The Studio

The studio system had many aspects that made it a very unique industry. It was the key to Hollywoods success in the earlier years and still is the most prevelent force in the industry today. The specific aspect I want to to focus on is the star system, I feel that star system gave hollywood a face. The stars in studios were tangible products. They best represented what studios did and what messages they were trying to display to their audiences. The studio would discover stars then contract them and pay them to sell their goods and services.

Many stars were associated with specific genres of acting. For example MGM would produce musical dramas for a star named Judy Garland, such as the Wizard of Oz to best suit the actors talents. Different studios would hire actors such as Judy Garland and have them promote other stars from MGM the same studio she worked for. MGM was one of the major five studios. MGM and other studios would discover actors like Judy Garland (found as a child on Andy Hardy series) and develop them into household names for their company. Judy Garland had consistent set of character traits that helped her associate herself with specific genres. The star system would fall under the category of production in the studio system.

Here is one of Judy Garland's earlier films "A Star is Born" by watching the trailer you can see the aspects the star system in work. It is a musical drama that really shows the career work of Judy Garland.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbHKjk1XJK8