History of Cinema

Lumiere Brothers

The brothers were around in the 1800's to 1900's, in the 1890's they were one of the biggest manufacturers of photographic plates. When 17, Louis went and invented the new 'dry plate' process of developing film. 

In early 1895, they soon came up with their own device, the Cinematographe. Which was smaller and lighter than the Kinetoscope, it photographed and projected film at 16 frames a second, as opposed to our more modern 30-60 frames per second. The same size as a hand-held camera, it differed from the Kinetoscope in many ways. They were also quick to patent their invention abroad, thus the chances of copies being made were very unlikely due to their success.

They were keen on testing and toying with different kinds of plates and such, which lead to their invention coming to be made.

This device was slower than Edison's device (which photographed and projected film at 48 frames per second). The mechanism had two pins or claws were placed into hole pinched into the film strip, then they were moved along the film and retracted. It was based off of the mechanisms used in sewing machines, which explains the similar kind of machinery.

Their first public screening was in December 28th, 1894, at the Grand Cafe on Paris' Boulevard de Capuchines, Named 'Le Sortie de usines Lumiere'.

Georges Melies

Born on December 8th, 1861, his father moved to Paris 1843 and was a shoemaker, beginning to work at a boot factory.  Years into the future, Georges ended up returning to Paris, France, aiming to study painting at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, without much of a support financially from his father, he ended up supervising machinery at the family factory to support an income.

This didn't stop his passion however, as he started to be intrigued by stage magic, he began to visit performances and also took magic lessons from Emile Voisin. These combined made him very adept at fooling the eyes of the common man, he soon was granted the opportunity to perform his first ever shows. His first shows were held in the Cabinet Fantastique of the Grevin Wax Museum, and soon after that, the Galerie Vivienne.

Beginning of the Film Career

On December 27th, 1895, Melies attended a private demonstration of the Cinematograph, made by the Lumiere brothers. Within seconds, Melies instantly offered the Lumieres 10,000F for one of their machines they they had on offer at the time.

However, the brothers were actually hesitant to accept the offer, they then declined the offer too, they wanted to keep close eyes on their own invention, they also refused an offer of 20,000F from someone else for the same reason.

Melies had an intention to find a film projector for the Theatre Robin-Houdin, many other inventors in America and Europe were trying to experiment with machines very similar to Lumiere's one. 

Melies ended up in London at one point, he bought an Animatograph from someone, as well as several short films sold by the seller and by the 'Edison Manufacturing Company'.

After studying the design of the Animatograph, modified the machine so that it would perform as a film camera. Raw film stock and processing labs weren't available in Paris, so Melies then purchased unperforated film in London, he then personally devloped and printed his films through trial and error.

Melies directed over 500 films between 1896 and 1913, ranging in length from one to forty minutes. He also created the editing technique of a 'jump-cut', which he discovered by filming a bus, then his camera jammed, once sorted out he continued his filming nonetheless, and a hearse was there instead.

At the exact point where the bus had gone, the hearse was at the point where the bus disappeared at, this lead to making an iconic function in editing, this was a jump-cut.

Edwin Porter

Born in Connellsville, Pennsylvania to a merchant by the name of Thomas Richard Porter and Mary Porter. Porter worked many variations of jobs, including a sign painter and a telegraph operator, he was interested in electricity at young age, and shared a parent at age 21 for a lamp generator.

Porter entered motion picture work in 1896, the first year movies were commercially projected onto large screens and gaining the reputation they have today. He was shortly employed in New York City by Raff And Gammon, agents for films and equipment made by Thomas Edison.

Porter traveled through the West Indies and South America, taking films and showing them off at various places including open fields. He also did a tour through Canada and even The United States, he was one to have a high amount of creativity on his films, he was in control, he often had live narration with his films and also music.

Edison Manufacturing

By the year 1899, Porter had come into contact and joined the Edison Manufacturing Company, very soon after he began to take charge of movie production at Edison's New York studios, a remarkable feat. He had the role of operating the camera equipment, directing actors on what to do, how to do it and when, and making the final print.

Porter worked with many other filmmakers, one of which was George S. Fleming, in the next ten years Porter become one of, if not the most influential filmmaker in the US.

