Overview

A funny thing happened on the way to the movies. Instead of heading downtown to a first-run movie palace, or even to a suburban multiplex with the latest high-tech projection capabilities, many people's first stop is now the local video store. Indeed, video rentals and sales today generate more income than either theatrical releases or television reruns of movies. This pathfinding book chronicles the rise of home video as a mass medium and the sweeping changes it has caused throughout the film industry since the mid-1970s. Frederick Wasser discusses Hollywood's initial hostility to home video, which studio heads feared would lead to piracy and declining revenues, and shows how, paradoxically, video revitalised the film industry with huge infusions of cash that financed blockbuster movies and massive marketing campaigns to promote them. He also tracks the fallout from the video revolution in everything from changes in film production values to accommodate the small screen to the rise of media conglomerates and the loss of the diversity once provided by smaller studios and independent distributors. Frederick Wasser is Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at Central Connecticut State University. As a freelancer in the Hollywood film and television industry, he witnessed the rise of home video throughout its first decade.

Full Product Details

Author:   Frederick Wasser
Publisher:   University of Texas Press
Imprint:   University of Texas Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.40cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.454kg
ISBN:  

9780292791466

ISBN 10:   0292791461
Pages:   270
Publication Date:   01 January 2002
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Signs of the Time The American Film Industry before Video The American Film Industry and Video The Political Economy of Distribution Video and the Audience Structure of the StudyChapter 1: Film Distribution and Home Viewing before the VCR A Brief Review of the Early Days of the Movie Industry From Universal Audiences to Feature-Length Films Movies at Home Tiered Releasing Broadcasting: The Other Entertainment Medium Postwar Film Exhibition Distributing Films to Smaller Audiences Television Advertising and Jaws: Marketing the Shark Wide and DeepChapter 2: The Development of Video Recording Broadcast Networks and Recording Technology Television and Recording Home Video 1: Playback-only Systems Home Video 2: Japanese Recorder System DevelopmentChapter 3: Home Video: The Early Years Choice, Harried Leisure, and New Technologies The Emergence of Cable The Universal Lawsuit VCR and Subversion X-rated Cassettes The Majors Start Video Distribution Videotape Pricing RentingChapter 4: The Years of Independence: 1981-1986 Independence on the Cusp of Video New Companies Get into Video Business Hollywood Tries to Control Rentals Video, Theater, and Cable Pre-Selling/Pre-Buying Video and New Genres Vestron's Video Publishing ConclusionChapter 5: Video Becomes Big Business The Development of Two-Tiered Pricing The New Movie Theater Microeconomics 1: Overview Microeconomics 2: Rental Video and Other Commodities Retailing Consolidation Breadth versus Depth Video Advertising Video and Revenue Streams Production Increase More Money, Same ProductChapter 6: Consolidation and Shakeouts High Concept Disney Comes Back On-line The Majors Hold the Line on Production Expansion Vestron Responds The Fate of Pre-Selling and the Mini-Majors LIVE, Miramax, and New Line ConclusionChapter 7: The Lessons of the Video Revolution Media Industries after the VCR Home Video and Changes in the Form of Film Images of Audience Time A Philosophic View of Film and Audience Whither the Mass Audience?NotesBibliographyIndex

Reviews

"""This book represents a real addition to our shared knowledge of video, film, and media history, and I have no doubt that it will receive much acclaim. There is no [other] comprehensive history of the video industry, and Wasser's book offers just this in a clear and very useful manner."" Justin Wyatt, author of High Concept: Movies and Marketing in Hollywood"

This book represents a real addition to our shared knowledge of video, film, and media history, and I have no doubt that it will receive much acclaim. There is no [other] comprehensive history of the video industry, and Wasser's book offers just this in a clear and very useful manner. Justin Wyatt, author of High Concept: Movies and Marketing in Hollywood

Author Information

Frederick Wasser is Professor of Television and Radio at Brooklyn College. As a freelancer in the Hollywood film and television industry, he witnessed the rise of home video throughout its first decade.

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