History of Film

  • The Invention of Film

    In 1878 the idea of film was invented by Eadweard Muybridge when he conduction an experiment to determine if all four of a horse's hooves lifted off the ground all at once while running. He did this by tying a sequence of camera's together rigged by a string to snap a photo as the horse ran through them along the horses track. By doing so, Muybridge was able to prove that he correct about the horses.
  • Period: to

    The History Film

  • The Invention of the Chronographic Gun

    The chronographic gun was invented by Etienne-Jules Marey in 1882. This invention allowed him to take pictures at 12 frames per second. When the pictures were viewed one after the other very quickly it created the illusion of motion.
  • The World's First Movie Theatre

    In the 1890's the Lumiere brothers in France invented the cinematographe. This was a protable, hand-held film projector. The brothers used this cinematographe to project short films in Salon Indien.
  • The First Plot

    The Great Train Robbery was shown in 1903 and was the first ever Western film. What made this film special in particular was that it was the first ever film to have a plot. All other films before it only featured mundane things, such as a quick dance or a simple greeting.
  • The Release of Feature Length Films

    In the early 1910's Nickelodeon over came their fears that people would not sit through an hour long show and begun release longer films. Some of these films included Dante's Inferno, Oliver Twist, and Queen Elizabeth. In the end, Nickelodeon's fears were put to rest because people would actually sit and watch the longer shows.
  • The Addition of Sound

    In the 1920's the first ever film to include sound was 'The Jazz Singer'. Films with sound were called "Talkies". Sound in began the Golden Age of film.
  • The Rise of Patriotic Films

    In the 1940s at the outbreak of World War II there were many patriotic films that begun to be released to inspire American's and promote the war effort. After the war, there was also an influx of "Woman's pictures" which were designed to promote woman's rights. These types of films helped to shape the influence films had the general public.
  • The Introduction of the Television

    As films began getting more and more popular, thus did the demand for ways to watch them. As such, televisions grew in popularity and affordability. This allowed the T.V. to be introduced into many households, which caused many theatres to close.
  • The Making of Films in Foreign Countries

    During the 1960s many films begun being shot in countries outside the U.S. Many films were also being shot on location in foreign countries. This caused an increase in popularity among foreign films.
  • The Invention of VHS

    During the year 1977 the VHS was released in the United States. This made viewing movies at home easier than ever before. The VHS also contributed to the death of adult cinemas.
  • The Popularity of Special Effects

    During the 1990s special effects gained massive ground in the movies and became extremely popular among audiences. These refined special effects allowed for much more intense action sequences, thus increasing their demand. Special effects films rapidly took over the market and made films much more exciting to watch.
  • The Popularity of 3D and IMAX

    At the turn of the century, the early 2000s, saw a massive increase in the popularity of 3D and IMAX films. This allowed movies to be watched and enjoyed in many different forms. These kinds of films are still very popular to this day.