Film
A Short History
History of Film
• People had been working on the concept
of cameras and film since the 6th century.
It seems like it is part of human nature to
watch to capture visual images.
Credit Goes To Many
• Just like all big inventions of our time, the
credit has to go to many people.
Everyone was working on the same
concept from both Europe, England, and
the United States. Therefore, the names
you are about to see are just a sampling
of people who are credited for creating
the idea of the motion picture.
• Some of the very earliest cameras were
called “camera obscura” and were made
by inverting light from a small hole onto a
screen. In the end, it was high quality –
but not recorded.
• The very first recorded film in 1877/8 featured a
running horse, in an attempt to figure out
whether all 4 hooves of a horse are off the
ground at the same time while the horse is
galloping.
• The film was made by cameras triggered (via
trip wire) by the horse’s hooves. This was the
first time a bunch of still images were put
together.
• Running Horse
• The second film, “Roundhay Garden
Scene”, was in 1888 and “filmed” in
England. It is known as the first surviving
“motion picture.”
• The camera was a 16-lens device that
combined capturing the motion in a series
of still shots with a projector.
• This film is a big deal because it used
technology by
Louis Le Prince
• Le Prince’s fame is enhanced by the fact that
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he mysteriously disappeared soon before he
was going to display his device in the United
States.
His body and luggage were never found, but
in the 90s, there was a photo of a drowned
man in a police archive that could have been
him.
At the time, there were many theories,
including that competitors killed him, that it
was a random murder, or that he committed
suicide.
• Le Prince worked mainly in Leeds,
England, and since his patent was only in
Britain, when Thomas Edison filed for a
patent for a similar device in the US, he
got it.
• These films are very short, but they were
a BIG DEAL.
Thomas Edison
• Thomas Edison had a formal laboratory,
named after himself. Several people in his
lab were working on the motion picture
invention, and kept developing better
options.
• One of these was called Kinetograph and
the Kinteoscope. The Kinteoscope could
only be used by viewing the film through
an eye piece. Thomas Edison Movie and
Talkie pioneer
Kinteoscope Machine
• At Kinteoscope parlors, you would pay to
look through the eye piece and see
entertainment acts.
• You could also see simple acts such as
Fred Ott's Sneeze This was the first film
to be copyrighted.
Audiences
• The next step was to figure out a way to show
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films to a larger audience.
Charles Francis Jenkins was the first
person to patent the film projector, the
Phantoscope, in 1894.
In 1895, they started showing films in
exhibitions to the paying public.
Samples: Leaving the Factory and The Sprinkler
Sprinkled
Silent Era
• Remember, all of these did not have sound!
Often, they would hire a piano player or other
musician to accompany the film live.
• They would also use sound effects or spoken
commentary, done by the projectionist.
• Eventually, they started to insert words or
dialogue into the film.
Highlights of the Silent Era
• Historic events captured on film include:
– First attempts at flight
– Titanic
– Capturing daily activities
– First known film with live recorded sound1895
– Famous people (like Annie Oakley)
– Experimenting with camera tricks
– First us of Special Effects - 1895
Developing Cinema
• During the early 1900s, and into the
1910s, film making as an art developed.
• Instead of being happy just taping short
vignettes or real life events, the idea of
“cinema” developed, as a way of capturing
a narrative story on film.
Developing Cinema, etc.
• Europe used to lead the way, but that
ended because of WW I.
• Instead, Hollywood (in California) took its
place and started churning out films. By
the 20s, Hollywood was producing more
than 82% of the world-wide output of
movies. This is still the highest ratio of
America vs. other countries.
Famous Figures
• Some of the early “celebrities” of film
were:
– Charlie Chaplin
– Buster Keaton
– Clara Bow
Because so much had to be communicated
through face and body, the actors and
actresses relied on slapstick comedy and
exaggerated gestures.
Hollywood
• Even in these early days, Hollywood relied
on creating stars in order to sell movies.
