US Movie Research Articles

Analysis of feature extraction techniques for sentiment analysis of tweets

Over the past few years, sentiment analysis has moved from social networking services like LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and online product-based reviews to determine public opinion or emotion using social media textual contents. The methodology includes data selection, text pre-processing, feature extraction, classification model, and result analysis. Text pre-processing is an important stage in structuring data for improved performance of our methodology. The feature extraction technique (FET) is a crucial step in sentiment analysis as it is difficult to obtain effective and useful information from highly unstructured social media data. A number of feature extraction techniques are available to extract useful features. In this work, popular feature extraction techniques including bag of words (BOW), term frequency and inverse document frequency (TF-IDF), and Word2vec are compared and analyzed for the sentiment analysis of social media contents. A method is proposed for processing text data from social media networks for sentiment analysis that uses support vector machine as a classifier. The experiments are carried on three datasets of different context namely US Airline, Movie Review, and News from Twitter. The results show that TF-IDF consistently outperformed other techniques with best accuracy of 82.33%, 92.31%, and 99.10% for Airline, Movie Review, and News datasets respectively. It is also found that the proposed method performed better than some existing methods.

Actors' facial similarity and its impact on US movies' box-office performance in East and South-East Asia

PurposeAnecdotal evidence suggests that casting actors with similar facial features in a movie can pose challenges in foreign markets, hindering the audience's ability to recognize and remember characters. Extending developments in the literature on the cross-race effect, we hypothesize that facial similarity – the extent to which the actors starring in a movie share similar facial features – will reduce the country-level box-office performance of US movies in East and South-East Asia (ESEA) countries.Design/methodology/approachWe assembled data from various secondary data sources on US non-animation movies (2012–2021) and their releases in ESEA countries. Combining the data resulted in a cross-section of 2,616 movie-country observations.FindingsActors' facial similarity in a US movie's cast reduces its box-office performance in ESEA countries. This effect is weakened as immigration in the country, internet penetration in the country and star power increase and strengthened as cast size increases.Originality/valueThis first study on the effects of cast's facial similarity on box-office performance represents a novel extension to the growing literature on the antecedents of movies' box-office performance by being at the intersection of the two literature streams on (1) the box-office effects of cast characteristics and (2) the antecedents, in general, of box-office performance in the ESEA region.

Abraham Lincoln in the Hollywood cinema

Abraham Lincoln is a towering figure in American popular consciousness, one who acts as a rich and complex motif and metaphor across its cinema history. This essay is broad-ranging in considering Hollywood’s Lincoln but places particular emphasis on ‘classical’ representations. Its primary aim is to consider the cinematic uses of Lincoln (Lincoln as embedded in the style and rhetoric of a range of films) but a minor thread running through is why Lincoln and which Lincoln is called upon at different points of US movie history. The essay distinguishes itself from previous accounts by combining the analysis of the flesh and blood incarnation of the president’s peculiar physicality with a consideration of the literal and metaphoric solidity of the Lincoln memorial. A final section conveys the sixteenth president’s symbolic power by, paradoxically, revealing it in films that are not even about Lincoln. Lincoln is one of the Greatest Men of Vision™ in US history. In It’s a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946) and Bigger than Life (Nicholas Ray, 1956), a portrait and a verbal invocation, respectively, connect to themes of hubris and the tensions that ensue when the visions of frustrated ordinary men go too far.

Cinema’s Cosmic Shifts

Cinema’s Cosmic Shifts

Risk sensitive scheduling strategies of production studios on the US movie market: An agent-based simulation

The movie industry is a highly differentiated context where production studios compete in non-price product attributes, which influences the box office results of a motion picture. Because of the short life cycle and the constant entrance of new competitive products, temporal decisions play a crucial role. Time series of the number of movies on release and the sum of the box office results of the ten top motion pictures (ranked by box office result for that week) present a counterphased seasonality in the US movie market. We suggest that a possible reason is a risk sensitivity adaptation in the behaviour of the movie’s distributors. This paper provides a model supporting this hypothesis. We developed an agent-based model of a movie market, and we simulated it for 15 years. A comparable global behaviour exists when producers schedule the movies according to given risk-sensitive strategies. This research improves the knowledge of the US motion picture market, analyzing a real-world scenario and providing insight into the behaviour of existing firms in a complex environment.

