< Return to Video

A Concise History of the Origins of Cinema (Revised Narration)

  • 0:03 - 0:04
    - Carl Jung is quoted as saying,
  • 0:04 - 0:08
    "The cinema,
    like the detective story,
  • 0:08 - 0:11
    makes it possible
    to experience without danger,
  • 0:11 - 0:12
    or the excitement,
  • 0:12 - 0:16
    passion, and desirousness
    which must be repressed
  • 0:16 - 0:19
    in a humanitarian
    ordering of life."
  • 0:19 - 0:22
    Since its inception
    in the late 19th century,
  • 0:22 - 0:24
    cinema has become one
    of the most popular
  • 0:24 - 0:27
    and inspiring forms
    of entertainment,
  • 0:27 - 0:30
    art, education,
    and propaganda.
  • 0:30 - 0:33
    The birth of cinema is one
    of many interconnecting events
  • 0:33 - 0:38
    and inventions around the world,
    born out of an array technology
  • 0:38 - 0:42
    revolving around machinery,
    photography, optical illusion,
  • 0:42 - 1:08
    and a human love to be
    entertained and inspired.
  • 1:08 - 1:13
    [ music ]
  • 1:31 - 1:33
    - One of the marvels of cinema
  • 1:33 - 1:36
    is that no one country
    can claim its paternity,
  • 1:36 - 1:38
    and it is
    a worldwide endeavor,
  • 1:38 - 1:43
    encompassing many different
    people from around the globe.
  • 1:43 - 1:46
    It was in 1824, in England,
  • 1:46 - 1:50
    that Peter Mark Roget first
    came up with an explanation
  • 1:50 - 1:55
    for how moving images create
    the illusion of motion.
  • 1:55 - 1:57
    Although later proven
    to be incorrect,
  • 1:57 - 2:00
    this principle is known
    as a persistence of vision.
  • 2:01 - 2:03
    This, simply defined,
    is when a series of pictures,
  • 2:03 - 2:07
    or frames, are played or
    presented at a rate fast enough
  • 2:07 - 2:09
    to trick the human mind
  • 2:09 - 2:12
    into thinking it is viewing
    a moving image.
  • 2:12 - 2:14
    The effect of the persistence
    of vision,
  • 2:14 - 2:17
    the writer David
    Parkinson notes,
  • 2:17 - 2:21
    was defined in 1824
    by Peter Mark Roget
  • 2:21 - 2:24
    as the ability of the retina
    to retain an image
  • 2:24 - 2:28
    of an object from
    1/20th to 1/5th of a second
  • 2:28 - 2:31
    after its removal
    from the field of vision.
  • 2:31 - 2:36
    However, it has since been shown
    that film seems to move
  • 2:36 - 2:40
    because the brain, and not
    the eye, is accepting stimuli
  • 2:40 - 2:44
    that it is incapable
    of perceiving as separate.
  • 2:44 - 2:47
    The brain has a perception
    threshold
  • 2:47 - 2:50
    below which images exposed
    to it will appear as continuous.
  • 2:50 - 2:53
    And film's speed of 24
    frames per second
  • 2:53 - 2:55
    is below that threshold,
  • 2:55 - 2:58
    thus making cinema, itself,
    a strange art form
  • 2:58 - 3:01
    for it is primarily an illusion.
  • 3:01 - 3:04
    It is a mystery
    as to when it was first noticed
  • 3:04 - 3:07
    that putting images next
    to each other
  • 3:07 - 3:08
    and viewing them
    in quick succession
  • 3:08 - 3:11
    created the illusion
    of a moving image.
  • 3:11 - 3:16
    Around A.D. 180, the Chinese
    inventor Ding Huan,
  • 3:17 - 3:19
    of which no known
    picture exists,
  • 3:19 - 3:22
    is credited
    with inventing a device
  • 3:22 - 3:25
    to utilize its effect
    for entertainment.
  • 3:25 - 3:27
    This invention is called
    the zoetrope.
  • 3:27 - 3:29
    A zoetrope is basically
    a cylinder
  • 3:29 - 3:31
    with various slits in it.
  • 3:31 - 3:33
    A sequence of pictures
    that link to each other
  • 3:33 - 3:36
    are drawn or placed inside
    the cylinder,
  • 3:36 - 3:39
    and through the slits you can
    view inside the illusion
  • 3:39 - 3:42
    of motion when
    the cylinder is spun.
  • 3:42 - 3:45
    This principle laid the ground
    work for later developments
  • 3:45 - 3:50
    in using photographic images
    to create motion images,
  • 3:50 - 3:55
    or to give it its technical
    term: cinematography.
  • 3:55 - 3:56
    Motion images are one part
  • 3:56 - 3:58
    of the founding principles
    of cinema,
  • 3:58 - 4:01
    but key to its development
    was the projection
  • 4:01 - 4:02
    of images and shapes.
  • 4:02 - 4:05
    The origins
    of light-projected images
  • 4:05 - 4:10
    date back to the puppets
    of China, India, and Java.
  • 4:10 - 4:13
    It was not until around
    the 17th century
  • 4:13 - 4:16
    that light-projected imagery
    would start to become popular
  • 4:16 - 4:18
    in Europe in North America.
