed to new up and coming film directors. Hollywood created a new lifestyle through hard work, emphasizing leisure activates, sports, and the club scene. Hollywood by itself was considered it's own separate "colony".

Hollywood Studios

Hollywood was the initial birth place of the studio. Studios were extremely important when it came to America's image of film making. They were extremely large, sky light buildings that had enormous laboratories, costume and research departments, acres of out door sets and contained miniature cities for movies. In order to get a full glimpse of the exterior of a studio, one had to see it from an airplane. When observing a studio up close, there was a gated entrance with a number of security guards, making one's dreams to get up close to the studio impossible.

Studios were distinctively separate into 3 different types: The Big Five, The Little Three, and Poverty Row. Here is a list of studio's found in each category:

The Big Five:

• Warner Brother Pictures
• Paramount
• RKO
• Metro Golden Meyer
• 20th Century Fox

These studios had the most elaborate sets for film production. They owned their own film exhibiting studios and were the most successful.

The Little Three:

• Universal
• United Artists
• Columbia Picture

These were named Little Three because each one lacked the one of the three elements required in vertical integration - owning their own theatres.

Poverty Row

• Disney
• Monogram Pictures
• Republic Pictures
• 20th Century Pictures

These existed in the shabbier areas of Hollywood, thus giving them the name Poverty Row.

Movie Palaces:

Major Film studios, such as The Big Five, built luxurious "picture palaces" that were specially designed for orchestras to accompany projected films. These movie palaces had around 3,000 seats and brought the Nickelodeon Era to its end.

The Director:

Directors were receiving more and more recognition during the 1920's because they were using their own personal stylistic signatures on their products. They broke out of the usual norm and began making movies with their own style. This is also another reason for why so many movies were being produced. Without the limitations of movie directing, the director's role in Hollywood dramatically changed.

The Star

Before the 1920's, actors and actresses were not given as much attention as they are today. However, the 1920's were the best and the worst times to be a star due to publicity campaigns. In a publicity campaign, which was primarily used by the studios to advertise their films, they made sure their stars or starlets had every single aspect of their lives' completely monitored. They were told to practice public behavior, where to eat, how to dress, what they could be seen doing, and where they could go for leisurely activities. With these rules applied to their lifestyles, they were enduring a large amount of stress and some of them broke off of the studio's contracts.

The 1930's

The Golden Age of Hollywood

What set apart the 1930's in film history from any other decade was the use of sound in movies. It was the age of the "talkies" and some of the most well known documentaries. It was the time of the femme fatal and the beginning Hollywood's role in the war.

Most of the early talkies were successful at the box office, but a majority were of poor quality. They were dialogue dominated play adaptations with inexperienced actors and an unmoving camera or microphone. The 1930's were also the birth of many new film genres such as gangster films, musicals, newspaper-reporting films, historical biopics, social-realism films, lighthearted screwball comedies, westerns and horror flicks. With the beginning of the 1930's, there were a number of unique firsts:

• The first blonde bombshell, Jean Harlow, appeared in her first movie Hell's Angles in 1930 and was soon signed by MGM which made her a big celebrity.
• B-actor John Wayne was given his first major role in a western film directed by Raoul Walsh, called The Big Trail in 1930.
• Helen Hayes made her very first first debut in the movie The Sin of Madelon Claudet in 1931
• The first newspaper for the film industry had started 1930 called The Hollywood Reporter
• The world's first drive-in theatre opened in 1933 in the state of New Jersey
• The cartoon character Donald Duck made his first appearance in the movie The Wise Little Hen in 1934
• Hollywood's longest talkie (up to that time) was released in 1936 and was called The Great Ziegfeld

Documentaries:

The 1930's were a revival of documentaries and other non fiction films. It was also the time of political up heal that was just asking to be recorded. With World War 2 on the rise, film makers were given plenty of opportunities to make documentaries. Here is a list of documentaries and when they were recorded:
• Triumph of the Will (1935)
• The Blue Light (1935)
• The March of Time (1937)
• The River (1937)
• 
  

The 1940's

Film Industry During the War

The early 1940's was not a promising time for the American film industry, especially during the attack of Pear Harbor by the Japanese. However, during the years 1943 to 1946, film production rebounded and found it's profitable peak of efficiency due to the decrease of technical challenges and advancements in technology (i.e. special affects, sound recording, the use of color, and cinematography). These advancements in film technology made film more watchable and modern. Following the end of the war, the film industry raked in it's highest profits in the year 1946, with an all time high record in theatre attendance.

