Chapter 1 - Film History

Passion play

helped revive the industry in 1897. Single-shot scenes from Jesus' life and the Bible

R. W. Paul and Birt Acres

in Great Britain, developed a camera modeled on Edison's Kinetoscope. Also developed a projector. Made one of the earliest English films, Rough Sea at Dover

Louis and Auguste Lumiere

invented a projection system that helped make the cinema a commercially viable enterprise internationally. In 1894, a local Kinetoscope exhibitor asked them to produce short films that would be cheaper than the ones sold by Edison. Designed the Cinematographe. Decided to shoot their films at 16 FPS, rather than the 46 used by Edison. 16 FPS became the most commonly used rate for about 20 years. First film made with this system was Workers Leaving the Factory (March 1895). It was shown in public at the meeting of the Societe d'Encouragement pour l'Industrie Nationale in Paris on March 22nd. Six further showing to scientific and commercial groups followed. Believed that film would be a short-lived fad. Moved quickly to exploit the Cinematographe. They initially avoided selling their machines, instead sending operators to tour abroad and show films in rented theaters and cafes. This expanded their catalogue of film to show views of other countries

Max and Emil Skladanowsky

invented the Biscop. Showed a fifteen-minute program at a large vaudeville theater in Berlin on November 1, 1895. Eventually adopted the standard 35mm, single-strip film used by more influential inventors. Brothers toured Europe through 1897, but they did not establish a stable production company

1897

invention of the cinema was largely completed. Two principal means of exhibition: peepshow devices for individual viewers and projection systems for audiences. Typically used 35mm film with sprocket holes so films could be shown on different brands of projectors

Herman Casler

late 1894. Patented the Mutoscope, a flip-card device. Vaudeville and peepshow movies. Employed 70mm film that yielded larger, sharper movies. By 1897, American Mutoscope was the most popular film company in the country. Less likely to break than the Kinetoscope

Actualities

nonfiction films

December 28, 1895

one of the most famous events in film history. At the Grand Cafe in Paris. In the evening, fashionable patrons paid a franc to see a 25-minute program of ten films, about a minute each. Showed a close view of August Lumiere and his wife feeding their baby, a staged comic scene of a boy stepping on a hose to cause a puzzled gardener to squirt himself, and a shot of the sea. Within weeks they were offering 20 shows a day, with long lines of spectators waiting to get in. They moved quickly to exploit the success, sending representatives all over the world to show films and make more of them

Magic lanterns

project glass lantern slides (since 17th century). Rapidly flash two or three changes of a figure's position

American Mutoscope and Biograph (AM&B)

rename of American Mutoscope Company in 1899. Got a lawsuit from Edison in 1902, but won the suit because its camera used rollers rather than sprocketed gears to move the film

Scenics

short travelogues, offering views of distant lands

Latham loop

simple loop to create slack and relieve tension, allowing longer films to be created

Black Maria

small studio created by Edison and Dickson to produce films. Ready for production by January 1893. Films lasted only twenty seconds or so. Featured well-known sports figures, excerpts from noted vaudeville acts, or performances by dancers or acrobats. Had an opening in the roof to allow light in for black-and-white films

1878

split-second exposure times become feasible

Cinematographe

used 35mm film and an intermittent mechanism modeled on the sewing machine. Served as a printer when the positive copies were made. Mounted on a lantern, it formed part of the projector as well

Mary Jane's Mishap

1903. Uses sophisticated editing. Although the actor's position is usually not matched well at the cuts, there is a general attempt to create a continuous action while using closer shots to guide our attention

Preconditions for motion pictures

1. Human eye will perceive motion if a series of slightly different images is placed before it in rapid succession 2. Project a rapid series of images on a surface 3. Rapid photography 4. Photographs must be printed on a base flexible enough to be passed through a camera rapidly 5. Find a suitable intermittent mechanism for cameras and projectors

Emile Reynaud

1877. Built an optical toy, the Projecting Praxinoscope. In 1882, devised a way of using mirrors and a lantern to project a brief series of drawings on a screen. In 1889, exhibited a much larger version of the Praxinoscope. From 1892 on, he regularly gave public performances using long, broad strips of hand-painted frames. These were the first public exhibitions of moving images, though the effect on the screen was jerky and slow. Could not easily be reproduced. In 1895, started using a camera to make his Praxinoscope films. By 1900, he was out of business and destroyed his machines

Eadweard Muybridge

1878, tasked by California ex-governor to study horse's gaits. Set up a row of 12 cameras, each making an exposure in one-thousandth of a second. Photos recorded one-half-second intervals of movement. Later made a lantern to project moving images of horses, but these were drawings copied from his photographs onto a revolving disc

Etienne-Jules Marey

1882. Studied the flight of birds by means of a photographic gun. Exposed 12 images around the edge of a circular glass plate that made one revolution/second. In 1888, Marey built a box-type camera that used an intermittent mechanism to expose a series of photographs on a strip of paper film at speeds of up to 120 frames per second. First to combine flexible film stock and an intermittent mechanism in photographing motion

