User:Cstickel(byu)/sandbox/Mormon cinema notes-2

"Mormon Cinema on the Web," BYU Studies Quarterly, Randy Astle ✔

 * When new LDS films are released, their launch is often accompanied by the creation of a website dedicated to promoting the film (p. 161-162) ✔
 * Deseret Book Company and Seagull Book are at the forefront of Mormon DVD distribution (p. 162) ✔
 * Publications such as BYU Studies Quarterly, Irreantum, Sunstone, and Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought feature criticism of LDS cinema (p. 164) ✔
 * In the early 2000s, ldsfilm.com became the central hub for discussions and announcements concerning Mormon cinema (p. 165) ✔
 * The Mormon blogosphere (sometimes referred to as the "bloggernacle") has also contributed film reviews over the years (p. 168) ✔

"Finding an Audience, Paying the Bills: Competing Business Models in Mormon Cinema," BYU Studies Quarterly, Eric Samuelsen ✔

 * Most of the family-oriented films marketed to Mormon audiences never made it to theaters, but went right to DVD distribution through large and small e-commerce websites, such as Amazon and LDSVideoStore.com (p. 214) ✔
 * God's Army was unique in that it combined a number of factors: an LDS director, an LDS subject matter, a theatrical distribution, and a marketing campaign that targeted Mormon moviegoers (p. 216) ✔
 * "Jeff Simpson, the former Disney executive who became CEO of Excel, played just as significant a role in establishing this new cinematic movement as Richard Dutcher did." (p. 218)
 * "But many films from 2005 onward have performed so poorly at the box office that the movement seems to have lost at least some of its momentum." (p. 222) ✔
 * Samuelsen writes that the most successful Mormon films are those made with high-quality equipment and distributed by an entertainment company, such as Halestorm or Excel Entertainment. (pp. 217-222) ✔

Author description: Associate Professor of Theatre and Media Arts at BYU ✔

"Mormons, Films, Scriptures," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Joseph M. Spencer

 * Napoleon Dynamite, though lacking overt Mormon religious themes, displays Mormon culture (p. 179)

"A History of Latter-Day Saint Screen Portrayals in the Anti-Mormon Film Era 1905-1936," Richard Alan Nelson ✔

 * Between the years 1905 and 1915, nineteen known movies portraying Mormonism were produced (p. 21) ✔
 * These were not, however, produced by Mormons; many were sensationalist pictures with anti-Mormon themes, depicting massacres or kidnappings (p. 21, 23) ✔
 * Members of the church began to speak out against these films, using media such as letters printed in newspapers (p. 32)
 * Utah's film industry began developing in the early 1910s with the creation of the Utah Motion Picture Company (p. 71)
 * One Hundred Years of Mormonism was a large project for the time, encompassing "five reels and 90 minutes [of] running time." (p. 72)
 * It was, in fact, constituted of one hundred scenes (p. 73) ✔
 * In the realm of Mormon cinema, One Hundred Years of Mormonism "remains the single most important commercial film release of the silent cinema," mainly because of its being directly influenced by people who themselves had been Mormon pioneers (p. 80) ✔
 * It was shown in theaters worldwide; cinemas in Buenos Aires, Sydney, Peking, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Paris, and London requested reels (p. 75) ✔

"'Scandalous Film': The Campaign to Suppress Anti-Mormon Motion Pictures, 1911-12," Journal of Mormon History, Brian Q. Cannon and Jacob W. Olmstead ✔

 * To combat the anti-Mormon silent films of the early 1910s, the Church worked with LDS and non-LDS directors alike to create films that painted Utah and its history in a more positive light (p. 43) ✔

"Artistry and Aesthetics in Contemporary Mormon and Iranian Film," BYU Studies Quarterly, Travis T. Anderson ✔

