'Golden Era' of Hollywood and the Softening of Female Faces

[Jonas Hümbs]

Hello cinephiles and bookworms!

I am currently conducting research for my study on the Hollywood "Golden Era" and the softening of primarily female faces in films of that time, which has surprisingly continued to influence contemporary facial filtering (mostly and strangely targeting only women even today!). I am on the lookout for classic film examples and relevant literature on this intriguing topic.

I'd greatly appreciate any recommendations you may have for classic films from the Golden Era that prominently feature the softening of female faces. More importantly, if you know of any scholarly works or insightful books that delve into this subject, I would be incredibly grateful for those suggestions as well.

Let's dive into this captivating aspect of Hollywood history together and explore how it has left a lasting impact on how we perceive and filter faces in the modern age. Your input and expertise are invaluable, so feel free to share your thoughts and recommendations!

Thank you all in advance for your contributions!

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Seeking Classic Film Examples and Literature Recommendations

[David Mullen ASC]

Diffusion for photography predates cinema, but it started to appear with movies like "Broken Blossoms" (1919).

Hollywood always liked to glamorize movie stars, male and female, but generally more diffusion was used for women under the notion that men needed to look "manly".

Some movies were diffused more generally while others saved it for close-ups; most did a mix in the 1930s, lighter diffusion on medium shots, heavier on close-ups. But it wasn't just Hollywood, portraiture in general liked that look in the 1930s.

Popular diffusers were Kodak Portrait Diffusion Disks (acid-etched concentric rings on glass, similar to what were sold as Dutos in Europe), Scheibes (sort of a varnish sprayed on glass in a speckled pattern), and various nets, pantyhoses, gauzes. 

Diffusion Disks were also used in photo enlargers for still photographers.

Too many movies to list but you might consider finding what 1930s films have come out on blu-ray recently since those will have enough resolution to judge the filtering. For example:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film10/blu-ray_review_142/desire_blu-ray.htm

[Tanner Denton]

One of my favorite examples of this is from the movie House (1977) shot by Yoshitaka Sakamoto.

A very stylized and experimental movie but that's what makes it stand out in my mind.

Edited July 19, 2023 by Tanner Denton