Behind the Screens: Hollywood goes Hypercommercial 1 of 5

Summary:

Hollywood movies are rapidly becoming vehicles for the ulterior marketing and advertising motives of studios and their owners, rather than entertainment in their own right.

Behind the Screens explores this trend toward "hypercommercialism" through phenomena such as product placement, tie-ins, merchandising and cross-promotions. It combines multiple examples taken directly from the movies with incisive interviews provided by film scholars, cultural critics, political economists, and an Oscar-nominated screenwriter.

Behind the Screens presents an accessible argument designed for school and college-age audiences-- precisely the demographic most prized by both Hollywood studios and advertisers alike. It features examples drawn from movies such as Wayne's World, Forrest Gump, The Lion King, Summer of Sam, and Toy Story. Interviewees include Jeremy Pikser, Oscar-nominated screenwriter of the Warren Beatty film Bulworth; Mark Crispin Miller, Professor of Communication at New York University; Susan Douglas, Professor of Communication at the University of Michigan; Professor Robert W. McChesney of the Univeristy of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Professor Janet Wasko of the university of Oregon.
Logistical Information:

Directed by Matt Soar & Susan Ericsson
Produced by Matt Soar
Edited by Susan Ericsson
Executive Producer Sut Jhally
Copyright 2000
Source:http://www.mediaed.org/videos/CommercialismPoliticsAndMedia/BehindtheScre­ens

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• hollywood
• propaganda
• product
• media
• advertisement
• corporation

[hotguye1]

Thank you for this! I decided to do my homework assignment based on this. It was a position paper and it turned out great. A lot of the classmates and I discussed this stuff.

[teixeraf]

Great! Can send me the material (homework) to me? I would like to see it.

[CrowsTurnOff]

Honestly, though, you HAVE to include real products in your movies. If you have nothing but made-up stuff, it really detaches the movie from reality and can be distracting.

Obviously, saying Budweiser 60 times in Fallen is ridiculous and blatant. But, it's not ridiculous for someone to ask for Tylenol, or tell someone to look at the Coke can, or to see a Coca-Cola billboard (even in the future).

[jichyi]

McChesney was my professor.. he was amazing~ :O P I learned a lot from him~

[narunarulove24]

Thanks for posting this :D

I have to watch this for a media studies class :]

[LowKeyAus]

@hotguye1

Do your homework project on the Illuminati in media, and the influence of Alistair Crowley.

Youtube ""Do What You Want"..? (Exposing Satanism in Society) [1of3]"

[Hudsucker94]

there are some examples, such as wayne's world,mystery men,etc, that actually are mocking this sort of thing. also, it is reality. like from do the right thing, do pizza places not look like that? this problem isn't going to go away. the trick is knowing what you do and don't need.

[Hudsucker94]

you don't. it's not always what it seems.

[Duvmasta]

Thomas Edison was autistic, and he invented movies, so an autistic person invented movies.

[Hudsucker94]

See, this is the whole debate. Sure, people use these products in real life, but the question is, do you use them cause you need them, or are you just buying into the bullshit? Are you that simple/weak minded? Like, are you gonna buy the ray bans cause he wears em in top gun, or do you like ray bands? Get what I'm saying?

[egnarbutterlump]

i don't want to live in a society where people are okay with being told how to think

[H3nrix]

Well... His McDonald's "Royale with cheese" speech is a classic. And "No, I didn't go to Burger King".

[Whatisright]

i don't see the problem. theres ads eveywhere in real life even trash on the street like a can has a logo on. to mention specific products in a movie is as real as things can get. unless theres a commercial in the middle of the movie who cares? i didnt even notice the guy said coke can in the movie independence day. who the hell pays attention to shit like that, oh he said coke can. makes me want a sprite