Classic Cinema

The development of hollywood and classic cinema was supported by the captivation America had and still has with the film industry. From Nickelodeons to the power house studios, American paid the price to be entertained. New achievements in the art of filming and producing, captivating stars and stories, and hollywood’s delivery made for a booming business. The style the newborn hollywood depicted is known as classic hollywood.

Classic hollywood films followed a simple and precise process known as the narrative process. Plots had a clear start, have progress in the middle, and a clear end that wrapped up the story. “Classical narratives routinely begin with an act that disturbs the original state of things and is answered, by the film’s end, with another act that reestablishes a new order of balance.” (Belton, 25). An example of this is seen in Dracula (Browning, 1931). A man sets out of a business trip only to find himself and his eerie client turns out to be Dracula, who is finally killed by his wife sacrificing herself. Furthemore, classic hollywood largely focuses on characters. These classic films always end definitively with the character a fixing a problem, reaching a goal, or even defeated. The main character was focused on psychological motivated and focused on themselves.

Mise-en-scene is a tool to tell the cinema’s story. It encompasses lighting, camera angle, sets, costumes, and other theatrical tactics. It highlights activities that are important to the plot and can draw the audience's attention to a desired spot. Classic hollywood was typically efficient with this, with details all having meaning. The most prominent example of Mise-en-scene was the continuous editing to maintain flow in narrative of the film. Another popular in classic hollywood was the transitions between scenes. Nosferatu (Murnau, 1922) frequently had the camera zoom in with a circular black rim until it engulfed the entire scene. Another is costume. The dresses Anne wore in...