History of Film

The history of film began back in the late 1860s. Images in motion were first seen in the zoetrope (a cylinder spun that blurred pictures and gave the illusion of motion) and the praxinoscope (the successor of the zoetrope). However, when film was invented for cameras, people began to think that moving pictures on film could be possible. In the late 1800s, several men were inventing machines that would run a series of images including George Eastman of Kodak. The one that won the United States patent however, was Thomas Edison. The kinetograph was actually invented by one of Edison’s employees, William Kennedy Laurie Dickson. The kintograph took pictures on a strip that were then displayed with the use of a kintoscope, which allowed one person at a time to view the moving pictures started the true history of film.

The kinetoscope films became popular, but the kinetograph had no international patent and others in Europe started working on their own version of the kinetograph. Louis Lumiere invented a portable camera called the cinematograph and the projector in 1894. The projector, unlike the kinetoscope could project the moving pictures to many people rather than just one.

In the early 1900s in America, silent films became popular and opened a new era in the history of film. These films had no dialogue, but were accompanied by music setting the mood for the different scenes. Universal Pictures Company was founded in 1912. Charlie Chaplin became an early favorite of fans for his heartwarming humor. In 1919, he, along with D.W. Griffith, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford created United Artists.

By the late 1920s, film that included dialogue, called talkies, were made. This cause many silent stars, whose voice didn’t fit their appearance in the eyes of the fans, to sink into obscurity. Al Jolson is famous for starring in the first talkie, The Jazz Singer. The love of film continued to grow with fans, but films were still made in black and whilte. The history of film was altered once again with the invention of color film, which became the norm in the 1960s. However, sometimes today, color film is made into black and white during the film post production and is used for artistic reasons.