The State-Socialist Mode of Production and the Political
History of Production Culture

C 2013

The State-Socialist Mode of Production and the Political History of Production Culture

SZCZEPANIK, Petr

Basic information

Original name

The State-Socialist Mode of Production and the Political History of Production Culture

Authors

SZCZEPANIK, Petr (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution)

Edition

1. vyd. New York, Behind the Screen: Inside European Production Cultures, p. 113-134, 22 pp. Global Cinema, 2013

Publisher

Palgrave Macmillan

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Kapitola resp. kapitoly v odborné knize

Field of Study

Art, architecture, cultural heritage

Country of publisher

United States of America

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

Publication form

printed version "print"

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14210/13:00066689

Organization unit

Faculty of Arts

ISBN

978-1-137-28217-0

Keywords (in Czech)

systém filmové produkce; ČSSR; produkční kultura

Keywords in English

film production system; Czechoslovak Socialist Republic; production culture

Abstract

V originále

This chapter aims to offer a model with which to compare the historical character of the various nationalized cinemas of East-Central Europe. The example of Barrandov Studios in the Czech capital of Prague provides my case study. The chapter pays particular attention to the manner in which day-to-day creative activities were managed within a system that designated the state the sole official producer, and to organizational solutions that were introduced in an effort to strike a balance between centralized control and creative freedom. I also focus on the ways in which such a mode of production operated within the historical realities of this production community, and on how its activities responded to institutional interests. I begin by sketching what I call the "state-socialist mode of film production"--which comprises management hierarchies, the division of labor, and work practices--through the example of Czechoslovak cinema from 1945 to 1990, and the systemic variations that it exhibited to other film industries in the region. There follows a description of "dramaturgy": a system of screenplay development and creative supervision that was typical of both the Czech and East German production systems, and which serves to highlight the revisionist dimensions of my model. A further three sections reveal some important aspects of the "production culture," which is to say a set of lived realities as they were experienced by workers throughout the professional hierarchy. The combination of these two approaches--one organizational in perspective (top-down), the other cultural (bottom-up)--enables us to read official production documents against the grain and to show that they offer limited accounts of what actually took place. Consequently, this chapter is able to shed new light on how production communities "internalized and acted upon" regulatory environments and institutional interests.

Links

GAP409/10/1361, research and development project

Name: Historie ateliérů na Barrandově z hlediska organizace a kultury filmové výroby

Investor: Czech Science Foundation, History of Barrandov Studios in Terms of Organization and Culture of Film Production

Citovat

SZCZEPANIK, Petr. The State-Socialist Mode of Production and the Political History of Production Culture. In Szczepanik, Petr; Vonderau, Patrick. Behind the Screen: Inside European Production Cultures. 1st ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, p. 113-134. Global Cinema. ISBN 978-1-137-28217-0.

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   author = {Szczepanik, Petr},
   address = {New York},
   booktitle = {Behind the Screen: Inside European Production Cultures},
   edition = {1},
   editor = {Szczepanik, Petr; Vonderau, Patrick},
   keywords = {film production system; Czechoslovak Socialist Republic; production culture},
   howpublished = {tištěná verze "print"},
   language = {eng},
   location = {New York},
   isbn = {978-1-137-28217-0},
   pages = {113-134},
   publisher = {Palgrave Macmillan},
   title = {The State-Socialist Mode of Production and the Political History of Production Culture},
   year = {2013}
}

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AU  - Szczepanik, Petr
PY  - 2013
TI  - The State-Socialist Mode of Production and the Political History of Production Culture
VL  - Global Cinema
PB  - Palgrave Macmillan
CY  - New York
SN  - 9781137282170
KW  - film production system
KW  - Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
KW  - production culture
N2  - This chapter aims to offer a model with which to compare the historical character of the various nationalized cinemas of East-Central Europe. The example of Barrandov Studios in the Czech capital of Prague provides my case study. The chapter pays particular attention to the manner in which day-to-day creative activities were managed within a system that designated the state the sole official producer, and to organizational solutions that were introduced in an effort to strike a balance between centralized control and creative freedom. I also focus on the ways in which such a mode of production operated within the historical realities of this production community, and on how its activities responded to institutional interests. I begin by sketching what I call the "state-socialist mode of film production"--which comprises management hierarchies, the division of labor, and work practices--through the example of Czechoslovak cinema from 1945 to 1990, and the systemic variations that it exhibited to other film industries in the region. There follows a description of "dramaturgy": a system of screenplay development and creative supervision that was typical of both the Czech and East German production systems, and which serves to highlight the revisionist dimensions of my model. A further three sections reveal some important aspects of the "production culture," which is to say a set of lived realities as they were experienced by workers throughout the professional hierarchy. The combination of these two approaches--one organizational in perspective (top-down), the other cultural (bottom-up)--enables us to read official production documents against the grain and to show that they offer limited accounts of what actually took place. Consequently, this chapter is able to shed new light on how production communities "internalized and acted upon" regulatory environments and institutional interests.
ER  -

SZCZEPANIK, Petr. The State-Socialist Mode of Production and the Political History of Production Culture. In Szczepanik, Petr; Vonderau, Patrick. \textit{Behind the Screen: Inside European Production Cultures}. 1st ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, p.~113-134. Global Cinema. ISBN~978-1-137-28217-0.

Detailed Information on Publication Record