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Invention of celluloid film
A British inventor, William H. Fox Talbot, an English classical archaeologist, made paper sensitive to light by bathing it in a solution of salt and silver nitrate. The silver turned dark when exposed to light and created a negative, which could be used to print positives on other sheets of light sensitive paper. The material was quick and easy to use throughout film production. -
Eadweard Muybridge
British photographer Eadweard Muybridge took the first successful photographs of motion, producing his multiple image sequences analyzing human and animal locomotion. California senator Leland Stanford commissioned Muybridge to determine whether the 4 legs of a galloping horse left the ground at the same time, so he set up 24 still cameras along a racetrack. As a horse ran by the cameras, the horse broke strings which were hooked up to each camera's shutter, thereby activating the shutter of eac -
Praxinoscope
The praxinoscope (which refined the long-established zoetrope with mirrors rather than slots) was invented and patented by the Frenchman Emile Reynaud. In 1892, Reynaud opened his Theatre Optique in Paris with a theatrical form of his 'movie or animation' device designed for public performances. The device reflected out, in long segments, the sequential, hand-painted drawings that were on long broad strips inside the drum. -
Vaudevilles
Vaudevilles were small theaters that featured short dramatic skits, comedy routines, and song and dance numbers. It became quite popular that it featured short films ahead of its time. As the 1900's dawned, vaudeville expanded into nickelodeons. -
Louis Augustin Le Prince
French inventor Louis Augustin Le Prince developed a single-lens camera which he used to make the very first moving picture sequences (of traffic on a Leeds, England bridge), by moving the film through a camera's sprocket wheels by grabbing the film's perforations. Presumably, it was the first movie ever shot and then shown to the public. -
First Motion Picture Studio
Thomas Edison screened his very first motion picture through his invention called the Kinetophone. He is recognized for inventing the first lightbulb during the late 1800s. During this time he wanted to show people how films can be projected on screens. -
William K.L. Dickson
William K.L. Dickson filmed his first experimental Kinetoscope trial film, Monkeyshines No. 1. The only surviving film from the cylinder kinetoscope, and apparently the first motion picture ever produced on photographic film in the United States. It featured the movement of laboratory assistant Sacco Albanese, filmed with a system using tiny images that rotated around the cylinder -
First Projector
The Lumiere Brothers started producing a series of short films through their own invention called the Cinematographe. They started showing the films in a Paris cafe charging those who wanted an admission. These films covered such blockbuster issues as a man falling off a horse and a child trying to catch a fish in a fishbowl. -
The Great Train Robbery
It was an employee of Thomas Edison, Edwin Porter, who in 1903, created the first U.S. narrative film, The Great Train Robbery. With this film, a real story line involving crosscutting between different narrative sequences and different camera positions and distances where all introduced. Porter's film had 14 scenes and lasted 12 minutes, a real epic by the standards of the day. -
NIckelodeons
NIckelodeons were small front type theaters that featured films along with accompanied music. These were the first theatres to show films and live performances all under one building. During this time, people began filling empty seats and enjoying the entertainment Nickelodeons had to offer. -
MPPC
Led by Thomas Edison, several companies formed a trust called the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC).The plan was to use their combined patents to control things such as the production of raw film stock, projection equipment, and film distribution and exhibition. In other words, almost everything in the motion picture industry. -
MPAA
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is a group of people who decide on the age certifications given to films released in the US. The group has a lot of power with regards to how films are eventually presented to the public, and they have the ability to recommend cuts made to films in order to lower or raise the age range that can view a film. It is a non-profit trade organization, and the identity of the members involved is kept secret.
