The Studio System (Depth of Field)

It is all of the workers at the studio—not the director, not the producer—that make Hollywood’s movies.  The essays in The Studio System offer a detailed sense of what it is like to work in Hollywood amid the complexities and conflicting demands involved in moviemaking.  The essays demonstrate that the standards of effective storytelling do not always synchronize with notions of beauty or the value of the spectacle; that the production processes which encourage individuality and creativity from each worker also require compromise in maintaining a cooperative working group; and that production needs and budgets often demand an alteration of the product standards held by the movie industry’s craftspeople.  The theories and methods found within The Studio System, from functionalist to conflict sociologies, from quantitative to qualitative methods, invite the critical eye to focus on their practical consequences.  This social investigation of Hollywood brings to light the ways in which the formulas, innovations, and economic structure of the film industry affect the day-to-day lives of its workers.