The Technological Approach
All art forms have a technological history that
records the advancements in materials and
techniques that have affected the nature of the
medium. Of all the arts, though, cinema seems to
rely most heavily on technology. Historians who
chart the history of cinema technology examine the
circumstances surrounding the development of
each technological advance as well as subsequent
improvements. They pose questions such as: When
was each invention made? Under what circum-
stances, including aesthetic, economic, and social,
was it made? Was it a totally new idea or one linked
to the existing state of technology? What were the
consequences for directors, studios, distributors,
exhibitors, and audiences? By studying how the
major developments (including the introduction of
sound, the moving camera, deep-focus cinematog-
raphy, color film stock, and digital cinematography,
processing, and projection) occurred, historians
show us how the production of movies has changed
and can also evaluate whether or not that change
was significant (like widescreen processes) or tran-
sitory (like Smell-O-Vision). This approach cuts
across artists, studios, movements, and genres to
focus on the interaction of technology with aesthet-
ics, modes of production, and economic factors. An
excellent example of such a study is David Bord-
well, Janet Staiger, and Kristin Thompson, The
Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Study and Mode of
Production to 1960(New York: Columbia University
Press, 1985). For a study of a specific technological
subject, see John Belton’s Widescreen Cinema(Cam-
bridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992).
The Economic Approach
The motion-picture industry is a major part of the
global economy. Every movie released has an eco-
nomic history of its own as well as a place in the
economic history of its studio (policies of produc-
tion, distribution, and exhibition) and the historical
period and country in which it was produced. His-
torians interested in this subject help us to under-
stand how and why the studio system was founded,
how it adapted to changing conditions (economic,
technological, social, historical), and how and why
different studios took different approaches to pro-
ducing different movies, how these movies have
been distributed and exhibited, and what effect this
had on film history. They study how and why the
independent system of production superseded the
studio system and what effect this has had on pro-
duction, distribution, and exhibition. They are also
concerned with such related issues as management
and organization, accounting and marketing prac-
tices, and censorship and the rating system. Finally,
they try to place significant movies within the
nation’s economy as well as within the output of the
industry in general and the producing studio in par-
ticular. Excellent studies include Douglas Gomery’s
The Hollywood Studio System: A History(London:
BFI, 2005), Joel W. Finler’s The Hollywood Story,
3rd ed. (London: Wallflower, 2003), and Tino Balio’s
Grand Design: Hollywood as a Modern Business
Enterprise, 1930–1939, History of the American Cin-
ema series, vol. 5 (Berkeley: University of Califor-
nia Press, 1995).Film as Social History
Because society and culture influence the movies
and vice versa, the movies serve as primary
sources for studying society. Writing about movies
as social history continues to be a major preoccu-
pation of journalists, scholars, and students alike.
Historian Ian Jarvie suggests that, in undertaking
these studies, we ask the following basic questions:
Who made the movies, and why? Who saw the
films, how, and why? What was seen, how, and why?
How were the movies evaluated, by whom, and
why?^4 In addition, those interested in social history
consider such factors as religion, politics, and cul-
tural trends and taboos. They ask to what extent, if
any, a particular movie was produced to sway public
opinion or effect social change. They are also inter-
ested in audience composition, marketing, and criti-
cal writing and reviewing in the media, from gossip
magazines to scholarly books. Overall, they study434 CHAPTER 10FILM HISTORY
(^4) This paraphrase of Ian Jarvie comes from Allen and Gomery,
p. 154.