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The first motion picture ever made was of a horse running made by Eadweard J. Muybridge. This film only lasted about 5 seconds. The creator made a bet with his friends that all of a horses hooves are in the air at the same time at some point. He made about $25,000 off the bet.
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The first lightweight, inexpensive camera that used film was made in 1888. Its creator, George Eastman, was an entrepreneur who made the business "Eastman Company". This helped bring the use of rolled film for movies mainstream
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The 'Eastman Company' originally created by George Eastman had a name change to 'Eastman Kodak Company'. This company would go on to sell a metric ton of cameras and go into history for cinematography.
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The first Film Adaptation by the French of Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' was made. The adaptation feature the Duel scene and lasted only 2 minutes long.The leading role was given to French Actress Sarah Bernhardt.
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In 1911the first permanent motion picture studio based in Hollywood was created. This company was called 'Nestor Film Company'. It made and produced the first 'Hollywood Films'
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By the 1920's a lot of smaller companies decided to make bigger companies by combining the smaller ones. The MGM and Paramount were the highest grossing ones. Universal, United Artist's, and Warner Brothers made up a large majority of the remaining market.
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In the 1930's movies from the late 20's were remade and made better. Some of the best examples of this were Alice In Wonderland (1933), Cleopatra (1934), and The Prisoner of Zenda (1937). This started the trend of remaking old movies to have them fit for the time.
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After WW2 sales in cinema started to slow down and revenue started to decline. Major factors contributing to this were suburban housing expansion and the availability of television in homes. During this time the average weekly attendance declined from 90 million to 51 million.
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Director Alfred Hitchcock, was at the peak of his career in the 50's. Movies such as Strangers on a Train (1951), Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954), and To Catch a Thief (1955) helped build his name to what it is today. Indian director Satyajit Ray, who started his career in the 50's, was also at his peak during this period.
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Science-fiction or fantasy films employed a wider range of special effects, as in the original of The Time Machine (1960) and Mysterious Island (1961). Animated aliens and mystical creatures started to make a bigger appearance during this era. This era brought such classics as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Planet of the Apes.
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An Asian cinema touchstone beginning in the early 1970s was traditional Hong Kong martial arts films which sparked a greater interest in Chinese martial arts across the world. Martial arts film reached the peak of its popularity largely in part due to its greatest icon, Bruce Lee. His films elevated the genre to a new level and sparked a greater interest in martial arts in the West.
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In the US, the PG-13 rating was introduced in 1984 to accommodate films that straddled the line between PG and R. This was mainly due to the controversies surrounding the violent content of the PG films. Great examples of this include 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom' and 'Gremlins' (both 1984).
