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Daguerreotype
Louis Daguerre announces his invention of the "daguerreotype" to the public., an image etched on a copper plate with the use of chemicals. Robert Cornelius creates a dagurreotype of what he claims to be the first photograph of a human being. This starts the push to move forward in the photography field, eventually leading to the development of film. -
Series Photography
Eadweard Muybridge took a series of 12 pictures using trip wires. These photos showed a horse in different positions as it ran. Esentially the first development of different frames, put together to form a motion picture. -
Public Showing
Eadweard Muybridge showed his photographs in motion to the public. He projected the images using "the magic lantern" and his "zoopraxiscope", a revolving disc with the images. People were amazed by this and also the fact that horses dont contact the ground at one point when they run. -
Edison
William Kennedy Laurie Dickson was part of Thomas Edison's research team, among other associates. They invented the "kinetograph" which is the first motion pictue camera, and the "kinetoscope", a device to view the picture. This device made it possible to record a true motion picture. -
Fred Ott's Sneeze
This is the first film ever recorded by Edison and his colleagues. It lasted only a few seconds and showed a man sneezing. There was no sound, just a black and white film. It was made in a hot and cramped shack known as the "black maria", it was Edison's studio. Although only one person could view it at a time, it was still revolutionary in the way things can be recorded. -
Cinematographe
The Lumiere brothers invented the Cinematographe, a device that could record a film, as well as project it on to a screen. They showed their first film at a public cafe. It was called "Employees leaving the Lumiere factory", and showed just that. They believed the art of cinema to be short lived and that it will not have a great impact on history, They were clearly wrong, as film became a dominating form of knowledge and power throughout history. -
The Great Train Robbery
Edwin S. Porter and Edison released this film in 1903. This was the most sophisticated film yet, as it included multiple camera angles and positions, different settings, and crosscutting. This set the standard for editing at the time and was also the first recognizeable "wetsern" genre film. -
The Birth of a Nation
D. W. Griffith releases this film which becomes one of the most noteble and controversial films of all time. The racist nature of the movie caused it to be banned in some states, although critics called it a masterpiece. It was the longest and most expensive film ever made up to that point in time, grossing over 15 million dollars.This was unheard of for its time and was the birth of the movie experience. -
The Jazz Singer
The first movie with actual dialouge was released, others before this only featured music in the background to help develop the mood. The public was amazed at the way the image spoke to them. This marked the decline of the silent film era and the immersion into the age of sound and effects. -
Wizard of Oz
This was one of the first films to have both sound and color picture in them. Although it was not the first color film ever made, it was the first to be shown in theaters to an audience. The release of this brought film to its full potential and showed people how far the technology has come since the silent film era.