  • 4:18 - 4:22
    And it was a magic lantern that
    captivated people's attention.
  • 4:22 - 4:25
    The magic lantern was used
    as a form of entertainment,
  • 4:25 - 4:27
    starting as early
    as the 15th century,
  • 4:27 - 4:30
    and its first
    incarnation may even
  • 4:30 - 4:33
    date back as far as
    the time of King Solomon.
  • 4:33 - 4:35
    Its precise origins
    are a mystery
  • 4:35 - 4:37
    and no original inventor
    is known of.
  • 4:37 - 4:41
    The magic lantern itself
    is simply a lantern,
  • 4:41 - 4:43
    which its light source,
    usually created by a wick,
  • 4:43 - 4:47
    a candle, is used to project
    a single slide or shape
  • 4:47 - 4:51
    on to a wall or flat surface.
    The magic lantern relates
  • 4:51 - 4:54
    directly to the modern
    day slide projector
  • 4:54 - 4:58
    and only contributed in part
    to the development of cinema,
  • 4:58 - 5:00
    albeit an important one.
  • 5:00 - 5:03
    Various enhancements of
    this technology included using
  • 5:03 - 5:06
    a magic lantern
    to project motion images
  • 5:06 - 5:09
    from a zoetrope that's
    building the ground work
  • 5:09 - 5:10
    for cinematic film projection.
  • 5:10 - 5:13
    It was developments
    in light-projected
  • 5:13 - 5:15
    entertainment technology
  • 5:15 - 5:17
    that were to be used
    in the newly developing
  • 5:17 - 5:19
    science of photography
  • 5:19 - 5:23
    to establish what we know
    as cinematography.
  • 5:23 - 5:25
    The history of photography is
    also one of complex inventions
  • 5:25 - 5:28
    and discoveries around
    the world.
  • 5:28 - 5:30
    The very first developments
    in photography
  • 5:30 - 5:33
    and optics originated thousands
    of years ago.
  • 5:33 - 5:37
    Aristotle wrote and developed
    ideas of how human vision works
  • 5:37 - 5:39
    and studied rays of light.
  • 5:39 - 5:42
    He used a pinhole camera,
    or camera obscura,
  • 5:42 - 5:44
    so he could study light rays.
  • 5:44 - 5:46
    Aristotle was one
    of the first people known
  • 5:47 - 5:49
    to study light using
    a camera obscura,
  • 5:49 - 5:52
    although its invention has not
    been accredited
  • 5:52 - 5:53
    to one single person,
  • 5:53 - 5:56
    and its original development
    remains a mystery.
  • 5:56 - 6:02
    The camera obscura is basically
    a box with a small pinhole
  • 6:02 - 6:05
    that allows a thin ray
    of light into the box.
  • 6:05 - 6:07
    This ray of light can
    be viewed as an image
  • 6:08 - 6:10
    if the camera obscura
    is adapted to pick up
  • 6:10 - 6:15
    the reflection using a mirror
    or shiny surface.
  • 6:15 - 6:20
    Ibn Al-Haytham, who lived
    965 A.D. to 1040 A.D.,
  • 6:20 - 6:22
    an Arab scholar
    who was born in Iraq,
  • 6:22 - 6:25
    further developed
    the camera obscura,
  • 6:25 - 6:27
    and noted that a single
    ray of light
  • 6:27 - 6:31
    that passed through the hole
    also carried the image reflected
  • 6:31 - 6:33
    from wherever the light
    was coming from,
  • 6:33 - 6:37
    and in this sense
    that light carries information.
  • 6:37 - 6:40
    This seemingly simple discovery
    was a revolutionary one
  • 6:40 - 6:44
    in the development in the
    history of how vision works.
  • 6:44 - 6:48
    And it is a principle that paved
    the way for the capturing
  • 6:48 - 6:52
    of photographic images
    for use in the pinhole camera.
  • 6:52 - 6:55
    Initially, the camera
    obscura was used
  • 6:55 - 6:58
    as a sketching aid by artists.
  • 6:58 - 7:00
    And it wasn't until
    around the 1820s
  • 7:00 - 7:03
    and the development
    of chemical photography,
  • 7:03 - 7:05
    that fixing the image
    became a reality,
  • 7:06 - 7:08
    and photography took
    its first steps
  • 7:08 - 7:11
    into the recognizable form
    that it is today.
  • 7:11 - 7:13
    As far back as the 13th century,
  • 7:13 - 7:16
    it was known that some
    chemicals darkened
  • 7:16 - 7:19
    or changed color
    when exposed to light.
  • 7:19 - 7:22
    Albertus Magnus,
    in the 13th century,
  • 7:22 - 7:23
    was one of the first people
  • 7:23 - 7:27
    to note that silver nitrate
    darkened when exposed to light.
  • 7:27 - 7:29
    In the 17th century,
  • 7:29 - 7:33
    Robert Boyle reported silver
    chloride turned black
  • 7:33 - 7:35
    after exposure to air,
  • 7:35 - 7:38
    although this was,
    in fact, sunlight.
  • 7:38 - 7:44
    In 1727 Johann Heinrich Schulze
    discovered that certain liquids
  • 7:44 - 7:46
    could be prepared
    that would change color
  • 7:46 - 7:50
    when exposed to light.
