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Essay / Analysis of Changes in Hollywood Around 1960s in Relation to Graduate film production and administration, filmmaking style and techniques as well as film themes. These changes pushed Hollywood toward the widely recognized era called "New Hollywood" or "Hollywood Renaissance." Four crucial factors acted as the driving forces to revolutionize Hollywood in the 1960s, namely economic force, societal force, aesthetic force, and industrial force. The Graduate (Nichols 1967), as a typical film of the "new Hollywood", reflects the evolution in relation to these factors. This article will study the changes that occurred in Hollywood in the 1960s as it relates to The Graduate. Taking The Graduate as an example, this article will discuss the impacts of economic force, societal force, aesthetic force and industrial force on the development of the “Hollywood Renaissance”. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Economic Strength By the 1960s, Hollywood had faced a financial crisis and was on the verge of bankruptcy. Hollywood was facing declining ticket sales and audiences were turning to television. Television has transformed the enjoyment of multimedia entertainment into a more convenient and family-friendly medium. According to Casper (2011), weekly movie attendance increased from 44 million in 1963 to approximately 17 to 18 million between 1968 and 1970. In order to bring audiences back to the cinema, Hollywood, on the one hand, produced films for a variety of specialized target audiences; on the other hand, Hollywood has invested considerable funds to produce huge production films. The high-investment film The Sound of Music (1965) was a huge success that provided a false projection regarding large-scale production films. Filmmakers were encouraged to produce huge production films. Similar musicals produced after The Sound of Music such as Dr. Dolittle and Star! (Wise, 1968) led to heavy losses, the amounts amounting to 11 and 15 million dollars respectively. Not to mention that foreign films, mainly European and British, have attracted the attention of American audiences, further reducing Hollywood's revenue stream. Although losses were partly offset by sales of films on television, profits ceased after television companies began producing their own programs. All of the above factors contributed to Hollywood's financial problems in the 1960s and Hollywood nearly collapsed. However, the collapse of Hollywood pushed him to look for a new and safe way to make a profit. The new direction of cinema emphasized low-cost production films, thereby minimizing the risk of losses. Take The Graduate as an example, the production was different from classic Hollywood films, it only cost $3 million. The risk was comparatively lower and the film's earnings of $49 million were encouraging. Then, low production costs became one of the symbols of the “new Hollywood”. The financial crisis certainly disrupted Hollywood, but Hollywood had found a new way to secure the industry and its future. The diversified production strategy has made Hollywood a healthier and more sustainable industry. Societal strengthIn the 1960s, youth culture had a vital impact on Hollywood films, particularly on the films' themes. By the 1960s, America's baby boomers had become teenagers and teenagers. The number of young people increased from 24 million in 1960 to 35.5 million in 1970, they represented 17.5 percent of the total population. Since much of the public, particularly middle-aged Americans, had switched to television as a means of entertainment, baby boomers were seen as a new source of viewership and profit. To appeal to this "new audience", Hollywood films were modified to conform to young people's tastes. Typical features of films that resonated with young people were the feeling of isolation and rebellious action. Baby boomers, mostly from wealthy backgrounds, were reluctant to accept corrupt middle-class society. They were more self-conscious and sought truth and beauty. As a result, these baby boomers have struggled to become someone like their parents or the older generation and are confused about their future. This collective feeling of alienation and confusion is reflected in films aimed at adolescents. For example, in The Graduate, during the male protagonist Benjamin's graduation party, a guest recommends that Benjamin go into the plastics industry. “Plastic” symbolized the prosperous but unreal and corrupt life of the upper middle class. Benjamin's hesitation at this suggestion reflects his reluctance for such a future. As discussed in Benjamin and his father's conversation regarding Benjamin's future, Benjamin states that he wants a different one. Another scene from Benjamin's birthday party also drew attention to youth alienation. Benjamin is forced to put on a wetsuit to perform in a swimming pool. The suit acted as an insulator that blocked Benjamin from the outside world. He can only hear the sound produced by