Seven Often Overlooked Turning Points in Film History

Film history is typically divided into eras denoted by the aesthetics and subject matters of the movies that were commonly being produced at that time. However, there were also a number of seemingly inconsequential factors that unfolded behind the scenes, the effects of which have been enormous. 

A Minor Technological Advancement Transformed Movies Into a Storytelling Medium

In 1896, the Latham Loop allowed films to be long enough to contain a narrative. This is when they went from a novelty to something that could convey a sense of drama. Prior to this, there was too much tension on the reel and the film would break if left uninterrupted, so they couldn’t be more than a minute long. Movies were for spectacle, not stories.

However, after the invention of the Latham Loop, a single reel of film could be between ten and sixteen minutes... so now they could effectively convey a narrative. Incidentally, this is why sequences in movies (which can be thought of like chapters) are still that approximate duration of time today. Once it was in the grammar, it stuck. 





Hollywood Exists Because Edison Was a Dick

The Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC), also known as the Edison Trust, forced all filmmakers to pay royalties to Edison because he held the patents on the equipment necessary to make movies. Apparently, the only thing Edison liked more than being an asshole was making money, and fortunately for him, the two often go hand-in-hand.

In order to escape his lawyers, aspiring filmmakers headed west and settled in a place where they could get their money's worth out of the sunshine and have a variety of diverse locations within driving distance. It was also far enough away that Edison had very little to say regarding their day-to-day operations. Eventually, the Edison Trust was proven to be a monopoly and dissolved, but by that point, the movie industry had already relocated most of their facilities to California.






The Catholic Church Decided What Movies Should Look Like

The Catholic Legion of Decency wasn't just known for their crappy parties. They were also directly responsible for the creation of the MPPDA, which is the organization that censored film content throughout the Great Depression and beyond. That is to say that officials from the Catholic Church were directly responsible for deciding what a movie should look in what were arguably the industry's most formative years. 

Years later, the MPPDA mutated into the MPAA, which is the secret organization that assigns a capital letter or two and maybe a number to just about every movie that is released in the United States. Graphic violence: PG. The F-bomb (as long as it isn't used as a verb): PG-13. Pubic hair: R. Non-heteronormative romance: NC-17...?! 

In many ways, the criteria upon which they make their decisions hasn’t changed all that much since the 1930s. Even today, it is still essentially an organization of god-fearing puritans trying to protect the American public from sin.  






There’s a Reason Why You Don’t See Overt Social Commentary in Depression-Era Films

Sound films came into being right before the Great Depression. It was kind of bad timing. The studios took out huge loans, and when the economy crashed, it became increasingly difficult to convince people to spend money on movie tickets. As a result, almost all of the major studios became so far in debt that the banks “restructured” their executive hierarchies by putting some of their own in a number of prominent positions. In the cases of Paramount and Fox, they even chose banking executives to be the new studio heads. 

"A road paved with gold! An entire city made out of emeralds! You call that frugal?"

As if that wasn't enough conservative influence on the motion picture industry, in 1934, a deeply religious man named Joseph Breen was appointed to lead the newly formed Production Code Administration (PCA), which was basically the teeth of the MPPDA. Breen created an enforceable "production code," where theater owners vowed to not screen any movies that didn't get the PCA's stamp of approval. 

Breen was sympathetic to the overlords of the world economy as well, and he coined the term “industry policy” as a reason why films would get rejected or cut if they contained anything that could be considered anti-big business. After all, it wouldn't be very nice to remind audiences about how the greed that fuels capitalism had only just recently destroyed the entire global economy. Instead, American movie-goers saw bankers and industrialists consistently portrayed in a positive light, largely thanks to the rewrites of this guy.






Nine Justices Who Really Want to Direct 

Three Supreme Court decisions have had a pretty huge impact on the motion picture industry. First, there was the 1915 Mutual Film v. Ohio decision, where it was determined that movies are not art, but entertainment, and they are therefore not protected by the first amendment. In 1929, in an attempt to counter this impression and legitimize their art to the public, the first Academy Awards ceremony was held. 

Pictured: not art...?

In 1948, the case commonly known as the "Paramount Decree" busted up the studio system, opening the door for independents, just in time for an industry purge of any of them that may lean to the left politically. This marked the end of "vertical integration," which was where the studios controlled virtually all aspects of production, distribution and exhibition. The Paramount Decree forced the studios to sell off their theaters.

Then in 1952, the “Miracle Case" decided that film is an art form after all. Whoops. Sorry to all those good folks we blacklisted, but no, you can't have your jobs back. In the meantime, a new wave of independent filmmakers found audiences without the studios' help... just by having something important to say. 

High Ho Silver, Away!

In 1979, two very wealthy brothers from Texas cornered the market on silver futures, raising its price dramatically overnight. This had an effect on the cost of film prints because silver halide is one of the primary components of film stock. Studios panicked and started to pursue other avenues of distribution. This is when home video started to take off, thereby opening up a whole new market that did not require the expense of making film prints. 

Except porn. That's on VHS... which is a large part
of why consumer Betamax died out when it did.

Of course, years later, film prints would be done away with almost entirely as well, as most movies today are distributed to theaters and homes digitally — but the silver scare happened at just the right time to coincide with the commercial availability of VHS and Betamax, as well as the proliferation of cable television. Again, there was a rise in low-budget independent films that were made as a result of the democratization of the medium.






Thanks For Everything, Steven Spielberg!

Jaws changed everything. It was marketed on television and had associated merchandising like lunch boxes and board games. It wasn't just a movie. Jaws was marketed as a cultural event that anyone could be a part of just by buying some crap. Studios realized that they could get a lot more money out of children and teenagers this way, and there's nothing immoral about marketing a bunch of junk to kids in promotion of an anti-shark propaganda film... right?

Then came Star Wars and the blockbuster model of production officially took over. When in doubt, the go-to answer was always more explosions... even in the vacuum of space, laws of physics be damned. Spielberg was also one of the pioneers of product placement and digital revisionism -- take E.T., for example. 

Now consider that product placement and digital revisionism are two things that really suck about a lot of movies. And let's be honest: E.T. is a terrible fucking movie. It is a two hour commercial for a certain peanut butter flavored candy. You know which one. It also spawned the worst Atari 2600 game ever. But more to the point, this film is a saccharine-fueled collection of obvious choices, which is usually the mark of a pretty shitty director. 

"Hey George, how much money do you think we can get out of these suckers?"

With Saving Private Ryan, Spielberg proved that CGI can actually be considerably cheaper than using practical effects... and it was all in the name of patriotism and violence. Today, this is the norm. 

Think about that for a second. Consider how much the use of computer generated imagery has changed the art form. It's the difference between capturing light and creating it. 

Be the green spandex.

Today, actors and actresses commonly have to act alongside CGI characters amidst scenery that will be added in post-production. But isn't that every thespian's dream? Meanwhile, the story -- what film once proved so eager to tell -- has once again taken a backseat to the spectacle.