Film industry

From ArticleWorld

The film industry consists of many smaller parts, each of which contribute to the overall process of making a film. This is done in stages, each stage involving a number of people and skills which combine to make the finished product. From the person who has the initial concept for the film, via scriptwriters, production companies, actors, directors and editors, the film industry is the field in which they all work.

Location

The first film makers were located in New York and New Jersey but they decided to move to California at the start of the 1900s. At this time film makers were only able to film during daylight. Although the electric light had been invented, and was fairly widespread, they did not give off the brightness of light which we have today and so were inadequate for filming under. California was an ideal location as the quality of light was bright and the climate meant that few days filming were lost due to bad weather. California also offered film makers considerable choice of landscapes, flora and fauna as the backdrop for their films.

Hollywood

1911 was the year in which the first film studio moved to Hollywood. Founded by Al Christie for David Horsley, it was swiftly followed by another 11 independent studios opening in the area, all in the same year. It was not long before the word Hollywood became synonymous with the film industry as a whole.

The sign

The image of the word Hollywood spelt out on the hillside in large white letters is now nothing short of iconic. However, when it was originally erected on Mount Lee in 1923 it read Hollywoodland and was merely an advertisement for a new housing development, found on top of the hill. It remained there untouched until 1949 and had become extremely worn and not pleasant to look at. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce decided to do something about the eyesore and chose to remove the last four letters and renovate the rest. This left the Hollywood sign we all recognise today and which is now a registered trademark, meaning it can’t be used without permission of the Chamber of Commerce that restored it.