Post # 4 (EOTO): History of the Motion Picture

 

The Motion Picture Camera

Ironically, the history of the motion picture is a story fit for the big screen. Before we delve into this history, however, let's start by defining what a motion picture is. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, a motion picture is a "series of still photographs on film, projected in rapid succession onto a screen by means of light... this gives the illusion of actual, smooth, and continuous movement." 

While the basic mechanisms that allow for the illusion of moving pictures date back to the early 1800s, the history of motion pictures largely starts in the 1870s with Eadweard Muybridge. Between 1872 and 1877, Muybridge worked to develop series photography in an effort to prove that there is a point during a horse's gallop at which all four hooves leave the ground. To do this, Muybridge set up several cameras along a racetrack to take a series of pictures as a horse ran. He then mounted these still images onto a rotating disk that projected them through a magic lantern. The results of his efforts can be seen above. In subsequent years, a number of inventors worked to improve series photography.

Then, in the late 1880s, French inventor Louis Le Prince invented the first motion picture camera (see below). In 1886, Le Prince applied for a U.S. patent on his 16-lens camera design, which was then granted in 1888. That same year, Le Prince developed a single-lens motion picture camera that featured a parallax view-finder. The date of this latter invention is corroborated by one of the short films Le Prince shot with it, which features a woman who died ten days after its filming in October 1888. Louis Le Prince was set to debut his creation in New York in 1890, but the inventor mysteriously disappeared before the exhibition could occur. 

If you are surprised to hear that Le Prince invented the first motion picture camera, you aren't alone. For decades, Thomas Edison and his assistant William Kennedy Dickson were credited with the invention of the motion picture camera. In reality, Edison and Dickson did not begin working on their camera until 1888 -- two years after Le Prince first applied for his U.S. patent. Their invention combined the technology required to record and view a movie into one machine. This kinetograph was created using the escapement mechanism of a clock and was capable of imprinting up to 50 feet of celluloid film at a rate of 40 frames per second. To accompany of the kinetograph, Edison and his company also developed the kinetoscope (a device to view films) and a kinetograph studio where films could be shot. 

Edison's Kinetoscope

By 1895, the Lumière Brothers optimized the filmmaking process with their cinématographe. This device served as a camera to capture images, a printer to put those pictures on film, and a projector that could flip through these images at a rate of 16 frames per second. Unlike Edison's inventions, the cinématographe was relatively portable, which contributed to its success as the first commercially-viable film projector.

Milestones in the Film Industry

One of the biggest milestones in film history was the release of the film The Birth of a Nation in 1915. Despite the controversy that has long surrounded the film, it is recognized as the first Blockbuster motion picture and is credited with starting the era of the modern motion picture. Notably, the editing, composition, and complexity of the shots in this film helped give credit to motion pictures as an art form. 

Later, in 1922, the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (now known as the Motion Picture Association) was created. This same year, the MPPDA established the Hays Code. Named for the organization's founder, William Hays, the Hays Code was a regulatory system intended to prevent "offensive material" in film and, in doing so, avoid government interference in the film industry. Though the Hays Code was eventually repealed in 1968, the stigmas it reinforced regarding the depiction of topics like interracial couples and LGBTQ+ individuals still have a lasting impact today. 

Finally, in 1926, Warner Brothers Studios experimented with the integration of sound in film. Though Edison and subsequent inventors created technologies that were capable of integrating sound with film, it was not until the success of the Warner Brothers' experiment that the practice became popular. Until this point, major studios had been skeptical about the notion of "talking pictures". Then, Warner Brothers released a synchronized musical accompaniment to the costume drama Don Juan to much audience acclaim. Within several years, the inclusion of music and other sound became a standard across the film industry.

Ultimately, in the years since its inception, the motion picture has become incredibly influential in society. Throughout the 20th century, film was used for everything from propaganda to documentation to art. As is the case with many inventions, there are those who exploit the medium of film to cause harm in society. Yet, without the invention of the motion picture, we would not have some of our most popular means of mass communication today, such as television and online video content. For this reason, I believe the creation of the motion picture was one of the most revolutionary innovations in communication of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.