Uncategorized – Page 2 – Studiotec: Film Studios: Infrastructure, Culture, Innovation in Britain, France, Germany and Italy, 1930-60

Somewhere between animal and mineral: the precarious life of the film extra

By Eleanor Halsall Film historiography is rich with tales of movies boasting casts of thousands, the hyperbole contributing to a film’s renown. Gandhi (Attenborough, 1982) is credited by the Guinness Book of Records as having had the largest ever crowd scenes involving 300,000 extras, a feat achieved long before computer generated imagery (CGI) altered the score. War and Peace (Bondarchuk, 1965)Continue reading “Somewhere between animal and mineral: the precarious life of the film extra”

Conference Report: Film Studios

By Steven Roberts The ‘Film Studios’ conference provided a forum for international research, looking beyond traditional geographical, historical, and methodological boundaries of studio research in keeping with the comparative STUDIOTEC project, which hosted the event in Bristol between 5-7 June 2023. Over three full days, the ideas of invited speakers flowed freely and were receivedContinue reading “Conference Report: Film Studios”

Film Studios: Histories, Evolution, Innovation, Futures

An ERC-funded conference exploring film studios as a global phenomenon held at the Watershed, Bristol, 5-7 June 2023 Watershed 1, Canon’s Road, Bristol BS1 5TX Register here by 18th May MONDAY 5TH JUNE 1000-1100 Registration 1100-1230 Welcome and Keynote 1 Noa Steimatsky, ‘Displaced in Cinecittà: Historiographic itineraries’ 1230-1330 Lunch 1330-1500 Panel session 1 Panel 1A: Studios and filmmaking afterContinue reading “Film Studios: Histories, Evolution, Innovation, Futures”

Creating Miniature Worlds

By Sarah Street The appeal of ‘tiny things’ has long been recognized to satisfy ‘our desire for mastery and elucidation’. Film studios were perfect environments to demonstrate their usefulness in ‘bringing scaled-down order and illumination to an otherwise chaotic world’ (The Guardian, 4 Nov 2018). This was particularly the case in post-war Britain, as the studiosContinue reading “Creating Miniature Worlds”

‘Philippa’ arrives at Pinewood

By Richard Farmer The summer of 1946 was an exciting time at Pinewood. The studio had just reopened after the war, de-requisitioned after being used for a variety of filmmaking and non-filmmaking purposes during the conflict. Visitors to the site would have found a studio seeking to face up to the challenges of the post-war world, eager toContinue reading “‘Philippa’ arrives at Pinewood”

Film Studios conference, Bristol

Call for Papers Film Studios: Histories, Evolution, Innovation, Futures 5-7 June 2023 University of Bristol Keynote speakers: Brian R. Jacobson; Noa Steimatsky The ERC-funded STUDIOTEC project welcomes proposals for individual twenty-minute papers and pre-formed three-paper panels for Film Studios: Histories, Evolution, Innovation, Futures, an in-person, three-day conference organised by the University of Bristol, UK, and held at the Watershed,Continue reading “Film Studios conference, Bristol”

Breakfast at Cinecittà’s: Italy’s Glocal Studio Tours

By Carla Mereu Keating As recently observed in the case of Britain, Germany and France, film studio tours featured prominently in studios’ promotional agendas and attracted significant media attention over the years. Following on from previous STUDIOTEC posts on the subject, this section casts an eye on film studio tours in Italy and explores the wide range ofContinue reading “Breakfast at Cinecittà’s: Italy’s Glocal Studio Tours “

Touring the French studios

By Morgan Lefeuvre Closed to the public – which gave them a dose of mystery and enhanced their appeal – the French studios welcomed throughout the period (and particularly in the 1930s) many representatives of the press, but also of political, economic or social circles. The studio visits, often reported in detail in the press,Continue reading “Touring the French studios”

Southall studio at war

By Richard Farmer Southall studio Southall studio in west London was built on the site of, and possibly converted from, a former aircraft hangar. It opened in 1924, remained largely unused until 1928, and was converted for sound production in the early 1930s (the vagueness of some of these dates is indicative of the relative paucityContinue reading “Southall studio at war”

‘Who wouldn’t want to have a peek?’ Studio Tours in Britain and Germany

Sarah Street and Eleanor Halsall Inspired by our visit to the Bottle Yard Studios, we wanted to know more about previous occasions when film studios opened their doors to outsiders. Studios entertained important guests such as film executives, financiers, critics, members of the civil service, royalty etc., but some visitors had less obvious importance to business,Continue reading “‘Who wouldn’t want to have a peek?’ Studio Tours in Britain and Germany”