 * "the eager involvement in film by LDS faithful is no doubt also due to our widespread belief that all discoveries and inventions with the potential to benefit humankind have their source in God and are therefore intended to improve, education, disseminate truth, and otherwise further God's purposes on earth." (p. 111)
 * "our homegrown movies are frequently sentimental and formulaic, and all too often they mistake cinematic prettiness and high production values for genuine artistry." (p. 112)
 * Travis T. Anderson argues those LDS films featuring the universal themes of "challenges, struggles, desire, and day-to-day experiences" achieve success in the movie market, despite cultural "peculiar[ities]". He cites The Other Side of Heaven (2001), Saints and Soldiers (2003), Napoleon Dynamite (2004), and New York Doll (2005) as evidence. Movies with Mormon undertones and human overtones, he says, appeal to audiences much more than films filled with LDS culture references. (p. 113) ✔
 * "Ryan Little's Saints and Soldiers, Jared Hess’s Napoleon Dynamite, and Greg Whiteley’s New York Doll are all standout examples of critical and financial success stories in Mormon cinema." (p. 126) ✔

"Capital Investment and Market Segmentation: Making Movies for Mormon Audiences," Marketing Education Review, Newell D. Wright and Val Larsen ✔

 * The Mormon Movie model seeks to capitalize on a niche market: members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (p. 168)
 * As of 2011, Latter-day Saints constituted 69% of Utah's population (p. 170) ✔
 * Mormons provide a substantial market for G- and PG-rated films. For example, a movie theater in Sandy, Utah was home to the highest attendance for viewings of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (p. 169) ✔
 * Leaders in the Church have advised members not to watch R-rated films (p. 169) ✔

"Latter-Day Screens: A History of Mormons and the Movies," Afterimage, Peter Wollheim ✔

 * When the BYU Motion Picture Studio opened in 1953, "BYU faculty and students began churning out a steady stream of one-reelers. Some were, and still are, fairly narrow in scope in terms of the history of the Church and its prophets, the building of LDS temples, and even animated stories from the Book of Mormon; others aimed at and achieved wider circulation."
 * The Other Side of Heaven (2001), a Mormon missionary story based on John Groberg's memoir In the Eye of the Storm, de-emphasized its LDS elements in favor of a more generically Christian approach
 * God's Army (2000), made on a budget of $300,000, "grossed over two million dollars in box office receipts." ✔
 * Halestorm Entertainment began producing slapstick comedies with Mormon-centric humor in the early 2000s, including titles such as The R.M., The Home Teachers, Baptists at Our Barbecue, Sons of Provo, and Mobsters and Mormons. ✔

"Mormon Melodrama and the Syndication of Satire, from Brigham Young (1940) to South Park (2003)," Journal of American Culture, David Walker ✔

 * That Motion Picture Production Code of 1930, also referred to as the Hays Code, required a gentler treatment of religious subjects. ✔
 * Darryl F. Zanuck produced the first large-scale production with Mormonism as its subject with 1940's Brigham Young

"A Price Far above Rubies versus Eight Cows: What’s a Virtuous Woman Worth?" Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Holly Welker

 * Johnny Lingo (1969), "makes no mention of Mormonism aside from its credits," yet the BYU-made short film is well-known among Latter-day Saints. (p. 37)

"Marrow: Richard Dutcher's Mormon Films," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Robbins Dallas ✔

 * The release of God's Army marked a shift in Mormon cinema; it was "explicitly Mormon and commercial at the same time." (p. 170) ✔
 * It portrayed its highly religious topic—Mormon missionary life—in a realistic, rather than idealistic, way. (p. 171)
 * Better, maybe: It mixed its highly religious theme of Mormon missionary life with the telling of a human story (p. 171)

"'Mormonism' in Picture," Young Woman's Journal, Levi Edgar Young ✔

 * "The picture will help the world at large to an understanding of our history." (p. 80) ✔
 * "The moving picture together with all the other modern inventions is to help us carry the Mission of Christ to all the world," (p. 80)