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In the beginning
At first, when films were created they were all short. For the audiences, they were not aware of this, for them this was the normal length of a film. The very first films were presented to the public in 1894 through Thomas Edison’s Kinetoscope, This was only used for individual viewings. They usually were made up of just a singular shot which had some kind of interest behind it. The best-known film from this time is perhaps the Lumière brothers’ Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (1895). -
Early improvements
In the early 1900s, improvements in recording and editing technology allowed film-makers to produce longer, multi-shot films. In this time some of the most memorable longer short films were created and produced by small starting institutions which began there success. One of the first major successful Horror films to be produced was in the 1990's and was A nightmare on elm street which made a huge success from a Budget of just $1.8 Million to approximate earnings of $25.5 Million. -
More Improvements in tech
In around 1910 studio competition and audience demand encouraged film institutions and film makers to create longer films to compete with the competition. This is when Short films became less popular and features began to take over. Their length and narrative complexity made it more of an event to go out to and more pleasurable for the consumers. The longer films also entitled the company's to higher earnings and attracted audiences of higher classes e.g middle-class crowds. -
Movie Theatres
Although the very first movie theatre (cinema) was the Nickelodeon, which was opened on June 19, 1905 in Pittsburgh, in the 1920's numerous cinemas were being built as the increase in film popularity rose. The star attraction of these purpose-built cinemas was the feature film, the cinemas were still earning money from the shorts that were shown on the side of the features. This was still the case up to the Second World War, when short films took on additional roles as government propaganda. -
The Birth of Sound
At first the films that were created with sound were known as "talking pictures", or "talkies", and were only on exclusive shorts. The earliest feature-length movies with recorded sound included only music and effects. The first feature film consisting of sound originally presented as a talkie was 'The Jazz Singer', released in October 1927. It was made with Vita-phone. Sound-on-film, however, would soon become the standard for talking pictures. -
The Birth of Technicolour
In 1939, MGM's film The Wizard of Oz was released in Technicolor, in the company's new 3-strip color process which was used from the process created in 1935. Technicolor became known for its highly saturated color, and was initially most commonly used for filming musicals such as The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Down Argentine Way (1940). As the technology matured it was also used for less spectacular dramas and comedies. Occasionally, even a film noir, such as 'Leave Her to Heaven'. -
The Golden era
When 3D first came out it was said that it was visible though the use of coloured lens glasses. However, very few 3D features in the 1950s used the red and green glasses we see in the old photographs, most of them used light polarization which we now use aswell. The first 3D feature to hit the theaters in 1952 was "Man in the Dark," which beat the famous "House of Wax". House of wax was the first 3 Dimensional Horror film which had a Budget of $1,000,000 and gained huge profits of $23,750,000. -
Electronic cinematography
Towards the end of the 1980's Sony began marketing the concept of "electronic cinematography," by using there newest Hdv's professional video cameras. Rainbow, was the world's first all digital film. Shot entirely with Sony's first Electronic Cinematography cameras and consisted of everything digital like its sound and visual effects and post production. 1998 was the introduction of HDCAM recorders, now known as "digital cinematography," began to become very popular and attract a large audience. -
Start of Animation
The first feature length computer-animated film was Toy story which was created and produced using cross media convergence of Pixar and Disney. Due to it huge success it began to grow in popularity. This led to competition within this market as it was seen as a huge selling point, which allowed competing film companies such as Dream works Animation and 20th Century Fox to effectively compete with Disney and produce successful films of their own. -
The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight features footage filmed with IMAX cameras. The IMAX release has been digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience with proprietary IMAX Digital Re-mastering technology. The use of this technology allows the audience to feel as if they are in the film as it looks so realistic and creates a unique atmosphere. The Dark Knight was the first major film to be shot in IMAX and become very successful from doing so. -
Highest Grossing Film
James Cameron's Film Avatar became the most successful highest grossing film of all time, Also it became the fastest movie ever to achieve $1 Billion in ticket sales around the world, and took over second place from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Although it was the highest grossing film created it also had the highest production budget of any film every created with a budget of at least $300 Million. However, it generated a phenomenal $2.788 Billion worth of profit.
