“The Whole Equation of Pictures”

The article “The Whole Equation of Pictures” was about Hollywood’s glory days. It focuses on the different things needed for the style of film. It is similar within the mist of each genre and sometimes in different genres they have some of the same elements. Schatz thinks that the directors during this time period were given to much credit for their films and the amount of success they may have brought. Schatz pointed out the auterism of classical Hollywood cinema. As viewers we see that each film is different from the next and we appreciate them for that simple fact. In this essay, Schatz describes the emergence of the New Hollywood era after what was thought of as the "collapse of the studio system". In doing so, he goes back to Hollywood's most successful and pivotal moments as he pinpoints a number of filmmakers. Towards the beginning of his writing, Schatz goes back and forth with ideas of marketing and the industry, which suggests how much industrial and executive control there was over the Hollywood media process. Though it seemed to have that sort of business, he also claims that both the styles and the artistry of the directors were large components of the whole in filmmaking, while the resources and regimented production process plays just as large of a role. Yet it was the directors and their contribution that made Hollywood reach its successful era. Overall, this is a very interesting article.