The Invention Of The First Rotating Camera

In chapter two of The Cultures of American Film, the main focus is the establishment of studios. As demand for films rose in the early 1900’s, production companies needed to expand; this lead to the creation of large scale studios.

The movie theater has a significant influence on the cultural formation of a society. The United States has always been at the forefront of film history, despite not being the first country to develop the art of motion filming. It was through film that the US consolidated the American way of Life in the world. After World War II the United States stepped up their cultural influence, begun in the 1930s and 1940s, using mainly movies. The American cinema began to spread many traces of their own culture such as habits, customs, behaviors, brands and standards of beauty, which was soon absorbed by the countries that bought his films.

This paper was prepared for Introduction to Film History, Module 1 Homework Assignment, taught by Professor Stephanie Sandifer.

To begin with, some background information on movies and Hollywood in the 1920’s. In the 1920’s, movie attendance soared (The Rise of Hollywood par. 4). As stated in the introduction, with the influx of money in the American economic system, the average person also had an influx of time on their hands. The normal solution was to spend that time on entertainment and movies were the perfect way to do that. By the mid-decade, movie attendance rose to fifty million and only increased from then. The five main movie studios were Warner Brothers, Paramount, MGM, RKO Radio Pictures, and 20th Century Fox (Dirks 1). Before these studios were formed, every aspect of making movies was separated into different companies. The aspects may include filming, editing, or distributing. With the spark of interest in movies, these five companies took it upon

The development of the motion picture industry was brought to you by many directors and writers through out history. Movies are a very important part of American culture, people went to the movies to escape the humdrum of their everyday lives. They were a way for people to put themselves into the lives of others and in situations they would usually never find themselves in. Simply put movies were a way to escape into a new more exciting world, even if just for a little bit. In the beginning there were a few production companies that would put out movies in an almost factory setting and manner. There were hundreds of workers, set designers, camera men, and other crews. With this amount of man power, companies would come out with hundreds of films a month. This is were directing and writing began to develop a style and narrative that would be carried into today's movies.

Sense the invention of the camera in 1826 photography has been used to document everything from family portraits, social injustice, sporting events, world news, expressions of joy and sorrow, and hundreds of monumental moments. The camera has given man the power to reveal the truth visually. Throughout history photographs have made enormous impacts on social consciousness and ultimately shaped public opinion on many pressing issues in society. Although photography is often considered a casual pastime, the invention of the camera has contributed to many aspects of history, science, and other important pieces of todays world.

Film History: An Introduction. Third ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2009.

The history of film is essentially one of representation of certain groups, or as the case may be, misrepresentation. After America’s short stint with Nickelodeon-type movie theatres, full-length feature films became the norm with Birth of a Nation (1915). D.W. Griffith used the film to innovate cinematography, but made few compromises to create a

Throughout the beginning of time people have used art to express themselves. With each major, and minor, there is an artist that captures the world as it is around him. There are also artists that create fiction to give the world and escape from reality. The medium of art that will be discussed in this essay will be film. Since the invention of Thomas Jefferson kinecto graph and the Lumiere brothers cinemtograph, films have continued to be the most popular entertainment methods in France and America. Since historical events have somewhat of an impact on the content in film, this essay will take a look at the effects of films years before and after World II. World War II was one of the major historical events to have

The birth of film began in 1872, when Leland Stanford bet a friend that a horse lifts all four of its legs off the ground when running. To settle the disagreement, Stanford employed photographer Eadweard Muybridge to take pictures. After settling the debate, Muybridge developed the first primitive cinema that he called “zoöpraxiscope”. The first films lasted only about a minute long, were black and white, and had no entertainment

During the 1920s, American Film was at the peak of its glory. 1920s Film was the biggest form of entertainment and a weekly pastime for millions of Americans, regardless of race and social background. Silent films continued to improve and innovate the film industry. Hollywood established themselves as an American force and produced hundreds of silent films. Also, Hollywood became the birthplace of “movie stars” such as Janet Gaynor, Rudolph Valentino, and Charlie Chaplin. Movie studios such as Warner Brothers Pictures, RKO, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, and 20th Century Fox owned thousands of theaters and received public acclamation for hundreds of films produced. The 1920’s American film industry is the epitome of the ascension of Hollywood and the innovation era of film.

There is a reason for this however; not the least of which is the films enduring timelessness made all the more impressive by its subject matter. Made during the decline of the studio system, the film was an oddity onto itself. A tiny black and white film at a time of Technicolor, a principle cast of character actors at a time of A-list credit cramming, and

The first film was in 1879. It was called horse in motion. It was about a racing horse. It was 2.11 seconds long. It presented a man riding a horse in a race.

Hollywood has been a formidable force in the film industry since the 1910’s onwards. As with any industry that has lasted that length of time, Hollywood has gone through a few changes to deal with the changes in technology and culture. One of the more significant changes that Hollywood has faced since the advent of sound in films, was the fall of its Golden Era. There were a combination of reasons the industry went through dramatic changes in the late 1950s to mid-1960s. The Paramount decree and other government imposed limitation on power of the studios, change in audience demographic, and a strict code system limiting the types of stories that could be told through the medium of film all contributed to a shift in the industry and the type of product that Hollywood

What makes for a classic Hollywood film? Increasingly, films have evolved to the point where the standard by which one calls a “classic Hollywood film” has evolved over time. What one calls a classic film by yesterday’s standards is not the same as that of today’s standards. The film Casablanca is no exception to this. Although David Bordwell’s article, “Classical Hollywood Cinema” defines what the classical Hollywood film does, the film Casablanca does not exactly conform to the very definition that Bordwell provides the audience with in his article. It is true that the film capers closely to Bordwell’s definition, but in more ways than not, the film diverges from Bordwell’s definition of the typical Hollywood film.