By Sarah Street As part of our STUDIOTEC project we’ve created parts of the studios we’ve been researching in VR. This has been an exciting experience, giving participants access to studios in their heyday, introducing the main buildings and peeking inside to see how films were made, and hearing about the people who worked inContinue reading “Studios in Virtual Reality”
Tag Archives: French Cinema
Studios in the Festive Season
This STUDIOTEC bumper blog (first published in Dec 2021), expanded with a couple of new images, looks at how the festive season was acknowledged by film studios in Germany, France, Italy and Britain. In Germany Seasons’ Greetings regularly appeared in film magazines listing a studio’s biggest films. Here are two examples from 1930, illustrating the significance ofContinue reading “Studios in the Festive Season”
Hauntings on and off screen
A Studiospectre Production by Richard Farmer, Eleanor Halsall, Morgan Lefeuvre and Carla Mereu Keating Hallowe’en, literally the evening before All Hallows Day (1 November) and All Souls’ Day (2 November), is the time of year when thoughts turn towards the darkness, death and the belief that briefly, the door between heaven and earth is open, or atContinue reading “Hauntings on and off screen”
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”
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”
Studios in the Festive Season
As the nights draw in and 2021 approaches retirement, this STUDIOTEC bumper blog looks at how the festive season was acknowledged by film studios in Germany, France, Italy and Britain. In Germany Seasons’ Greetings regularly appeared in film magazines listing a studio’s biggest films. Here are two examples from 1930, illustrating the significance of Munich’s Emelka andContinue reading “Studios in the Festive Season”
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”
Waiting in the Studios
By Morgan Lefeuvre And here I am in Paramount’s European studios. […] hustle and bustle everywhere. A huge bus has just spilled a whole army of employees into the courtyard… typists, translators, draughtsmen, technicians… a swarm of smiling, cheerful young people… Stagehands in overalls hurry towards the studios, carrying things, heavy ‘cameras’ on their shoulders… TheContinue reading “Waiting in the Studios”
Eating in the Studios: Dining with the Stars?
As we research the many maps, plans, images and contemporary accounts of the studios it becomes clear that as well as being factories of film production they were complex social communities employing a large, varied workforce. As well as practical workspaces including stages, workshops, stores and dressing rooms, many studios housed canteens, bars and restaurants.Continue reading “Eating in the Studios: Dining with the Stars?”
Studiotec: Film Studios: Infrastructure, Culture, Innovation in Britain, France, Germany and Italy, 1930-60 