The history of film is an epic journey that spans hundreds of years. These motion picture films have had a major impact on popular culture, technology, and entertainment.
Precursors of Film:
Modern film is influenced by its precursors; dance, theatre, and drama. Many of the lighting, staging, and storytelling techniques are lifted from these earlier forms of entertainment. Much of film terminology; director, choreographer, scripts, props, etc were around for hundreds of years before film was developed. Mise en scene (which is a fancy term for things relating to producing and is key in film) is one of the defining characteristics of film and theatre and is similar in idea, while obviously different in execution.
The Birth of Film:
1878 is the first instance of a device akin to a modern "video camera,". Eadweard Muybridge successfully photographed a horse named "Sallie Gardner" in fast motion using a series of 24 stereoscopic cameras. This was then quickly followed by William Kennedy Laurie who invented a practicable form of a celluloid strip containing a sequence of images, the basis of a method of photographing and projecting moving images. There was no editing to any early videos and many of them looked highly stagey and had little to no plot. There was a novelty to film that audiences enjoyed and no need to alter the film after shooting.
The Silent Era of Film:
After the birth of film came an time when it was impossible to record sound and have it play with the movie. Silent films developed due to this inability. An important thing to realize is that "silent films" were not all silent. Many silent films had a pianist that would play an accompanying score with the film when it was shown. Films have developed to the point where audiences wanted a plot and action. Text was introduced to show what the characters were "saying" and were also used to advance the plot. The American Mutoscope and Biograph Company was the first successful film company and was fundamental in advancing the film industry. During this time, many modern filming techniques and styles developed. Coloured film was one of the first, where people would colour the film by hand to "fake" the colouring of certain segments of film. At this time continuity developed, as well as advanced staging and props. Many of the camera angles we enjoy in modern films today did not exist until about the 1900's.
The Evolving Film Industry, Early 1900's:
The film industry really started kicking it into high gear in the 1900's with the development of sound being recorded and incorporated into films. Serious theaters for films were developed and these were called nickelodeons. There were about 4,000 of these in the United States alone. Films became a primary form of entertainment in many countries, not only the classic film making powerhouses of Britain, the US, and France. Films also started to get longer and could not be limited to just one reel of film. Thus, multi-reel films were developed and intermissions were added so the projectionist could change reels. Directors started pushing the boundaries of film by using subtile techniques to make their movies have more striking and meaningful sense. Low-key lighting was developed around this time. Cross cutting, reverse framing, and point-of-view shots were also developed around this time.
The State of the Modern Film Nation:
1990 is the time when the film industry really kicked it into high gear, the addition of special effects, the release of the first DVDs and the rise of independent and documentary films marked a new age in cinema. Special effects have become more and more powerful and realistic, making post production the new status quo in an ever changing, dynamic industry. Many people feel that the movie industry has hit its peak, that it is hard to get more realistic, have better plots, or stronger acting. But many prestigious directors state that they are just getting started, where visuals end, the true story begins as many directors push the limits of storytelling and dynamic characters and plots. However, with all this creativity, comes the downsides of the movie industry. Being a competitive business, there are shareholders, and they don't care if you making a touching or deep movie if nobody watches it. It all comes down to the money and we often see movies ruined in the best interest of maximizing profit. Fortunately, anyone can make a movie these days. Buying a video camera and some editing software will only set someone back a few hundred dollars and creativity costs nothing. Where big producers make cuts to save money, your average amateur relies on raw talent and ideas. But the death of the movie industry has been rumored to be in sight. Pirating, or stealing movies is now a common place. Every year the movie industry loses billions of dollars from pirating which is very hard to control and stop. This could indeed lead to the death of one of the biggest industries in the entire world.
In Conclusion, the film industry has undergone many, many changes in its short life. It is important to keep in mind simply how dynamic the industry is. It is hard to believe that special effects really were not around 20 years ago. And we are now just getting into the age of IMAX and 3D effects. While many critics lament the advancements of the movie industry, it is hard to judge something that really hasn't been around for that long. By the way, go see Avatar.
Sources:
http://web.archive.org/web/20080204214050/http://www.realityfilm.com/study/index.html
http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/oldcolor/technicolor1.html
http://www.earlycinema.com/index.html
http://andthewinneris.blog.com/
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