Saturday, October 9, 2010

Studio System - Star System

In the studio system, I find the star system to be one of the most important aspects. Studios hired actors and actresses under contract and always had them star in the same genres as usually the same type of character. Because of this, the stars began to grow a following of fans and soon became the face of major studios. "...film studios discovered that certain actors and actresses could attract viewers no matter what the movie was about." (Media Now, page 192) The actors became "such attractions that their names appeared above the title of the film on theater marquees. The importance of the star actor or actress was linked to the rise of the studio system." (Media Now, page 192) And because of the rise of the actors fame, studios would "rent out" the actors to other studios, so that other studios could produce films with big name actors/actresses. Also, the big name actors were used to promote other movies so that viewers would go to those movies.

Actor Charlie Chaplin provides a perfect example of how actors/actresses performed in set genres. Every time a Charlie Chaplin film was made, you automatically assumed it was a comedy, since he always played in slapstick comedy movies.

 From todays standpoint, we might consider Jack Black as this type of actor. Every time we see or hear about a new movie starring Jack Black, it is safe to assume that his character is going to be an idiot who never seems to get anything right and is always making us laugh.

During the early beginnings of film, the star system proved to be very successful in making studios profitable. And because of its power, studios still use it today, since we see so many actors/actresses starring in similar roles, such as Jack Black, or even Johnny Depp in Tim Burton films. For me, I believe the star system will never die out.

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