The History of Film

Thomas Edison

• Kinetoscope debuted in 1893 at the Chicago world’s fair

• 1894, Fred Ott’s Sneeze is the 1st copyrighted film

• Robert William Paul invented the film projector, 1895

– Edison then invented the Vitoscope

Nickelodeons

• People went to amusement parks, carnivals, or storefronts to watch short films

• Cost a nickel• Initially were individual viewing

machine– Moving pictures lasted about a

minute• Later, they were theatres with

pianos or organs• Movies were of every day

activities, sporting events, or misc. movies

The Silent Era

• Georges Melies’ A Trip to the Moon, 1902– Pioneered editing,

special effects, and story telling

• Edwin S. Potter’s The Great Train Robbery, 1903– 1st western– Had a story, action,

and editing

The Silent Era cont.

• 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• 1911, 1st animated film released

– Winsor McCay’s Little Nemo in Slumberland

The Silent Era cont.

• New York (Queens) led early film making

• By the 1920s, Hollywood emerged as the world’s film leader– 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

Safety Last

Talkies

• Al Jolson’s The Jazz Singer was the 1st film with sound, 1927– Used the Vitaphone

system• By 1929, almost all films

were “talkies”– Many silent film stars and

directors couldn’t adapt• Started the Golden Age of

Hollywood– Lasted until the 1950s

The Golden Era Of Hollywood

• 1929, the 1st Academy Awards are given out

– The Oscars

• 1929, the 1st full-length all color films are released

• Movies thrived during the Great Depression

– Offered Realism or Escapism

The Golden Era Of Hollywood• 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, 1939• Wuthering Heights, 1939• Stagecoach, 1939• Citizen Kane, 1941• Casablanca, 1942• HUAC investigates Hollywood for

communist activities– 19 are blackballed

• TV emerges in the 1950s as studios are broken up for being monopolies– Ends the Golden Era

The 1950s• 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

The 1950s• 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

The 1960s• Hollywood declines more

– More films made on location– Still family oriented early in the

decade• Innovators led to a rekindling of

film– Dr. Strangelove, 1964– The Graduate, 1967– 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968– Midnight Cowboy, 1968– Easy Rider, 1969

• Led to a New Hollywood

The 1970s and the New Hollywood

• A New Group of filmmakers emerged– 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

• Jaws and Star Wars led to blockbuster films

The 1980s to the Present

• Blockbusters continue to be made

• The industry has adapted to home viewing: VCR and DVD

• Digital effects• More sequels, remakes,

and adaptations recently• Independent films are

gaining larger audiences