Written By: Alina Gomez, Staff Writer
DECAY: The film industry in Hollywood has been facing a decline in movies and consumer production while losing its originality.
California was a state sheltered in cacti and wild-land, but by 1887 Hollywood showed up and was officially registered in the Los Angeles records. This moment built California as the dream scene for a place of movies and television to be made, Hollywood made it big and hit its peak through the late 1920s – 1960s. Hollywood was known as Tinseltown or La-La Land as an informal nickname, over the years it has grown in fame through its development in film and the studio system.
An area known for its oldest film industry, this is the root of an abundance of genres; comedy, horror, romance, drama, action, musical, war epics, and more. It has become the influence of many film productions; the beginning films were bound to a motionless area for the shot and a small variety of various scenes. Throughout these times the films were silent since devices hadn’t modernized just yet. When film production came to the 1910s directors figured out different methods to amend different angles. Silent dramas had become a grand hit and gained popularity throughout the filmland.
Once Hollywood hit its prime of modern technology and techniques this was an age of new cinema, the Roaring 20s were marked in history as a break in tradition and an era of modernization. Theaters began to loop in more business and large companies created the “studio system” where directors, actors, and writers signed a contract in 1927 ever since all films that were produced and streamed with sound. The sound era was throughgoing, now films were able to hear the dialogue between characters and add music and sound effects that revolutionized how films were then produced and experienced by the viewers.
Over time the Golden Age had come to an end, the creation of televisions became popular and the radio was no longer the only source of entertainment. For decades Hollywood was known for its timely films and idyllic storytelling. Going out to buy a ticket and watch a film was a way to spend a weekend afternoon. Up to now for the last couple of years, we can see how the industry of filmmaking has become a monopoly. Hollywood corporations prevented the purchasing of presale films in a multitude of theaters, as well as limiting their spaces for no more than five films in theaters. These rules have truly taken a toll on Hollywood and its status from releasing by far 5,000 or more films to a decline in filmmaking and even profits. It seems to be that movie making has now evolved into a money grab for customers, this fall is affecting the entertainment industry and development in film.
The Golden Age of Hollywood came to an end, this makes us question if film is officially done. Has it reached its peak? Cinema cannot be dying, the art of filmmaking is so advanced in the present time the way it has evolved over the years, no other art form has touched life the way movies can. All of these platforms and subscriptions have ripped away the beauty of sitting in a theater and admiring the time and effort put into each scene, we can see how Hollywood, the start of all production, is dying. Studio executives are not catering to the viewers, today people see through the media and many are believing that the industry is officially dead. Perhaps this era of renewal in movie-making is an opportunity for new doors to open, Hollywood may shrink for now but a time of rebirth will reach the future. In hopes for the film industry to continue to work up again and reach its prime to honor the art of film.