• They sold WHO was in the films more
than what the film was about. For the
first time, being an actor or actress was
seen to be a more noble profession.
• However, there was still tension among
the high society / upper class and the
stars.
“Talkies”
• The next step in the invention of film was
to create a device that recorded sound as
well as images.
• Warner Bros. production company came
out with the Vitaphone system in 1926.
This was the system used to record the
first “talkie” film.
The Jazz Singer
• The film was made in 1927, and combined
mostly silent dialogue with the first
recorded musical performances and
dialogue.
• The Jazz Singer
• When this film was shown, people would
look around the theater to see who was
singing it. They didn’t expect to see
through the film!
Impact of Sound
• Soon, the Vitaphone was history as they
started recording sound-on-film, using
systems like MovieTone, Photophone, and
Phonofilm.
• This all convinced movie-makers (and
movie-goers) that “talkies” were here to
stay and the new medium of film.
• This invention helped Hollywood survive
through the Great Depression and enter
the “Golden Era”, which lasted until after
WWII.
Famous Names
• Hollywood quickly created “the musical”
with The Broadway Melody in 1929.
• Famous actors / actresses / directors of
the 30s and 40s include:
– Frankenstein / Gothic
– Mae West
– Marx Brothers
– Gangster Films
– Walt Disney
– Shirley Temple
Advent of Color
• Interestingly, movies “in color” were
evolving at the same time that movies in
general were evolving.
• THE color technique was called
“Technicolor” and was the only technique
used until 1952.
• It was a “three strip” process.
• The first film to have color was a musical
number in The Cat and the Fiddle released
by MGM in 1934.
• Becky Sharp in 1935 was the first film shot
exclusively in color.Becky Sharp
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, made
in 1937 and the highest grossing movie in
1938, was not only the first animation
movie, but also the first movie that made
filmmakers really pay attention to the
effects of color.Snow White
Color, cont’d
• Eastman Kodak introduced the first color
negative strip in 1950, and one that was
high quality in 1952.
• Although it tried to keep up, Technicolor
could not compete, and the last film shot
using anything named Technicolor was
The Godfather, Part II in 1975.
Pictures
Famous Movies of the ’30s and
’40s (with color!)
• First full length animated film – Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs – 1937
• Wizard of Oz – 1939 (didn’t do well at the
box office – most expensive film at that
date)
• Gone with the Wind – 1939
• King Kong – 1933
• Stagecoach – 1939 – John Wayne’s
breakthrough role
Speeding through time. . .
• First Academy Awards (disclaimer) were
in 1927
• 40s – Lots of war propaganda
• House of Un-American Activities
Committee investigated Hollywood in the
early 1950s – studios panicked and started
trying to create bigger screens to draw
people in
Speeding, cont’d
• 1950s – Civil rights started to creep into
film making, with 12 Angry Men,
Blackboard Jungle, and On the Waterfront
• 1960s – Rise of documentaries. The big
money-makers were all “family films” with
musical leanings, like Pollyanna and Sound
of Music.
Speeding, cont’d
• 1970s – End of production code (used
instead of ratings), where filmmakers
were limited in what they could have
actors do or say. Ratings were created in
1968, and in the 70s, you saw an increase
in sexual content and violence.
• 1970s – Musicals declined and there was
an increase in martial arts films.
• 1980s – Invention of the VCR. Movie
studios tried to ban them as a violation of
copyright.
Speeding, cont’d
• Big movies of the 80s include Star Wars,
Jaws, Indiana Jones, ET, and Tron, which
was the first widespread use of computer
graphics.
• 1990s – New special effects, DVD players,
and independent films
• 2000s – Documentary films having
commercial success, 3D / HD and IMAX.
30 slides. . . .
• . . .all about the history of film, and this
was just the big stuff!
• Big questions:
– How does film reflect the decades?
– What can we learn about ourselves through
film?
– Why is film / movies so important to our
culture?