The business of making movies has seen many changes over the past century, including the rise of the studio system in the U.S., the introduction of sync sound, and the emergence of rival visual media like television. Using a large set of film credits, I sought to measure how different roles in production have changed since the 1920s.

在过去的一个世纪中，电影制作业务发生了许多变化，包括美国影楼系统的兴起，同步声音的引入以及电视等竞争对手的视觉媒体的出现。 我使用大量的电影作品，试图衡量自1920年代以来制作中不同角色的变化。

In a previous article I used a relatively short list of top films to get some basic data on how what departments have been credited in films since 1975. I was interested in finding how common digital forms of production work like visual effects and post-production had become and if other more traditional roles had fallen by the wayside. This article is the product of further research I have done that includes a much bigger dataset (about 45,000 movies on IMDB) with a broader historical scope. Seeing historical changes in production like the introduction of sound offers us some perspective on more recent changes relating to digital technology.

在上一篇文章中，我使用了比较短的顶级电影列表来获取一些基本数据，以了解自1975年以来各部门在电影中的成绩如何。我感兴趣的是寻找常见的数字化制作形式(如视觉效果和后期制作)如何运作成为，如果其他更传统的角色被抛弃了。 本文是我所做的进一步研究的结果，其中包括一个更大的数据集(IMDB上约有45,000个电影)，具有更广阔的历史范围。 看到生产中的历史变化，例如声音的引入，使我们对与数字技术有关的最新变化有了一些看法。

A Note on the Data

数据说明

This graph shows the extreme imbalance in the number of entries in IMDB. Because this dataset is so lopsided, I have decided to treat the eras before and after 1990s separately. While all live-action English language movies from before 1990 are included, only movies with budgets above 10 million are included after 1990. This means that we cannot directly compare these two periods, but the information in each block is stronger on its own because of this choice. I discuss this choice in more detail at the end of the article.

该图显示了IMDB中条目数量的极端失衡。 由于该数据集太不平衡，因此我决定分别处理1990年代之前和之后的时代。 尽管包括了1990年之前的所有真人英语电影，但1990年之后的预算都超过了1000万部电影。这意味着我们无法直接比较这两个时期，但是由于以下原因，每个区域的信息本身都更强大这个选择。 我将在文章结尾详细讨论这个选择。

In each year I count how many times a given department shows up and then divide it by the number of movies counted. Thus a result of 1.0 means all movies had that department, and a result of 0.25 means only one in four had that department.

每年我都会计算给定部门出现的次数，然后将其除以所计数的电影数量。 因此，结果为1.0表示所有电影都具有该部门，结果0.25意味着只有四分之一的电影具有该部门。

Every graph has a link beneath it that will take you to a fully interactive version where you can isolate each department.

每个图下方都有一个链接，该链接将带您到完全交互式的版本，在这里您可以隔离每个部门。

Some Departments Have Been Consistently Ubiquitous

一些部门一直无所不在

There are several departments that have been standard since the 1920s. Cinematographers, directors, producers, and writers all appear consistently across the date range.

自1920年代以来，已有多个部门成为标准部门。 电影摄影师 ， 导演 ， 制片人和作家在整个日期范围内均出现一致的现象。

Over Time Several New Departments Have Become Standard

随着时间的推移，几个新部门已成为标准

Staring in the 1920s you can see several departments becoming more and more common, to the point that they are in most film credits by the 1940s. This is likely the product of the formation of the studio system and the classic Hollywood aesthetic form. Titles like Assistant Director and Script Department suggest a more organized, systematic approach to filmmaking, and departments like Make-up, Costume, and Camera suggest more emphasis is being put on the “production values” of studio films. Another phenomenon at work here is the introduction of synchronized sound in the late 1920s, leading to departments like Music, Sound, and Composers. Perhaps the most surprising department to find in this group is Editors, which are very common some years but don’t seem to become a universal credit until the mid-1960s.

