1. The Beginnings
• The 1880s was a time of
advancement, invention and
enterprise in the world of
moving images
• Several factions from around
‘View from the window at Le Gras’ the globe were working on
circa 1828
new and innovative type of
technology which attempted
to capture and project
moving images
• Until this time, photography
had been the sole method of
recording actual ‘real life’
‘Boulevard du Temple’ 1839

2. Thomas Edison
• Thomas Edison patented the caveat for
the Kinetoscope in 1888 stating that it
would ‘do for the eye what the
phonograph does for the ear’
• He charged on of his assistants,
photography expert William Kennedy
Laurie Dickson, with the task of inventing
the Kinetoscope
• By 1891, after a couple of prototypes had
been made and tested, the Kinetograph
(the camera) and the Kinetoscope had
been patented
• The 1891 patent used 35mm film which,
until recently was still widely used today

3. The Kinetoscope
• 18 in. x 27 in. x 4 ft. high
• peephole with magnifying lenses in the top
• Inside the box the film, in a continuous
band of approximately 50 feet, was
arranged around a series of spools.
• A large, electrically driven sprocket wheel at
the top of the box engaged corresponding
sprocket holes punched in the edges of the
film, which was thus drawn under the lens
at a continuous rate.
• Beneath the film was an electric lamp, and
between the lamp and the film a revolving
shutter with a narrow slit.
• As each frame passed under the lens, the
shutter permitted a flash of light so brief
that the frame appeared to be frozen.
• This rapid series of apparently still frames
appeared, thanks to the persistence of
vision phenomenon, as a moving image.

4. The Lumiere Brothers
• Father, Antoine was a
photographer and successful
businessman
• In 1984, Antione was invited to a
demonstration of Edison’s
Peephole Kinetoscope in Paris
• He presented his son Louis with
a piece of Kinetoscope film, given
to him by one of Edison’s
concessionaires and said, "This is
what you have to make, because
Edison sells this at crazy prices
and the concessionaires are
trying to make films here in
Augustine and Louis Lumiere
France to have them cheaper”.

5. The Lumiere Brothers cont…
• Through 1894, attempts were
made to replicate and improve
Edison’s Kinetoscope design
• They considered Edison’s
Kinetograph flawed because it
was too bulky and was resigned
to the studio
• And they thought Kinetoscope
was limited as only one person
could view the moving images at
any one point
• In1895, the Lumiere Brothers
painted the lighter (5kg) and
Augustine and Louis Lumiere
quieter Cinematograph

6. In England…
• The first single lens motion picture
camera was patented in Leeds, by
French-born Louis Aime Augustin Le
Prince in 1888
• The first films were made on a
sensitised paper roll a little over 2
inches wide
• Prince started commercial
development of his motion picture
camera in early 1890 with an
updated version
• He arranged for a demonstration to
M. Mobisson, the Secretary of the
Paris Opera
Lous Aime Augustin Le
Prince

7. In England…
• On September 16 1890, Prince
boarded a train at Dijon bound for
Paris with his motion picture camera
and films
• He never arrived in Paris. No trace of
Prince or his motion picture camera
were ever found. The mystery was
never solved…
• However, the first moving pictures
developed on celluloid film were
made in Hyde Park in 1889 by
William Friese Greene, a British
inventor, who patented the process William Friese Greene
in 1890

8. In England…
• In 1895, a pair of Greek showmen, George Georgiades and
his partner George Tragides, were at the centre of a row with
the already powerful American Edison company
• The pair originally purchased six Kinetoscopes from Edison,
forming the American Kinetoscope Company and opened
Kinetoscopes at several locations in London, amongst them
The Strand and Old Broad Street
• They wanted to expand but machinery was rare and
expensive
• The Greek pair decided to make their own version with the
help of R. W. Paul who owned an optical instrument works
• Edison did not have a patented for his Kinetoscope in the
UK…

9. In England…
• Once the pirate Kinetoscopes were made, Edison refused to
sell films for Paul’s machines, so Paul approached Birt Acres
to help construct a camera to shoot their own films
• They obtained film from the American Celluloid Co. of
Newark, N.J. and started filming their own with American
born cinema pioneer Birt Acres as the cameraman
• Over the next few years, William Friese-Green, undertook
extensive research and advanced the creation of British
cameras
• Unfortunately his technology was not successfully
incorporated into any practical application
• Friese-Green's most bitter opponent was ex-hypnotist, mind
reader and showman George Albert Smith

10. In England…
• Smith is thought by many to be the
real driving force behind the early
cinema industry
• In 1892, Smith acquired the lease to
St Ann's Well Garden in Hove,
Brighton and turned it into a pleasure
garden
• The garden became his ‘film factory'
and is the scene of many early films
• In 1897 Smith turned the garden's
pump house into a space for
developing and printing and in the
grounds, probably in 1899, he built a
'glasshouse' film studio
George Albert Smith

11. Lower-class Entertainment
• Once a reliable form of projection was
discovered, establishments began
showing early films, such as The
Great Train Robbery (1903)
• These were mostly converted shop
fronts called Nickelodeons
• So called because admission was 5c
(a nickel)
• In its inaugural years, film was seen
as a entertainment for the lower
classes, for those who couldn’t afford
to watch stage plays
• Only failed stage actors would star in
film and they remained anonymous

12. D.W. Griffith
• Kentucky born DW Griffith
was a failed stage actor who
start acting in Edison Film
Company films in 1907
• Started directing in 1908
after a member of staff
called in sick
• He made 60 films in 1908
• In 1909, he made over 100
• Who do you think was the
most important person on a
D.W. Griffith set at this time?

