1. Early History of the Film Industry
Great innovation and early revolutionaries

2. Eadweard Muybridge An English photographer who became famous for his photographs of Yosemite Valley He was acquitted of murder on grounds of justifiable homicide when he killed his wife’s lover Began a study of motion with humans and animals later in his career

3. Zoopraxiscope
Invented by Eadweard Muybridge in One of the first motion-picture projectors Featured a series of still photographs played in rapid succession Early films were from his studies of motion in animals
The Machine
The “film”

4. Thomas Alva Edison
Inventor of many things, most famous for the light bulb
Worked with motion pictures after work on the light bulb

5. Kinetoscope
Invented by Edison in Inspired by Muybridge, began work on the project in Intention was to create a camera which could capture motion Name comes from Greek words meaning “to move” and “to watch” Incorporated the emergence of celluloid film which was coated in an emulsion The production of large quatities of the film by Eastman Company allowed for the development of the Kinetoscope
The Machine

6. D.W. Griffith
Pioneer of early film

7. Born in Kentucky to Jacob Griffith, a former Confederate Army colonel
Originally appeared as an actor in an Edison Company film
Signed with American Mutoscope & Biography Co., where he would go on to direct 450 short films
Produced and directed the first movie ever made in Hollywood (In Old California, 1910)

8. Birth of a Nation His first full length film released in 1915
Considered as the birth of modern American cinema
Earned $300 a week for the film plus 37.5% of the net profits
The film looks at the emergence of the Civil War and follows the birth of the Ku Klux Klan
NAACP attempted to have the film banned and then censored when banning failed
Film inspired African-Americans to create their own films to counter the depiction of them created by the movie

9. After Birth of a Nation
Released film, Intolerance: Love’s Struggle through the Ages (1916) to combat the negativity created by Birth of a Nation
Was the king of Hollywood until 1924
First to say the phrase, “Lights! Camera! Action!” in 1910
First to use the techniques of the flashback, iris shot, the mask, soft focus, parallel editing and split screen. Also, invented the use of false eyelashes

10. Miscellaneous Released his first sound film in 1930, Abraham Lincoln.
Griffith ended up being an ardent supporter of the rights of native Americans and detested their treatment by the American government
Received first honorary Academy Award from Frank Capra
Still viewed as one of the greatest directors of all time

11. One of the pivotal stars of the silent film
Charlie Chaplin
One of the pivotal
stars of the silent film

12. Born in 1889 in London, England
Was both an actor and a film director
Helped form United Artists with D.W. Griffith, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford in 1919
Originally lived in a room with Stan Laurel when they came to America
First actor to be nominated for Best Actor for playing two roles in one film
First actor to appear on the cover of Time Magazine
The last movie he saw, Rocky (1976)

13. The Little Tramp Became famous for his character, The Little Tramp
One of the most recognizable characters of all time, often imitated even today in film
Created the “look” from a number of Hollywood luminaries clothes, including “Fatty” Arbuckle’s coat

14. Chaplin’s Movies
Four of his films,  The Gold Rush (1925) at #25, Modern Times (1936) at #33, The Great Dictator (1940) at #37 and City Lights (1931) at #38, are considered amongst the funniest of all times
Modern Times is a political look at the abuses of industry on the worker and life during the Great Depression
The Great Dictator, a political attack on Hitler in the form of a comedy, was banned in Germany.
Created the “look” from a number of Hollywood luminaries clothes, including “Fatty” Arbuckle’s coat

15. Silent film star who performed into the 1960s
Buster Keaton
Silent film star
who performed
into the 1960s

16. Born Joseph Frank Keaton in 1895
Earned the nickname, Buster, from Harry Houdini after he wasn’t harmed falling down the stairs at age six months
He was incorporated into the family act early on and would often be tossed around the stage, giving birth to his career as a comedic actor
Produced two of the greatest films of the silent film era, The General (1926) and The Camera Man (1928)

17. He and Charlie Chaplin had an interesting relationship
He and Charlie Chaplin had an interesting relationship. Long considered rivals but always having avoided commenting about each other in the press, Chaplin hired Keaton for a part in Limelight (1952). Keaton, who was flat broke at the time, went into a career decline after having been signed by MGM in 1928, as the studio would not let him improvise in any of his films nor allow him any writing or directorial input, and he was eventually reduced to writing gags - often uncredited - for other comedians' films.

19. Hollywood’s first leading man
Douglas Fairbanks
Hollywood’s first
leading man

20. Life and Career Born on May 23, 1883 in Denver, Colorado
Raised by his mother, he attended Harvard before a number of jobs that eventually led him to acting
He performed almost all of his own stunts throughout his career
His portrayal of Zorro was the inspiration for DC Comics’ Batman

21. Life and Career
Married Mary Pickford, a union which made them Hollywood’s first celebrity couple. Their home was known as “Pickfair”
Founder of United Artists
One of the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

22. Mary Pickford And Lillian Gish
Early Leading Ladies
Mary Pickford
And Lillian Gish

23. Mary Pickford Born Gladys Smith on April 8, 1892 in Toronto, Canada
America’s first sweetheart, she appeared in numerous D.W. Griffith films
First movie actress to receive a percentage of a film’s earnings
She wanted all of her films destroyed after her death because she feared no one would care about them

24. Lillian Gish Born on October 14, 1893 in Springfield, Ohio
Worked with D.W. Griffith early in her career before signing with MGM
She was a childhood friend of Mary Pickford
Was eventually replaced at MGM by Greta Garbo, who was order to study her acting style
Replaced because she was viewed as a “sexless antique”
Went on to do radio and theatre

25. “You ain’t heard nothin’ yet!!”
Al Jolson
“You ain’t heard
nothin’ yet!!”

26. Born Asa Yoelson in Lithuania to a Jewish cantor on May 26, 1886
Was considered the “World’s Greatest Entertainer” for over 40 years
Began his career as a singer and vaudevillian entertainer
Began a Broadway career in 1912, spending almost 20 years there
Failed a screen test to play himself and finished third in an Al Jolson sound-a-like competition
Has 3 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

27. The Jazz Singer
Starred in the 1927 film, The Jazz Singer, which began the end of the Silent Film Era
“Wait a minute, wait a minute, you ain't heard nothin' yet! Wait a minute, I tell ya! You ain't heard nothin'! You wanna hear "Toot, Toot, Tootsie"? All right, hold on, hold on... ” [First words in the first widely-talking picture]
Sam Warner, the Warner Brother who insisted that the line be left in, died on day before the movie was premiered in its entirety.
The first film musical

28. Bibliography
IMDb(2013). D.W. Griffith. Retrieved from