What comes to mind when we think of the golden age of Hollywood? I can’t speak for everyone, but at least for me (before I studied any film history), all I can think of are the classical films from the list of 100 films you need to watch – The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, It’s a Wonderful Life, and many more. And following this extensive list are some of the big names- Clark Gable, Audrey Hepburn, Vivien Leigh, and Orson Welles (apparently there’s another list for this on IMDb if anyone’s interested). The golden age of Hollywood is characterized not only by the advancement of sound and camera technology, but also the rise of the star system. Because of the enforcement of the Production Code in 1934, studios could not use explicit imagery or language to lure audience into the theatre and audience was also reluctant to spend their hard-earned money on a movie ticket during the Great Depression. Studios were trying to find another stimulus to lead people to movie theaters downtown. The studio heads knew audiences would pay to see Clarke Gable’s charming face on big screens over and over again no matter what the content. So they started to exploit star power and eventually built a massive star system.

Almost 60 years have passed and though many things have collapsed in Hollywood history, star power is still thriving and stronger than ever. Because of the efficiency of internet and media- facebook, twitter, and instagram- stars receive unprecedented attention from all over the world everyday. And every day, hundreds of people come to Hollywood to become the next star.

Dylan and Clay’s film The Hollywood Complex follows a group of young kids in the Oakwood apartment complex (also where we’re staying now) who hope to break into the acting business during pilot season and become the next young star. It is extremely competitive in Hollywood, even in the kids’ world — for example, there could be hundreds of 12-year-old girl competing for one role. So some of them make it, and some don’t. While watching this film, I keep questioning whether it’s worth it to sacrifice literally everything in life (family, friends, school, and money) just to pursue a slim chance of a dream-come-true Hollywood-style fairytale.

I don’t want to be arbitrary and say that our life has become very media-oriented and the star power has become too influential in our life that sometimes we pay too much attention to their shinny glittering world. But I do remember a time when smartphones were not a thing and I had to use landline to talk to my friends, when I went to the park over the weekend instead of binge-watching TV shows on Netflix, and when our lunch conversation was not about celebrity drama.

Greetings from Hollywood!

Our first week in LA officially ended a couple of hours ago, and if you’ve been reading our blog, you would know that we had a pretty packed but exciting week. As much as I want to go back to some moments in this week (our meeting with Krista Smith, or the time when we were at Venice Beach and I didn’t get fish and chips for dinner), I know it’s impossible. However, we are able to go way way back in the time of cinema (we actually just went in to the talkie era of filmmaking in our class): meeting Mary Pickford, staying in an abandoned beach house with Doris Kenyon, and driving down Sunset Boulevard with William Holden.

It is quite amazing that we can view films from over a hundred years ago. I’m sure none of the “actors” from Workers Leaving Lumière Factory realized that millions of people from 122 years later would see their faces and spend time studying them. However, a lot films from the early time of Cinema were not as lucky- many of them are damaged or completely destroyed over years. That’s why film preservation and restoration are extremely important for our study.

On Thursday, we visited the Academy Film Archive (also known as the Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study), and had a chance to meet with some film restorers who have been working on film preservation/restoration for a very long time, and brought many old films back to life, and to a broader audience. Because of their work, we now are able to watch a quirky trailer for the 1961 horror film Konga, a 5-minute clip from Stan Brakhage’s experimental films, or The Ocean Waif by Alice Guy (the first female director). Alice Guy directed and produced over 1,000 films (many of them single reelers) during her film career, however, not many survived. The Ocean Waif, one of her only surviving feature-length films, was rescued and brought back to life by many film restorers. Although 15-20 minutes from the film is missing, it still is a great resource for us to study the early silent film era and her aesthetic style. It also provides us with an rare opportunity to understand a female filmmaker’s perspective and approach to a somewhat repetitive romantic storyline from 1916.

I read a very angry review about The Ocean Waif the other day – the writer was very upset that he paid for an “uncompleted film” and asked what’s the point of restoring it. Well, the point is – this is an extremely valuable resource; and because of many films like The Ocean Waif, we’re able to have conversations with characters from decades ago, to study the history of film and to learn from it. And none of this would happen without the film restorers.