Movie Ages and Eras
Cinema has a rich history as an industry, art form and influence on our culture. In this ongoing dialogue, it is important to make distinctions from the eras of film, because the context of the time in which a film was created will have an impact of how it relates within the dynamics of film lineage. Some movies are impossible to compare simply because they are of two different eras. As well, to understand a body of work of a filmmaker, one best look at her or his influences which may be filmmakers of different generations and working within a different set of cultural parameters. The following is how we at Must See Movies breakdown the different eras in film history:
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Early Age (1890-1920) - The first days of cinema, simple origins as a novelty usually a simple scene and development into more complex stories, experimental art and capturing reality. This is the era of silent movies (until 1927).
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Classic Age (1920-1960) - The birth of the studios, the Oscars and star system, throughout the world pockets of influential movements, film as art, the Hayes Code, major technical advancements such as sound, colour and format. This is the era of the Golden Age of Hollywood (mid-1930s until at least the 1950s).
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Modern Age (1960-1990) - The fall of the studio system and the rise of of maverick filmmakers raised not through the system but rather through film schools and independent filmmaking. Their voices break through and blockbusters reign supreme changing how films are released, marketed and monetized. The opening weekend makes and breaks careers.
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Contemporary Age (1990-present) - Celluloid succumbs to the advancements in digital imagery. Technology makes it easier for consumers to tell their own stories and distribute outside traditional means, popularizing new genre like found footage and reality based storytelling as documentaries moves into the mainstream. Studios are purchased and converge into mega-media corporations that conquer the box office with franchise film series, setting the ground for the golden era of comic book adaptations into cinematic universes. The way people consume media shifts, gone are rental stores, left in the wake of streaming subscription services, targeting new content developed and delivered directly to users.
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