The History of Motion Pictures

Com 341

1. By: Adam Coe

2. On December 28, 2005 Auguste and Louis Lumiere
presented the world's first public film screening.
The world’s first film screening consisted of
approximately ten short films. Altogether, the films only
last twenty minutes. This screening was held in Paris,
underneath the Grand Cafe on the Boulevard des
Capucines. The screening was a demonstration of their
new device called the Cinematograph. The
Cinematograph functioned as camera, projector and
printer all in one.
-http://www.holonet.khm.de/visual_alchemy/lumiere.html

3. The assistant to Thomas Edison, William
Dickson, developed an early motion picture
camera called the kinetograph (Grant &
Meadows, 2008).
William Dickson also developed a motion
picture viewing system known as the
kinetoscope (Grant & Meadows, 2008).

4. Coin-fed kinetoscopes were
offered to moviegoers at a New
York movie house that opened
in 1894 (Grant & Meadows,
2008).

5. The vitascope was invented
by Thomas Edison and was
first introduced to the
public in 1896. The
Vitascope made the length
of films longer than those
shown through the use of
kinetoscopes. This device
also allowed larger
audiences to watch moving
images at the same time.
Also, during 1896, the first
motion picture theater was
started in France by
Georges Melies (Grant &
Meadows, 2008).

6. By 1900, short movies became immensely popular in
American entertainment. Attendance at movie
theaters reached forty million people by 1922. The
yearly attendance for motion pictures would
increased every year up until the Great Depression.
Between 1934 and 1937, attendance increase, but
then again decreased pre-WWII. During the war,
attendance began to increase and continued to
increase until the beginning of television. Between
1946 and 1949, the motion picture business saw its
highest attendance ever, 90 million attendees weekly
(Grant & Meadows, 2008).

7. During the 1950’s and 60’s, weekly
attendance at movie theaters plummeted.
This was due to popularity of television. Many
of televisions Landmark TV shows made their
appearance during this time, such as the
“Dick Van Dyke Show” and “I Love Lucy.”

8. The motion picture business made a recovery in the early 1970’s
which started a period of stability for box office sales until the
1990’s. The box office enjoy steady gains in ticket sales through
the 1990’s with the exceptions of some minor dips By 1900, short
movies became immensely popular in American entertainment.
Attendance at movie theaters reached forty million people by
1922. The yearly attendance for motion pictures would increased
every year up until the Great Depression. Between 1934 and 1937,
attendance increase, but then again decreased pre-WWII. During
the war, attendance began to increase and continued to increase
until the beginning of television. Between 1946 and 1949, the
motion picture business saw its highest attendance ever, 90
million attendees weekly (Grant & Meadows, 2008).

9. After 1991, the box office experienced an increase in
revenues even when ticket sales were down. This was due
to inflation of ticket prices. By 1900, short movies became
immensely popular in American entertainment.
Attendance at movie theaters reached forty million people
by 1922. The yearly attendance for motion pictures would
increased every year up until the Great Depression.
Between 1934 and 1937, attendance increase, but then
again decreased pre-WWII. During the war, attendance
began to increase and continued to increase until the
beginning of television. Between 1946 and 1949, the
motion picture business saw its highest attendance ever,
90 million attendees weekly (Grant & Meadows, 2008).

10. According to the Internet Movie Database
(IMBb,) the ten highest grossing movies at the
box office within the U.S. are:
1. Titanic (1997) $600,779,824
2. The Dark Knight (2008) $532,831,967
3. Star Wars (1977) $460,935,665
4. Shrek 2 (2004) $436,471,036
5. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
$434,949,459

11. 6. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
$431,065,444

7. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
$423,032,628
8. Spider-Man (2002) $403,706,375
9. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
$380,262,555
10. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
$377,019,252

12. Grant, A. E., & Meadows, J. H. (2008).
Communication Technology Update and
Fundamentals. Oxford, UK: Focal Press.