History of motion pictures

1. The zoopraxiscope

Oct 21, 1879

The zoopraxiscope is an early device for displaying motion pictures. Created by photographic pioneer Eadweard Muybridge in 1879, it may be considered the first movie projector. The zoopraxiscope projected images from rotating glass disks in rapid succession to give the impression of motion.

First commercial roll film

Oct 25, 1889

In 1889, the first commercial transparent roll film, perfected by Eastman and his research chemist, was put on the market. The availability of this flexible film made possible the development of Thomas Edison's motion picture camera in 1891.

The Beginning of motion pictures

Oct 24, 1890

The history of film began in the 1890s, when motion picture cameras were invented and film production companies started to be established. Because of the limits of technology, films of the 1890s were under a minute long and until 1927 motion pictures were produced without sound

3. Thomas Edison's motion picture

Oct 21, 1891

Thomas Edison was interested in the motion pictures before 1888. However, the visit of Eadweard Muybridge to the inventor's laboratory in West Orange in February of that year certainly stimulated Edison's resolve to invent a motion picture camera. In 1891, the Edison company successfully demonstrated the Kinetoscope, which enabled one person at a time to view moving pictures.

2. The Lumière brothers

Mar 21, 1895

French brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière are often credited with inventing the first motion picture camera. What the Lumière brothers invented was special, however, a portable motion picture camera, film processing unit, and projector called the Cinematographe. It was basically a device with three functions in one. In 1895, Lumiere and his brother were the first to demonstrate photographic moving pictures projected onto a screen.

The Vitascope

Oct 25, 1895

The Vitascope was an early film projector first demonstrated in 1895 by Charles Francis Jenkins and Thomas Armat. Later in 1896, Edison showed his improved Vitascope projector, the first commercially successful projector in the U.S.

Film Studios

Oct 24, 1897

The first film studios were built in 1897. Special effects were introduced and film continuity, involving action moving from one sequence into another, began to be used.

Disney

Nov 18, 1928

Mickey Mouse's official birthday is November 18, 1928 when he made his first film debut in Steamboat Willie. This was the first Mickey Mouse cartoon released. Walt Disney invented Mickey Mouse and the multi-plane camera.

First Drive-in movie theater

Jun 6, 1933

On this day in 1933, eager motorists park their automobiles on the grounds of Park-In Theaters, the first-ever drive-in movie theater, located on Crescent Boulevard in Camden, New Jersey.

Film Colorization

Oct 24, 1983

Film Colorization was invented by Canadians Wilson Markle and Brian Hunt in 1983. Most of the classic black-and-white movies have been "colorized," mainly so that they can be shown on television in color. It turns out that the process used to add the color is extremely tedious -- someone has to work on the movie frame by frame, adding the colors one at a time to each part of the individual frame.