凝视着1920年代，您会看到几个部门变得越来越普遍，以至于它们在1940年代的大多数电影学分中都占有一席之地。 这可能是工作室系统和好莱坞经典美学形式形成的产物。 诸如助理导演和剧本部之类的标题暗示着一种更加有条理，更系统的电影拍摄方法，而诸如化妆，服装和照相机等部门则暗示着工作室电影的“生产价值”得到了更多的重视。 在这里工作的另一个现象是1920年代后期引入了同步声音，从而导致了音乐 ， 声音和作曲家等部门。 在这个小组中找到的最令人惊讶的部门也许是编辑人员 ，这在几年中很常见，但直到1960年代中期才似乎不被普遍认可。

Some Departments Associated with Studio Production Temporarily Declined in the 1970s

与制片厂生产有关的某些部门在1970年代暂时下降

Certain departments grew in popularity during the studio era but then stared to see moderate decline through the late 1960s and 70s. This is worth noting because it supports what we already know about film-making trends during this time period. The Paramount Decree of 1948 was the start of a gradual decline in the power of Hollywood studios, and the late 1960s saw low budget sleeper hits like Bonny and Clyde and Easy Rider popularize stripped-down modes of film-making. Given these economic and aesthetic shifts, it is not surprising to see jobs like Art Director, Costume Designer, and Set Decorator declining. The drop in Composer and Music Department is somewhat surprising, though it is possibly related to these shifts as well, since films like Easy Rider popularized the idea of soundtracks with non-original popular music.

在录音室时代，某些部门变得越来越受欢迎，但随后又注视着在1960年代后期和70年代后期有所下降。 值得注意的是，它支持了我们在这段时间内对电影制作趋势的了解。 1948年的《至高无上法令》是好莱坞制片厂实力逐渐下降的开始，并且在1960年代后期，像Bonny和Clyde这样的低预算沉睡者大受好评，而Easy Rider则使电影制作的精简模式普及化。 鉴于这些经济和美学上的变化，看到像Art Director ， Costume Designer和Set Decorator这样的职位下降并不奇怪。 作曲家和音乐系的下降有些令人惊讶，尽管这也可能与这些变化有关，因为像Easy Rider这样的电影通过非原创的流行音乐普及了配乐的想法。

Many Departments that Had Been Around for Decades Became Standard in the 1980s

在1980年代，许多曾经走过几十年的部门都成为标准

One might expect that Editorial Department, Production Managers and Stunts would have been standard since the studio era. This graph shows that while they did appear in about half of all productions, they did not become standard (appearing in 80% of productions) until the end of the 1980s. Equally surprising, things like Production Design, Location Management, Transportation Department, Casting Director, and Casting Department were relatively uncommon even in the 1970s before they rose rapidly to become standard by 1989.

自工作室时代以来，人们可能会希望编辑部 ， 制作经理和特技表演已成为标准。 该图显示，尽管它们确实出现在所有作品的大约一半中，但直到1980年代末才成为标准(出现在作品的80％中)。 同样令人惊讶的是，即使在1970年代，生产设计，位置管理，运输部，铸造总监和铸造部等东西在1989年前Swift成为标准之前，还是相对罕见的。

Productions Have Generally Increased in Complexity Over Time

随着时间的流逝，制作的复杂性通常会提高

This graph combines all departments, where a score of 32 in a given year would indicate every film having credits for every department. The complexity of English language film-making seems to have consistently risen over its history.

此图组合了所有部门，其中给定年份的32分表示每部电影在每个部门都有荣誉。 在历史上，英语电影制作的复杂性似乎一直在上升。

Digital Forms of Production Have Risen Comparably to Past Changes

数字化生产形式已经与过去的变化相比有所上升

The data from after 1990 see most departments credited in most movies. This is consistent with trends present in the preceding graphs, but it is also likely exacerbated by the fact that the post-1990 data is limited to films with budgets over 10 million. The only departments that are not standard in the 1990s are Visual Effects, Special Effects Companies, and Animation Department. These are also the three departments that have seen the most change since 1990. By 2003 Visual Effects and Special Effects Companies were becoming as standard as any other department. Animation Departments went from being in about 5 percent of live-action movies in 1980 to being in over half by 2017. This is particularly striking because this is from a very large list of English language movies, not just the top blockbusters. These changes were no more significant or rapid than the rise of Sound Departments in the late 1920s and 30s, or of Casting and Transportation Departments in the late 1970s and 80s though.

从1990年以后的数据来看，大多数部门都将其归功于大多数电影。 这与前面图表中的趋势一致，但是由于1990年以后的数据仅限于预算超过1000万的电影，这一事实也可能会加剧。 1990年代唯一不规范的部门是视觉效果 ， 特殊效果公司和动画部门。 这些 这也是自1990年以来变化最大的三个部门。到2003年， 视觉效果和特殊效果公司已成为所有其他部门的标准配置。 动画部门的比例从1980年的约5％的真人电影上升到了2017年的一半以上。这尤其引人注目，因为这是来自很大数量的英语电影的清单，而不仅仅是顶级大片。 这些变化没有比1920年代末和30年代的音响部门或1970年代末和80年代后期的铸造和运输部门的崛起重要或Swift。

This increase in Visual Effects and Animation also does not seem to have replaced any other forms of labour, as no other departments saw significant decrease during this period of time.