The earliest film he made in this phase was 'Terrible Teddy, the Grizzly King', which was a satire film which was made in February 1901. It was about the Vice President reelection, which at that point was Theodore Roosevelt. Needless to say he had quite the sense of humour and guts to make a film such as this.

Porter created the editing technique of 'dissolves', these are transitions from one image to another, where the shot you're watching degrades into the next shot to make a smooth cut. He used it in one of his famous films, 'Life of an American Fireman', which proved effective to the audience.

Dawn of The Great Train Robbery

Without a doubt one of his most notable films ever made, 'The Great Train Robbery' was a film made by Edwin Porter, he had made an American Western story, which was familiar to many audiences and created a visual story within itself of its own merits. 

It was a one-reel film, with a run-time of twelve minutes, and only contained twenty shots, one of which was a unique shot for the time of a bandit firing at the camera. The film was very successful and popular, and Porter didn't stop there, afterwards he went on to make and create more techniques.

In 'The Kleptomaniac' he told two stories taking place simultaneously, and it was quite a spectacle for those who saw what he did and caught on to what he was doing. In another film 'The Ex-Convict', he made side lighting, close-ups and changed shots within a scene, and it's known as one of the first and earliest examples of a filmmaker doing something new and inventive, driving away from cliches.

D.W Griffith

Born on January 22nd, 1875, D.W Griffith was an American film director, he was well known for being the man who directed the film 'The Birth of a Nation' in 1915 and 'Intolerance' in 1916.

The Start of His Films & 'The Birth of a Nation'

Griffith began making short films in the year 1908, his first actual feature film was in 1913, titled 'Judith of Bethulia'. However, his most notable film 'The Birth of a Nation' used many advanced techniques revolving around camera and narrative.

The film was very well-known, very popular and it is considered 'important' to some film historians, this is most likely due to it's controversial themes and it is therefore a piece of cinema history. In fact it's thanks to this film that the standards began to change in certain films. Griffith himself claimed that he didn't see the issues as he was brought up believing the standards that were contained in the film.

Another feat accomplished by this film was the fact that almost all previous feature length films, were less than an hour long, but this film took that rule and threw it away. The film is still one of his most memorable films that he made (for better or for worse) and it stands on it's own as a film for time to come.

Editing & Transitioning Shots

Griffith himself revolutionised editing, he was the mind who had the idea of making lively shots and making it so that action could be perceived from loads of angles, as opposed to Porter's more discrete cuts on scenes. This kept the audience more on their toes, this also made it so that people could understand the situation and scenario better on the film.

He also created many variations of transitions, and shots, these include: fade-in, fade-out, close-ups, moving-camera shots, full shots and flashbacks. These were many things to come up with and it's why he's one of the more memorable cinematographers as he set some of the things we use in film even today.

A close-up shot is when the camera focuses on an actor's face, and this is usually without showing the body, otherwise that would be a mid-shot, this kind of shot is effective for a tense situation or to assert a tone of seriousness to the situation.

A long shot is a shot where the actors are very minuscule and a lot of scenery can be seen in the shot, it's like if you can put about ten or more of the actors to fit the whole picture, it's a long shot.

A fade-in is something that is a transition from one scene to another, a fade in is usually where a shot starts out as a block of colour that covers the whole screen, i.e white or black, the slowly, the scene fades in. This can be used for dramatic effect or to start of a film effectively.

A fade-out is pretty much the opposite of a fade-in, the scene instead fades into a colour that covers the screen, i.e, white or black, this can be to end a scene with tension or to end a film with an emotional feeling.

Moving-camera shots are self explanatory, it's when a scene is taking place but the camera moves with the scene, with the actors, or slowly surveys the scenery and can capture the environment to understand the setting more.

A full-shot (A.K.A, a wide-shot) is where the actors or subjects in question take up the whole frame, or most of it, you can see their whole body and they fit into the camera's shot. Usually it's the actors but sometimes it can just be objects or animals too.

A flashback is a transition back to a point to earlier in the film, this can be to recap a certain event or it can be to just reinforce a point that the film may be trying to teach.

Griffith used all of these in his projects and we use these techniques today which goes to show how influential he was.