People have been using visual tricks for entertainment for thousands of years. One of the first was persistence of vision. Persistence of vision is a buch of pictures taken right after each other then set in motion. This was the first type of cinema. There were many inventions in the 19th century that were a major part of motion pictures. One was the “magic lantern”. The magic lantern was a machine with a lens that projected images onto a screen with a light source.
The first movie was made in 1895, it was French. The movie was called L'Arroseur Arrosé. L'Arroseur Arrosé was a comedy and it was fictional.
By 1920 film had become very popular. Most movies were being made near Hollywood.
He 1930’s were named “The Golden Age of Hollywood”. Although the films were still black and white in the 1930’s, in many films they started having sound.
The first full length and full color film was La Cucaracha. La Cucaracha was also a musical.
There were five major motion picture studios In the 1930’s. They were Twentieth Century Fox, MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer), Paramount, Warner Bros, and RKO Radio. The less popular studios were Columbia, Universal, and United Artists.
In the 1940’s films began becoming more modern. The lighting, special effects, and sound quality had improved a lot since the beginning of film. Films started being made with color.
In the 1950’s drive in movie theaters were invented. In the 1950’s films started become rebellious. Anti-heroines, or “bad guys”, were introduced. In the 1950’s Rock and Roll music became popular. Many adults were against Rock and Roll. They thought that Rock and Roll was scary, bad, and encouraged kids to commit crimes and misbehave. Many movies were made about this new type of music. Movies like Don’t Knock the Rock, and Rock, Rock, Rock made Rock and Roll look like a fun, new type of music.
1963 was the worst year for film. There were only 121 new releases in 1963. Since it was such a bad year for making movies, film industries found different ways to view movies. Movies became viewable on airline flights, and a trend began that broadcasted movies on television.
In the 60’s Independent films became much more common, and “made-for-TV movies became a regular thing. By the end of the 60’s the film industry was having a lot of trouble and were experiencing an all-time low. Studios were being easily taken over by multi-national companies.
Although the 70’s started off tough, it became a creative high point in film making. Restrictions of language, sexuality, and violence had loosed up. Hollywood was reborn. Since Hollywood was freer, they were now taking more risks. Styles began to change, and people started experimenting with new possibilities.
Many classic films came from the eighties. The plots in the eighties were easy to understand and basic. The films or the eighties were not really meant for learning or thinking, they were more designed for entertainment and thrills. Sequel movies started coming out in the eighties. The films in the eighties were not as original as the films in the seventies, but they were well done.
In the 1990’s films were really expensive to make. Most films cost over 100 million dollars to produce. Actors and actresses became more expensive to hire, and special effects were becoming a big deal. The film plots were become more advanced and the characters more interesting. In 1997 DVD players were invented. DVD players had a better picture and better sound than the VCR.
2000’s films were the age of Special advanced special affects. Movies are still continuing to get more advanced and better quality.