    At the end of the 18th century
  • 7:50 - 7:53
    and the beginning
    of the 19th century,
  • 7:53 - 7:55
    Thomas Wedgwood
    conducted experiments
  • 7:55 - 7:57
    where he captured silhouettes
  • 7:57 - 8:01
    of objects using paper covered
    with silver nitrate.
  • 8:01 - 8:04
    That's making him one
    of the first ever
  • 8:04 - 8:06
    pioneers of photography.
  • 8:06 - 8:10
    It was not until the work of two
    French inventors and scientists
  • 8:10 - 8:15
    that fixing a still image using
    chemical means became a reality.
  • 8:15 - 8:18
    They were Nicephore Niepce
    and Louis Daguerre.
  • 8:18 - 8:21
    Working in conjunction
    they developed a process
  • 8:21 - 8:23
    to produce fixed images.
  • 8:23 - 8:26
    Unfortunately,
    Nicephore Niepce died
  • 8:26 - 8:28
    before the work was completed.
  • 8:28 - 8:32
    But by 1839, Daguerre had
    perfected the process
  • 8:32 - 8:36
    and it was announced at
    the French Academy of Sciences.
  • 8:36 - 8:39
    This process was
    called daguerreotype
  • 8:39 - 8:43
    and produced some of the very
    first photographic images.
  • 8:43 - 8:48
    This image taken in 1838,
    or early 1839,
  • 8:48 - 8:51
    was one of the first
    photos taken using
  • 8:51 - 8:53
    the daguerreotype process.
  • 8:53 - 8:56
    Its exposure time was
    about 10 minutes,
  • 8:56 - 8:59
    meaning a man standing still
    having his shoes cleaned
  • 8:59 - 9:03
    was the only person
    captured in the photo.
  • 9:03 - 9:05
    Daguerreotype type images
    were produced directly
  • 9:06 - 9:10
    onto a mirror polished silver
    plate bearing a coating
  • 9:10 - 9:16
    of silver halide particles
    deposited by iodine vapor.
  • 9:16 - 9:19
    But the images that were
    produced were very delicate
  • 9:19 - 9:23
    and could be destroyed by even
    the slightest handling.
  • 9:23 - 9:25
    In the year of 1839,
  • 9:25 - 9:28
    an English inventor
    called William Fox Talbot
  • 9:28 - 9:30
    had been working
    on his own type
  • 9:30 - 9:33
    of chemical photographic
    process.
  • 9:33 - 9:37
    This process called the calotype
    process was to greatly advance
  • 9:37 - 9:40
    a practical application
    of photography.
  • 9:40 - 9:42
    The calotype process created
    the method
  • 9:42 - 9:45
    of negative positive
    photographic images,
  • 9:45 - 9:48
    and this is a precursor
    to most photography processes
  • 9:48 - 9:52
    of the 19th, 20th,
    and 21st centuries,
  • 9:52 - 9:55
    making William Talbot
    a very important figure
  • 9:55 - 9:57
    in the history of photography
    and cinema.
  • 9:57 - 9:59
    The calotype process
    also allowed for photos
  • 9:59 - 10:01
    to be developed on paper;
  • 10:01 - 10:04
    that's allowing photography
    to be open to the masses.
  • 10:04 - 10:07
    And the same photo could be
    produced again and again
  • 10:07 - 10:10
    using the negative image.
  • 10:10 - 10:12
    In 1849, in France,
  • 10:12 - 10:14
    Joseph Plateau was one
    of the first
  • 10:14 - 10:18
    to suggest using a device called
    the phenakistoscope
  • 10:18 - 10:19
    to project photos.
  • 10:19 - 10:24
    This device, developed in 1839,
    was similar to the zoetrope
  • 10:24 - 10:27
    but more advanced.
  • 10:27 - 10:32
    Later, in 1877, a device called
    the praxinoscope
  • 10:32 - 10:36
    was created
    by Charles-Emile Reynaud.
  • 10:36 - 10:39
    This was another technological
    advancement from the zoetrope,
  • 10:39 - 10:45
    and in 1889, he created
    the Theatre Optique
  • 10:45 - 10:49
    using the praxinoscope
    not only to rotate images
  • 10:49 - 10:51
    but also, using
    an adapted magic lantern,
  • 10:51 - 10:54
    he projected these images
    on to a screen.
  • 10:54 - 10:56
    But the static photos
    used at the time
  • 10:56 - 10:58
    in such devices proved
    to be little better
  • 10:58 - 11:03
    than pictures in a way of
    recording action simultaneously
  • 11:03 - 11:06
    as it occurred was needed.
  • 11:06 - 11:09
    Two great innovators were
    to work in this field
  • 11:09 - 11:12
    and develop a process
    of series photography allowing
  • 11:12 - 11:16
    the capturing of multiple images
    in chronological order.
  • 11:16 - 11:20
    They were Etienne-Jules Marey
    and Eadweard Muybridge.
  • 11:20 - 11:22
    Eadweard Muybridge
    is most famous
  • 11:22 - 11:25
    for his sequence of photos
    of a horse race,
  • 11:25 - 11:29
    proving that a horse does
    lift all hooves
  • 11:29 - 11:32
    off the ground when it gallops.
