Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: When were the first films publicly shown?

my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

»	Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE » Community » Film-Yak » When were the first films publicly shown? (Page 2)

This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2

Author

Topic: When were the first films publicly shown?

Tim Reed
Better Projection Pays

Posts: 5246
From: Northampton, PA
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 10-12-2003 02:57 PM

Something else that history overlooks is the fact that W.K.L. Dickson was the actual father of motion pictures, having devised the Kinetograph (camera) for Edison. Edison contributed no invention to that device or the Kinetoscope, having been heavily absorbed in his mining equipment activities during those years.

| IP: Logged

Jeffry L. Johnson
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 809
From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 10-14-2003 08:00 AM

"First Photographs : people, places, and phenomena as captured for the first time by the camera". Gail Buckland. Macmillan. ©1980. ISBN 0-02-518070-3.

Motion picture show. At an amazingly early date, 1870, an audience sat in the dark and watched a couple waltz—two people dancing who were not there in person. We know all about this thing called moving pictures, but back then, fifteen hundred people in one evening paid good money just to see if it really was possible. The Scientific American of June 5, 1915, in an article highlighting great events in the history of photography, described what happened:

To Henry Heyl of Philadelphia must be assigned the credit of having given the first motion-picture exhibition in the modern sense of the term. That was in 1870. His invention, the "Phasmatrope" was first exhibited in Philadelphia at the American Academy of Music, February 5, 1870 before an audience of more than 1500 persons. [Previously, if pictures were made to 'move', only one person could view them at a time.] The related photos were small glass plate positives of selected subjects reduced from wet plate negatives, taken from successive poses, by an ordinary camera. The "phasmatrope," was a revolving skeleton disk around the periphery of which the glass positives were removably placed to register accurately as they intermittently came into the lantern rays. During the intervals between the rests of the disk a vibrating shutter cut off the light. The rotation of the disk was in absolute control by the operator so that the movements of the figures (two waltzers) were kept in perfect synchronism with an orchestra of 40 musicians. Hence, we have not only motion pictures but the correlation of sound with motion. Mr. Heyl went even further. He threw upon the screen a figure of a gesticulating "Brother Jonathan" [Uncle Sam]. The pantomimic gestures and lip movements of the moving photographs coincided with the voice of a reader who supplied the audible words.

| IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2

Printer-friendly view of this topic

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.