Like any other aspect of life, the film industry responded to the war, and began making more movies, producing many war time favorites.Many stars and other film industry employees enlist or report for duty. The U.S. Government's Office of War was founded in 1942 and served as a major propaganda agency during World War II and worked with the film industry to record and capture the nation's war time activities.

Hollywood's Role in World War II

Hollywood aided in defensive mobilization whether as propagandists, combatants, documentaries, educators, and held fund-raisers for release funds or war bonds. During this time period films dramatically changed, going from the typical happy -go- lucky dance movies to a more realistic tone.

One of the many ways Hollywood helped during the war was by putting together various patriotic extravaganzas solely made for entertaining the troops. One of these movies was calledThe Hollywood Canteen and was made in 1942. It starred celebrities such as Bettie Davis and John Garfield. These movies were like night clubs for off duty service men. With this film, service men were provided with a free meal and extra necessities such as bars of soap and blankets.

The Quintessence of 40's Films

One of the most well known war and propaganda films of the 1940's was Casablanca. This subtle war time tale told the romantic story of two lovers, one a disillusioned night club owner ( Humphrey Bogart) and his former lover ( Ingrid Birdman ) separated by the war. This films is best remembered from the scene in which the famous piano player Doorey Wilson sings As Time Goes By.Casablanca later received awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay.

War Related Films

The 40's offered escapist entertainment, reassurance, and patriotic themes. Here is a list of war related films of this decade:

• The Story of G.I. Joe (1945)
• Destination Tokyo (1943)
• The Purple Heart (1944)
• Since You Went Away (1944)
• The Best Years of our Lives (1946)

The 1950's

The Birth of the 50's

The 1950's was a time of great change in the United States as well in other places of the world. It's been remembered in history for many things : increased post-war affluence , the rise of modern jazz, the inventions of the drive in theatres, the creation of fast food restaurants, the Korean War, conformity and the advent of television sets. In fact, around 10.5 million U.S. homes had a television set in 1950. It's also been remembered for it's musical background with artists such as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Little Richard, and Chuck Berry. The 50's was also the decade of the pin up queen with women like Marilyn Monroe, Bettie Page, and Sophia Loren.

The Youth Oriented Market

Following World War II, most films were idealized with conventional portrayals of women and men, but the younger generation wanted new and exciting portrayals of rebellion. Hollywood responded to the younger audience's demands by casting various anti-heroes such as James Dean, Paul Newman, and Marlon Brando and anti-heroines like Ava Gardner, Kim Novak, and the blonde bombshell Marilyn Monroe.

The 50's decade also introduced rock n' roll to film with movies such as Rock Around the Clockwhich featured famous disc jockey Alan Freed and other musical performers such as Bill Haley and The Platters. This film made in 1956 was the first movie ever to be entirely dedicated to rock n' roll. However, with the adult generation growing fearful and skeptical of what was becoming of their children (and the rise of delinquency among teenagers) the movie The Bad Seed was produced. This movie told the story of how an innocent child became corrupt and ended up being a serial killer.

Eventually, Hollywood realized that the affluent teenage population could be heavily exploited, now more defiant than innocent they had ever been. With the influence of rock n' roll movies brining in many box office successes, the movie High School Confidential made in 1958 was finally released and topped of the music genre of the 50's with a story of drugs, gangsters, alcohol, and most of all, rock n' roll.

Influential actors of the 50's:

Marlon Brando: the symbol of adolescent rebellion.

A young Marlon Brando was trained in New York in a raw and realistic "method acting" and was influenced by Stella Alder. He starred in various teen rebellion movies such as The Wild One (1954) where he depicted an arrogant, defiant, tough yet sensitive leader of a notorious bike gang. Marlon Brando's acting would be forever emulated by modern day actors such as Jack Nickelson, Sean Penn, and Russell Crowe.

