Nowadays Hollywood films always have the biggest actors and best sets but that was not always the case as the hollywood genre has changed greatly over that last 50 years. originaly the studios had all the actors, directors and other crew on contract meaning they had no choice on which films they appeared in this lead to some actors becoming very popular. films also contained a moral story and didnt show things like graphic violence or sex as they where sensitive issues in the time.
here are some features often seen in the classic hollywood style
- Clear hero and villain
- expensive sets and costumes
- individuals triumphing over the masses
- obvious story line
- films follow Todorov's theory of narrative
at this time there where 2 main studios MGM and Warner Bros. They both chose different methods to get through the depression that america was facing.
MGM made few big budget films. These films would have elaborate sets and costumes costing millions of dollars. the used lots of new technology including technicolor with was the first color film. A lot of the films where set in historical or fantasy settings allowing people to escape out of the poverty they faced into theses fantastic colorful places. one notable example of this is the wizard of oz where Dorothy goes from kansas , one of the worst effected places, to the wonderful land of oz. they also used long shots to show these costly sets and this meant that the actors had to exaggerate similar to theater performances.
Warner Bros took almost the opposite approach making lots of smaller budget films. the actors and set where reused many times. the costumes where of the time and the set where just normal rooms. because of the re used sets the studio used close up shots tho hide the fact that the sets where the same. the films where usually alot more realistic set in the time and about more realistic things.
