1930's The Great Depression and Film
The 1930's was a big decade for both film and the United States as unemployment would reach its all-time high, new codes would be implemented into film practices, and the new technological advancements would be used for the first in film history. On October 24th 1929, a day that would the U.S. economy collapse in an instant, that started a period of unemployment, scarcity, and poverty that would continue on for the next decade leaving many without food, money, and shelter. This would be known as the Great Depression. The Great Depression was believed to have occurred in multiple areas, first starting off in the Mid West as farmers began to plant crops, and raise livestock which ultimately destro
yed by dust storms and overusing the land. Whatever caused or wherever start it was agreed upon that it affected nearly everyone in the United States and eventually the rest of the world. Although times seemed bleak in penniless period, both those who employed and unemployed looked for an escape from this epidemic and for those it was in theater.
During this age in Hollywood most people were looking for an a way to escape from the grim reality of the U. S. economy failing leaving 20% of the population or 15 million Americans unemployed. For most would go to a nickelodeon or a theater to escape to take their minds off of how the U.S. was in the middle of an economic-crisis. People during time period would go see a movie which roughly costed at the time 5 to 7 cents, to think how cheap films where back in the day or how inflation has gotten out of hand. Its quite astonishing how people would find a way to escape such a dark time in U.S history. Although movies did proved to be some kind of escape from those it would also the values of the Great Depression and new traditional values of the United States. As the economy struggled to get back into action it also shown how it affected our culture. In the early 1930's of film lie 1929 to 1933 films would often boast and show depictions of gangsters who do anything to survive or keep whatever part of their family. Backroom politicians and prostitutes debating on how to scam workers of their hard earn cash. It was a era against big business and big government as people saw them as the root cause of their unhappiness, of their poverty, and seeing in film showed how far down the economy went as some of the greatest films stars at that were also adulterers to pay off what they owe to the government. At the peak of the depression everything in our escapist films were telling us that the government had brought down the people it was suppose to uphold that it had was corrupted by officials with other motives. However, films would eventually change to tell a different after a new code of laws would be implemented into the industry. Those laws begin Hayes Codes.
After the Great Depression reached it all-time high in 1933 and the film industry started to feel some of the more dramatic effects as unemployment reached its all-time high and wages decreased significantly amount. The film industry was hit hard as the unemployment rate reached its highest point in history, and furthermore demolished a lot of the earning Hollywood Studios need to stay afloat. Around this time any money lost would be a severe loss for any film corporation and to make matters worse people started to boycott films. In in this Golden Age of Hollywood people became exploitative of certain themes of violence, sex, and drugs and didn't mix well with the audience as filmmakers started to run out of ideas to keep moviegoers from leaving their seats. For most of the boycotts started due to the Catholic Church of America establishing the Catholic Bishops' Committee on Motion Pictures as well as with the League of Decency to identify morally offensive films. As the depression worsened filmmakers, writers, and directors has to give up certain creative rights on film and had to focus on what they could do in films. These new constraints on film were know as Hayes Codes, a set of codes that prohibited the uses of sex, violence, drugs, and multiple crimes against religion dubbed after Will Hay whom created the codes back in 1930, but what was widely ignored until 1934 when it was issued by the Church to be put in. After the law was implemented a new President would inspire the public in believing the economy and give a sense of optimism and hope to a nation that become discouraged with the recession. This would be a new version of Hollywood as times would change for the better of the film industry.
In 1934 Hayes Code and President Frank Delano Roosevelt were in full effect as people had a sense of optimism and confidence in the perilous time of the depression as new codes were instated. New codes and a new sense of hope pushed studios into making big musicals showcasing the working class building their way up from the bottom up to the top, and authority figures being effective in the American society. Films mostly contained antigovernmental view as anarchists wrote comedies about how system didn't work how it needed to changed to prevent such a cataclysmic time and by 1934 many of anarchists said happened as the President Franklin Roosevelt proved by being a competent president that created new programs that would help solve parts of the depression and overall improved the status of the United States. As this time films were given a bright outlook as a song from a Disney's silly symphony The Three Little Pigs (1933) titled "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf." was used as a way to keep confidence of the people in a society that had fallen from grace. Films in the mid-late 1930's were given more colorful view on life as the times seemed to be picking from the depression as people were starting to get jobs back, the government was reorganizing facilities, and society seemed to improved from the dreaded year of 1933. As the 30's went in later years the technology was changing profusely as films began being made into two different set of colors, new sound techniques were being developed, and genres of film became more profound.