  • 11:32 - 11:34
    This work was commissioned
    for a bet
  • 11:34 - 11:38
    by the governor of California,
    Leland Stanford.
  • 11:38 - 11:42
    Muybridge proved
    the governor correct in 1879
  • 11:42 - 11:45
    by using film that
    had fast exposure time
  • 11:45 - 11:47
    in a lineup of 12 cameras,
  • 11:47 - 11:50
    all taking single shots
    in quick succession
  • 11:50 - 11:54
    following the motion
    of the horse.
  • 11:54 - 11:58
    Muybridge then went
    on to develop the zoopraxiscope,
  • 11:58 - 11:59
    which cast onto a screen
  • 11:59 - 12:02
    the drawings made
    of his photographs.
  • 12:03 - 12:04
    Although this was projection,
  • 12:04 - 12:09
    it was a big
    step towards it.
  • 12:09 - 12:13
    In 1882, Etienne-Jules
    Marey adapted a device
  • 12:13 - 12:17
    called the photographic revolver
    to take a series of photos.
  • 12:17 - 12:21
    At first, a revolving
    plate was used to record
  • 12:21 - 12:26
    a dozen instantaneous images
    in the course of one second.
  • 12:26 - 12:29
    After various experimentations
    and adaptations,
  • 12:30 - 12:33
    Marey eventually turned
    to celluloid film developed
  • 12:33 - 12:35
    by the Eastman Kodak Company
  • 12:35 - 12:38
    to produce continuous
    strips of images.
  • 12:38 - 12:42
    Marey went on to produce
    numerous photo sequences,
  • 12:42 - 12:45
    and, although he did try,
    he was not able to develop
  • 12:45 - 12:50
    a projection device
    for moving photographic images.
  • 12:50 - 12:52
    It was a French inventor
    by the name of Louis Le Prince
  • 12:52 - 12:58
    who is recognized to have
    recorded the first ever
  • 12:58 - 13:01
    motion captured
    sequences in 1888.
  • 13:01 - 13:07
    The first short sequences
    of moving images ever filmed
  • 13:07 - 13:09
    were the "Roundhay Garden Scene"
  • 13:09 - 13:12
    and the Leeds Bridge scene,
  • 13:12 - 13:14
    These filmed scenes
    are recognized
  • 13:14 - 13:20
    as the first ever motion capture
    cinematography sequences.
  • 13:20 - 13:24
    However, it will forever
    remain a mystery
  • 13:24 - 13:27
    as to the success Le Prince
    may have gone to achieve
  • 13:27 - 13:31
    and what happened to him
    in 1890.
  • 13:31 - 13:35
    For in 1890,
    after seeing his brother,
  • 13:35 - 13:38
    he boarded a train in Dijon
    that was heading for Paris
  • 13:38 - 13:42
    where he would meet with friends
    and then go on to America,
  • 13:42 - 13:46
    where he was planning to patent
    his single lens camera.
  • 13:46 - 13:48
    But he never made it to Paris,
  • 13:48 - 13:52
    and his luggage, including
    his camera, was never found.
  • 13:52 - 13:55
    After extensive searches
    by the French police,
  • 13:55 - 13:58
    Scotland Yard,
    and Le Prince's family,
  • 13:58 - 13:59
    not a solid clue
  • 13:59 - 14:03
    to his disappearance
    was ever discovered.
  • 14:03 - 14:06
    There remains till this day
    a large amount of speculation
  • 14:06 - 14:10
    about Le Prince's disappearance.
  • 14:10 - 14:12
    It is unlikely we will ever know
    what happened to Le Prince,
  • 14:12 - 14:16
    but above all else, he should be
    remembered for a contribution
  • 14:16 - 14:19
    he made towards cinema.
  • 14:19 - 14:23
    At about the same time,
    Thomas Alva Edison
  • 14:23 - 14:28
    was also developing motion
    capture cinematography.
  • 14:28 - 14:31
    Edison was to fund
    his head engineer
  • 14:31 - 14:34
    William Kennedy-Laurie Dickson
  • 14:34 - 14:38
    in the development of a photo
    sequence capture camera.
  • 14:38 - 14:41
    Dickson, developing
    and adapting elements
  • 14:41 - 14:45
    from all other motion capturing
    devices and knowledge,
  • 14:45 - 14:51
    developed a film camera called
    the Kinetograph in 1890.
  • 14:51 - 14:54
    A year later, developed
    he developed the Kinetoscope,
  • 14:54 - 14:58
    a large device to view
    the motion captured images.
  • 14:58 - 15:02
    Edison also set up the first
    ever movie studio
  • 15:02 - 15:04
    in the early 1890s,
  • 15:04 - 15:08
    where various but limited
    footage was shot
  • 15:08 - 15:11
    including the Rice-Irwin kiss,
  • 15:11 - 15:13
    and the "Fred Ott's Sneeze."
  • 15:13 - 15:17
    These short movies were limited
    to the technology at the time,
  • 15:17 - 15:20
    with most being unedited
    lengths of celluloid
  • 15:20 - 15:23
    no longer than the strips
    of celluloid themselves.
  • 15:23 - 15:26
    The Kinetoscope was not
    a projection device though.
