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Edison invents Peephole Kinetoscope
Thomas Edison developed the first version of the peephole kinetoscope. His colleage later perfected it before it was released to the public. It was a device that played off of the moving image idea, similar to a flipbook, played and viewed to imitate motion. -
Vaudevilles emerge
Vaudevilles suddenly became popular, for viewing movies etc. The general idea is that there would be several showing of different movies (still 30-60 seconds) and in between the pictures there would be acts such as dancing, vantriequism etc. -
Peephole Kinetoscopes publically released
Peephole kinetoscopes are released for public viewing. Thomas Edison would soon develop a projection method but wouldn't release it in order to keep profit. Due to the individual viewing nature of the peephole kinetoscope, Edison thought he would make more money from it than from projecting it to multiple people. -
Lumiere brothers develop Cinematographe
Unlike Edison, the Lumiere brothers were interested in sharing the projection of "moving pictures." They developed the Cinematographe, a projector machine, and shared it with the general public. It would project 30-60 second movies typically. Later Edison would release his kinetograph. -
Nickelodeans develop
These were the closest thing to a modern movie theater. Named for the admission price of a nickel, these theaters showed movies more formally than past methods. They often were accompanied by sound affects made inside the nickelodeon. -
First film with a story
In 1903, the movie "The Great Train Robbery" was released. It was the first movie to tell a real story. The movie consisted of 14 scenes and lasted 12 minutes, a huge accomplishment when most movies were less than a minute long. -
Edison founds MPPC
A film monopoly by the name of the MPPC is formed by all of the major film organizations, headed by Thomas Edison. They controlled and owned all major filming sites, equipment, theaters, and actors/actresses. If anyone outside of the monopoly attempted to create a film for profit, members of the monopoly would show up and break equipment etc. -
First "Talkie"
While all films and motion picttures before it had been silent films, "The Jazz Singer" had sound. This quickly picked up in the 20's, and became known as "talkies." -
Motion Picture Production Code
In 1930, a code was developed to warn about the contents of a movie. This rating system eventually evolved to the one we have today. -
Movie "Golden Age"
In the late 20's to the 30's, movie making, and the newly introduced "talkies" were a huge hit. Actors and actresses, such as shirley temple and charley chaplin, became really popular and a huge focus of american society. -
"First" technicolor film
While all previous films had been in what is considered black and white, 1939 introduced what is loosely considered the first major technicolor film. The Wizard of Oz debuted, beginning in black and white in kansas, but transitioning to Oz, and technicolor. -
Propaganda
During both of the World Wars, especially the second, using movies for propaganda was especially popular. The two best known have been made by Walt Disney and Charlie Chaplin, both commentary on Adolph Hitler and very controversial.
