When talking about the beginning of cinema, the date of December 28, 1895 is always remembered. It was in that year, in Paris, that the first films made by the brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière were screened.
Here we will talk a bit about the birth of cinema. Also about how the invention of the camera obscura by Aristotle helped later in the production of cinema.
The camera obscura: how did it help the beginning of cinema?
Aristotle was desperately seeking a way to confirm his story about light and shadow. This was to conduct a study of solar eclipses. Aristotle described his theories in the following way: “light is passed through a small hole made in a room closed on all sides. On the wall opposite the hole, the image of what is in front will be formed.”
The camera obscura was mostly used by painters to create pictorial images. Subsequently, it was one of the precursors of the first photographs, and years later, of the beginning of cinema.
The Discovery of Moving Images
It was at the end of the 19th century when it was achieved that moving images could be presented. This was done by combining instant photography with the so-called magic lantern (an optical device that served to project images). This lantern became the origin of the cinematic projector.
The zoetrope, or “motion display”, was also used. It was a cardboard disc on which figures were painted in different attitudes to constitute an action. By rotating the disc on its axis and looking at it through a mirror, via holes opened at the edge of the cardboard, it created the illusion that the figures were moving.
The Lumière Brothers and Their Push at the Beginning of Cinema
The beginning of cinema was when the Lumière brothers managed to create a more portable and functional camera. Thus, on February 13, 1885, the cinematograph was born. It was a camera, laboratory, and projector all at once. It operated manually with a crank, pulling the film at 16 frames per second.
It was with the cinematograph that on December 28, 1895, the first public and commercial cinematic projection began. This first projection took place in a small room. The Indian salon, located in the basement of a café called El Gran Café at number 14 on the Boulevard des Capucines.
Ten short films were screened, including the famous “Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory,” “The Sprinkler Sprinkled,” and “The Arrival of the Train.” But over time, people began to tire, which gave the brothers the idea to start with documentary film. Operators were hired to visit different cities, filming the most important events.
The first dolly shot was made in 1896, when an operator named Promio inadvertently filmed from a gondola floating on the waters of Venice. This had a positive impact on the audience and since then it was used nonstop.
The Beginning of Fantastic Cinema
George Méliès also contributed to the birth of film genres and sparked the beginning of fantastic cinema. His films are characterized by being full of manual or photographic tricks that would later be incorporated into cinematic language. It is said that Méliès wanted to buy the cinematograph from Lumière, but he did not accept.
As a result, Méliès had to travel to England where he bought a camera from an English optician and a film from Kodak in the United States. With these means, he began to shoot films by himself.
Many of the impressive effects of the time were mere coincidences. For example, one day while filming in Paris, the camera got stuck while filming, he managed to fix it and continued shooting. However, while reviewing the footage of the film, he realized that he had captured an unexpected effect. Suddenly, a bus turned into a hearse in that accidental montage, and from there the idea of creating special effects in films was born.
The first film by George Méliès was in 1896 called: “The Disappearance of a Lady”. It was about a lady who jumped and disappeared; this effect was achieved by stopping the camera while the actress stepped away. Then, he continued with the filming.
In the previous video, we can clearly see what we mentioned about fantastic cinema; we can see how to us it is clearly a sudden camera cut that makes the woman disappear, but in 1896, this was something incredible for the viewers.
Other important films by Méliès:
- Faust and Marguerite (1896) where the lady turns into a devil. This led to the birth of science fiction cinema.
- A Trip to the Moon (1902). It is based on the novel by Jules Verne. This film lasted 12 minutes, which was the longest at the time.
Méliès never moved the camera; he limited himself to photographing what happened on stage. He only used elements of the theater and not the storytelling units of cinema.
Film Genres
During the early years of cinema, it was rather a time when as experimentation occurred, different genres and special effects were born. As was the case with George Méliès mentioned earlier. Today we can classify film genres in the following way:
- Action: This genre shows moving images, chases, stunts, wars, fights, pursuits, and battles with a good dose of adrenaline.
- Adventure: These films are similar to action films, where new adventures in journeys, mysteries, and risks are shown.
- Science Fiction: This is based on imaginary phenomena. It is common to see aliens, invented societies, space travel, etc., in science fiction films.
- Non-fiction/Documentary: This type of genre shows real facts or situations without adding fiction.
- Drama: Dramas develop problems and difficult situations among the protagonists. This genre generally focuses on human interactions and experiences.