  • 15:26 - 15:30
    And Edison unwisely disregarded
    the possibilities of projection,
  • 15:30 - 15:33
    and concentrated on peep shows,
    thinking they would be just
  • 15:33 - 15:38
    another whim in
    a novelty-hungry age.
  • 15:38 - 15:41
    During the same period,
    two French brothers
  • 15:41 - 15:45
    were working on their own film
    capturing and projection device.
  • 15:45 - 15:47
    This device, the cinematograph,
  • 15:47 - 15:50
    was to bring about the dawn
    of modern cinema,
  • 15:50 - 15:54
    and it was the Lumiere brothers
    who were the inventors.
  • 15:54 - 15:58
    It was in 1895,
    on the 28th of December,
  • 15:58 - 16:00
    that one of the most famous
    film screenings
  • 16:01 - 16:03
    in film history took place.
  • 16:03 - 16:06
    It was held at
    the Grand Cafe in Paris,
  • 16:06 - 16:08
    and customers paid one franc
  • 16:08 - 16:12
    for the screening
    of 10 short Lumiere films.
  • 16:12 - 16:16
    The screening lasted
    for about 25 minutes.
  • 16:16 - 16:18
    The films included,
    amongst others,
  • 16:18 - 16:21
    "Workers Leaving
    the Lumiere Factory"
  • 16:21 - 16:24
    in Cordeliers' Square in Lyon.
  • 16:24 - 16:27
    What the Lumiere brothers had
    achieved using the combination
  • 16:27 - 16:30
    and development
    of previous technology
  • 16:30 - 16:34
    was a workable way of
    combining the Kinetoscope,
  • 16:34 - 16:37
    or viewing device,
    with a magic lantern,
  • 16:37 - 16:41
    thus projecting a sequence
    of photos to create the illusion
  • 16:41 - 16:45
    of a moving image,
    or as it is also known:
  • 16:45 - 16:47
    cinematography.
  • 16:47 - 16:49
    It must be mentioned
    that the Lumiere brothers
  • 16:49 - 16:53
    had done screenings before using
    their projection device,
  • 16:53 - 16:57
    but this is the date
    that has gone down in history
  • 16:57 - 16:59
    and is one
    of the first screenings
  • 16:59 - 17:01
    to charge an entrance fee,
  • 17:01 - 17:03
    one of the foundations
    of modern cinema.
  • 17:03 - 17:07
    The Lumieres also should be
    celebrated for they stand high
  • 17:07 - 17:10
    in the rank of film innovators
    in history,
  • 17:10 - 17:15
    along with the assistance
    of the inventor Jules Carpentier
  • 17:15 - 17:18
    at their photographic firm,
    they invented the cinematograph,
  • 17:18 - 17:22
    a three-in-one device
    that could film, print,
  • 17:22 - 17:24
    and project images.
  • 17:24 - 17:27
    It was hand-crankable,
    portable,
  • 17:27 - 17:28
    and soon after its invention,
  • 17:28 - 17:32
    it was being used
    around the world.
  • 17:32 - 17:34
    Interestingly,
    the Lumiere brothers believed
  • 17:34 - 17:37
    that the cinema of
    film projection
  • 17:37 - 17:39
    will be a short-lived
    form of entertainment,
  • 17:39 - 17:42
    and audiences would soon
    become bored of the novelty
  • 17:42 - 17:44
    and not to wish to pay
    for motion images
  • 17:44 - 17:47
    that they could see
    with their own eyes free.
  • 17:47 - 17:50
    Louis Lumiere is famously
    quoted as saying,
  • 17:50 - 17:56
    "The cinema is an invention
    without a future."
  • 17:56 - 17:59
    The audiences had other ideas
  • 17:59 - 18:00
    and loved the new form
    of entertainment,
  • 18:00 - 18:04
    constantly creating
    a demand for cinema.
  • 18:04 - 18:07
    As technology of cinema
    took film advanced,
  • 18:07 - 18:10
    so could the creative output
    using the new medium.
  • 18:10 - 18:13
    One of the forebearers
    to take advantage
  • 18:13 - 18:15
    and develop the creative aspects
  • 18:15 - 18:18
    of cinematography
    was Georges Melies.
  • 18:18 - 18:20
    He is considered by some to be
  • 18:20 - 18:22
    the father of the
    narrative film,
  • 18:22 - 18:24
    and whom D.W. Griffith
  • 18:24 - 18:28
    is quoted as saying,
    "I owe him everything."
  • 18:28 - 18:34
    Melies made over 500 films
    from 1896 to 1906.
  • 18:34 - 18:36
    He was one of the first people
  • 18:36 - 18:40
    to introduce cutting
    and chronological editing,
  • 18:40 - 18:42
    as we see in the movies today.
  • 18:42 - 18:44
    It was also at this time
    the public demand
  • 18:44 - 18:50
    for the movies was increasingly
    and unexpectedly growing.
  • 18:50 - 18:52
    Around the same time
  • 18:52 - 18:55
    that Melies was making
    his first short films,
  • 18:55 - 19:00
    Edwin S. Porter, in 1903,
    working for Edison,
  • 19:00 - 19:04
    made the "Life of
    an American Fireman,"
  • 19:04 - 19:07
    which displayed new visual
    story telling techniques
  • 19:07 - 19:12
    and incorporated stock footage
    with Porter's own photography.
