Transcript History of Film

History of Film
Mrs. Jolly
Grand Valley High School
Early History of Cinema
*Optical toys, shadow shows, 'magic lanterns,'
and visual tricks have existed for thousands of
years. Many inventors observed the visual
phenomenon that a series of individual still
pictures set into motion creating the illusion of
movement - a concept termed persistence of
vision.
*First Machine that showed animated pictures was
the “zoopraxiscope” in 1867.
 Moving drawings or photographs viewed
through a slit
The Birth of US Cinema
Thomas Edison & William Dickson
Goal was to creating a device to record moving
pictures.
 Kinetiscope (1894)
floor-standing, box-like
viewing
device. Basically a bulky,
coin-operated,
movie "peep show" cabinet for a single
customer
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The Lumiere Brothers
They created their own combo movie camera and
projector
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A
more portable, hand-held and lightweight device
that could be cranked by hand and could project movie
images to several spectators.
Was
dubbed the Cinematographe and patented in
February, 1895. The multi-purpose device (combining
camera, printer and projecting capabilities in the same
housing) was more profitable because more than a
single spectator could watch the film on a large screen.
They
used a film width of 35mm, and a speed of 16
frames per second - an industry norm until the talkies.
First Permanent Movie Theatres
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Films were increasingly being shown as part of vaudeville
shows, variety shows, and at fairgrounds or carnivals.
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Audiences would soon need larger theaters to watch screens
with projected images from Vitascopes after the turn of the
century, using stage and opera houses and music halls.
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The earliest 'movie theatres' were converted churches or halls,
showing one-reelers (a 10-12 minute reel of film - the
projector's reel capacity at the time).
In
1897, the first real cinema building was built in
Paris, solely for the purpose of showing films. The
same did not occur until 1902 in downtown Los
Angeles where Thomas L. Talley's storefront, 200-seat
Electric Theater became the first permanent US
theater to exclusively exhibit movies
Nickelodeons
-Cost a nickel
-Usually accompanied with organ
music.
-Initially individual viewing machine.
The Silent Era

Georges Melies’ A Trip to
the Moon, 1902
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Pioneered editing, special
effects, and story telling
Edwin S. Potter’s The
Great Train Robbery,
1903
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1st western
Had a story, action, and
editing
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Standard length of films was
about one reel or 10-15
minutes
Feature films started in
Australia
D.W. Griffith picked up on it
Made Birth of a Nation in
1915
 Most popular film of the
1910s
 Extremely racist
 Led to the rebirth of the
KKK
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1911, 1st animated film
released
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Winsor McCay’s Little Nemo
in Slumberland
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New York (Queens) led
early film making
By the 1920s,
Hollywood emerged as
the world’s film leader
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Almost 800 films a year
Great climate and room
to work
Era dominated by Tom
Mix, Charlie Chaplin,
Buster Keaton, Douglas
Fairbanks, and Clara
Bow
Talking Films

Al Jolson’s The Jazz Singer was
the 1st film with sound, 1927
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By 1929, almost all films were
“talkies”
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Used the Vitaphone system
Many silent film stars and
directors couldn’t adapt
Started the Golden Age of
Hollywood

Lasted until the 1950s
Golden Era of Hollywood
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1929, the 1st Academy Awards
are given out
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The Oscars
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1929, the 1st full-length all
color films are released

Movies thrived during the
Great Depression

Offered Realism or Escapism

King Kong, 1933
It Happened One Night, 1934
Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs, 1937
Gone With the Wind, 1939
The Wizard of Oz, 1939
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,
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Wuthering Heights, 1939
Stagecoach, 1939
Citizen Kane, 1941
Casablanca, 1942
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1939
HUAC investigates Hollywood
for communist activities
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19 are blackballed
TV emerges in the 1950s as
studios are broken up for being
monopolies
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Ends the Golden Era
The Production Code

Production Code was enforced on films from 1930 until 1967
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The Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors Association (MPPDA)
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Strict guidelines film makers followed
Now called the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA),
The Production Code enumerated three "General Principles":
1. No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who
see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side
of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin.
 2. Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and
entertainment, shall be presented.
 3. Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created
for its violation.

The 1950’s in Film
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Decline in popularity led
to innovations to lure
audiences back

More color, wide angle
shots, 3D films, sex
appeal, and epic films

The Ten
Commandments, 1956
Ben-Hur, 1959
Spartacus, 1960
Giant, 1956
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The 1960’s in Film
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Hollywood declines more
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Innovators led to a rekindling of film
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More films made on location
Still family oriented early in the decade
Dr. Strangelove, 1964
The Graduate, 1967
2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968
Midnight Cowboy, 1968
Easy Rider, 1969
Led to a New Hollywood
MPAA rating system debuted in 1968
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Ended the reign of the film production
code
The 1970s and the New Hollywood
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A New Group of filmmakers
emerged
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Francis Ford Coppola, Steven
Spielberg, George Lucas, and
Brian de Palma
The Godfather, 1972
The Exorcist, 1973
Jaws, 1975
Star Wars, 1977
Animal House, 1978
Close Encounters, 1977
Jaws and Star Wars led to
blockbuster films
Mid 70’s and beyond
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Blockbusters continue to be made
-ET, 1981
-Rocky, 1977
-Raiders of the Lost Art, 1981
The industry has adapted to home viewing: VCR and DVD
Digital effects and CGI emerge
More sequels, remakes, and adaptations recently
-Of Mice and Men, 1992
-Rambo: First Blood movies, 1980s
-Ocean’s Eleven, 2001
Independent films are gaining larger audiences
-The Pianist, 2002
-Good Will Hunting, 1997
-Pulp Fiction, 1994