Do different major Hollywood studios have distinctive styles or signature elements in their filmmaking?
Do film experts, critics, industry insiders, etc recognise and discuss signature styles or elements between major Hollywood studios? Along the lines of...
- "This is a very typical Universal film, in that..."
- "This screenplay seems to me better suited to 20th Century Fox than Warner Bros, because..."
- "This film was unusually [x] for a Paramount film, as it..."
...pointing to specific 'signature' details in style, pacing, tone, plot, filmography, commercial risk taking, innovation, elements prioritised, etc? Similar to how there are, for example:
- characteristic differences between Pixar and Dreamworks - critics identify these and discuss trends like, for example, to what extent these differences are diminishing and blurring
- characteristics associated with HBO drama series - and critics discuss things like how the HBO approach to drama has influenced trends more widely
- typical features of a "Hollywood film" and different eras of "Hollywood film", etc etc
I understand that individual directors (and/or producers) definitely have clear reputations and signature styles, and that most directors and producers work across studios, but in addition to this, do studios themselves earn particular reputations?
If they do exist, I'm not asking for a complete list, that'd be too broad, just a "Yes, for example... [here's an analysis of why X director favours the approach taken by Y studio]", or a "No, because... [they all follow the same trends based on the same viewing data, see this analysis]...".
Short-lived historical differences are relevant too, e.g. if a particular studio pioneered X genre or Y style, but it was then adopted by all the others. My suspicion is that trends get copied so quickly it's hard for any one studio to carve out a niche that lasts longer than a couple of years - but I'm at a loss as to how to find examples confirming or disproving this.
I'm asking because this has bugged me ever since I visited some film studios in Los Angeles and realised that I'd never once paid attention to which studio made what film. I was surprised to realise that I had no idea at all which films were made by which studios. I've tried researching this but found nothing, the only clear trends between studios I can see seem to be around who has the money.
Best Answer
Today the studios have changed. Back in the 20's directors and actors worked for the studios on a salary having no choice what movie to do. It was like a normal 9-5 job and when one movie finished they moved on to the next. - So then they had no style, but you knew when you went to the movies which studio was associated with which actors and directors; tho that didn't matter as much back then because actors and directors never really had creative power.
Today there are unions that help directors and actors be creative and find jobs because it is all about the money. A successful director or actor can pitch an idea to a studio but if they don't like it they can say pass, turn around take the idea and build upon it as they wish. Studios are all about the money, so if you have a good idea and a famous actor to back you up you got a chance. If you got a good idea don't expect much.
Now there are some directors that work with the same company's such as Quentin Tarantino. His first film was distributed by Miramax run by the Weinsteins. After they left to start there own "The Weinstein Company" he followed having the rest of his films done by them. - this is a rare occasion but it happens.
As big budget movie making declines, small - big budget movie and t.v rentals and digital streaming goes up.(Crakel, Nexflix, Hulu+, HBO) Today big studio Movie making is all about money making. The smaller company's are about substance and in some rare cases these company's focus only on a specific niche.
Pictures about "Do different major Hollywood studios have distinctive styles or signature elements in their filmmaking?"
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As of September 2021, the so-called "Big Five" \u2013 Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, and Warner Bros. \u2013 held about 81 percent of the movie market in the U.S. and Canada. In 2020, the combined share of the five largest film studios stood below 75 percent. It was the first time that happened since 2005.What were some of the typical production features of the Hollywood studio system?
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