History of Motion Pictures 1/26/15 10:03 PM How did movies start? • 1648 - Athanasius Krischer put on a “magic lantern show” using slides he had painted himself, but it was not until the 19th century that real life images could be captured on film • 1839 - named after its creator, Louis Daguerre, Daguerreotype was process in which photos were made on thin copper plates; acted as first film • 1880’s - George Eastman developed celluloid roll film and a simple box camera; this made motion picture technology feasible, and made it so that it could be an easier hobby (less work involved) • Motion pictures are based on Peter Mark Roget’s (1824) principle of Visual Persistence – we see an image for a fraction of a second after the thing has disappeared or changed • Film is just fast photos • William Dickson, Thomas Edison’s assistant developed the first practical video camera • Vitascope – early projector developed by Thomas Armant (also Edison’s assistant) • Kinetoscope – small machine developed by Edison which allowed a single viewer to turn a crank and watch a film Early Days of Film • Edison sets up Motion Pictures Patent Company • Film production moves out west • Hollywood becomes attractive spot to film due to low costs, climate, and geographic diversity Stars are born • Audiences demand certain stars in the movies they watched • Sex, booze and violence • Before 1920’s, no “stars” existed NICKELODEONS-small early films • Appealed to the lower class • But needed to get to the middle class • Tended to be in relatively poor neighborhoodsDevelopment of Film • TALKIES – films with sound • 1920’s – fast society portrayed in films (lays foundation for censorship) • 1930’s – in reaction to racy topics of the twenties, films became much more tame and rely on “rules” • Arrival of TV – film tries to offer what television cannot (unsuccessful) • The digital age brings new
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