The later years of the Great Depression were better than those of the earlier years of the Great Depression as new financial programs created by President Roosevelt started to come into full effect. As the depression improve filmmakers had to rely on new techniques in film to keep audience members going to the movies. What would be used to define genres and set up a new style in film that would seen for the rest of the film, color. In the 1890's of film, color was nothing more than a dream as at the time color would be to expensive to use and nearly impossible to use. However, technicolor was introduced in 1932 as a relatively effective way to produce film in color by using a three way process that would use red, green, and blue lights to produce a rainbow of color near identical to real life and be imprinted on white and black strips. Films that inquired this technique are Disney's Snow White (1937), Gone with the Wind (1939), and the Wizard of Oz (1937) as films which where revolutionary at the time however would probably seen differently today. As color went into film it was mostly seen as a fantasy genre rather than a factual genre or an actual genre. It was soon becoming a staple of movies with film hits like Gone with the Wind that broke ground in 1939 as Hollywood's Golden year set down afterward.
yed by dust storms and overusing the land. Whatever caused or wherever start it was agreed upon that it affected nearly everyone in the United States and eventually the rest of the world. Although times seemed bleak in penniless period, both those who employed and unemployed looked for an escape from this epidemic and for those it was in theater.During this age in Hollywood most people were looking for an a way to escape from the grim reality of the U. S. economy failing leaving 20% of the population or 15 million Americans unemployed. For most would go to a nickelodeon or a theater to escape to take their minds off of how the U.S. was in the middle of an economic-crisis. People during time period would go see a movie which roughly costed at the time 5 to 7 cents, to think how cheap films where back in the day or how inflation has gotten out of hand. Its quite astonishing how people would find a way to escape such a dark time in U.S history. Although movies did proved to be some kind of escape from those it would also the values of the Great Depression and new traditional values of the United States. As the economy struggled to get back into action it also shown how it affected our culture. In the early 1930's of film lie 1929 to 1933 films would often boast and show depictions of gangsters who do anything to survive or keep whatever part of their family. Backroom politicians and prostitutes debating on how to scam workers of their hard earn cash. It was a era against big business and big government as people saw them as the root cause of their unhappiness, of their poverty, and seeing in film showed how far down the economy went as some of the greatest films stars at that were also adulterers to pay off what they owe to the government. At the peak of the depression everything in our escapist films were telling us that the government had brought down the people it was suppose to uphold that it had was corrupted by officials with other motives. However, films would eventually change to tell a different after a new code of laws would be implemented into the industry. Those laws begin Hayes Codes.
After the Great Depression reached it all-time high in 1933 and the film industry started to feel some of the more dramatic effects as unemployment reached its all-time high and wages decreased significantly amount. The film industry was hit hard as the unemployment rate reached its highest point in history, and furthermore demolished a lot of the earning Hollywood Studios need to stay afloat. Around this time any money lost would be a severe loss for any film corporation and to make matters worse people started to boycott films. In in this Golden Age of Hollywood people became exploitative of certain themes of violence, sex, and drugs and didn't mix well with the audience as filmmakers started to run out of ideas to keep moviegoers from leaving their seats. For most of the boycotts started due to the Catholic Church of America establishing the Catholic Bishops' Committee on Motion Pictures as well as with the League of Decency to identify morally offensive films. As the depression worsened filmmakers, writers, and directors has to give up certain creative rights on film and had to focus on what they could do in films. These new constraints on film were know as Hayes Codes, a set of codes that prohibited the uses of sex, violence, drugs, and multiple crimes against religion dubbed after Will Hay whom created the codes back in 1930, but what was widely ignored until 1934 when it was issued by the Church to be put in. After the law was implemented a new President would inspire the public in believing the economy and give a sense of optimism and hope to a nation that become discouraged with the recession. This would be a new version of Hollywood as times would change for the better of the film industry.
In 1934 Hayes Code and President Frank Delano Roosevelt were in full effect as people had a sense of optimism and confidence in the perilous time of the depression as new codes were instated. New codes and a new sense of hope pushed studios into making big musicals showcasing the working class building their way up from the bottom up to the top, and authority figures being effective in the American society. Films mostly contained antigovernmental view as anarchists wrote comedies about how system didn't work how it needed to changed to prevent such a cataclysmic time and by 1934 many of anarchists said happened as the President Franklin Roosevelt proved by being a competent president that created new programs that would help solve parts of the depression and overall improved the status of the United States. As this time films were given a bright outlook as a song from a Disney's silly symphony The Three Little Pigs (1933) titled "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf." was used as a way to keep confidence of the people in a society that had fallen from grace. Films in the mid-late 1930's were given more colorful view on life as the times seemed to be picking from the depression as people were starting to get jobs back, the government was reorganizing facilities, and society seemed to improved from the dreaded year of 1933. As the 30's went in later years the technology was changing profusely as films began being made into two different set of colors, new sound techniques were being developed, and genres of film became more profound.
The later years of the Great Depression were better than those of the earlier years of the Great Depression as new financial programs created by President Roosevelt started to come into full effect. As the depression improve filmmakers had to rely on new techniques in film to keep audience members going to the movies. What would be used to define genres and set up a new style in film that would seen for the rest of the film, color. In the 1890's of film, color was nothing more than a dream as at the time color would be to expensive to use and nearly impossible to use. However, technicolor was introduced in 1932 as a relatively effective way to produce film in color by using a three way process that would use red, green, and blue lights to produce a rainbow of color near identical to real life and be imprinted on white and black strips. Films that inquired this technique are Disney's Snow White (1937), Gone with the Wind (1939), and the Wizard of Oz (1937) as films which where revolutionary at the time however would probably seen differently today. As color went into film it was mostly seen as a fantasy genre rather than a factual genre or an actual genre. It was soon becoming a staple of movies with film hits like Gone with the Wind that broke ground in 1939 as Hollywood's Golden year set down afterward.
Comments
Post a Comment