-
The very first films.
1890s were when the very first films we produced. These films were only a minutes long, and were produced with no sound or color. Most of these films were one scene only and only showed one location. THis was the beginning of the Silent Era. Unfortunantly there are no recoded pictures from any films. -
The Silent Era
The first movies were produced in something called the Silent Era(1894-1927). These films would feature absolutely no sound what so ever. Later on in the Silent Era movies became longer and would feature an orchestra preforming along side the movies to keep them interesting. The picture on the right is a silent film named, A Trip To The Moon by Georges Melies. Produced in 1902 -
Comedy Film
The first comedy film ever made was produced in the Silent Era. It was called L'Arroseur Arrosé which means The Watered Waterer, or the Sprinkeler Sprinkled. It was a 49 second film which shows a boy tormenting and gardener by blocking off the water to his hose by stomping on it. When the Gardener goes to look through the nozzel, the boy releases and water blasts the gardeners face. -
Animation Born
The first animated film known as Matches was made in 1899. It was a 30 second long film promothing sending money to Bryant and May, a british match factory, who would then send money to British soldiers fighting in the Boer War. It was a stop motion animation production, in which the characters were made from mathcsticks. -
Movie Theatre
The first successful movie theatre was opened in Pittsburgh. the theatre was known as "The Nickelodeon." Two years after the intial opening of The Nickleodeon, there were thousands of "Nickelodeons" in operation -
The Story of Kelly Gang
The Story of Kelly Gang was the first feature length film ever. It was directed by Charles Tait and was about 1 hour in running time. It was shown in the Melbourne's Athenaeum Hall on 26 December 1906. Two years later it ws shown in the UK. -
End of Silent Era
-
The Jazz Singer
The very first movie produced with sound. A "talkie" is what it would be called from this time forth. The Jazz Singer was produced by Warner Brothers. It was approximately 96 mintues long, and was based on the play "The Day of Atonement." -
Disney
Disney's first well known film was shown April 5 1938. This film was actually shown in Canada first. Later on in the movie business, Disney becomes a movie empire, but they had to start somewhere, Recently after they showed Pinochio and Fantasia in 1940. Later on Dumbo was released in 1941. -
New Hollywood Era
New Hollywood, or the American New Wave occured during the late 60s to the early 80s. Theses films were made from combined genres, such as drama, comedy, horror, action, etc. It was at this point directors really became a big part of their movies, rather than the guy with the idea. The most well known film that came from the New Hollywood Era was "Bonnie and Clyde" shown for the first time in 1967, August 13. It ran for 111 minutes and was produced by Warren Beatty and directed by Arthur Penn. -
The Recent Years
The films from this point to the modern day were the higest grossing films of all time, and are dominated by special effects. Movies that came out in the 90s and are well known are: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Jurassic Park (1993) , Titanic (1997), Disney's Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and The Lion King (1994). During the late 90s there was a significant transition between using VHS to DVD, which became the new standard for home movie watching. -
Even More Recent
During this time period there were many advances in cinema, such as the increased popularity of 3D movies, and even the developement of 4D movies. During this period many books became films, such as the Harry Potter sereis which was the highest gossing series of all time, up until it was surpassed in 2015 by the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The largest film producers as of 2010 are stationed in India, the United States, China, Nigeria and Japan.
