Film Lecture Series #6 - Quality & Storytelling Part 1 (B-Movies) + Film Review.

• Quality within storytelling is a vital part within any story, whether this be within a book or film. To understand were cinema today has come from we have to go back to the 1890’s  to see where the first motion pictures came into play.

1890’s -1920’s:

Going back to 1890’s when Pathe studios and French cinema first came about; films of the time were created as a way to show of the new inventions/technology created to view a moving image (thanks to the Lumiere Brothers and their adaptations of photography equipment to create Cinématographe motion picture system). During this era there were no standards as it was a new media, new technology; meaning there was nothing to compare it to as it was the first of its kind.

From there came the Nickelodeon studios (1906) that popped up in the east coast (New York) with their flicker books and producers came into play. With this emergence came industry as film becomes something to make money off of. A few years later, around 1908 Thomas Edison founded the Motion Picture Patents Company. Patent meaning that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of years. Edison also invented the kinetoscope, which enables one user to view footage more easily through a peephole viewer window at the top of the device. With people having by patents through Edison it caused problems as it brought about a sense of censorship within entertainment; which in then return caused studios to move away from the east coast and move towards the west coast (Hollywood) to be free of having to pay for patents and have more control over their work.

During the move from the east to the west coast came roadshows (foreign independent) where they would show their films as they move from one place to another (much like how a circus would travel) and settle on the east coast and form studios life Fox, Warner Brothers, RKO, MGM and Paramount (the big 5). Within this period, you also had studios forming their own cinema theaters which created an influx of money constantly circulating within the company which is bad as essentially, they aren’t earning much more money. So, later came the Hay’s Code (1930-68), which meant movie studios couldn’t own movie theaters that showed only their films; meaning studios had to sell their cinemas and become more selective in what films they produced.

Actors were also assigned to set studios and once they were with that studio, they couldn’t go work at another, however Charlie Chaplin broke this when he broke away for his studio and went and set up United Artist with D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks on 1919; where filmmakers had more creative and financial control in what they produce (it was the break away from studio control).

From this we end up with a broad range of film studios:

• Major Studios: (The Big 5) Fox, Warner Brothers, RKO, MGM and Paramount. (A-Picture).
• Minor Major Studios: United Artists, Universal, Columbia. (B-Picture).
• Minors and independent Studios: Republic Pictures and Monogram. (Poverty Row).

 

1930’s the Great Depression:

With Hollywood on the rise came the Great depression to set back progress as the stock market crashed which led to prices rising and back failing. Due to the economic disaster people wanted to escape from their everyday realities, so pulp novels were created (like a comic book) that were made from paper pulp to be made cheap and thrown away once finished with. Despite its disposability, these fictions were well written by authors would later be lauded for their skills. These pulp novels where sometimes even played out over the radio (radio plays) as another form of escapism.

Pulp Magazine (Novels) Genres: Detective, Adventure, Horror, Sports, Aviation, Fantasy, Saucy, Sci-Fi, Gangster, War, Railroad, Romance.

Notable Pulp fiction Authors: Arthur C Clark (2001: A Space Odyssey), Edgar Rice Burroughs (John Carter Of Mars), Issac Asimov (I Robot, Bicentennial Man), L Ron Hubbard (Scientology) And Phillip K Dick (Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report).

In addition to this, double bill cinema also became more popular so people got the most for their money. These double bills usually consisted of trailers for new films, newsreels, a cartoon/short film preceding a low budget B movie which was then followed up with an interlude and the high budget main feature (A Movie). This rose the issue of exploitation in cinema which translated to cheap and explicit to gain profit, it was also around this era where the Hay’s code came into play; so no only were audiences of the time facing exploitation on the big screen but also face mass censorship within the film industry.

1940's to 1960's:

As the depression came to an end there was an emergence of superheroes (superman/batman) to rise hope and to distract those from realities of war and focus more on everyday problems in society that can be more easily tackled. The only character to go to war in the fictions was Captain America as he stood for American morels and dictates strength, power, justice, peace, harmony, patriotic attitude and friendship of the time.

Teenagers were also getting out and about, which led to them becoming their own demographic in its self. As before the Wars the idea of being a ‘child’ wasn’t a thing as often young children would have jobs from a young age. Film companies saw this new teenage demographic as a way to earn more money so drive in cinemas were opened (round the 1940s-60s) that typically displayed B Movies of the disaster movie genre.

Around the 50’s - 60’s more Tv sets were becoming available in homes so recorded shows were becoming more popular to then be aired on the Tv; some examples are The Twilight Zone, Dragnet, Adventures of Superman and Dr Who. During this time B Movies become more popular as the economy had only just recovered from the depression (ended late 1930’s)

What makes B Movie:

• Low budget / quick production.
• Genre driven filmmaking (tropes).
• Formulaic plot / story.
• Stock / one dimensional characters.
• Bad acting / dialogue.
• C / D list actors.
• ‘Has been’ celebrities.
• Limited locations / sets.
• Use of stock footage.
• Low budget (cheesy) special effects.
• Suspect marketing claims.
• Easily digestible.

 

 Film Review – The Blob 1958.

