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The First Film
Johann H. Schulze, a German physicist, discovers that silver salts turn dark when exposed to light. -
The First Motion Pictures
British photographer Eadweard Muybridge takes the first successful photographs of motion, showing how people and animals move. -
A new kind of photography
Etienne Marey in France develops a camera, shaped like a gun, that can take twelve pictures per second. -
Paper Film
American inventor George Eastman introduces film made on a paper base instead of glass, wound in a roll, eliminating the need for glass plates. -
The First Projector
Thomas Edison and W.K. Dickson invent the Kinetoscope, the first projector -
The First Commercial Movie Theatre
Two French brothers, Louis and August Lumiere patent a combination movie camera and projector, capable of projecting an image that can be seen by many people. In Paris, they present the first commercial exhibition of projected motion pictures. -
The First Cartoon
The first animated cartoon is produced. -
The Arrival of Sound
Lee DeForrest demonstrates a method for recording sound on the edge of a film strip, making the first films with audio. -
Film Censorship Begins
The U.S. Treasury Department upholds a Commissioner of Customs decision to prohibit the import of the film Ecstacy because it contains nudity. -
Dreamworks
Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen form the film studio DreamWorks. -
The Blair Witch Project
The Blair Witch Project, which cost $30,000 to make, grosses $125 million, making it the most profitable film in Hollywood history. -
Shift in Film Styles
Documentary films such as March of the Penguins and Bowling for Columbine become popular, and awarness of home movies rises. -
Period: to
3D Films
3D films become increasingly popular