-
First moving images produced
Moving images were produced on revolving drums and disks with independent invention by Simon von Stampfer (Stroboscope) in Austria, Joseph Plateau (Phenakistoscope) in Belgium and William Horner (zoetrope) in Britain. -
The Kinetoscope is designed
Thomas Edison and W.K. Dickson develop the Kinetoscope, a peep-show device in which film is moved past a light. -
The first commercial exhibition of film
The first commercial exhibition of film took place on April 14, 1894 at the first Kinetoscope parlor ever built. -
First commercial exhibition of motion pictures
Two French brothers, Louis and August Lumiere patent a combination movie camera and projector. In Paris, they present the first commercial exhibition of projected motion pictures. Lumiere and his brother were the first to present projected, moving, photographic, pictures to a paying audience of more that one person. -
First successful projector in the U.S
Edison showed his improved Vitascope projector and it was the first commercially successful projector in the U.S. -
Use of mercury lights allow filming indoors.
Cooper Hewitt mercury lamps make it practical to shoot films indoors without sunlight. -
First animated cartoon
The first animated cartoon is produced. -
There are almost 9,000 movie theaters in the US
There are about 9,000 movie theaters in the United States. The typical film is only a single reel long, ten- twelve minutes in length, and the actors were anonymous -
Warner Bros. is founded
Warner Bros. is established -
An agreement to develop a system for movies with sound
Western Electric and Warner Bros. agree to develop a system for movies with sound -
The production code is adopted
The motion picture industries adopts the Production Code, a set of guidelines that describes what is acceptable in movies. -
Disney begin to create more animations
The success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs allowed Disney to make more animated features like Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940), Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942). -
Invading aliens and others became staple of film plots
The Cold War era translated into a type of near-paranoia manifested in themes such as invading armies of evil aliens, (Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The War of the Worlds) -
Psyco is released
Hitchcock’s Psycho was released. -
Films become more innovative and groundbreaking
Saw Hollywood filmmakers begin to create more innovative and groundbreaking films that reflected the social revolution taken over much of the western world such as Bonnie and Clyde (1967), The Graduate (1967), A Space Odyssey (1968), Rosemary’s Baby (1968), Midnight Cowboy (1969), Easy Rider (1969) and The Wild Bunch (1969). Bonnie and Clyde is often considered the beginning of the so-called New Hollywood. -
Development of a commercially successful independent cinema
Saw the development of a commercially successful independent cinema in the United States. Although cinema was increasingly dominated by special-effects films such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Jurassic Park (1993) and Titanic (1997) -
Dvds becomes the new standard
Another cinematic evolution began, from physical film stock to digital cinema technology. Meanwhile DVDs became the new standard for consumer video, replacing VHS tapes. -
$12 billion is spent on buying and renting dvds
Americans spend $12 billion to buy or rent video tapes, compared to just $4.9 billion on box office ticket sales. 76% of households have VCR players. -
Copyright becomes a big problem
Saw the beginning of a growing problem of digital distribution to be overcome with regards to expiration of copyrights, content security, and enforcing copyright. There is higher compression for films, and Moore’s law allows for increasingly cheaper technology. -
The Dark Knight first film to be partially shot in IMAX
The Dark Knight was the first major feature film to have been at least partially shot in IMAX technology. -
Avatar becomes the highest-grossing film
James Cameron’s 3D film Avatar became the highest-grossing film of all time. -
3D gained increasing popularity
Onward 3D films gained increasing popularity with many other films being released in 3D. The best critical and financial success was the feature film animation of Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar’s Toy Story 3. -
Titanic re-released in 3D for the 100th anniversary
Titanic was re-released in a special 3D version to celebrate the 100th anniversary
