History Of Film

The History of Film 1878

A horse was ‘photographed’ using 24 stereoscopic cameras.

14th October, 1818

Roundhay Garden Scene was filmed which is usually considered to be earliest surviving film. The Silent Era

During the first few decades of film, technology was inadequate for sound to be produced alongside film. Therefore, cinemas usually accompanied films with live music performances who played music that was specifically written for the film in question. 1918

Silent film, Cupid Angling, the first motion picture to feature full colour.

April, 1923

The first, commercially produced, film with sound was screened in New York City. Such films were called ‘Sound Films’ (as opposed to ‘Silent Films’ or often dubbed ‘Talking Pictures’ (Talkies)

February, 1927

Paramount, MGM, Universal, First National, PDC agreed to choose one sound conversion provider. This standardized the technical intricacies of sound used in the industry.

May, 1927

A sound film was produced of Charles Lindbergh’s flight take off to Paris, claimed to be some of the most acclaimed sound films to date. They're Coming to Get Me, the first fiction film with sound.

October, 1927

The first major commercially successful ‘feature-length’ film, The Jazz Singer, was screened with synchronous sound.

May, 1928

United Artists and other Hollywood studios signed for numerous cinema upgrades, enabling all facilities to hold the capability for sound films. Hollywood, Film and Sound

Many studios were slow to take up sound in their film productions, with the exception of Warner Bros. who released several ‘talkies’ that were profitable. Many directors feared that dialogue and story would take precedent over the creativity of cinematic technique. However, due to the popularity of sound many studios hastened the pace and sound had become standard by the end of 1929. July, 1929

Warner Brosʼs On with the Show, was the first ever film to be released commercially in both full sound and full colour.

August, 1929

The final Hollywood totally silent film, Hoot Gibson Oater Points West, was screened.

The History of Film Originally the movie studios dominated the film and cinema market owning everything from the production aspects to the distribution systems and theaters, known as the ‘studio system’. This system was in place right from the 1920s through to the early 1950s. In 1938, in United States vs. Paramount Pictures, the United States Supreme Court decided that the major film studios dominated the market in a monopoly. After two years, the antitrust initiative forced the studios into agreeing to stop buying theaters and to get rid of blind booking distribution systems (requiring theaters to rent films without seeing them first). However, studios still had major control of the industry four years later, when another antitrust initiative was launched. This time, though, the studios had to sell off all of the theaters which they owned. Consequently, one of the main sources of revenue for the studios had vanished and banks were increasingly reluctant to lend money in order to finance new films and so the studios had to stop producing films and thus, leaving behind the financial risk. This gave way to a new system, where outside producers who were independent of the major studios produced films on a project by project basis. This was generally believed to be a much better, long-term system as the level of competition was seen to be healthy in keeping Hollywood alive.