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First Public Demonstration of the Kinetoscope
The kinetoscope was the first motion-picture device ever created. It was developed for about four years before being shown off at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. The kinetoscope was only capable of showing very short films to single viewers at a time through a peephole. -
First Public Screening of a Cinematographic Film
After the Lumière brothers bought the rights for the first cinematograph, they started to develop their own films. The cinematograph worked as both a camera and a projector, and was the first form of projected film. The first public showing of a cinematographic film was held in Paris and organized by the Lumière brothers. -
First Use of Animation
The time animation was used was in 1899 by Arthur Melbourne-Cooper. He created a short film title "Matches: An Appeal". The purpose of the film was to get the audience to send matches to soldiers that were fighting in a war at the time. -
The First Narrative Film
"The Great Train Robbery" was the first film to have a coherent story-line. It was a silent cinematographic film that was about 12 minutes long, an exceptional run-time for the era. In the film, some bandits rob a train and all its passengers, but are then taken out in a shoot-out by another group that recovers the stolen goods. -
Nickelodeons Come About
Vaudevilles were small theaters dedicated to showing short comedic acts. At around this time, they slowly became more geared towards showing cinematographic films instead. These small movie theaters became known as "nickelodeons" because they only charged one nickel per film. -
The First Showing of a Feature Film
In 1906, the first ever multi-reel feature film was shown at the Athenaeum Hall in Australia. The film, "The Story of the Kelly Gang", was about an hour long. Before this, there were few multi-reel films, but not none; a few films about the life of Jesus Christ were made with multiple reels. -
Film Monopoly
Thomas Edison, along with several other companies, formed the Motion Picture Patents Company. The goal of this group was to control everything from film equipment to actors. Until its disbanding in 1918, making films privately was almost impossible due to this monopoly. -
First Natural-Color Film
A coloring technique called Kinemacolor was used to create the first ever natural-color (as in not hand colored) film. Titled "A Visit to the Seaside", the film was eight minutes long and showed people engaging in regular activities. This coloring technique was used until 1916, when Technicolor was created. -
Sound in Films
In the year of 1914, the first film with sound in it came to be. However, it wasn't until "The Jazz Singer", a film containing synced-up voice acting and singing (by way of recorded phonograph), came out in 1917 that everyone was convinced of the success of the "talking picture". By 1929, almost all films had sound. -
Charlie Chaplin Enters Films
Charlie Chaplin, today considered one of the most important figures in film history, started as an actor at around this time. He quickly became renowned as a genius of comedy and eventually went in to producing his own films. One of his most popular characters, the Tramp, was also very controversial, as he was often used to convey subtle meanings about economic inequality. -
2001: A Space Odyssey
The film "2001: A Space Odyssey" was released in 1968. Aside from being one of the most influential science fiction films of all time, 2001 was also noteworthy for its ground-breaking special effects. It contained many scenes with zero-gravity, and, of course, the famous Star Gate sequence, in which the main character is transported over huge expanses of space through a kind of vortex of colored lights, that required revolutionary special effect techniques and set the bar high for other films. -
First Use of CGI
CGI (computer generated image) is commonly used in film-making today. Unlike special effects, CGI can create anything the film-maker wants because it does not rely on real phenomena like fires but rather art and models rendered on a computer. CGI has allowed for films to contain more fictional content and has made special effects less necessary. The first usage of CGI was by a film called Westworld, a sci-fi western in which a cyborg is shown to have a HUD in their vision (made using CGI).
