The articles by Schatz and Kaizen are devoted to the examination of different aspects of the Hollywood at the specific stages of its development.
Schatz provides the analysis of major phases of the Hollywood’s evolution paying special attention to the period of so-called “New Hollywood” (Schatz 15). It is necessary comprehend under the term “New Hollywood” the period of American cinema’s development after the Second World War; it was associated with the finish of classical era of Hollywood, the modification of the media marketplace, and the emergence of major studious such as Warners, Paramount, MGM, and other studious (Schatz 15). Schatz is mainly focused on the investigating of key aesthetic, economic, and technological forces contributed to the growth and advancement of the complexity of the New Hollywood after 1975. The author emphasizes that the postwar cinema industry’s evolution is hugely associated with high-stakes, high-tech, and high-cost productions (Schatz 16).
Throughout the article, Schatz makes a review of key phases of the development of American cinema industry. First, a considerable influence of such films as The Best Years of Our Lives and Duel in the Sun, released in 1946, is determined (Schatz 17). Second, the growth of “blockbuster mentality” starting from 1955 is analyzed (Schatz 19). Third, the appearance of thrillers, particularly Spielberg-directed Jaws, is analyzed (Schatz 24). Schatz especially stresses on the considerable influence of such directors as Spielberg and Lucas for the cinema industry. In addition, the phenomenon of the success of less expensive films released in 1990, such as Ghost, Home Alone, and Pretty Woman is depicted (Schatz 33). The author concludes that it is reasonable to determine three main classes of the movie: hugely expensive blockbuster, the mainstream films, and so-called “cult films” (Schatz 41).
The paper by Kaizen, titled ““Notes on Pop Cinema,” is concentrated on the analysis of the concept of “Pop Cinema;” it is noticeably that the term “Pop Cinema” was invented by the author himself (Kaizen). The researcher asserts that the term might be perceived as convenient due to the fact that it can be used for the identification of a set of films which are associated with Pop Art. Kaizen tends to distinguish three major kinds of Pop Cinema having the characteristics of the avant-garde. The first type of Pop Cinema includes documentary films associated with the popular culture’s consumptions and its consumption’s impacts on the everyday life. The second type of Pop Cinema consists of the collage films which are created on the basis of specific readymade images adopted from the pop culture world. Finally, the third type of Pop Cinema is a set of so-called “sub-z movies” combining the characteristics of commercial films as well as of the readymades (Kaizen).
Works Cited
Schatz, Thomas. “The New Hollywood.” Movie Blockbusters. Ed. Julian Stringer. New York: Routledge, 2003, 15-44. Print.
Kaizen, William. “Notes on Pop Cinema.” Print.