James Dean: the real "First American Teenager".

The anguished, introspective teen James Dean was the quintessence of adolescent pain in the 1950's. Unfortunately, he only appeared in three films because he was killed at the age of 24 in a horrible car accident. The titles of these three films were East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause, andGiant. In his honor, James Dean was awarded with two Best Actor awards.

Elvis Presley: The King of Rock N' Roll

At the time of his fist hit song, Elvis appeared on national TV in January, 1956 on CBS. He was later featured as an actor in many money making films such as Love Me Tender, Jailhouse Rock,Loving You,King Creole,G.I. Joe, Blue Hawaii, Kid Galahad, and Viva Las Vegas. By the 70's. his film roles had come to an end but his singing career was revived. On August, 1977, the King of Rock n' Roll died of heart disease and drug abuse.

The Threat of Television:

During the 1950's there was a major decline in film attendance due to the increasing appeal of television sets. In 1951, NBC became America's first nationwide television. In 1953, the first Academy Awards were televised by NBC, and the broadcast received the largest single audience in network's TV five -year history. Studios were beginning to lose money, so they were forced to find new innovative ways to make money from television. Hollywood studios began to produce more hours of film for TV that for feature films. This marked the major Hollywood studios into television production.

The 1960's

This new decade in history consisted of many changes. Cinema in the 1960's focused on fun, fashion, rock n' roll, tremendous social changes such as civil right movements, and transitional cultural values. It was also a decade of monumental changes and tragedies such as the Viet Nam War, the assignation of president John. F. Kennedy, the death of Marilyn Monroe and the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. However, 1963 was the worst year in film production ; only 121 films were released. The year 1964 in the U.S. had the largest foreign film release , with 361 film releases vs. 141 U.S. releases.

The major movie production decline was caused by the small amount of profits due to the domination of television. American film companies began to profit with other forms of entertainment: records, publishing, TV movies, and the production of the Television series.

Financial Difficulties in the Film Industry

Hoping this will appeal to audiences, the average film ticket price was lowered to only a dollar, causing the average film budget to be slightly over 1.5 million dollars. By the end of the decade, the film industry was very depressed and troubled and was experiencing an all time low that had been in the works for 25 years. Studio bound "contract stars" and directors no longer existed. Most of the early film directors were either dead or retired. Some studios were still desperately hanging on and made money by offering studio tours, selling movie artifacts, or creating theme parks such as Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Due to these financial struggles, studios were taken over by national companies. The traditional Hollywood studio era had ended.

The Cleopatra Disaster

The heralded film Cleopatra made in 1963 was directed by Joseph L. Manklewcz and was filmed on location in Rome. This film starred Elizabeth Taylor as the Queen of Egypt, and her future husband Richard Burton as Marc Antony. This couple brought about more headlines with their romance than the film's budget problems. This movie proved to be a gargantuan financial disaster, leaving 20th Century fox drowning in debt up to their eye balls. Luckily 20th century fox was saved by two movies: The Longest Day made in 1963 and The Sound of Music made in 1965.

British Influences

With such a high production cost of making films in Hollywood and the decrease in studio size, most studios decreased their internal production and increased move making outside of the country. Britain was one of the most used country for foreign film making. The country was an economically advantageous production base, making big budget and big picture films. Here are two of the most well known historic British films:

• Becket(1964): Starred Richard Burton as archbishop Thomas Becket of Canterbury and Peter O' Toole as King Henry the II. This film was an Oscar winner for the best screenplay.
• The Lion in Winter(1968): This film was the retelling of the clash between King Henry II (who was once again played by Peter O' Toole) and Eleanor of Aquitaine, played by Katharine Hepburn with Oscar wins for best screenplay.

Costly historical epics were beginning to phase out; they were too expensive and tome consuming to make. Movies like El Cid and The Fall of the Roman Empire were both disastrous and ended in severe bankruptcy. With the end of the historical epic, there was a new rise of film: "Angry Young Men", or more commonly known as Kitchen Sink films. These films primarily took place in Great Britain, depicting the lives of working class heroes with plenty of alcohol, profanity, sex, and drugs. These films were sometimes called Angry Young Men because the main character was usually a male protagonist attempting to break free from society and its expectations.

