Chapter 7: Movies and the Impact of Images
True/False
1. Thomas Edison was the first person who theorized about the possibility of motion pictures.
2. The first motion pictures were watched by only one person at a time.
3. Early silent films flourished in part because they transcended language.
4. Hollywood was the international center of early cinema.
5. Movie palaces looked beautiful on the outside, but were often very shabby on the inside.
6. The Singing Fool disappointed silent-film fans across the nation.
7. The Paramount decision ended the dominance of the major studios over the commercial film
industry.
8. The movie industry responded to the success of television by producing more films for children.
9. The first public showing of Edison’s kinetoscope projector system was in a Paris café in
December 1895.
10. Georges Méliès made the first western, The Great Train Robbery.
11. The first movie theaters were called nickelodeons, a name that indicated the cost of admission.
12. The Motion Picture Patents Company was established in 1908 to share film technology with
independent filmmakers.
13. The first sound movie, The Jazz Singer, was basically a silent film with a few spoken words.
14. The existence of the Motion Picture Patents Company led some independent producers to make
their pictures in faraway Hollywood.
15. An oligopoly exists when a few companies control an industry.
16. Birth of a Nation (1915) was the first feature-length film produced in the United States.
17. American studios were able to gain control of the world film industry during World War I.
18. The Motion Picture Production Code was established in the 1960s to rate movies for age–
appropriate content.
19. The government’s 1948 order forcing the major studios to sell their theaters effectively ended
their control of the movie industry.
20. The major film studios were able to dominate movie exhibition in the United States by
acquiring all the country’s drive-in theaters.
21. A thriving black cinema existed in New York’s Harlem district during the 1930s and 1940s.
22. Hollywood’s primary “authors” are scriptwriters.
23. In scriptwriting terminology, the “discourse” is how the story is told.
24. Grouping films by genre allows the movie industry to achieve both product standardization and
differentiation.
25. Movie theaters are still the largest single source of revenue for a typical feature film.
26. Film studios have generally resisted making product placement deals for creative reasons.
27. International box-office gross revenues are almost double the U.S. and Canadian box-office
receipts.
28. Six studios dominate the U.S. film business.
29. Despite the popularity of DVDs, theme parks, and soundtrack CDs, the movie business still gets
80 percent of its revenue from box-office receipts.
30. Examples of genres include comedy, drama, romance, and action/adventure.
31. Film noir movies are notable for their bright lighting, lush sets, and upbeat story lines.
32. Because of high equipment and operating costs, digital technology is not expected to benefit
independent filmmakers for many years.
33. All commercial movies made in the world are now produced and shot in Hollywood.
34. American audiences refuse to watch foreign films.
35. Documentaries generally avoid controversial or unpopular subject matter.
36. Cinema verité is a style of documentary filmmaking that closely resembles a big-budget, high-
gloss Hollywood feature.
37. Film is generally considered to be a director’s medium.
38. The film industry makes much more money today from first-run releases in movie theaters than
from home DVD/video releases.
39. Movie studios in the United States still practice block booking and require that theaters accept
lesser films so as to get blockbuster movies.
40. A “consensus narrative” is a type of movie that seeks a small, select niche audience.
41. Today, the world’s largest film industry is in India, out of the so-called Bombaywood.
Multiple Choice
Note: The correct answer is asterisked.
42. American filmmaker Edwin S. Porter (maker of The Life of an American Fireman)
43. Adolph Zukor formed the Famous Players Company in 1912 to
44. Who opened the first public movie theater in France in 1896?
45. Nickelodeons were
46. In an early attempt to monopolize the film industry, inventor Thomas Edison formed
47. After Edison, Adolph Zukor of Paramount tried to monopolize the film industry by controlling
48. Who launched United Artists?
49. Under the studio system
50. To gain access to popular movies, early theater owners and exhibitors had to agree to rent
untested or marginal films with unknown actors. This distribution technique was called
51. Block booking was
52. Which film was the first successful talking motion picture?
53. Which of the following is not an element of vertical integration in the movie industry?
54. Through the 1940s, more than 80 percent of all film revenue was generated by
55. The sharp drop in movie attendance that occurred after World War II can be attributed to
56. In an effort to compete with television in the 1950s, the movie studios began making
57. Which of the following was not one of the original five major studios that once dominated the
film business?
58. How did Hollywood adapt to the development of home entertainment?
59. Which of the following did not have an effect on Hollywood in the postwar era (late 1940s,
1950s)?
60. __________________ demonstrated the Justice Department’s attempts at breaking up
monopolies within the film industry.
61. U.S. film viewing decreased during the 1950s because
62. The greatest source of revenue for a movie is
Fill in the Blank
63. In 1902, Edwin S. Porter made America’s first narrative film, The Life of an American
_____________.
64. __________________ is a transparent and pliable film that can hold a coating of chemicals
sensitive to light.
65. The _______________ was an early movie camera developed by Thomas Edison’s assistant in
the 1890s.
66. The _______________ was an early film projection system that served as a single-person
viewing system.
67. Movie theater facilities with as many as fourteen or more screens are called
_________________.
68. ____________, weekly ten-minute magazine-style compilations of filmed news events from
around the world, were prominent in movie theaters between the 1920s and the 1950s.
69. Movies with sound, called ________________, began to appear in 1927.
Essay
70. How is the movie industry adapting to the digital age?
71. Why did Hollywood end up as the center of American film production?
72. What is vertical integration?
73. What ended the Golden Age of the Hollywood film studios?
74. Name three major stylistic or formal elements that defined the film style known as Hollywood
style.
75. Describe what a genre is and name three popular film genres.
76. The movie industry used to make most of its money from box-office revenues. Explain why that
is no longer the case.
77. Describe (using as much detail as possible) six main revenue sources used by the movie
industry today.
78. Why were early silent films popular?
79. What contribution did nickelodeons make to film history? Why did they eventually disappear?
80. Why did the particular structure in film called the classic Hollywood narrative become so
dominant in moviemaking?
81. What do you think about the significant role that U.S. movies play in global culture? Should
changes be made? Explain.