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First Still Photograph Taken
The first still photograph was taken using a glass plate technique by Claude Niepce. He was trying to capture the view from his window. The photo took 8 hours to develop. -
Phenakistoscope Created
The phenakistoscope was created by Joseph Plateau and his sons. The toy quickly gained popularity and became one of the more successful illusion toys. Pictures on a disk appeared to move when spun and put in front of a mirror. -
Zoetrope Introduced
Introduced by William George Horner, the zoetrope used the same principles as the phenakistoscope. But instead of using disks, it combined pictures and slots in a rotating drum. This was the precursor to the praxinoscope. -
Praxinoscope created
Emile Reynaud created the praxinoscope. It was similar to the Zoetrope designed by Horner. It created the illusion of movement using mirrors at the center of the drum instead of slots on the outside. -
First Movie Theater- Kinetoscope Parlor
The Kinetoscope parlors were the worlds first movie theaters. These kinetoscopes were where people would come to watch "moving images". The kinetoscopes were only designed for one person at a time. -
Beggining of Film
Started as a $25,000 bet that at one point in a horses run all 4 of its hooves were off the ground. Several cameras were set up along a track and when the horse ran by they took rapid amounts of pictures. They put the pictures together and when they flipped through it, it looked like the horse was actually running. The person who made the bet was Eadweard Muybridge. -
Projector Created
The projecter was initially created by Thomas Edison but he did not release his idea to the public because he thought he could make more money on the kinetoscope. Later in France the idea was recreated by the Lumiere brothers. They called their invention cinematographe -
Vaudeville evoles to nickelodeons
Vaudevilles were small theaters the featured short films. It also included dramatic skits, comedy ruitines, and song & dance numbers. Called nickelodeons because you payed 1 nickel to get in. -
First U.S Narrative Film
In 1903 Edwin Porter created the first U.S narrative film, The Great Train Robbery. First real story in film, included 14 scenes and lasted 12 minutes. Considered fantastic by the time periods standards. -
MPPC created
The MPPC was a trust created by Thomas Edison and several companies in the industry. The plan was to use their combined patents to control pretty much everything in the motion picture industry. Independent studios were raided and equipment was destroyed. -
Nickelodeon Theaters drawing popularity
By this time nickelodeon theaters were drawing 26 million viewers a week. Five years later the number more than doubled and people began to see how these theaters could pull in profit. Thomas Edison was the first to take advantage of this. -
Charlie Chaplin making millions
Charlie Chaplin was considered the undisputed genius of silent comedy. At the beggining of the 20th century he made $150 a week and by 1917 he was making over a million in a year. Charlie used his films to illustrate the good and evil of society
