EARLY MOTION PICTURE PIONEERS Thomas Alva Edison & William K.L. Dickson
Edison was familiar with the zoetrope (as pictured on the left) and the experiments of Film moves through the kinetoscope using a sprochet system. The camera could run about 50 feet of film in an endless loop past a magnifying screen. The viewer would look through a peephole at the top of the box-like machine to view the film. Throughout big cities across the country, kinetoscopes popped up in parlors as coin-operated machines. (about.com; Inventors: the Kinetscope)
The Lumière Brothers The cinematograph quickly penetrated the U.S. market, as well as countries around the world. The invention earned an international presence as its silent nature effaced the language barrier.
Edwin S. Porter Putting this talent to use, in 1903, he directed The Great Train Robbery, the first major American motion picture. The eight-minute film upheld a strong story line and an excellent climax, and boasted a cast of some forty actors. Combined with Porter’s exceptional editing and Edison’s production rights, it became the first epic Western film. From Edison films catalog, on The Great Train Robbery: This sensational and highly tragic subject will certainly make a decided “hit” whenever shown. In every respect we consider it absolutely the superior of any moving picture ever made. It has been posed and acted in faithful duplication of the genuine ‘Hold Ups’ made famous by various outlaw bands in the far West, and only recently the East has been shocked by several crimes of the frontier order, which fact will increase the popular interest in this great Headline Attraction. (earlycinema.com, Pioneers: Edwin S. Porter)
D.W. Griffith Griffith was the first to use the close-up as a means of emphasis. He used the camera functionally—starting and stopping at appropriate times to create scene development. Breaking scenes into a series of different shots, he created the first ever rhythm to motion pictures. His most notable films include The Birth of a Nation, a 12-reel American Civil War film released in 1915, and Intolerance, a 1916 film that wowed the critics of The Birth of a Nation.
MOTION PICTURES 1930s-1960s 1930's
1940's
1950's
AMERICAN FILMS FROM THE 1960s TO THE PRESENT
The Production Code (Right), also known as the Hays Code, was a rating system that dictated the content of film from 1930 through 1967 (Answers.com). Although ignored at first, the code eventually dictated the type of material that was shown in films. By 1967 enforcement of the code was nearly impossible and Hollywood adopted a rating system. In return for allowing writers and directors greater latitude in developing a film, Hollywood agreed to use an age restriction system which controlled who would be able to see certain films. This has become known as the MPAA Rating System. It should be noted that this has not been considered as government regulation but rather self regulation. Blockbuster movies became the new way to release films. Prior to the 1970’s films would have to be re-released in order for smaller audiences to view it. This method was called “limited release system” (Wikipedia.com). Films were now shown in a wider number of theatres. The 1980s brought bigger blockbusters and sequels. Most importantly however, is that the 80s brought the advent of home viewing. Concerns of copyright infringement and time shifting were called into question. Eventually however the legal battle ended in favor of home viewer-ship and prompted the sales of rental movies. This dramatically increased the revenue of movie companies.
The 1990’s would become to be known as the decade of technical advances in cinema. Movies, like The Matrix, became the first to use a technology known as “bullet time” (Wikipedia.com). This allowed the viewer to watch a scene in slow motion while the camera makes an orbit around the scene. Other technologies introduced were computer animation through companies like Pixar and Disney. The first joint venture between these companies was Toy Story and the last will be called Cars. Another invention that was popularized in the 1990s was the DVD. A DVD is an optical storage media format that can store video and sound.
The future of the movie cinema will most likely evolve with the rest of technology. Special effects in movies are getting more realistic and dramatic with each film. The technology which powers the movie is also evolving. Most importantly however, is that the movies are still popular and powerful with many demographics in society.
CITATIONS Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, in The History Channel . (2005). Encyclopedia: History of Motion Pictures. Retrieved May 12, 2005, from http://www.historychannel.com/thcsearch/thc_resourcedetail.do?encyc_id=216967. The Greatest Achievement of the Superman of the Movies. (1916, November). Current Opinion, LXI(5). Retrieved May 17, 2005, from http://tinyurl.com/cqorv The Library of Congress: American Memory. Early Motion Pictures, 1897-1920: The Great Train Robbery.Retrieved May 18, 2005, from http://tinyurl.com/cy7aq War, Shorn of Romance, Is Sounding Its Own Knell. (1918, April). Current Opinion, LXIV(4). Retrieved May 18, 2005, from http://tinyurl.com/9gbyj Wonders of the Kinetoscope. (1894, May). Current Literature, XV(5). Retrieved May 17, 2005, from
http://tinyurl.com/9uug3 Wikipedia. (2005, April 29). Production Code. Retrieved May 11, 2005, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hays_Code. History Channel. (2005). Encyclopedia: History of Motion Picture. Retrieved May 11, 2005, from http://www.historychannel.com/thcsearch/thc_resourcedetail.do?encyc_id=216967. The Greatest Films. (2005). Citizen Kane (1941). Retrieved May 11, 2005, from http://www.filmsite.org/citi.html. Internet Movie Database. (2005). Gone With the Wind (1939). Retrieved May 11, 2005, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031381/photogallery-ss-0. Internet Movie Database. (2005). King Kong (1933). Retrieved May 11, 2005, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024216/. Internet Movie Database. (2005). Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Retrieved May 11, 2005, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029583/. Casablanca (1942). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034583/ Rebel Without a Cause (1955). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048545/ American History X Poster. Retrieved May 10, 2005, from: http://tinyurl.com/dtntq Answers.com. Retrieved May 15, 2005, from: http://www.answers.com/topic/production-code. Bullet Time. Retrieved May 15, 2005, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet-time. Back to the Future Poster. Retrieved May 10, 2005, from: http://tinyurl.com/bffwf. Black Hawk Down Poster. Retrieved May 10, 2005, from: http://tinyurl.com/bgs3u. Breakfast at Tiffany’s Poster. Retrieved May 10, 2005, from: http://tinyurl.com/7a8eh. Clockwork Orange Poster. Retrieved May 10, 2005, from: http://tinyurl.com/cgmbr. DVD. Retrieved May 15, 2005, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD. Jaws Poster. Retreived May 10, 2005, from: http://tinyurl.com/7dtqd. Production Code Poster. Retrieved May 15, 2005, from: http://www.oscars.org/mhl/sc/images/mpaa.jpg. The History Channel. Retrieved May 15, 2005, from: http://historychannel.com.
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Muybridge, but he considered them “crude.” He acquired the Black Maria, a tarpaper shack in West Orange, New Jersey, and turned it into the first movie studio (Right). There, Edison worked with William Dickson, a man who, being quite taken by Edison’s experiments, applied for a job and soon proved to be a valuable assistant. With Edison’s original idea 
and Dickson’s hard work, the two created the kinetoscope, the original movie machine (Left). 
In France in 1895, the brothers Louis and Auguste Lumière , invented the Cinématographe , a combined a printer, camera and projector. The cinematograph became most known for its short silent films, such as waves crashing against a shore and a gardener watering a lawn. In one such film, a mail train appeared to rush toward the viewer, causing the audience to lurch back in their seats in fear. 
secondary, however after most overseas conglomerate had bought over the original studio the goals had change to being purely profit driven. 
