HISTORY OF FILM

1800s – 1915: Era of Experimentation The first movie is made from a series of photos projected onto a screen The very first films shot in studios showed people doing rather ordinary things - sneezing, dancing, talking. The first movies shot outside were just ordinary scenes where people walked around. The point of these films was simply to show what life was like in different places

Early 1900s: The Silent Movie Era Movies were silent, meaning no one talked The first movies that told a story were shown. Usually they dealt with familiar stories that had been told many times. Charlie Chaplin is the first famous movie actor The first movie studios begin forming. Universal, Paramount and Twentieth Century Fox studios 4 of first movie studios. Movie studios would make actors sign contracts making sure that they only worked with that particular movie studio Ex. Charlie Chaplin could only work for Paramount if he were under contract with them.

Early 1930s: Propaganda Films A propaganda film is a movie that intends to convince the viewers of a particular viewpoint, but it often contains misleading information. Ex. A movie trying to make Hitler seem like a wonderful leader.

1930s -1940s: Golden Age of Cinema Movies now have sound (called talkies) and colour Each movie studio had their own stars and rising stars of the screen Movies are much longer and more exciting. Some movies have more serious content such as war, love gone wrong or troubled families. Ex. Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz

1960s: Serious Drama Cinema moves away from happy stories, and begins to focus more on the sad or angry parts of life. The genre of horror starts to become popular in the 60's. Popular genres were war, horror, western and drama ex. West Side Story and Psycho

s: The Birth of the Blockbuster Better technology led to more special effects, which lead to more exciting movies In the 1990's the rise of Computer-­ ‐ Generated Imagery. Audiences would line up outside the movie theatre. The lines were so long they would go around the block, coining the term, “Blockbuster”. Sometimes people would line up for days at a time Star Wars is one of the first Blockbusters The first Sequels are created Star Wars Two modern day examples of Blockbusters are Titanic and Avatar