The Evolution of Cinema

By ErinEmily

  • The Lumiere Brothers invent the Cinematographe

    The Lumiere Brothers invent the Cinematographe
    The Lumiere Brothers made what is considered to be the first ever motion picture, with the title, "Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory." They later went on to create other motion pictures, all clocking in at under a minute long.

  • George Melies

    George Melies builds one of the first film sets.

  • Genres

    Films are beginning to expand and elaborate, with the emergence of genres dividing them into categories

  • Panning Shot

    Panning Shot
    In 1900, D.W Griffith invented the panning shot, among other film techniques in his much controversial film, "The Birth of a Nation"

  • The Jazz Singer

    The Jazz Singer
    The Jazz Singer hits theaters and becomes the first feature film to contain sound

  • Snow White

    Snow White
    The first feature length animation is released in the United States, Walt Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."

  • Citizen Kane

    Citizen Kane
    The ground-breaking film, Citizen Kane, is released in the United States. This fillm is often considered one of the greatest films of all time, introducing new film techniques, story telling, and symbolism, laying the ground work for generations of filmmakers to come.

  • The 1950's

    With the emergence and growing popularity of the television, film companies began to be threatened and movie-going began to dwindle. This compelled film companies to experiment with new techniques and storylines. This era produced classic movie such as 12 Angry Men and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

  • Jaws

    Jaws
    Jaws is released in theaters. For days leading up to the movie, a series of 30 second ads were shown on television, making it the first movie to take advantage of television ads and screening time.

  • 1990'-Early 2000's

    Filmmakers begin making the switch from film to digital.

  • Wall-E

    The movie Wall-E is released in the United States, making it the first ever movie to be shot entirely camera-less. The filmmakers at Pixar relied soley on digital animation techniques on their computers.

  • Avatar

    Avatar
    Avatar is released in U.S theaters, making it the first film to experiment with 3-D cameras, recreating and revolutionizing cinemas around the world.