- Fantasy: This genre showcases completely unreal or invented events or characters.
- Musical: In this genre, the action unfolds in scenes that combine dialogue with dancing and singing.
- Suspense: This genre keeps the audience in anticipation or tension during the course of the film.
- Horror: Its aim is to evoke fear in the audience, horror, discomfort, and/or concern.
- Romance: This genre is based on romantic relationships, mostly with happy endings.
- Documentary: This was one of the first genres. It aims to showcase real events, like a report.
- Animated: In this genre, cartoon characters are brought to life.
Initially, there were no distinctions between film genres until shortly before and during the First World War between 1903 and 1918. When the audience began to tire of the scenes offered by the first films, they had to create new methods to attract people.
In 1906, the first feature film in history was produced, called “The True Story of the Kelly Gang” by John Tait. It tells the story of Ned Kelly, a real-life outlaw who, along with his friends, challenged the Australian authorities at the end of the 19th century. Longer, more elaborate films emerged, with extensive scripts, giving the audience what they wanted.
The years following the First World War marked the beginning of films with political, romantic, epic, horror, and historical themes. Then Hollywood developed comedy, using Charles Chaplin as the main figure in this type of cinema.
Gradually, also using technical advancements, the film genres we know today began to be defined and consolidated.
From Silent Film to Sound Film
From 1927 to 1933 was the traumatic transition period from silent film to sound film
After many years of failed attempts, and due to commercial competition from radio, the company Warner Bros achieved success in cinema with the musical film The Jazz Singer. This film premiered in New York in October 1927, with synchronous gramophone disc accompaniment to the image.
Color Film
Although the Lumière brothers conducted the first public screening of moving images, color film was a complete revolution.
In 1909, the Palace-Varieté theater in London was the venue where color film was projected for the first time, thanks to the Kinemacolor system invented by George A. Smith. Although this system only used the colors green and red, mixed additively.
Years later, in 1916, Technicolor was born; this technique used the colors green, red, and blue. The first complete film shot with this system was a short animation by Walt Disney, called: Flowers and Trees. Directed by Burt Gillett in 1932.
In 1935, the first feature film filmed with this system premiered. It is called “The Robe,” by Rouben Mamoulian. And from then on, Technicolor began to be used in musicals such as: The Wizard of Oz, Singin' in the Rain, The Adventures of Robin Hood, among others.
The Birth of the Film Industry
Dixon, a worker for Thomas Edison, invented in 1893 a device he called Kinetoscope, which was individual booths for viewing films. Edison had patents registered in his name, so he appropriated it.
In his attempt to curb the entry of cinema into the United States, he built on his properties in New Jersey the first film studio. Known as the Kinetoscope Theater. The problem was that Edison had control of the kinetoscope, while the Lumières had the cinematograph, its main competitor, where they also competed with their films.
In 1897, the American concession of the Lumières would close due to conflicts over having the cinema monopoly, so only films shot by Edison’s company could be screened, and the projectors had to also be products of his making. This is how the so-called patent war began.
Patent War in Cinema
All of the above culminated in 1908 when Edison’s company merged with several others to dominate and monopolize the film sector definitively, giving rise to Motion Picture Company, the first trust in cinematography. This meant that anyone who did not pay the license before 1909 would be declared illegal in exercising any cinematographic activity.
This is how the so-called independents were born, who decided not to pay and to produce low-cost films in the black market, creating their own market.
To combat the independents and confiscate their equipment and definitively eliminate their films to dominate the industry in the U.S., the General Film Company was born.
The Independents
In 1908, Carl Laemmle created the Laemmle Film Service with the aim of importing European films, which caused other producers to take the same action, giving rise to a new movement called Independent Motion Picture, evidently led by Laemmle. This would eventually lead to what we know today as Universal Studios.
As we can see, all of this shaped the current film industry we know; it was truly several actions in the struggle for monopolization that generated different movements and ideas, which for us results in benefiting our options and providing more variety of productions.
Other independents who formed the movement that you may recognize include William Fox (founder of FOX), A. Zukor (founder of Paramount), Louis Mayer, and the Warner brothers (founders of Warner Bros). All of these companies were founded back in the 1920s.
What Did the Patent War Lead to in the Industry?
The independents, in their opposition to Edison, decided to leave New York to move their activities to the West Coast of the United States, in Los Angeles, where they also found a new and much cheaper market for their productions. And this is how what we would recognize today as Hollywood was born.