US Soft Power through Hollywood during Cold War: Rocky IV

Power has always been a concept around which many have been pondering, in a sense of trying to achieve it. International relations have mostly been about power, according to realism, amongst other shifts in the international politics, so it is crucial to understand it. Since the world, after the World Wars, shifted from violence and wars, a new power remerged, called soft power, which now relies more on the global influence, and not on hard means of power like. Soft power is best described as imposing influence on the other states, through different canals like movies, student exchanges, media, etc. USA, as a superpower, employed soft power as a mean of spreading their political and ideological influence, especially during the Cold War. One of the tools of soft power employed, was through pop culture of the 1980s, via Hollywood industry and creation of USA-themed big-grossing movies, with great actors and popular topics. US movie industry focused on creating plots of the movies which would indirectly exert influence on the wider masses, in Europe, USSR, and other countries. One of those movies is Rocky saga, which are the movies about a boxing US hero, who is unbeatable, and poses as a symbol of US power. This movie, with a focus on Rocky IV, is a great example of how USA employed soft power through Hollywood industry, and the acceptance of the movie in the 1980s by the global mass is a great example of how influential soft power can truly be.

SANG KLONING YANG KUASA PRODUKSI DAN REPRODUKSI BARE LIFE DALAM FILM US

The aims of this study are to reveal how the forming processes of sovereignty through state of exception so it appears bare life, and how homo sacer attempt to face sovereign state in US movie. This analyses are focuses on political issues in American society under American government which is reflected in US movie. Political issues are taken up by analyzing the political movement which is taken by the goverment. After analyzing the political policies taken by the government, this research will reveal production and reproduction through state of exception in creating sovereign state. State of exception refers to ethnic and racist. This research uses of Jordan Peele's US movie and theory of sovereign & bare life according to Giorgio Agamben. This research applies descriptive qualitative method. The findings are the government gives different treatment to their citizens. The government gives special treatment to the society in general, while they exception and discrimination against the tethered. Exception and discrimination are the impact of the adaptation of law in order to fulfill the society needs.

Maintaining content innovation in an industry with unpredictable returns: a portfolio approach to movie production

ABSTRACT The movie industry is typically characterized by high production risk and unpredictable returns. Innovating in this kind of environment is very risky and calls for smart strategies of risk diversification. Hollywood is a recognized content innovation leader in the global movie industry, but the recent tendency for major production companies in the industry is to reduce risk by imitating previously successful productions rather than maintaining an innovation drive. We analyse here an alternative possible strategy based on risk diversification, and show how such strategy is viable for the Hollywood system whereas it is less viable for alternative, less market oriented movie production systems. We study cost/return data for 909 films from the US movie market 1988–99 by the five major US studios, and 118 films from the Italian market 1995–2003 by the three major Italian producers. Three different strategies of portfolio composition are tested, in a comparative perspective, in the US and Italy production and market environments. We find that portfolio diversification strategies are always successful in reducing operating risk in the US, but only partially so in Italy due to major differences in market size and players’ characteristics, and ultimately to differences in entrepreneurial culture.

Talent and publicity as determinants of superstar incomes: empirical evidence from the motion picture industry

ABSTRACTBy drawing on the two prevailing economic stardom theories, the paper investigates the sources of superstardom in the US movie industry. For the econometric analysis, we use income and popularity data of screen actresses and actors from the annual Celebrity 100 lists as published by Forbes Magazine. The empirical findings indicate that Hollywood, in contrast to other professional settings, supports two different types of stars. While ‘talent stars’ exploit acting merit, it is media exposure that drives the income of ‘publicity stars’. Apparently, in the motion picture industry both underlying resources are equally important and equally valued. Based on these insights we develop concrete recommendations for the career management of artists and the management of film projects.

