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Started with a $25,009 bet whether or not a horses feet could be off the ground at the same time at some point. To settle this they took several photos of a horse running to find out its true.
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Device invented to watch moving images one at a time. Edison later on invented the peephole kinetoscope so more than one person could watch it.
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The Lumiere brothers incented a projector that showed on a screen called Cinematogrape. The produced short films that lasted 30 to 60 seconds long.
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Vaudevilles were small theaters that showed skits and song and dance numbers. The theaters started featring short films.
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Vaudeville eventually expanded into Nickelodeon. They were small storefront theaters that featred films with one or two vaudeville acts.
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Nickelodeon theaters were attracting 26 million viewers each week. Five years later it doubled.
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Since they were becoming so successful they wanted to create a monolopy. Basically they wanted to own everything.
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Edwin Porter created first U.S. narative film. 'The Great Train Robbery'
It had a real story line and different camera positions. t had 14 scenes and lasted 12 minutes. -
Films were originally shot on the East Coast like New York. But because of the poor weather they went to the West coast in california. However since it was close to Mexico they had to hurry and retreat when finished.
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Edison and other companies formed a trust called Motion Picture Patents Company. It was used to control everything.
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MPPC didnt list actors because they didn't want them to become famous and have them want more money. However independent companies on the west developed their stars so audiences would pay to see them again.
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Two famous stars back then were Mary Pickford "Ameriica's Sweatheart." And Charlie Chaplin the comic genius.
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He started out making $150 a week and by 1917 made more than a million a year.