13. Edison’s Cartel
• In 1908 Edison attempted
to exploit his filmic
invention by charging
companies per foot of film
• Anyone suspected of
exhibiting a non-Edison
production had their
equipment smashed
• Biograph Pictures, started
by William Dickson, who
William Dickson actually invented the
Kineoscope paid Edison for
the right to make films

14. From NY To Hollywood
• Many of the smaller companies
suffered at the hands of
Edison’s financial demands
• They were also having
equipment broke by Edison’s
‘trust member’ for not
forwarding him any funds
• So, en mass, several directors
headed a safe distance away,
pitching up in South California
• DW Griffith was one of the first
directors to head over to
Hollywood

15. Mary Pickford
• At this time very few actors or
actresses were known by name
• However, Mary Pickford who
worked wth Griffith at Edison
Film co. became increasingly
popular
• She was known simply as the
Biograph girl
• After a row with Biograph she
went to Independent Moving
Picture where her name was on
all promo and shown in every
Mary Pickford film

16. The Early Business Model
• By the Early 1900s, several
European Jewish immigrants,
including Carl Lemmle, began to
foresee the money available in the
film industry
• Adolf Zukor also emigrated from
Europe (Hungary) and would
eventually become head of
Paramount Pictures
• Zukor injected a level of quality in
film, which until the early 1900s
had been see as a low form of
entertainment
• This is perhaps the point when film
began to be considered as a serious
Adolf Zucor art form

17. Mack Sennett Studios
• Mack Sennett open a studio in 1912
that was entirely dedicated to the
production of comedy
• They produced around 2 – 3 silent
comedies a week
• Mack Sennett stole most of his
comedic ideas from a French
company called Pathe
• Charlie Chaplin, after being seen by
Mack Sennett as a stand up
comedian, began his long filmic
career at Sennett’s Keystone
Studios

18. • Pathe was established by the Pathe brothers in 1986
• Initially, they focused on manufacturing film and production
equipment
• They invented the newsreel in 1908
• They bought the Lumiere’s patent in 1902 and began attempting
to create their own improved studio camera
• They had very efficient distribution systems and set up
production and distribution systems in the UK in 1902
• This would eventually have a detramental effect on the British
Film industry as mostly Pathe films were being shown

19. Griffiths vs. Cecil B DeMilles
The Race To Feature Length
• By 1914, European studios such as
Pathe were creating films over an
hour long
• Cecil B DeMilles had also produced
Americas first feature length film,
The Squaw Man (1914), which
came in at about 80 minutes long
• At the same time, Biograph were
restricting DW Griffith to short, 12
minute-long films
• ‘One reelers’ could be made cheeply
and make a large profit
• DW Griffth eventually made Judith
of Bethulia (1914), without telling
Biograph

20. WWI
• The outbreak of war allowed the
American film industry to prosper
• The British industry in particular
almost ground to a halt
• Because the British industry was on
its knees, American companies
came over and set up distribution
centres here
• This combined with years of Pathe
domination further inhibited the
British industry

21. The Birth of a Nation (1915)
• DW Griffith directed The Birth of a
Nation in 1915
• This three-hour long epic focused
on the civil war
• Screenings were accompanied by
35-piece orchestras
• Broke Box Office records
• After the film, the Klan had
something of a social awakening
• Does this show the power of film?
• Can you think of another film that
has caused these types of issues?

22. The Early Studios
Paramount
• Established as Distribution
company in 1914; acquired
by Zukor in 1917, who
merges it with his
production company
• First “vertically integrated”
company
• Marlene Dietrich, Mary
Pickford, Bing Crosby

23. Biblical Epics and Glamour
• Many of the directors and
technicians in the early days of
Paramount were Austrian and
German exiles. Because of this
the studio’s films had a
“European look,” being full of
dramatic lighting and elaborate
set designs.
• One of Paramount’s main
directors was Cecil B. DeMille,
who, along with D. W. Griffith,
invented the Biblical Epic. If
you close your eyes and try to
imagine different stories from
the Bible or from ancient
mythology, you will probably
picture the films of DeMille.

24. Fox (Later 20th Century Fox
• Established in 1913
by William Fox
• Known for musicals
and westerns
• John Ford, Shirley
Temple, Marlon
Brando, Marilyn
Monroe

25. 20th Centuary Fox and the
Blockbuster
• William Fox founded Fox
Studios in 1914 and began
building his empire by buying
up chains of movie theatres.
This coincided with a
production strategy that
emphasized big spectacle.
• Fox had early success with this
strategy with such films as
Seventh Heaven (1926) and
What Price Glory (1926). Both
films were box-office hits, but
Fox soon found himself locked
into this format, as he needed
to continue to gamble with big
budgets films to offset
production cost and the
company’s real estate holdings.

26. Vertical Integration
• Vertical integration is a method of producing films which
one company control the entire process from start to
finish
• This included production, distribution and exhibition
• This allowed studios to keep a tight control on their
product
• Vertical integration has several pro and cons – think of a
couple…

27. Vertical Integration
PROS CONS
• Lower transaction costs • Higher coordination
cost
• Lower uncertainty
• Staff not motivated
• Supply and demand
• Lack of creativity
• Monopolisation
• Monopolisation

28. Vertical Integration
PROS CONS
• Lower transaction costs • Higher coordination
cost
• Lower uncertainty
• Staff not motivated
• Supply and demand
• Lack of creativity
• Monopolisation
• Monopolisation