Film History

Beginnings, Innovations and Experiments

Advent of Cinema Late 1790s, the first projected amusements and

images began to increase.

Many of these were variations of devices that projected images from transparencies onto a screen with a simple light source, like a candle.

Advent of Cinema (cont.)

Advent of CinemaVisual phenomenon:

“Persistence of Vision”

Persistence of Vision

A series of individual still images, each showing a slightly different phase of a movement are presented to us in rapid succession with some kind of "shutter" effect between the images. The "shutter" can be a slot in a drum, a mirror surface, or images on different pages or sides of a the moving object.

Zoetrope

A device that produces an illusion of action from a rapid succession of static pictures.

“Perceived” a motion picture.

Other Simulated Motion Devices

1830s – 1860s

Four Key Inventions

1831 – The discovery of the law of electromagnetic induction. Discovered by Michael Faraday, electromagnetic induction is a principle used in generating electricity and powering motors and other machines.

Four Key Inventions (cont.)

1839 – The birth of still photography.

Development of the first commercially viable daguerrotype (a method of capturing still images on silvered, copper metal plates).

Key Inventions (cont.)

1841 – The process for printing negative photographs on high-quality paper was patented.

Key Inventions (cont.)

1870 – The development of celluloid, which was later used as the base for photographic film.

Eadweard Muybridge

British photographerKnown for use of multiple cameras to

capture motionInvented Zoopraxiscope (1872-

1878)A primitive motion picture projector

machineRecreated the illusion of movement by

projecting images in rapid succession onto a screen from photos printed on a rotating glass disk.

Eadweard Muybridge (cont.)

Zoopraxiscope

Eadweard Muybridge (cont.) In 1878, Muybridge

was commissioned to

determine whether the four legs of a galloping horse left the ground at the same time.

He set up 24 cameras along a racetrack.

Viewing the photos in succession comprised a primitive movie.

Trivia

1886

Daeida Wilcox, the wife of real estate developer, Harvey Henderson Wilcox, named her ranch in Cahuenga Valley,

“Hollywood.”

William Dickson

1890 Commissioned by Thomas Edison,

whom Dickson worked for, Dickson built the first modern motion-picture camera and named it the Kinetograph.

William Dickson (cont.)

Kinetograph

Edison’s Inventions

Kinetograph – cameraKinetoscope – the method of viewing

the films (No sound)Kinetophone – synchronize sound

with motion picture projected onto a screen.

Edison’s Inventions (cont.)

Kinetograph

Edison’s Inventions (cont.)

Kinetoscope

Edison’s Inventions (cont.)

Kinetophone

Early Edison Motion Picture Production

Earliest copyrighted film that still survives is “Edison’s Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze”

January 7, 1894Fred Ott, an employee of Edison,

sneezing comically for the camera.Made for publicity purposes, to

promote Edison and his company.

The Lumière Brothers

Louis and AugusteOften called the “Founding Fathers of

Modern Film”Created a machine for both film

projection and development - 1895More portable, lighter than a

KinetographCalled “Cinematographe”

The Lumière Brothers (cont.)

“Cinematographe”

Camera Camera & Projector

The Lumière Brothers (cont.)

Often called the “founding fathers of modern film” because they held the first public screening or commercial exhibition.

Ten short films with 20 showings a day.

Examples:

“Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory”

“Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat”

The First Female Film-Maker

Alice Guy-BlachéGenerally acknowledged as the

world’s first female film director.Contributed to the development of

narrative film-making.“The Cabbage Fairy,” a one-minute

fictional film is considered to be the first-ever narrative fiction film.

George EastmanFounded Eastman Kodak Company

Invented roll film, which wasthe basis for motion picture film.

On September 4, 1888, Eastman registered

the trademark, Kodak.

Georges Méliès

Introduced idea of a storyline and plot

Méliès was a stage magician before becoming interested in film.

Georges Méliès (cont.)He was very innovative in the use of

camera tricks.In 1899, he was the first film-maker

to use artificially arranged scenes to construct and tell a narrative story.

Edison Manufacturing Company

From 1894 to 1918, his studio made more than 1,100 short films. He was involved in none of them.

These earliest productions were called "actualities."

Competition from French and British “story films” in the early 1900s rapidly changed the market .

The Great Train Robbery

Directed by Edwin S. Porter in 1903. A former Thomas Edison cameraman.

First “True” western, although shot in New Jersey

Shot out of chronological sequenceStory told with only one shotEnding: Gun pointed at audience and

fired at them.

Dream of Rarebit Fiend

Created by Edwin S. Porter in 1906

Based on a popular newspaper comic strip by Winsor McCay

Trick photography, more advanced subject matter within the film’s story.

NickelodeonsA small storefront or dance hall converted into a place to view “motion pictures” (films).

Although different, all nickelodeons:Showed moving picturesCharged five-cent admission

Silent films were accompanied by piano or accordion. Sing-a-longs in between reel changes

Nickelodeons (cont.)

NEXT:The Birth of

Hollywood Cinema