  • 19:12 - 19:17
    It acted as a major precursor
    to Porter's most famous film,
  • 19:17 - 19:21
    "The Great Train Robbery,"
    also made in 1903.
  • 19:21 - 19:24
    This had a running time
    of 12 minutes
  • 19:24 - 19:28
    and is considered a milestone
    in narrative filmmaking,
  • 19:28 - 19:31
    and one of the first films
    to tell a story,
  • 19:31 - 19:36
    albeit a simple one.
  • 19:36 - 19:39
    The first ever device developed
    to record sound
  • 19:39 - 19:42
    before the phonograph was called
    the phonautograph.
  • 19:42 - 19:48
    This was invented in 1857
    by Edouard-Leon Scott in France.
  • 19:48 - 19:53
    This device transcribed
    soundwaves onto a visual medium.
  • 19:53 - 19:59
    The first medium of which was
    a lampblackened glass plate,
  • 19:59 - 20:03
    but this device had no means
    of playing the recordings back.
  • 20:03 - 20:06
    A fascinating insight into this
    period of sound recording
  • 20:06 - 20:10
    was that it was not
    realized at the time
  • 20:10 - 20:12
    that the waveform transcribed
  • 20:12 - 20:16
    by the phonautograph was
    a recording of the soundwave
  • 20:16 - 20:19
    that only needed
    a playback mechanism
  • 20:19 - 20:23
    to replicate the sound.
  • 20:23 - 20:28
    In 1895, Thomas Edison
    introduced the Kinetephone,
  • 20:28 - 20:33
    which marks the first time sound
    was added to cinematography.
  • 20:33 - 20:35
    The Kinetephone was not
    a projection device,
  • 20:35 - 20:39
    and sound was added
    using a device called
  • 20:39 - 20:43
    a cylinder phonograph that was
    added to the Kinetescope
  • 20:43 - 20:46
    to produce the Kinetephone.
  • 20:46 - 20:48
    It was in 1899 that
    a sound system called
  • 20:48 - 20:52
    Cinemacrophonographe,
  • 20:52 - 20:55
    or Phonorama,
    was exhibited in Paris.
  • 20:55 - 20:58
    This device required headphones
    to hear the sound
  • 20:58 - 21:02
    which was similar
    to the Kinetephone.
  • 21:02 - 21:06
    It was not until Clement Maurice
    and Henri Lioret,
  • 21:06 - 21:09
    in France, developed
    the Phono-Cinema-Theatre
  • 21:09 - 21:13
    that allowed the projection
    of sound in theatres.
  • 21:13 - 21:17
    This system was first exhibited
    at the Paris Exposition in 1900,
  • 21:17 - 21:21
    and is considered
    the first public projection
  • 21:21 - 21:25
    of both recorded sound
    and motion image.
  • 21:25 - 21:27
    Meanwhile, silent
    film production was starting
  • 21:27 - 21:29
    to gain pace around the world,
  • 21:29 - 21:31
    and what is considered the first
    feature length film
  • 21:31 - 21:34
    was made in 1906 by Charles Tait
    in Australia.
  • 21:34 - 21:37
    It was called
    "The Ned Kelly Gang."
  • 21:37 - 21:41
    At 70 minutes long it had
    an unprecedented running time
  • 21:41 - 21:46
    and only made in a budget
    of around $2,250,
  • 21:46 - 21:48
    although the complete film
    has since been lost,
  • 21:48 - 21:53
    with only around 12 minutes
    running time left in existence.
  • 21:53 - 21:55
    As film technology advanced,
  • 21:55 - 21:58
    so did the creative and
    storytelling possibilities.
  • 21:58 - 22:01
    It was in the first part
    of the 20th century
  • 22:02 - 22:03
    that one of the first
    famous film directors
  • 22:03 - 22:04
    came to prominence.
  • 22:04 - 22:07
    His name was D.W. Griffith,
  • 22:07 - 22:11
    and he's considered one of
    the fathers of modern cinema.
  • 22:11 - 22:15
    It was in 1908 that
    a young D.W. Griffith
  • 22:15 - 22:17
    made his first movie,
  • 22:17 - 22:19
    "The Adventures
    of Dollie."
  • 22:19 - 22:22
    Still in the period of
    silent film production,
  • 22:22 - 22:25
    its narrative structure and
    editing were to set the way
  • 22:25 - 22:28
    with Griffith's coming skill
    with filmmaking.
  • 22:28 - 22:31
    He was to develop filmic
    techniques and codes
  • 22:31 - 22:34
    that brought in-depth narrative
    storytelling to cinema.
  • 22:34 - 22:37
    He directed around 450 films
    and was one of the most
  • 22:37 - 22:40
    successful directors
    of his time.
  • 22:40 - 22:44
    One of his most notable films,
    "Birth of a Nation,"
  • 22:44 - 22:46
    made in 1915 and based on Thomas
  • 22:46 - 22:49
    Dixon's American
    Civil War movies,
  • 22:49 - 22:52
    was racist and showed
    a lack of integrity
  • 22:52 - 22:54
    in portray African-Americans.
  • 22:54 - 22:56
    He would respond to criticism
    about this film
  • 22:56 - 22:59
    by making "Intolerance,"
    showed in 1916.