Wanda’s ambitious expansion in the global movie industry

Synopsis The Wanda Case offers an overview of Wanda Group’s transition from a real estate firm in China to a global leader in the movie industry. Wanda Group, a Chinese conglomerate headquartered in Beijing, caused a major commotion in the US movie industry when it acquired AMC Entertainment in 2012. The AMC acquisition was the largest acquisition by a Chinese firm in the USA up to that time, costing $2.6 billion. Following that, a series of acquisitions had made Wanda Group the largest movie theater company, respectively, in the USA, Europe, and the World by the end of 2016. In order to fully comprehend the transition of the Wanda Group, the case begins by introducing the group’s origins and its original business model. It then discusses the challenges in the Chinese real estate market and factors that played a role in Wanda Group’s shift toward the movie industry. The authors further introduce the trends in movie theaters/production, recognized on a global scale in China and the USA, including key competitors in the industry. Last, the authors discuss Wanda Group’s global expansion efforts through major acquisitions in the USA and Europe, and the challenges that Wanda Group faced. Research methodology The case was written with publicly available information, such as newspaper articles, databases and corporate websites. The authors did not disguise any details. Relevant courses and levels This case can fulfill various learning goals in international business and strategy courses. First, this case offers detailed information about the diversification process of Wanda Group. It first diversified from real estate development into the movie cinema and production business in China (i.e. product diversification). More recently, Wanda Group diversified into the USA and Europe (i.e. geographical diversification). With the information provided in the case, students will be able to evaluate the costs and benefits of diversification strategies. Second, students can examine pros and cons of available entry modes for international expansions. Particularly, students will be able to evaluate the costs and benefits of acquisitions to Wanda Group’s international expansion. The authors also believe that this case can be used for introducing a relatively less-known emerging-market conglomerate, especially from China. Last, considering the rich information this case contains, the authors may use it as an exam case to evaluate students’ comprehensive knowledge gained from the course. Theoretical bases The case discusses corporate strategy, particularly diversification, the resource-based view, and institutional theory.

What is the value of ``Big Data'' for firms? An investigation in the US movie industry

What insights can big data provide into consumer preferences, and what are the performance and strategic implications of this knowledge for firms? This paper investigates these questions in the...

On the Attraction Gap between Chinese and US Movie: From the Perspective of the Audience

This article studies the attraction gap between Chinese and US movie from the perspective of the audience. By employing analysis model of movie attraction, questionnaire and quantitative analysis, this paper explores gaps between Chinese and US movies, and discusses the reasons for forming these gaps. The findings demonstrate that: 1) there are perceived value gaps between Chinese and US movie, 2) on the item level, the larger gaps are truth revelation, sensitive topics, mind purification, mental harvest, friends’ praise, unexpectedness, logic, representative, fascination, and 3) on the factor level, the larger gaps are satisfaction of curiosity, plot and moral education.

Engaging Distractions: Regulating Second-Screen Use in the Theater

This article examines emerging industry discourses around multitasking and mobile phone use inside US movie theaters. By disciplining or encouraging certain second-screen practices, sectors of the American fi lm industry have developed contradictory strategies for governing spectators into proper forms of single- or multiscreen spectatorship. The article explores the historical appearance of these industry strategies, the competing modes of audience subjectivity they imagine, and the extent to which material audience practices correspond to them. In so doing, it also considers the tensions of regulating and conceptualizing audience attention, interactivity, and distraction in theatrical spaces.

Measurement of interactions in non-linear marketing models: The effect of critics' ratings and consumer sentiment on movie demand

In nonlinear models, a typical way to determine the interaction effect between variables is to linearize the model for estimation purpose, add an interaction term, and then use the estimate of the parameter of the interaction term to determine the presence (or absence) and the extent of the interaction effect. In this paper, we show that in many cases such an approach is problematic. By design, non-linear models inherently include interactions, and as a result the interaction coefficient does not capture the full extent and complexity of the interaction effect. After exploring the complexities of interaction effects in non-linear models, we outline methods to estimate and understand the interaction effects in two widely used marketing models. We use 26years of weekly US movie market data to test the interactions between critics' ratings and consumer sentiment about economic conditions on box office attendance. In addition to finding that movie attendance is counter-cyclical, an expected but not previously documented result, we also show, contrary to popular belief, that critics' ratings have larger impact during economic downturns than during periods of economic expansion.

American Beauty: Trade Flows and Export Costs of US Movies

Copyright industries face global fixed export costs, in terms of cultural and geographic distance together with formal trade barriers. Adjustment to these costs may occur along both the intensive and the extensive margin. We investigate this issue using a microeconomic approach that considers a hedonic model of revenues for US movie exports to evaluate: aggregation bias; simultaneity in the observation of imported movies and their revenues; and reliable estimations for country clusters. We find that product heterogeneity is a key element for both intensive and extensive margin adjustments at the country level.

Estimating a War of Attrition: The Case of the US Movie Theater Industry

This paper empirically studies firm's strategic exit decisions in an environment where demand is declining. Specifically, I quantify the extent to which the exit process generated by firms' strategic interactions deviates from the outcome that maximizes industry profits. I develop and estimate a dynamic exit game using data from the US movie theater industry in the 1950s, when the industry faced demand declines. Using the estimated model, I quantify the magnitude of strategic delays and find that strategic interactions cause an average delay of exit of 2.7 years. I calculate the relative importance of several components of these strategic delays. (JEL D92, L11, L82, N72)

Hollywood and Hitler, 1933-1939 ThomasDoherty. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013.

