eastmancolourblog

Locating studio workers: Notes on Italy’s gendered film labour

By Carla Mereu Keating As our research on the British, French, German and Italian film studios progresses, the STUDIOTEC team have identified a range of empirical and historiographic resources which document working practices and networks of film production between 1930 and 1960. Approaching the specific question of film labour in Italy, a large body ofContinue reading “Locating studio workers: Notes on Italy’s gendered film labour”

Britain’s temporary post-war studios

By Richard Farmer In the years following the Second World War, Ealing Studios was going places. Its experiment in making films in Australia had got off to a successful start with The Overlanders (1946) and would continue for another four films over the next decade or so (Morgan 2012), whilst significant parts of Another Shore (1948) were filmed in Dublin, and WhereContinue reading “Britain’s temporary post-war studios”

The Pinewood Merry-Go-Round studio magazine

By Sarah Street Film studios were communities of workers who established close bonds through the collective enterprise of film production. They employed many diverse occupations, including canteen employees, art directors, costume designers, hairdressers, secretaries, publicists, electricians, and carpenters. Establishing a sense of community was important, especially when working conditions could be pressured and intense, withContinue reading “The Pinewood Merry-Go-Round studio magazine”

Women behind the scenes in German film

By Eleanor Halsall As it did elsewhere, the German film industry exerted a magnetic pull on its public. Many women aspired to a career on the screen, only to be disappointed when intense competition meant that they were unable to secure work, even as extras. Film stars of both genders added glamour to the professionContinue reading “Women behind the scenes in German film”

Colonies de vacances (holiday camps) for the children of French cinema employees

by Sue Harris The social aspects of the life studio workers came into focus recently at one of our team seminars on the topic of ‘Time and Leisure in the Studios’ led by Morgan Lefeuvre and Richard Farmer. Their presentations on the organised collective activities (sporting events, gala days, festive parties) of specific studios inContinue reading “Colonies de vacances (holiday camps) for the children of French cinema employees”

Silence, ça tourne! The first sound shootings in French studios

By Morgan Lefeuvre Casting in the Tobis Studios in 1929 – The director communicates with the sound engineer using a telephone. Coll. Cinémathèque française. ‘Cinema speaks, but not for long! It’s too complicated, too scientific! […] Do you realise that if talking pictures were to last, we would all have to change jobs?’ (Pagnol: p. 18).Continue reading “Silence, ça tourne! The first sound shootings in French studios”

Supporting feature: tubular scaffolding

By Richard Farmer Kinematograph Weekly, 24 October 1929. Film studios are places of innovation. New technologies and creative processes are developed, adopted, adapted and eventually superseded. Some of these innovations, such as the arrival of synchronised sound or widescreen, are designed to be obvious to the viewer, to provide spectacle and inspire wonder and pleasure.Continue reading “Supporting feature: tubular scaffolding”

The Austro-German Connection: Italy’s Transnational Films and the UK

By Carla Mereu Keating As we continue to compile our filmographies to map regional, national, international and transnational nodes and networks of film production, several lesser-known cases of collaboration among the four countries of the project have emerged. This blog post shares ongoing research on the history of Italian film studios in the years followingContinue reading “The Austro-German Connection: Italy’s Transnational Films and the UK”

STUDIOTEC goes to SCMS

This year the annual Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS) conference went virtual, and the STUDIOTEC team delivered two panels. The conference provided a great opportunity to showcase some of our ongoing research to new audiences. Putting Studios into the Frame: Architectural, Environmental and Geospatial approaches The first of our panels foregrounded factors which influenced howContinue reading “STUDIOTEC goes to SCMS”

Cricket in British Studios

By Richard Farmer I have recently been doing some research into the sports and social clubs established at British film studios, seeking to understand how the various sporting events, leisure activities and outings they organised functioned as elements of workplace culture. I have also been exploring sporting competitions organised between different studios, and between studiosContinue reading “Cricket in British Studios”