The 1970's

The 1970's started with a feeling of disillusionment due to the Viet Nam War. Movies seemed to portray this in their often violent military themes. Although the 60's ended with the downfall of Hollywood, the 70's was a decade of a creative high point in the U.S. film industry. Restrictions on language, adult content, sexuality, and violence had loosened up and these elements had become more wide spread. The counter culture of the time had influenced Hollywood to be more free when making movies and to take risks with young and new alternative film makers.

The Search for A Blockbuster

The Renaissance of Hollywood was primarily based upon traditional film genres of its successful past with bigger block-buster dimensions. Mot of the time, studios invested heavily on only handful of bankrolled films, hoping that one or two would succeed profitably. In the 70's, however, the once powerful MGM studios sold many of its assets, said goodbye to the film industry, and diversified into areas such as casinos and hotels. Now much of the focus was on box office receipts and the making of action and youth oriented films with mind-blowing special affects. It was becoming increasingly difficult to predict what was going to become a blockbuster hit (an enormous success). Hollywood's economic downfall was becoming slightly eased with the unexpected success of movies like Jaws and Star Wars. Both Jaws and Star Wars became the tow highest grossing movies in film history (up to their time), both ranking in more than 100,000,000 dollars.

New Markets for Hollywood's Products

The 70's provided Hollywood with the opportunity of fining emergence in new things. Hollywood was able to increase its profits by moving opening nights to Fridays and Saturdays, making it available for more people to see. It also started advertising its new releases on television. This tactic was fist shown to be successful when the move Jaws made $700,000 just through TV marketing. Another common way Hollywood advertised it's material was by releasing publicity celebrity magazines which took over the role of celebrity watching and film promotion for the industry.

The Home Video Revolution

VHS video players, laser disc players and the release of films on video cassette tapes and discs massively increased profits and revenue for the movie studios. The pornography industry greatly benefited from the home video revolution because porn was now accessible to everybody and was no longer limited to shady X - rated theaters. This resulted in sky-rocketing sales and production in the porn industry. The ability to view movies at home once again created a down side: theaters attendance would dramatically decrease.

The Movie Brats

Now that producers, directors, and actors had gained much power, new directors emerged, many who had been professionally and formally trained in filmmaking courses and departments at Universities such as UCLA, USC, NYU, or trained on television. Famous movie director Roger Corman supported this new "breed" of youthful move maverick directors known as " Movie Brats" or "Geeks". Roger Corman hired well known directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsee, Jonathan Demme, Joe Dantey, Peter Bogdanovich, James Cameron, Jack Nicholson, Robert DeNiro, Paul Bartel, and Robert Towne. He encouraged them to produce personally - relevant and creative works of art with new genre interpretations. This new wave revived the notion of auteurism, the belief that sates the director is the sole influence and is the most responsible for creating a film's ultimate form.

The 1980's

What did the 80's have in store for us?

The 1980's consolidated the gains made in the 70's instead of trying to initiate any new trends. Packaged and perfectly designed for audience appeal, few 80's films became classics. This decade was characterized by the introduction of high concept films with cinematic plots that could be easily characterized by 25 words or less. This made the movies of the 80's easily marketable and understandable.

Producer Don Simpson was the first to exploit the significance of MTV. His action packed, loud, flashy, and simplistic films brought audiences to multiplex theatres to every Summer. His films reflected the MTV generation and the quintessence of the 80's with movies like his debut film Flash Dance made in 1983. Other films followed in success such as the Beverly Hills Cops, Top Gun, and Thief of Hearts. The epitome of Simpson's technique was found in his move Top Gun, starring the well known actor Tom Cruise. At the end of the 80's it was apparent that many films were not meant for the "thinking type", but rather for audiences who just wanted to be entertained.

Film's in the 80's were less experimental and original and more formulaic. With more special effects open, more films were eager to capitalize. Predictions for the film industry were looking very bleak as the cost of production was increasing and the price of the average movie ticket was dropping.