George Eastman

1888, devised a still camera that made photographs on rolls of sensitized paper. Named it Kodak. Simplified photography so that unskilled amateurs could take pictures. Next year, introduced transparent celluloid roll film

Woodville Latham

1894, worked on a camera and projector. Cast only a dim image

Three principle countries where the motion-picture camera originated

France, England, and the United States

Intermittent mechanism

In the camera, the strip of film had to stop briefly while light entered through the lens and exposed each frame. A shutter then covered the film as another frame moved into place. In the projector, each frame stopped for an instant in the aperture while a beam of light projected it onto a screen. Again a shutter passed behind the lens while the filmstrip moved. At least 16 frames have to slide into place, stop, and move away each second (A strip of film sliding continuously past the gate would create a blur). Other inventions needed an intermittent mechanism, ie. the sewing machine in 1846. Usually consisted of a gear with slots or notches spaced around its edge

Zoetrope

Invented in 1833. Series of drawings on a narrow strip of paper inside a revolving drum. Widely sold after 1867, along with other optical toys. In these toys, the same action was repeated over and over

American Vitagraph

founded in 1897 by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith as an advertising firm. Began producing films related to the Spanish-American War. Threatened with patent and copyright-infringement lawsuits by Edison, who hoped to control the American market. Survived by agreeing to cooperate with Edison, making films for the Edison firm and in turn dealing in Edison films itself. Made some of the earliest animated films

Biscop

held two strips of film, each 3 ½ inches wide, running side by side; frames were projected alternately

Spanish-American War of 1898

helped revive the glamor-less film industry in 1898. Showed authentic and staged images of the war

Edwin S. Porter

a film projectionist and an expert at building photographic equipment. Went to work for Edison in the late 1900s. Assigned to improve the firm's cameras and projectors. Porter has often been credited with virtually all the innovations of the pre-1908 period, including the first story film and inventing editing as we know it. Made an adaptation of the popular stage version of the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. It was a series of one-shot scenes of famous episodes in the novel, linked by printed intertitles. His most important film, The Great Train Robbery, was made in 1903. Contributed to an industry wide concentration on fiction filmmaking.

Human eye will perceive motion if

a series of slightly different images is placed before it in rapid succession (~16 per second)

Projecting Praxinoscope

a spinning drum, like the Zoetrope, in which viewers saw the moving images in a series of mirrors rather than through slots

W. K. L. Dickson

assistant to Thomas Edison. In 1889, obtained some Eastman Kodak film stock and began working on a new type of machine. By 1891, the Kinetograph camera and Kinetoscope viewing box were ready to be patented and demonstrated. Used film strips 1 inch wide (35 mm) with four holes on either side of each frame so that the toothed gears could pull the film through the camera and Kinetoscope (this remained the norm for more than 100 years). Initially, the film was exposed at 46 FPS--much faster than the average speed later adopted for silent filmmaking

May 4, 1897

at a screening at the Charity Bazaar in Paris, a curtain was ignited by the projector and killed about 125 people. Cinema lost some of its attraction for fashionable city dwellers

Illusion of movement required

at least 16 photographs per second

Lumiere Freres

based in Lyon, France. Biggest European manufacturer of photographic plates

Topicals

brief depictions of news events

Fiction films

brief staged scenes that gradually became the most popular theatrical attraction. Mostly consisted of a single shot. Some were shot outdoors, but simple painted backdrops were quickly adopted and remained common for decades. Ex. The Lumieres' Arroseur arrosé

Louis Le Prince

came close to inventing cinema as early as 1888, but mysteriously disappeared

Claud Niepce

captured first still photograph on a glass plate. Required exposure time of 8 hours. For years after, photographs were made on glass or metal, without the use of negatives, so only one copy of each image was possible. Exposures took several minutes each

Joseph Plateau and Simon Stampfer

created an optical device called the Phenakistoscope in 1832. In these toys, the same action was repeated over and over

George Méliès

during his first year of production, made 78 films, including The Vanishing Lady (1896). Used stop motion and special tricks to replicate magic. Made A Trip to the Moon (1902). In his lifetime, he made 510 films

Thomas Edison

exploited his phonograph by leasing it to special phonograph parlors, and did the same with the Kinetoscope

Kinetoscope

first Kinetoscope parlor opened in New York on April 14, 1894. Very profitable for two years until it was eclipsed by other inventions

C. Francis Jenkins and Thomas Armat

first exhibited their Phantoscope projector in Atlanta in October 1895, showing Kinetoscope films. Attracted skimpy audiences. Later, Jenkins and Armat split up. Armat improved the projector and renamed it the Vitascope. Edison agreed to manufacture Armat's projector and supply films for it. For publicity purposes, it was marketed as "Edison's Vitascope"