History of Short Films

Etienne-Jules Marey

Jan 1, 1882

Marey invented the "photographic gun" in 1882 which could capture 12 frames per second. His research of moving image helped the emerging field of cinematography immensely.

Louis Le - Prince (1841 - 1890)

Jan 1, 1888

Heralded as the founder of motion pictures. His short film "Roundhay Garden Scene" which was made in 1888 is considered the first real film and was shot through a single lens camera which he was prevalent in pioneering.

The Lumiere Brothers

Dec 28, 1895

Held the first public screening of a motion picture "Salon Indien du Grand Cafe" - this was the first in a series of 10 short films showing everyday scenarios, each film was 17 meters long and hand cranked through a projector. They also developed the first camera the "cinematograph" in the 1890's which could record, develop and project films.

"L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat" - (Train arrives at the Station)

Jan 1, 1896

Short film by the Lumiere brothers literally showing a train coming into a station. The audiences at the time however had largely never seen moving image productions before so thought it was an actual train however this is subject to being an urban legend which was re enacted in the recent Scorsese film "Hugo".

"The Kiss"

Jul 21, 1896

This was one of the first films to be commercially shown to the public. It is 47 seconds long and is an actuality film showing a couple kiss which was distributed by Thomas Edison's company. It caused controversy, outrage and heralded as "disgusting" - there were even calls for police action in many places it was shown. Now however it is deemed as culturally significant and shows how sensitive and naive audiences used to be.

Le Voyage dans la Lune

Sep 1, 1902

This iconic film was made by George Melies and is thought to be inspired by some of the Lumiere brothers work. This film along with some of his others are considered to have some of the first special effects and colour as the 36mm frames were individually hand painted. Melies himself does not consider the film to be his best but stated that the reason it "left an indelible trace because it was the first of it's kind."

Edwin Porter

Sep 19, 1903

Porter was the most famous director of the Edison Company which pioneered advances in film making. He was incharge of motion picture production at Edison's New York Studios and made films such as "Dream of a Rarebit Fiend" and "Nervy Nat Kisses the Bride."

Luis Bunuel

Jan 1, 1926

Deemed as the leader of avant-guarde surrealism. He worked closely with the artist Salvador Dali to make surrealist, experimental features alog with many other films spanning many genres, languages and even continents.

"Un Chien Andalou"

Jun 6, 1929

This was maybe Bunuel's most recognisable film and is one he made with leading surrealist artist Salavdor Dali. It was controversial of it's time as it does have some graphic content and a dream like narrative which wouldv'e shocked an early, more conservative audience but it is also considered an art film and would have changed the way many future film makers approached film.

Charlie Chaplin

Jan 19, 1931

Charlie Chaplin was an English comicc actor who rose to fame in the silent era and is renound for his slapstick humour. He co - founded "Unison Artists" where he made his first feature film "City Lights" in 1931 which he also starred in and is considered one of his best works.

Short Film Festivals

Jan 1, 1932

First major short film festival in Venice in 1932 and it is now the longest continously running short film festival in the world

French New Wave era

Jan 1, 1958

It is an example of European art cinama.
The New Wave was a term for a group of French filmmakers in the 50's and 60's. They liked to shoot more current social issues on location, focussing their work on social and political upheaval at the time. Requiring little or no set up time, it presented a documentary style of film.

Francois Truffaut - The 400 Blows

Jun 3, 1959

Francois Truffaut was a director, producer, screen writer, actor and film critic who lived from 1932 - 1984. He was one of the founders of French New Wave and worked on over 25 films. His short film 'The 400 Blows' was the defining film of the New Wave genre and won numerous awards.

Ridley Scott- Boy and Bicycle

Jan 1, 1962

Ridley Scott is a famous English film director and producer.
'Boy and Bicycle' was his first film; although it is a very early work, it includes visual elements that would become motifs of his later work. Parts of this short film foreshadow images from Alien and Blade Runner.

Tim Burton

Sep 19, 1971

Would make short films in his back garden at the age of 13 using stop motion animation. He has now gone onto made some of the worlds most famous films and is a well known name.

Christopher Nolan

Sep 19, 1989

Made two short films whilst in college. His first was Tarantella in 1989, many ideas given to him in the process of making these short films gave him ideas for his feature films. He has gone on to direct one of the worlds most famous films "The Dark Knight"

Ashvin Kumar- Little Terrorist

Jan 1, 2004

Ashvin Kumar became the youngest Indian writer/director with an Academy Award Oscar nomination and also the first Indian to be nominated at the European film academy with the live action short film 'Little Terrorist'. It has also been part of official selections to over 130 film festvals, winning awards in 25- including a BAFTA

You Tube

Feb 19, 2005

100 hours worth of video is uploaded onto youtube every minute. Short film companys and producers use YouTube to upload their films to create publicity and gain experience.