  • 22:59 - 23:04
    This movie used some of the
    biggest film sets and crew sizes
  • 23:04 - 23:05
    ever at that time.
  • 23:05 - 23:10
    The story portrayed 2,500 years
    of history and showed how truth
  • 23:10 - 23:14
    and justice are threatened
    by hypocrisy and injustice.
  • 23:14 - 23:16
    Although audience reaction
    was muted at best,
  • 23:16 - 23:20
    Griffith's career faulted
    after 1916,
  • 23:20 - 23:23
    and in 1931, when a
    film he made called
  • 23:23 - 23:25
    "The Struggle" was a failure,
  • 23:25 - 23:29
    he would endure a 17-year
    exile from Hollywood,
  • 23:29 - 23:32
    never to return to his
    once high status.
  • 23:32 - 23:35
    Griffith certainly was not
    the only person developing
  • 23:35 - 23:37
    filmic codes and narratives,
  • 23:37 - 23:40
    and his work was in part
    continuing on from others
  • 23:40 - 23:44
    such as Georges Melies
    and Edwin S. Porter.
  • 23:44 - 23:47
    Whatever you may think
    about Griffith,
  • 23:47 - 23:50
    his work showed cinema
    technology had entered a truly
  • 23:50 - 23:54
    advanced form of storytelling
    and narrative construction.
  • 23:54 - 23:57
    In Russia, at the beginning
    of the 20th century,
  • 23:57 - 23:59
    not long after D.W. Griffith
  • 23:59 - 24:02
    was setting forth
    his place in cinematic history,
  • 24:02 - 24:06
    the Russian director,
    Sergei Eisenstein,
  • 24:06 - 24:10
    was developing his own
    distinct form of cinema.
  • 24:10 - 24:15
    In the 1920s, Russian montage,
    as it is known,
  • 24:15 - 24:19
    came to be a prominent
    filmmaking style in Russia.
  • 24:19 - 24:23
    The basic concept of montage
    relies heavily upon editing
  • 24:23 - 24:27
    and creating meaning through
    the collaboration of shots
  • 24:27 - 24:29
    in a sequence and not
    from a storyline.
  • 24:30 - 24:33
    For example, the three shots
    that are shown here
  • 24:34 - 24:37
    are taken from Eisenstein's
    "Battleship Potemkin."
  • 24:37 - 24:38
    They are played in sequence
  • 24:39 - 24:42
    to signify the meaning
    of Soviet Russia
  • 24:42 - 24:44
    rising up against
    the oppression of the czar.
  • 24:44 - 24:48
    The term "montage" literally
    means putting together,
  • 24:48 - 24:51
    and for an over-simplified
    example:
  • 24:51 - 24:53
    if you place a shot of an ear,
  • 24:53 - 24:56
    then the shot of a door next
    to each other,
  • 24:56 - 25:01
    the meaning would be eavesdrop.
    This is montage in a nutshell.
  • 25:01 - 25:06
    In 1925, Eisenstein made one
    of his most famous films,
  • 25:06 - 25:09
    "Battleship Potemkin,"
    a revolutionary portrait
  • 25:09 - 25:12
    of mutiny aboard a Russian
    battleship
  • 25:12 - 25:16
    not long before
    the Russian Revolution.
  • 25:16 - 25:18
    Although praised by critics,
  • 25:18 - 25:21
    Russian audiences were
    indifferent to it
  • 25:21 - 25:24
    and much preferred entertaining
    and emotionally engaging
  • 25:24 - 25:27
    Hollywood-style
    continuity films.
  • 25:27 - 25:31
    Importantly, montage offered
    another approach
  • 25:31 - 25:34
    to filmmaking other
    than a continuity-based style,
  • 25:34 - 25:37
    and it also showed how far
    the technology of cinema
  • 25:37 - 25:43
    had come in a little
    more than 25 years.
  • 25:43 - 25:46
    The progress of sound recording
    and playback for cinema
  • 25:46 - 25:48
    had been steadily
    advancing,
  • 25:48 - 25:50
    although applying synchronized,
  • 25:50 - 25:54
    prerecorded sound to film had
    encountered many problems
  • 25:54 - 25:58
    such as recording fidelity,
    synchronizing sound to film,
  • 25:58 - 26:01
    and projecting sound
    at a satisfactory level.
  • 26:01 - 26:04
    These problems were to be
    overcome by the advance
  • 26:04 - 26:07
    of technology
    and innovation.
  • 26:07 - 26:12
    In 1919, an American inventor
    called Lee de Forest
  • 26:12 - 26:15
    developed one of the first
    sound-on-film technologies
  • 26:15 - 26:18
    for commercial application.
  • 26:18 - 26:21
    In Forest's system,
    which he called Phonofilm,
  • 26:21 - 26:24
    sound was photographically
    recorded onto one side
  • 26:24 - 26:28
    of a strip of film to create
    what was called a composite,
  • 26:28 - 26:33
    where simply two elements have
    been composited together.
  • 26:33 - 26:35
    If the sound was synchronized
    exactly to the film,
  • 26:35 - 26:38
    the playback would be perfect.
  • 26:38 - 26:41
    Another system developed
    and used in the first part
  • 26:41 - 26:43
    of the 20th century was called
    the Vitaphone.
