Journal 2

Option #1 Answer:

Chapter two in the textbook discusses Classic Hollywood Cinema, and all of its styles and techniques. Classic Hollywood cinema is the mode of production that Hollywood movies were made from. They all involved a specific narrative approach. The narratives were structured around characters who have specific goals. These goals are made clear to the viewer. The narrative also consists of the characters beating the obstacles that stand in the way of their goals. All of the original Classical Hollywood Cinema style presented these narratives in the most cost efficient way. Another aspect of Classic Hollywood style was the way in which the film was presented so that the cuts were basically "invisible", meaning that the film was filmed so that the viewer did not really notice that it was actually a film assembled together, but rather a story that flowed with no cuts or editing. Although everyone subconsciencly knew that the movies were put together, the stylist approach was to make the movie flow so well that people were able to forget it and just view the movie as one whole piece. The Classic Hollywood Cinema seemed to convey "the temper of a nation". This meaning that all of the movies displayed how the nation was at the time. (American Cinema, 23).

The Narrative Machine is one style that was used in Classic Hollywood Cinema. This basically just covers how the style is invisible. It was a means of telling stories in the smoothest way possible. Because it is presented so smoothly, the viewers feel as though the story has no source. The Narrative processes follow any orderly pattern which basically plays out like this: the story is introduced, then something disturbs it, then there is an attempt to restore what was disturbed, and at the end everything is fine. Most movies were filmed in this model at that time. Classic Hollywood Cinema is character centered. (American Cinema, 25).
There are different ways that Classical Hollywood Style is organized. in a Journey type of Film-Sometimes the style is based on a specific deadline to be met by the end of the film, with the characters moving towards destinations. (American Cinema, 27). Classical Hollywood Style is also known for the way that it shapes the audiences responses. Classical Hollywood style subjected the audience to classic principles, for example economy and order. (American Cinema, 28).

Classica Hollywood Cinema is able to be broken down into basic narrative units, which is called segmentation. The units are based on dramatic unities, which are action, time, and/or space. It can be structured in a circular pattern, a flight and pursuit pattern, narrative incoherence, and so on. All of these concepts are trademarks of the Classic Hollywood Style. (American Cinema, 30).

Films that present the concepts of classic hollywood style is The Wizard of Oz, The Gold Rush, etc. These movies display the act of invisible filming, and they are structured in the most basic way, from beginning of the story to the end. They all start out presenting the story, there is a conflict, and at the end it ends good. The stories are centered around the characters, and the characters have their clear goals.

Actors that were in movies that displayed Classic Hollywood Style are Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin, etc. They both played characters where the stories were somewhat centered around them, and they played the same type of person in most of their films.

Directors that draw on the basic principles of Classic Hollywood Style are D.W. Griffith, Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, etc. Although they may have pushed the envelope with new techniques, they all stayed true in some way or another. Orson Welles did not present his movie Citizen Kane in order, but the focus was on the main characters and there was a clear goal to be attained. Alfred Hitchcock centered his movies on characters and the disruption of the characters life is what the story focuses on. (Belton, 30).