                       

Video. The Blob 1958 opening tune, 

Fig 1. The Blob Movie Poster – Re-Release (1958)

Directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr and Russell S. Doughten Jr and starring Steve McQueen as Steve Andrews and Aneta Corsaut as Jane Martin comes The Blob (1958). The Blob (1958) is about an alien lifeform that consumes everything it comes in contact with, all the while the slimy, jelly like mass grows bigger and bigger and threatens the towns occupants lives. Steve and Jane try to get word out that the town is in danger, but no one will believe them.

A redeeming quality for this cult classic is the directors cleverly aimed the movie to appeal to teenagers as essentially it was a film about teenagers for teenagers, as at the time audiences were predominantly teenagers. So, for a film to hold younger more lively characters; compared to the older stuffy characters seen in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), The Mummy (1959) and the Universal Monster flicks of the 1930s that mainly centered around adults. By having that element of teenagers going out to the pictures and dates made it appeal more to the younger generation. (Fig 2, See Below)

Fig 2. The Blob Teen agers (1958) 

In addition to this the directors were able to give the lead characters – Steve and jane – a sense of agency within the film. This seen where Steve and Jane insist to the police there is a flesh-eating mass on the loose, but are ultimately ignored as they believe him to be playing a prank (fig 3, See Below).  This doesn’t stop Steve and Jane from going back out in search for the blob after being sent home for the evening, if anything it encourages them to and prove the adults wrong and informs them that they won’t be written off so easily. Other films that do this are A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Fright Night (1985) that again focus’ on teenagers who confront evil when authority figures refuse to acknowledge it.

Fig 3. The Blob Character Agency (1958) 

Furthermore; in term of acting, it’s not the worst Hollywood has seen. In the scene where Steve is stopped by Dave the police officer, McQueen convincingly tries to play that of a nervous teenager who has just been caught doing something he shouldn’t and tries to play it off by nervously giggling, stuttering and fidgeting with his steering wheel (fig 4, See Below). In addition to this the film makers were also able to convey the towns panic when they realize Steve and Jane were telling the truth, this seen especially when teenagers come pouring out the movie theater screaming and running in every direction trying to get away from the Blob (fig 5 , See Below).

Although the special effects for the blob aren’t top of the line, the creators at the time did well to portray the gloopy, slimy nature of the blob; really trying to capture that of what the song at the beginning of the film says “it creeps and leaps and glides and slides across the floor, right through the door and all around the wall. A splotch, a blotch.” To achieve this, effects artist looked to using a silicone base with red dye to create something that reflects that of the songs describing words, thus being able to capture something that would convey that of the alien life form they were going for (fig 6,7,8,9, See Below) . In addition to this there was also use of matte painting when the blob was in shot (fig 10, 11,12 , See Below.) – with these they kept the shots on the blob short, so you only see a glimpse of the blob before it cuts to the actors’ reactions, I found this to be effective as it helped to rise the tension and make the audience fear this slimy substance more as you only see it for a few short seconds.

5 Redeemable qualities that were discussed above:

• Aimed at Teenagers.
• Characters have agency.
•  Lead Character Acting.
• Crowd Acting.
• The Blob Effects and Matte Paintings.

 

Illustration List:

Fig 1. The Blob Movie Poster – Re-Release (1958) [Film Poster, Advertisement] At:  https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/df2p24/poster_for_the_rerelease_of_1958_horror_classic/  (Accessed: 20/01/2021).

Video . The Blob 1958 opening tune , 23/11/2007 · by bubbazametti, 1 mins 46 secs.  https://youtu.be/HCtcgI4BcIQ  (Accessed 20 Jan 2021).

Fig 2. The Blob Teen agers (1958) [Film Still] At: Vagebond's Movie ScreenShots: The Blob (1958) (Accessed: 20/01/2021).

Fig 3. The Blob Character Agency (1958) [Film Still] At: Vagebond's Movie ScreenShots: The Blob (1958) (Accessed: 20/01/2021).

Fig 4. Lead Character Acting(1958) [Film Still] At: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051418/mediaviewer/rm416894464 (Accessed: 20/01/2021).

Fig 5. Crowd Character Acting(1958) [Film Still] At: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051418/mediaviewer/rm802770432/ (Accessed: 20/01/2021).

Fig 6. The Blob Effects Pt 1 (1958) [Film Still] At: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051418/mediaviewer/rm333008384/ (Accessed: 20/01/2021).

Fig 7. The Blob Effects Pt 2 (1958) [Film Still] At: Vagebond's Movie ScreenShots: The Blob (1958) (Accessed: 20/01/2021).

Fig 8. The Blob Effects Pt 3 (1958) [Film Still] At: The Blob (1958) Review |BasementRejects (Accessed: 20/01/2021).

Fig 9. The Blob Effects Pt 4 (1958) [Film Still] At: The Vagebond's Movie ScreenShots: The Blob (1958) (Accessed: 20/01/2021).

Fig 10. . The Blob Matte Painting Pt 1 (1958) [Film Still] At: Happyotter: THE BLOB (1958) (happyotter666.blogspot.com) (Accessed: 20/01/2021).

Fig 11. The Blob Matte Painting Pt 2 (1958) [Film Still] At: The Vagebond's Movie ScreenShots: The Blob (1958) (Accessed: 20/01/2021).

Fig 12. The Blob Matte Painting Pt 3 (1958) [Film Still] At: The Blob (1958) Criterion Blu-ray Review (doblu.com)  (Accessed: 20/01/2021).