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Eadweard Muybridge creates the first motion picture. (By accident)
On a bet involving a horse's hooves touching the ground, Muybridge unintentionally created a motion picture by taking multiple pictures of a horse in quick succession. This in turn was seen as the first creation of motion picture. Today, Muybridge is considered the father of cinema. -
Kinetoscope Parlors
Kinetoscopes were devices that could show one person a motion picture, key word being "ONE" person. As it was a fascinating machine for the time people gladly spent money to see the kinetoscopes. They were limited to only one person at a time because the inventor, Thomas Edison no less, knew that he'd make more money that way. -
Lumiere Brothers go on tour with their Cinematographe
The Cinematographe, an invention by two french brothers, Auguste and Louis Lumiere. The concept of their invention is the same as a kinetoscope except for very big difference, the cinematographe was for audiences. The brothers hit places like New York, Brussels, London, etc. -
The Release of The Great Train Robbery
The first narrative film, The Great Train Robbery is released. The film was directed by an Edwin Porter, an employee of Thomas Edison. The film's runtime was 12 minutes, at the time this was seen as long as Return of The King Extended Cut. -
Vaudevilles/ Nickelodeons
In the early 1900s small theaters began to show short skits, comedy routines, or even song and dance numbers. The format was quite popular, so people utilized its popularity and slotted in short films in between acts. This eventually became known as Nickelodeons. -
Cinema moves to Southern California
Due to Thomas Edison's monopoly in the form of the MPPC (Motion Picture Patent Company) film makers had a though time trying to make films in New York. As a result many at the time independent film makers went to southern California in order to film their movies. The reasoning behind it was that the weather was more suitable for movie shoots and if Edison an Co. came after them they could hurry over to Mexico and be safe. -
The First Academy Awards Ceremony
At this point the Academy Awards were not called The Oscars. The first of now 90 awards ceremonies was not seen to anyone as a big deal, with many wearing clothing off-the-rack and only 270 people in attendance. Today, thanks to growth in the film industry the Academy Awards are now a very much revered awards ceremony. -
The Release of Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane, a movie that at its time of release was praised for it's narrative structure, music, editing and cinematography (and is still praised today) . The film was seen as an innovation in every sense of a film. This was also director Orson Welles first film, which went on to win an academy award for best writing. (original screenplay) -
The Release of Ben-Hur
The film Ben-Hur changed the way films were made, boasting a massive budget for it's time at $15.175 million. The movie innovated movie set design, with the largest set ever built. Every aspect of this movie redefined the norm for all films going forward, with advances in cinematography all the way to costume design, a masterpiece. Currently holds the record for most Oscars at 11. (Tied with Titanic and The Return of The King) -
MPAA Rating System
For the years leading up to the late 60s, film makers were given a code to follow in order to keep their films publicly friendly. As the years went on less and less film makers followed the code. This prompted the people who had made the original code to make a rating system in order to inform audiences of the content found in each film going forward. -
The Release of Star Wars
The first movie of the worldwide phenomenon, Star Wars is released and with its release it became the highest grossing movie of all time, until the release of ET in 1982. Nominated for 10 Oscars, winning seven. Considered to be one of the movies that everyone should watch before they die. -
Rise of Studio Driven Movies (80s)
This period of time was considered to be the rise of studio driven movies because of the lack of originality and the number of movies with plots that were easily marketable. To many film makers, they see the 80s as one of the weakest decades for film. This is mainly due to the amount of sequels and franchises that were being produced by studios rather than original "one-and-done" films of the past. This has become the norm.