Hollywood and Hitler, 1933-1939 Thomas Doherty. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013.Using a provocative, ambiguous title, Professor Thomas Doherty (from Brandeis University) studies the anti-Nazi feature films produced before World War II. As a response to anti-Semitic propaganda films from Germany, a series of newsreels and short films were produced in Hollywood. None of those productions was really memorable, but this corpus of mostly short films deserves to be analyzed, and thus, this is what this Hollywood and Hitler is about. And no, contrary to what the book's title might suggest: Hitler did not visit Hollywood and had no direct relationship with the US movie industry.Doherty's book is well documented and brings together a corpus made of lesser-known, yet signifying feature films such as Die Vandemder Yid (1933), which was shot in the Yiddish language in Hollywood (53). This book's exploration tentatively ends with a well-known feature film: Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) (336). A distant observer might object that many important anti-Nazi movies were not included in these pages, but the author prefers to investigate an era (and a corpus) not well documented in previous books on a related topic (often focusing on war movies released after 1939). Therefore, there is no analysis of Chaplin's masterpiece The Great Dictator (1941). Instead, his previous movies such as Modern Times (1936) are examined.Subtle forms of racism and anti-Semitism occurred in the US during the early 1930s, when many Jewish employees of Hollywood studios lost their jobs due to secret orders from Berlin's new regime, which was established in 1933. This regime attempted to create an anti-Jewish movement outside Germany through foreign offices and a network of influential allies (36). This racist pressure was made in a context in which exports of Hollywood films to Germany were negotiated and sometimes refused or delayed. It was during a period of change (the end of silent movies) and adjustments of all sorts, for instance when the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) and the Hays Code (on morals and censorship) were enacted (40). However, despite the fact there were many German emigre's in Hollywood, it would be unfair to conclude they were automatically anti-Semitic. Incidentally, an anti-Nazi League was created in Hollywood in 1936 with filmmakers and producers from all backgrounds and religions, and among this elite were director John Ford and actor James Cagney (96). …

Foreign entry, quality, and cultural distance: product-level evidence from US movie exports

This paper investigates the effect of quality on foreign entry using data on international movie exports and direct and revealed measures of movie quality. Strict quality sorting is predicted by a model of firm heterogeneity. An alternative model is random entry, in which entry decisions are independent of the movie’s quality. I develop a discrete choice model that allows for both of these extremes as special cases, and use graphical techniques and simulations to compare their predictions to the data. I then use regression analysis to estimate the effect of quality on the propensity to enter foreign markets. A one-standard-deviation increase in quality increases the probability of entry by 25–50 %. Systematic differences in taste for different genre types are used to estimate a measure of cultural distance between countries. Movies in “culturally dependent” genres are less likely to enter foreign markets and their probability of entry is less sensitive to quality. The cultural distance measure enters a gravity equation of US bilateral trade significantly.

Searching for the Concentration-Price Effect in the German Movie Theater Industry

Summary The empirical relationship between market concentration and prices has been well established for a long time and for numerous industries. Recently it was confirmed for the US movie theater industry. This paper investigates, whether such a price-concentration relationship can be found on local cinema markets in Germany as well, focusing on up-to-date mainstream movies. First, we develop a model of monopolistic pricing and estimate its parameters using data of monopoly markets from a new set of German micro data. Then we apply the estimated model to simulate monopoly prices on local markets with two or more operators and compare them to the prices actually observed in these markets. We find no significant difference in admission prices, which puts our study in contrast to the results found on local US markets. Searching for an explanation, we test whether movie theater operators even though being located in the same geographic area, are local monopolists, but find no hint of that, either.

Trade barriers and trade flows with product heterogeneity: An application to US motion picture exports

We extend Melitz (2003) to allow for both global and bilateral fixed export costs. If global (bilateral) export costs dominate, the average sales ratio (import sales per product variety/domestic sales per variety), decreases (increases) in variable (fixed) trade barriers, due to adjustment along the intensive (extensive) margin of trade. Using novel data on bilateral US movie exports we find that (i) variation in box-office revenues per movie is much larger than in the number of movies exported, and (ii) the average sales ratio decreases in geographic and linguistic distance. These findings suggest that global fixed export costs dominate.