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All started with a bet
Film started as a bet. A few rich men sat around watching a race and one made a $25,000 bet saying that all of the horse's hooves come up off the ground mid-run. They used a camera that took fast pictures, thus winning the bet. -
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a mixture of unrelated entertainments ranging from singing, dancing, comedy, jugglers, and other things that would be considered "circus acts". There were at lest 10-15 acts per showing. The country's first Vaudeville Theater was opened in Boston. In 1896, Motion Pictures were introduced into Vaudeville as attractions. -
Thomas Edison invented the Peephole Kinetoscope
The Peephole Kinetoscope was only able to let one person watch. It was invented by Thomas Edison, who also invented the lightbulb, and William Dickson. Inside, there was a strip of film that passed between a lightbulb and lens. Edison thought of his invention as an insignificant toy. -
Lumiere Brothers invented Cinematographe
Auguste and Louis Lumiere created a film called "La Sortie des ouvriers de l'usine Lumiere" (which translates to "Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory") in 1895. It was considered the first motion picture. The projector they invented was used for both photography and projecting at 16 frames per second. -
The Great Train Robbery
Directed by Edwin Porter, "The Great Train Robbery" was the first narrative movie. It was the longest film made at the time, hitting the limit of 12 minutes (most movies back then were 30-60 seconds long). It was considered an epic. -
Nickelodeon
The Nickelodeon was developed by Dr. Vivian Horner. It was the first type of indoor exhibition space dedicated to showing motion pictures and only charged $.05 cents (which would be $1.43 today), hence why it was called NICKEL-odeon (-odeon meaning "music hall" in Greek). On the day of its opening, 450 people attended to the first Nickelodeon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. -
MPPC (Motion Picture Patents Company)
The MPPC was created by Thomas Edison and a few other companies. The MPP was basically a large company that owned everything in the film industry like the actors, cameras, etc. Smaller companies tried to compete but could not size up to the large industry. In 1915, the MPPC was terminated due to conflicts within the industry. -
Technicolor in film
Technicolor is a series of colors in a motion picture film. The first version was dated back to 1916 but wasn't widely used until about 1922 to 1952 in Hollywood. It was the second major color process, following up Britain's Kinemacolor. In 1939, The Wizard Of OZ was the first movie to be put in Technicolor. -
The first 3D film
The Power Of Love was the firs confirmed earliest 3D film which was premiered at the Ambassador Hotel Theater in LA. Charles Wheatstone invented 3D. It wasn't until January 16,200 that the first horror R-rated 3D movie was released to cinemas (over 2,000 screens showed this movie). -
Pre-Code Hollywood
This was the era in the American film industry where they started to put sound to pictures and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines. It did not become fully enforced until July 1, 1934 due to poor oversight. Around that time, the Production Code Administration (PCA) was established. -
Motion Picture ratings
The PG-13 was introduced in 1984 which gave a warning on what the film would be involved with. PG meaning Parental Guidance. The first film to come out with a rating was 1984 John Milius war film Red Dawn. -
Most expensive movie
The Titanic came into theaters mid-December in 1997. The movie costed over $580 million. The film showed the history of the Titanic and also a love story between Rose and Jack.
