First-timers in cinema history - 1

What led to the dynamic pictures we digitally watch today on the silver screen was a breakthrough every step of the way. ifilm invites you to join a walkthrough of those events, in chronological order.

Cinema, in the first place, started by recording day-to-day activities, and went on to experiment color, as well as a variety of sound formats. It was in the 1970’s that computer-generated imagery stepped in, which is part and parcel of virtually every movie produced today.

Meanwhile, besides the developments in technology, the flicks have seen drastic changes in both the content, and the way the audience respond to those changes. Some of those events will be reviewed here and in the upcoming issues of this article, which encompasses the past two, as well as the current century.

1860s

That’s when chronophotography was for the first time introduced. Imagine a large number of pictures, each showing the next small movement the person or thing in the picture makes. This is what it’s all about. The technique in photography goes back to the 19th century.

1870s

That’s when for the first time, a quick-motion series of 24 cameras were used to videotape a moving horse. The final images were unprecedented, as they depicted real-life movements which was clearly distinguishable from the previous pic-after-pic approach.

1880s

The earliest motion picture exhibition was held by the director who had introduced the quick-motion series; he then made a lecture before screening his film. As the movie was projected, the moving images made the audience react in applaud; it really was the public demonstration of a breakthrough, at the time.

Stay with ifilm in the future episodes of this review.

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