Saturday, August 6, 2011

So long, risk taking?

(What you are about to read are the expressed opinions of an aspiring animator and nothing more. I'm just making some observations about what has been happening in Hollywood over the last 4 decades since the summer blockbuster movie/Reality TV craze began.)



I've always wondered why it was that the period between 1927 through 1972 was considered to be the Golden Age of Hollywood and American Animation or why I don't watch as much TV as I used to.

I always thought that it was because that the animation in those days were done by hand with pencils, ink pen, and paper, or maybe it was because of the great orchestral scores done by master musical directors like Scott Bradley or Carl Stalling, or the great voice acting and singing skill from some of the great actors of its day.

You know what I've come to find out?

The reason why that era was considered a "Golden Age" was because of all the reasons mentioned above plus two factors:

1. The ablity to come up with properties that were either original or a whole new spin on something that already existed.

2. The creative freedom that the animators and writers were given to produce what they wanted to with little restrictions(with the exception of said cartoon not going over-budget and making sure that it was finished on time to be shown in front of the big hit movie that would play afterwards.)   

It's amazing to look at the cartoons that were made 60-80 years ago.  The characters had well defined personalities, the animation was solid and flowed well (whether it was made in black and white or in color),

The music made you feel any kind of emotions that you had running through your mind as you watched it and at the end of it all, you wanted to either watch it again or wait for the next short/episode to arrive.  The same can also be said for the feature-length films of that period as well.


There used to be so much creativity and a much more open willingness to take risks in those days (even with the Hays Production Code of 1934 being firmly established at the time.) It was a time when actors and actresses were revered for their talent, skill and for their sense of style, poise and grace.

It was also a time when characters such as Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse was considered to be not just the most popular cartoon star in the world but also one of the most popular people in the world regardless if they were live-action film stars or animated ones and creativity flourished the most.

The same can also be said for all of the TV shows of the 1950s and 1960s too.


Yet as I look at today's TV and movie landscape,  I see that a lot has changed since those days( despite the fact that I've been living on this earth for only 21 1/2 years.) A good majority of Hollywood's Golden Age stars have passed on, yet some of them are still with us today. The animators of that era are still around but theey are also few and far between.

Furthermore, TV has gone from the days of Ozzie and Harriet and Leave it to Beaver/ I Love Lucy( the clean cut 1950s shows of that time) to the Jerry Springer-esque tabloid trash shows of the mid-to late 1990s.

 Nowadays, while shows like the aforementioned Springer are still around, we have begun to see an influx of not just daytime(and primetime) talk/gossip shows hosted by B to D-list actors, comedians and news personalities as well as thes "Reality TV" shows that are so popular.


To look at some of the movies and TV shows of today, it makes me want to scream "What happened?!"

Did the people in charge of these major film and television studios just stop caring about what kind of shows they put out?

Are the people who implement these focus groups that desperate to try and capture their target audience?


Or are they just looking to make money just for the sake of making money?


Answer: Maybe, yes and for the most part, yes.


Before anyone says anything, I know that with the economic slump that everyone's in, it's become much easier to go with something that's cheaper to produce that will make a much bigger long term payoff in the end and sometimes you have to take what's given to you, right then and there.

However, a lot of the reality shows that are out there (with the exception of a few that actually help people rather than hurt them) not only are cheap, but they also LOOK cheap even with today's high-tech cameras and such.


What's so glaring about the majority of these shows is that they aren't just cheap to look at.  It's not just the fact that there are so many being produced one after another to try and  capture attention from the audience.

 It also isn't just the fact that these shows feature either B to D list actors/personalities looking to rejeuvenate their careers, (although, there are some who have become huge successes because of these shows, from what I've seen and heard before) or even people who do regular jobs like running bakeries, restaurants, and even sports bars.


It's this:  There is ALMOST no creativity, ingenuity, real thought or even a hint of originality being put into any of the shows and movies that are being produced for broadcast and some cable networks. (Even reality shows that started out with a grand debut like "American Idol"  manage to pull in great ratings still, but it's not the super-huge success that it once was). The sitcoms of today have not fared much better. They have gone from being intelligent and entertaining to somewhat entertaining and often stereotypical in nature.


You could say that cartoons and feature films of 1929-1939 were guilty of being cheap to produce and unoriginal.

Except that in those days; even with the Great Depression hitting everyone hard, the film and cartoon makers of that period managed to work with what they had, but they also put in the time, care, and actual EFFORT into what they made in order to make more money while daring to take risks( be they necessary or not). Production of bigger and better films would then follow suit.


So, why exactly can't there be more films like a "Citizen Kane" or "Schindler's List", again?


Today, outside of the films made by Pixar (and the various fare made in parts of Europe, Asia, Australia, as well as Central to South America), the most original shows and films can now seem to only be found on the internet through sites like YouTube or on cable through Sundance channel. The worst part of it is that they are made by people who actually have real talent and love what they produce.  

They either get a passing mention in a newspaper (local or national) and TV news broadcasts 
or don't get mentioned at all by the mainstream press. (For some of these talented folks, the latter is a much better alternative to them; considering, how horribly explotative the media will get with people who get caught in their radar.)
 Most of the specials and series' episodes that get produced are non profit, made for fun type shows. It can range from something as simple as a critique/parody of a series that they like or hate, to a reality show about a skill that they already know how to do. There are even people who do walkthroughs of video games while adding funny commentary to go along with them.*

*(Yes, Team Four Star and the crew at That Guy With The Glasses, I'm looking at all of you.  You too as well, Desu Des Brigade and Cheeky Girls Productions. Same goes for all of the Abridged Series creators and Let's Players on YouTube.)


It's kind of sad that while Hollywood continues to either make movies out of cartoons and kid's shows that doesn't always resemble the original source material or some silly reality dating show a la "The Bachelor/Bachelorette", someone like Michael Agrusso( aka ItsJustSomeRandomGuy) or Doug Walker( aka the Nostalgia Critic) is actually producing something that can either make you laugh or make you think.


The few good shows that do get produced for television are either cancelled within one to three seasons or don't even get to air on TV at all.


Did I mention that even when there are long-running shows with good episodes from the first few seasons, it usually finds a way to trip over itself and become unwatchable at times?


Hopefully things will change in the near future.  A future where Hollywood has learned its lesson, makes both movies and TV shows worth watching at an affordable and reasonable prices, and the stars of their shows are easy to relate to without being annoying or insufferable.

More importantly, people with actual talent are hired to make high quality, entertaining shows or be given an opportunity to shine and become icons of the entertainment business loved by all around the world, much like the people who came before them.

Until that day comes,  I'll either be looking at videos on YouTube or working towards my own career goals.


Now, I know why I don't watch a lot of TV or why the Golden Age of Hollywood was considered a "golden age".