The Search for Another Blockbuster

Famous directors such as Steven Spielberg and George Lucas contributed greatly to the 80's with their film such as Return of the Jedi. Hollywood continued to search with much more research and a bottom line mentality for the one large film event that everyone had to see. Most big screen films being released at advantageous times (Christmas and Summer) took a lot of money to produce , but promised lucrative pay offs. Many blockbuster hits of the 80's such as E.T. made in 1982 and Back to the Future made in 1985 were well constructed films with good castings and plots that didn't entirely rely on their special affects.

Turkeys and Unexpected Success of the 80's

There were many films of the 80's decade that were being called "Turkeys" , or in other words, no success. Within a couple of years, it was very apparent that not all films would be instant an success. Movies like Heaven's Gate, Ishtar, and Annie were perfect examples of floozies in the 80's; each one had costly production and had extremely low box office grosses. On the brighter side of things, there were also unexpected success such as Terminator and Batman. Both of these movies continued making success with sequels and new versions well into our modern day.

Big Business Entertainment

The budget of films greatly increased due to the use of special affects and inflated the names of many actors. Big Businesses eventually took control over movies which allowed foreign companies to own properties of Hollywood. In order to save money, more films were being produced in non-U.S. film locations. A number of studios such as United Artists, 20th Century Fox, and Columbia Pictures were taken over by multi-national conglomerates as their entertainment division.

The 1990's

Money, Mega-Spending, and Special Affects

During the first couple of years in the 90's decade, the economic recession of 1991 lowered the box office revenue greatly. For the most part, the cinema attendance was up due to the multi screen Cineplex complexes through out the United States, making the average movie ticket price about 5 dollars. Although the average film budget during this decade was around 54 million, the use of special affects in high budget films (such as shoot 'em up scenes and stereotypical chase scenes with a strong use of graphic violence)

The pressure on consecutive studio executives to make ends meet and create big hit movies rapidly increased. In the Hollywood film industry, higher costs for stars' salaries, agency fees, increasing production costs, promotional campaigns, increasing costs for the use of special affects, and with actors and writers threatening to strike, it's no wonder why movies were becoming so expensive to make.

High Cost Demanding Stars

Actors and actresses such as Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise, Eddie Murphey, Jim Carrey, Julia Ronerts, Demmie More, and others all demanded script approval before filming, image publicity approval, studio paid jet travel, and various extras (personal trainers and nutritionists), making them the most expensive stars in film history. For example, Jack Nickelson disagreed to filming during any LA Lakers' basketball game. To promote her film Ghost(1990), Demi Moore insisted on traveling with bodyguards, her own personal masseuse, hair stylist, and fashion consultant. She also ordered her studio cheifs to charter a planes for her and her entourage while promoting her movies G.I Janeand Strip Tease.

The Digital Age and Home Video

VCR's were still very popular in the 90's and the rentals and purchases of videotapes and big businesses were much larger than the sales of movie tickets. Instead of attending special film screenings, members of the Academy of Motion Pictures viewed Oscar-nominated films on videotape, beginning in 1994. In 1990, Kodak introduced the photo CD player. In 1992, the second edition of the 20 volume Oxford English Dictionary, was also made into a CD Rom. By 1997, the first DVD's had emerged into stores. They featured sharper image quality and durability as well as interactive extras. In just a few years, the life of the videotape would sadly come to an end.

Independent Films

In the mid 1990's, independent film divisions such as searchlight would branch off of the Hollywood mainstream, making films with artistic, edy, and serious in social matters without the major stars. Unlike the Academy Awards, the Independent Spirit Awards founded in 1984 honored visionary, innovative films and beginning actors and actresses who took a chance to step away from the status quo.

2000's

The new millennium was a turning point in film history with a strong use of special affects. Well into our second century of filmmaking, the medium of film has already documented remarkable achievements such as the invention of the blue ray disc and will continue to do so as time slowly ticks away. Unfortunately we cannot see into the future, so knowledge on what the new millennium will bring us in terms of film history will remain unknown for what seems like a long time. We already have advanced in several different ways such as the creation of the IMAX theatre, the blue ray disc (as mentioned above)HD discs and ipods and cell phones that can already play movies with just a click of a button.