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Prototype of the Kinetoscope
The Edison Company invented the Kinetoscope which allowed one person at a time to view moving pictures. -
Kinetoscope Commercial Success
Started to get larger with public parlours established around the world. The first to present a moving picture to an audience was in France in 1895. -
Colour
At first, colour was added to black-and-white movies through hand colouring, tinting, toning and stencilling. Then in 1906, the principles of colour separation produced 'natural colour', although was limited to documentary films. First published in 1909 -
National Film Industieres
Europe, Russia and Scandinavia were dominant. By now the films were longer and storytelling or narrative. After WWI America grew in the industry and also became as dominant. -
Sound
The sound was introduced first for 'The Jazz Singer' by the Warner Brothers' Vitaphone system, which was separate record discs with each reek of film for the sound. This was proved unreliable and was replaced by a soundtrack recorded photographically along the edge of the film. -
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Cinema's Golden Age
Early 1930's nearly all feature-length movies were presented with synchronised sound.
Mid 1930's some were in full colour as well. The advent of sound allowed the American Industry to rise to the 'Golden Age of Hollywood' Cinemas could hold over 3,000 people in a single auditorium. In Britain during 1946, there were over 31 million visits to the cinema each week. Cinema became the most popular form of entertainment and ornate “picture palaces” could hold thousands of people at a time. -
Three Colour Process
It was extremely expensive to use colour earlier, so it wasn't until now that colour was used more widely when the introduction of the three-colour process Used in blockbuster films like Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz. -
Cinema Compete with Televison
In order to compete with the new technology of television, widescreen cinema was developed such as promotional images. Stereo sound also improved the new widescreen experience.