Producing

211 Pages·2016·8.99 MB·English

by  Jon Lewis (ed.)

P r o d u c i n g
BEHIND
THE SILVER
SCREEN
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Behind the Silver Screen
When we take a larger view of a film’s “life” from development through exhi-
bition, we find a variety of artists, technicians, and craftspeople in front of and
behind the camera. Writers write. Actors, who are costumed and made-up, speak
the words and perform the actions described in the script. Art directors and set
designers develop the look of the film. The cinematographer decides upon a
lighting scheme. Dialogue, sound effects, and music are recorded, mixed, and
edited by sound engineers. The images, final sound mix, and special visual effects
are assembled by editors to form a final cut. Moviemaking is the product of the
efforts of these men and women, yet few film histories focus much on their labor.
Behind the Silver Screen calls attention to the work of filmmaking. When
complete, the series will comprise ten volumes, one each on ten significant tasks
in front of or behind the camera, on the set or in the postproduction studio. The
goal is to examine closely the various collaborative aspects of film production,
one at a time and one per volume, and then to offer a chronology that allows
the editors and contributors to explore the changes in each of these endeavors
during six eras in film history: the silent screen (1895–1927), classical Holly-
wood (1928–1946), postwar Hollywood (1947–1967), the Auteur Renaissance
(1968–1980), the New Hollywood (1981–1999), and the Modern Entertainment
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Marketplace (2000–present). Behind the Silver Screen promises a look at who
does what in the making of a movie; it promises a history of filmmaking, not
just a history of films.
Jon Lewis, Series Editor
1. Acting (Claudia Springer and Julie Levinson, eds.)
2. AnimAtion (Scott Curtis, ed.)
3. cinemAtogrAphy (Patrick Keating, ed.)
4. costume, mAkeup, And hAir (Adrienne McLean, ed.)
5. directing (Virginia Wright Wexman, ed.)
6. editing And speciAl/VisuAl effects (Charlie Keil and Kristen Whissel, eds.)
7. producing (Jon Lewis, ed.)
screenwriting
8. (Andrew Horton and Julian Hoxter, eds.)
9. Art direction And production design (Lucy Fischer, ed.)
10. sound: diAlogue, music, And effects (Kathryn Kalinak, ed.)
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P r o d u c i n g
edited by Jon lewis
new Brunswick, new Jersey
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Producing / edited by Jon Lewis.
pages cm. . — (Behind the silver screen ; 7)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–8135–6722–8 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978–0–8135–6721–1
(pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978–0–8135–6723–5 (e-book (web pdf)) —
ISBN 978–0–8135–7532–2 (e-book (epub))
1. Motion pictures—Production and direction. 2. Motion picture industry.
I. Lewis, Jon, 1955– editor.
PN1995.9.P7P745 2015
791.4302’3—dc23
2014049331
This collection copyright © 2016 by Rutgers, The State University
Individual chapters copyright © 2016 in the names of their authors
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written
permission from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 106 Somerset Street,
New Brunswick, NJ 08901. The only exception to this prohibition is “fair use” as defined by
U.S. copyright law.
Visit our website: http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu
Manufactured in the United States of America
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contentS
Acknowledgments ix
introduction Jon Lewis 1
1. the Silent Screen, 1895–1927 Mark Lynn Anderson 15
2. claSSical hollywood, 1928–1946 Joanna E. Rapf 36
3. PoStwar hollywood, 1947–1967 Saverio Giovacchini 63
4. the auteur renaiSSance, 1968–1980 Jon Lewis 86
5. the new hollywood, 1981–1999 Douglas Gomery 111
6. the Modern entertainMent MarketPlace, 2000–Present
Bill Grantham and Toby Miller 131
Academy Awards for producing 151
notes 157
selected Bibliography 177
notes on contributors 183
index 185
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acknowledgMentS
As the editor of this volume and of the Behind the Silver Screen series, the ambi-
tious history of Hollywood craft to which this book on producing contributes, I
have worked closely with Leslie Mitchner, editor-in-chief and associate director
of Rutgers University Press. We are, at this writing, over two years into the proj-
ect, enough time for me to fully appreciate her considerable editorial, intellectual,
and practical contributions to the series. Leslie is a smart and careful editor with
a keen understanding and appreciation of film history. She is also a warm and
considerate person. Throughout this project I have enjoyed a stimulating rela-
tionship with her.
For this book, I was either lucky or smart or both in my selection of contribu-
tors. Beginning with the very first drafts, the scholarship has been first rate. And
throughout the venture all of the contributors have been willing to revise and
redraft to suit the series guidelines and my own fairly aggressive line editing. So,
big thanks here to Mark Anderson, Joanna Rapf, Saverio Giovacchini, Douglas
Gomery, Toby Miller, and Bill Grantham. I would welcome the opportunity to
work with any and all of you again.
The staff at Rutgers University Press has been terrific. Thanks here to Lisa
Boyajian, Marilyn Campbell, and Anne Hegeman for their editorial, production,
and design expertise, and to Eric Schramm for the careful copyediting.
ix
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