  • 26:43 - 26:46
    The Vitaphone was
    a disc-based system produced
  • 26:46 - 26:50
    by General Electric and
    purchased by Warner Brothers.
  • 26:50 - 26:52
    The Vitaphone did not
    print sound to film,
  • 26:52 - 26:56
    but on to 16 inch
    phonograph records.
  • 26:56 - 26:59
    These records were then
    played using Vitaphone systems
  • 26:59 - 27:05
    at theatres where the film they
    were produced for was playing.
  • 27:05 - 27:07
    There were many problems
    with the Vitaphone system
  • 27:07 - 27:09
    including synchronization
    with the film,
  • 27:09 - 27:11
    being projected, and
    the phonograph records
  • 27:11 - 27:14
    which could not be edited and
    limited the corrective output
  • 27:14 - 27:17
    for films using
    the Vitaphone system.
  • 27:17 - 27:20
    Taking into account numerous
    technological improvements,
  • 27:20 - 27:22
    it would be sound on film
  • 27:22 - 27:25
    that would eventually become
    the universal standard
  • 27:25 - 27:27
    for synchronized sound
    in cinema.
  • 27:27 - 27:30
    It was in 1927
    that one of the first movies
  • 27:30 - 27:32
    ever produced contained
    synchronized dialogue
  • 27:32 - 27:36
    sequences was released
    to the movie going public.
  • 27:36 - 27:40
    This film was "The Jazz Singer"
    and it used a Vitaphone system.
  • 27:40 - 27:41
    There had been other films
  • 27:42 - 27:44
    that had used synchronized
    sound and music,
  • 27:44 - 27:47
    such as "Don Juan"
    released in 1926,
  • 27:47 - 27:53
    that had a musical score played
    by the New York Philharmonic.
  • 27:53 - 27:55
    "The Jazz Singer"
    was the first to have dialogue
  • 27:55 - 27:57
    which accounted
    for about 25 percent
  • 27:57 - 27:59
    of the soundtrack in the movie.
  • 27:59 - 28:03
    The movie heralded the coming
    of the so-called talkies
  • 28:03 - 28:05
    and signaled the start
    of the end for silent films
  • 28:05 - 28:08
    where talkies were ultimately
    more popular
  • 28:08 - 28:10
    and technologically advanced.
  • 28:10 - 28:13
    The movie itself is based
    on a stage play
  • 28:13 - 28:15
    by Samson Raphaelson.
  • 28:15 - 28:17
    It has a culturally
    complex storyline,
  • 28:17 - 28:20
    with a young Jewish man trying
    to make it as a jazz singer
  • 28:20 - 28:22
    against the wishes
    of his father.
  • 28:22 - 28:24
    It was a signifier
    of the times
  • 28:24 - 28:28
    that so-called blackface
    makeup was used by Al Jolson,
  • 28:28 - 28:32
    who plays the lead role.
    This was naively racist at best,
  • 28:32 - 28:35
    and was used to take on
    the appearance of an archetype
  • 28:35 - 28:37
    of African-Americans,
  • 28:37 - 28:38
    although there is
    the assimilation
  • 28:38 - 28:40
    of African-Americans and Jews
  • 28:40 - 28:43
    experiencing similar
    identities as outsiders,
  • 28:43 - 28:49
    and this is something that is
    put across in the film.
  • 28:49 - 28:52
    At this point,
    cinema had come a long way
  • 28:52 - 28:55
    bringing together
    motion image and sound
  • 28:55 - 28:57
    with many brilliant innovations,
  • 28:57 - 29:00
    inventions, passion,
    and commitment,
  • 29:00 - 29:02
    creating one of the most unique
  • 29:02 - 29:05
    and inspiring art forms
    and entertainment
  • 29:05 - 29:08
    that has ever been produced
    in the history of the world,
  • 29:08 - 29:11
    establishing itself
    as a powerful element
  • 29:11 - 29:16
    in modern societies.
  • 29:16 - 29:19
    [ music ]
Title:
A Concise History of the Origins of Cinema (Revised Narration)
Description:

You can download the narration for free at: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Chris_J_Mitchell_A_Concise_History_of_the_Origins_?id=o7UnAwAAQBAJ

This documentary concisely covers the vastly complex history of the origins of Cinema. From the very first zoetropes and magic lanterns to the very first motion capture film cameras. Covering the key individuals involved in the creation of cinema, such as, Albertus Magnus, Eadweard Muybridge, Louis Le Prince and the Lumiere Brothers. Any film fan or anyone with an interest in the history of cinema will hopefully find this both interesting and enlightening.

Note: The narration was re-recorded as some people have commented that the audio is too quiet in this video. In the new narration I have also made an addition at 12:50, inserting a part about Louis Le Prince. Also at 18:05 I have made some minor amendments to the Georges Melies section. Please see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBahe2_sZk0

It is the first documentary I have ever made. Any questions please ask.

Note: The narration was re-recorded as some people have commented that the audio in the original version was too quite. In the new narration I have also made an addition at 12:50, inserting a part about Louis Le Prince. Also at 18:05 I have made some minor amendments to the Georges Melies section.

Please see the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEf-hjQrLTo about Louis Le Prince. This also references Friese Green.

more » « less
Duration:
29:48

English subtitles

Revisions