Where It All BeganThe Invention of Motion Picture

Since The Beginning of Time...

Mankind has attempted capturing the movement of life as early as cave-man

time, eventually doing so in temple carving. Before

advances in technology, artists could only record the

feeling of motion through art, never actually capturing it until the mid to late 1800s.

Fascination with movement led to these

inventions: Camera Obscura, Laterna Magica (Magic Lantern), Thaumatrope, Phenakistiscope, Stroboscope, and the Praxinoscope are just a few of the technological breakthroughs leading to what we now have, motion pictures.

HOW THE CAMERA OBSCURA WORKS

CAMERA OBSCURA

ThaumatropeInvented by John Ayrton Paris in 1824 to demonstrate the persistence of vision.

Also known as “the wonder turner.”

When it is turned, images on both sides turn into one.

Could, quite literally, be the first motion picture made.

HOW TO USE THE THAUMATROPE:

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PhenakistiscopeIn 1829, Joseph Plateau invented a disk displaying a deformed image. When this image was spun with a small piece to view, it made the image look normal.

Four years following this invention, Plateau invented the phenakistiscope.

A PHENAKISTISCOPE

StroboscopeShortly after Plateau’s invention of the phenakistiscope, Simon von Stampfer created a similar disc called the stroboscope.

Both disks became known as magic disks, and were very popular parlor entertainment.

SOMEONE USING THE PHENAKISTISCOPE

Zoetrope and Praxinoscope

The Zoetrope was invented by William George Horner in 1834 using his existing knowledge of the phenakistoscope.

In 1877, Charles-Emile Reynaud invented a more advanced version called the praxinoscope.

A PRAXINOSCOPE

The First Motion Picture Projector

In 1853, Franz von Uchatius used what is described as a combination of the zoetrope and the magic lantern to product the first motion picture projector.

A VERSION OF AN EARLY MOTION PICTURE PROJECTOR

Helpful Inventions in Photography

In the 1840s, Louis Daguerre created the daguerreotype - a photograph printed on a metal plate.

Shortly after the daguerreotype the Langenheim brothers printed images on glass plates, making the projection of images possible.

THE DAGUERREOTYPE PROCESS

A DAGUERREOTYPE PHOTOGRAPH

Muybridge’s Photographs

In 1872, former governor Leland Stanford hires photographer Edweard Muybridge to photograph the movement of horses.

Unsatisfied with the results, Stanford then hired a railroad engineer to set up 24 cameras with trip threads to set them off.

The discovery from these photographs is that horses have all four hooves off of the ground in the middle of galloping.

Muybridge had a traveling exhibition of his photographs all over the US and France

THE OUTCOME FROM MUYBRIDGE’S PHOTOGRAPHS

The “Shotgun” CameraMuybridge’s exhibition gained mass popularity.

The photographic collection inspired Etienne-Jules Marey to create the chronophotographe, or the “shotgun” camera.

The reason behind this invention is that Marey believed it necessary to have the ability to shoot multiple shots at once from the same camera.

THE “SHOTGUN” CAMERA

The First “Movie”In 1888 Louis Aime Augustin Le Prince shot a short film of traffic on a bridge in Leeds, England.

This is the first known movie ever to be shot and shown to the public.

BRIDGE IN LEEDS, ENGLANDFIRST KNOWN MOVIE SHOWN TO THE PUBLIC

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Talking PhonographThe Talking Phonograph was a machine that made imprints on waxed paper wrapped around a cylinder.

Despite the fact that “movies” were silent for the first thirty years, Edison had other plans for the future.

Eventually this machine was able to record sound, and subsequently replay that recorded sound.

This invention was astounding at the time it was produced in 1877.

“The idea occurred to me that it was possible to do for the eye what

the phonograph does for the ear.”-Thomas Edison

EDISON WITH HIS TALKING PHONOGRAPH

The KinetographUnder the instruction of Thomas Edison, William Kennedy Dickson built the kinetograph in 1891.

The kinetograph was used for Edison’s in-house film experiments and eventually for commercial use.

The film from a kinetograph is exposed horizontally and can be projected onto a screen.

EDISON BUILT A KINETOGRAPH “HOUSE” THAT WORKED ENTIRELY ON WHEELS.

USING THIS TECHNOLOGY, EDISONWAS ABLE TO CAPTURE MANY SHORT FILMS.

The Lumiére BrothersThe Lumiére Brothers fashioned an image capturing device very similar to the already existing chronophotographe.

Creating images that “seemed to move”, the brothers began selling tickets to the public projection of their “films” in 1895.

While many attribute the rise in fame of film to these two, some speculate that the fame was already well on it’s way due to Edison’s promotion of the kinetograph.

ONE OF THE LUMIERE BROTHERS FILMS“WORKERS LEAVING THE LUMIERE FACTORY”

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The Nickelodeon Theaters

The Nickelodeon Theaters were a place people could go to watch “peep-show” videos, or films recorded on the kinetograph.

These theaters quickly became a phenomenon, by 1908 there were 8,000 nickelodeon theaters.

One famous historian, Mr. Charles Musser, even stated “it is not too much to say that modern cinema began with the nickelodeons.”

A NICKELODEON THEATER

From the beginning to now...

Regardless of motion pictures humble beginnings, it is safe

to say that the founding pioneers of this industry were

a part of history we truly appreciate. Without them,

who knows if we would have ever been graced with the great film classics we so

treasure today?

THE END

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