himself, which shows his inner feeling of alienation. The isolation in Benjamin's life echoed that of many other baby boomers. Thus, the film caught the attention of teenagers of that era. Besides the theme of isolation, the feeling of rebellion also diminished among the younger generation in the 1960s. According to King (2002), the social upheavals of this era challenged the values of freedom and democracy. For the youth of the 1960s, these values simply became the sweetener for misconduct, hypocrisy and indifference from established authority. They wanted the truth. They cared about minority rights, such as women's rights, and were dedicated to protesting against war, such as to stop the Vietnam War, because they wanted to realize these values. However, the established order was at odds with their pursuit. So they became rebellious and demanded changes. To the rise of this collective feeling, Hollywood films responded by inserting themes of rebellion, which are also found in The Graduate. The most obvious rebellious action reflected in The Graduate is Benjamin taking the female protagonist Elaine to escape her wedding ceremony. This can be seen as Benjamin's defiance of older generations since Elaine's marriage is arranged and manipulated to some extent by her parents. The protagonists acted in a way that young people choose, appreciate and support. Besides the reluctance to embrace established authority and power, The Graduate also addresses the theme of female sexuality, which was one of the major concerns of youth in the 1960s. Female sexuality was repressed at the time.by the company. The challenge of suppressing female sexuality can also be seen as a challenge to the established order. Although Ms. Robison, who seduced Benjamin into a love affair, took a morally questionable path to free herself from patriarchal power and satisfy her sexuality, the film brought attention to women's rights and conforming sexuality to the interests of adolescents. Isolation and rebellion were embraced in many films of the “Hollywood Renaissance.” They became the selling point of the films. Film producers intended to present what young people wanted to see and desired. Such a strategy was hugely successful and revived a dying industry. Aesthetic Force In the 1960s, American audiences were fond of foreign films such as British films and European films and this trend pushed Hollywood to improve its filmmaking style. Foreign films have been very innovative under several cinematic "revolutions" such as Italian Neorealism and French New Wave. As part of these movements, foreign films tended to explore new themes and filming techniques such as editing and visual style. This wave has also hit young directors in Hollywood, who want to have more of a say in film production instead of playing the role of puppets of the money men. More importantly, the film's investors also realized the public's growing interest in foreign films. This allows directors more space to conduct experiments on set. Employing the protagonist's point of view to reflect the mood was one of the filming styles taken from foreign films. According to Monaco (1993), such a practice was recognized as artistic and conscious visual design in 1920s Germany, but this style of filmmaking did not come to be appreciated until the 1960s. The Graduate was one of many Hollywood films of the 1960s that recognized this style. Cinematographer Surtees attached a camera to Benjamin's car to film Benjamin's driving through the streets of Los Angeles from the actor's perspective. Another filming technique inspired by foreign films was the use of very long lenses in Benjamin's filming (Monaco, 2003). The typical scene of Benjamin floating in the pool was one that used long lenses. The very long focal length allowed the solitary and isolated atmosphere to surround Benjamin. This visual design reinforced the theme of the film. Besides cinematography, the editing style of Hollywood films also innovated through the inspiration of movements. The transition from Benjamin drifting in the pool to Benjamin lying on Mrs. Robison's body in The Graduate has been widely discussed. In reference to Monaco (2003), the transition between scenes was very smooth and it suggested that the associative editing reinforced the feeling of loneliness, isolation and ambivalence. In addition, character design in Hollywood films has also seen a breakthrough. Casper (2011) suggests that the classic “hero versus villain” dialectic gradually disappeared in Hollywood films of the 1960s. Evil and beauty coexist in the characters. For example, the male protagonist Benjamin in The Graduate is easily seduced by a married woman into a romance, even though he knows it is morally unacceptable. It's the evil in him that brings him into this situation. The "bad guy" he must defeat lives in his soul, and he saves himself through his courage to pursue true love - Elaine. By reflecting both the good and bad sides of the character/
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