Part -1:
1. How did the major Hollywood firms respond to the challenge posed by First National Exhibitors' Circuit in 1917? What kinds of benefits resulted from the industry's adoption of vertical integration? Explain how this policy benefited both major and minor film companies.
2. Identify the major technological and aesthetic factors that influenced Hollywood film form during the 1920s. How did the resulting changes enhance or complement the classical narrative style, which was by then the industry norm? How are these changes evident in the film screened in class?
3. What events or conditions motivated the calls for the moral reform of the American film industry in the early 1920s? How did the industry respond to these calls? Analyze how this response placated the reformers and at the same time protected the industry's own interests.
4. In what ways were the formal innovations of European cinemas assimilated by American filmmakers and integrated into the classical Hollywood cinema during the late silent era? What kinds of contributions were made by European directors working in Hollywood?
5. Under what conditions did African American audiences experience films during the silent era? In what ways did individual filmmakers or companies tailor their films to appeal specifically to these audiences?
6. Discuss the motives behind the emergence of "Film Europe." How did the national film industries of Europe cooperate in combating the influence of American movies? Why were these cooperative efforts halted at the end of the 1920s?
7. What were the institutions that championed and promoted "art cinema" during the late silent period?
8. What were the theoretical and aesthetic principles that characterized the Dada, Surrealist, and "cinema pur" movements? Which formal and stylistic qualities did their films share, and in what ways did they differ?
Part -2:
1. Identify the Big Five Hollywood studios (or "Majors") of the 1930s and summarize their strategies for weathering the effects of the Great Depression.
2. What types of film content caused problems for the major Hollywood production companies during the late 1920s and early 1930s? How did the Hays Office operate to protect, rather than hinder, the interests of the American film industry? Explain how Production Code regulations helped modify the content of Hollywood movies.
3. Pick two of the following stylistic categories: sound recording, camera movement, color, special effects, cinematography styles. Analyze how innovations within these categories influenced the development of the Hollywood style. In what ways did these innovations complement the aims of classical continuity filmmaking?
4. Pick two of the following genres: the war film, the gangster film, the screwball comedy, the musical. Describe the evolution of these genres between 1930 and 1945, and provide examples of representative films.
5. Compare and contrast the production practices of the top three animation studios of the studio era: Disney, Fleischer, and Warner Bros. What sorts of animation techniques did each specialize in? How did their individual expertise influence the style and makeup of the studios' signature characters?
6. Describe the immediate causes and effects of both of Britain's Quota Acts. In each case, how did these effects contribute to or hinder the consolidation of the British studio system? What kinds of films resulted from these acts?
7. Compare and contrast popular cinema in Japan during the early and middle 1930s to Japanese cinema during the years of World War II.