视觉效果和动画的增加似乎也没有取代任何其他形式的劳动，因为在此期间没有其他部门看到显着减少。

Conclusion

结论

While we might imagine that the norms for film production were relatively standardized between the beginning of the studio era and the introduction of digital technology, this study shows that was clearly not the case. Many roles we might assume to be common were not. Film production seems to generally grow in complexity over time, although shifting economic and stylistic trends in the 1960s and 70s saw a temporary decrease in some departments.

尽管我们可以想象，在制片厂时代开始到数字技术的引入之间，电影制作的规范是相对标准化的，但这项研究显然并非如此。 我们可能假设许多角色并不常见。 电影的制作似乎随着时间的推移通常会越来越复杂，尽管1960年代和70年代经济和文体风格的变化趋势使某些部门暂时减少。

Consistent with my findings in my previous research, while certain departments like Visual Effects and Animation are indeed on the rise, they do not seem to be replacing other departments. Indeed, the case is even stronger here, as we see no departments in decline at all after 1990. This does not tell us anything about the stability of work or of the changing role of unions, and we cannot count invisible and uncredited labour contributions though. Job titles may also be changing much more within departments themselves. This article looks specifically at job titles within these departments in the film industry.

与我以前的研究结果一致，虽然视觉效果和动画等某些部门的确在增加，但似乎并没有取代其他部门。 的确，这里的情况更加严峻，因为我们看不到1990年以后所有部门都没有下降。这并不能告诉我们有关工作稳定性或工会角色变化的任何信息，尽管我们不能算作无形和无信用的劳工贡献。 各部门内部的职位头衔也可能发生很大变化。 本文专门研究电影行业中这些部门的职位。

Data Sources and Methods

数据来源和方法

This project used a list of 45,000 movies from movielens.org. I pared down this list in several ways to ensure I could get a like-with-like comparison. First, I removed all animated films, using genre tags from Movielens. Removing animation was a difficult decision, because I believe we should be considering the increase in animated features as part of global production trends. However, removing them allowed me to see how live-action film production has been integrating more animation work. I also pared the list down to English language only, to ensure there were no translation issues with titles.

该项目使用了来自movielens.org的45,000部电影的列表。 我以几种方式缩减了此列表，以确保可以得到类似的比较。 首先，我使用Movielens的流派标签删除了所有动画电影。 删除动画是一个艰难的决定，因为我认为我们应该考虑将动画功能的增加作为全球生产趋势的一部分。 但是，删除它们使我看到了真人电影制作如何整合更多的动画作品。 我还将该列表缩减为仅英语，以确保标题没有翻译问题。

I used Davide Alberani’s IMDBPy library for Python to retrieve the data. I encountered an issue using IMDB’s API where they, understandably, cut me off after requesting the data for about 2000 films. Thus, to keep the list a manageable size and to balance the number of earlier and later films, I cut movies with budgets under 10 million after 1990. This means we may be missing some of the lowest-budget trends in the past few decades. I had considered removing random movies, but many of the low and no budget movies from the past few decades have flawed data and are not what I would consider industrially significant. Many didn’t even return results on Google searches. The number of movies counted each year after 1990 was still much greater than before, even after adding this filter.

我将Davide Alberani的IMDBPy库用于Python以检索数据。 我在使用IMDB的API时遇到了一个问题，可以理解的是，在请求大约2000部电影的数据后，它们切断了我的联系。 因此，为了使列表的大小易于控制并平衡早期和后期电影的数量，我削减了1990年以后预算在1000万以下的电影。这意味着我们可能会错过过去几十年中预算最低的趋势。 我曾考虑过删除随机电影，但是过去几十年中许多廉价电影或预算不高的电影都存在有缺陷的数据，而且在我看来也不具有工业意义。 许多人甚至没有在Google搜索中返回结果。 即使添加了此滤镜，1990年之后每年计数的电影数量仍然比以前多得多。

This article is part of a series on the special effects, visual effects, and animation industries. It is based on research supported by:

本文是有关特殊效果，视觉效果和动画行业的系列文章的一部分。 它基于以下研究的支持：

• Le Fonds de Recherche Québécois sur la Société et la Culture Postdoctoral Fellowship法国兴业银行与文化研究博士后奖学金
• The University of California, Berkeley’s Department of Film & Media加州大学伯克利分校电影与媒体系

• Photo by Avel Chuklanov

  摄影： Avel Chuklanov