Thursday, March 20, 2025

EOTO: History of Motion Pictures -Blog #4

Louis Le Prince is considered to be the father of Cinematography. Prince preceded them by a number of years with a working model that captured motion outside his home in Roundhay, Leeds (England). Science and Media Museum  He is also considered to be the founder of motion pictures as well.  

Early films were short and silent and often consisted of single-shot scenes. The Lumière brothers' early films included scenes like "Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory" and "The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat".  Science and Media Museum Some early films were accompanied by live music to fill in the silence. Some other types of early films were:

  • Short Length-Early films were typically brief, often under a minute, and consisted of a single shot from a steady camera.

  • Black & White- The earliest films were in black and white, without recorded sound.

  • Documentary-style- Early films often captured everyday events and activities like a train approaching, workers leaving a factory, and people dancing.

  • Simple Stories- While some early films were pure documentaries, others began to incorporate simple narratives and storylines. 

  • Public Cinema- Early films were shown in public venues like fairgrounds, music halls, or anywhere a screen could be set up. 


The impact of now having motion pictures changed our world by revolutionizing storytelling, entertainment as well as communication. The invention of motion pictures stemmed from scientific inquiry but, specifically, the understanding that rapid succession of still images creates an illusion of movement and the development of technologies like celluloid film and motion picture cameras. PBS.org  

Other Inventors in the early history were:

  • Eadward Muybridge-An English photographer known for his pioneering photographic studies of motion and motion-picture projection.

  • Thomas Edison and William Kenndy Laurie Dickson-Developed the Kinetoscope, an early motion picture viewing device. 

  • Auguste & Louis Lumiere-The Lumière brothers invented a projector capable of showing 16 frames per second, captivating audiences with their early public cinema screenings.

Early inventors of motion pictures, like Muybridge and Marey, initially aimed to solve the scientific problem of capturing and analyzing motion, especially events beyond human perception, while later inventors like Edison sought to create a visual accompaniment to the phonograph. The problem it solved was the problem of creating the illusion of movement by rapidly projecting a series of still images, overcoming the perceived flicker and darkness between images, and allowing for the portrayal of reality and storytelling on a large scale. 
Library of Congress As it would turn out, Motion pictures changed communication by becoming a powerful visual medium for storytelling, entertainment, and the spread of ideas, surpassing the limitations of earlier forms like written text and static images. Films moved beyond simply recording reality to telling complex narratives and transporting audiences to different worlds. While motion pictures offer entertainment, cultural influence can have negative effects, including promoting stereotypes, desensitizing the audience to violence, and influencing other types of risky behaviors. National Library of Medicine


Example
films:



Black and White:



Documentary Style: 

Simple Stories:



Public Cinema:



















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