-
How it all started
Eadweard Muybridge, one day proposed that when a horse runs at one point all four of his hooves are off the ground. His friends told him to make a bet if he was so sure, and he did. Muybrigde bet $25,000 that at some point while running a horses hooves are all off the ground. To prove his theory his friends lined up against the sidelines of a game and took pictures as the horse ran by, they discovered that by looking at all of the pictures quickly it looked like the horse was actually running. -
Vaudeville/Nickelodeon
A vaudeville is a small movie theater that featured short skits. There were lie actors that would perform for a small audience. Later vaudevilles started to feature short films in between acts to keep the audience entertained. -
The movie theater
The first movie theaters to open used what was known as a peephole kinetoscope, invented by Thomas Edison. The peephole kinetoscope was a device that only one person could use, the person would stand and look through a single hole at the film. Around the same time Thomas Edison also invented the projector, but he wanted to make more money by charging people to watch a film individually. -
The Lumiere Brothers
While Thomas Edison was attempting to make more money the Lumiere brothers made their own projector. They called their invention a cinematographe, which is where we got the word cinematography. With this invention the brothers were then able to show a small audience films. -
Nickelodeons
Vaudevilles soon expanded and became nickelodeons,a small theater that featured films. the term nickelodeon came from the fact that it cost a nickel to watch a film. At the time films had no sound so the vaudevilles would hire people to make sound effects during films. -
The Great Train Robbery
The Great Train Robbery was the first narrative short film. It was directed by Edwin Porter, who worked for Thomas Edison. The film was about 12 minutes long and was considered an epic during the early years of film. -
Monopoly
The monopoly of film was started by Thomas Edison. He and several companies came together and formed a trust known as the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC). If the company discovered someone else attempting to make their own movie they would do to their studio, destroy their equipment, and break their actors legs. -
From the East to the West Coast
Up until this point films had always been shot on the East Coast, mainly NewYork, but this all changed for two reasons. One, films were shot outside and the weather was always gloomy, filmmakers needed more light. Two, being in south California meant they were close to the Mexican border and when the MPPC came they wee able to pack their equipment and hide in Mexico. -
MPPC vs Individual Studios
The MCCP did not like to reveal the names of the actors they used in their films. The reason they did this was because they did not want their actors believing that they were going to become famous and demand more money. However this was not the case with individual studios. -
MPPC vs Individual Studios
Individual studio wanted to make their actors famous. They did this to make people more inclined to watch their films. Individual studios would pay their actors loads of money and have them put their feet and hand prints in the sidewalk. -
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was born in Toronto, Canada. She began acting at a young age and by 1909 she had appeared in 40 movies. She was also known as "America's Sweetheart" -
Charlie Chaplin
Comedian Charlie Chaplin was born in London, England. He quickly rose to stardom in the 20th century doing silent-film acting. He stood out from other actors because even thought he was a comedian he also made movies that about social equality, the rich and the poor, and other challenging ideas.
