Early Cinema Film 299

Film Duration Evolution (1895-1915)

• 1895: ~ 1 min, single shot

• 1905: 5-10 mins, scene changes

• 1910s: Feature-length, complex story

Exhibition Shift in the 1910s

Moved from sideshow acts (circus, magic lantern) to specialized film theaters

Shift in Global film capitals

Shifted from Paris/London/New York to Los Angeles (Hollywood) during the 1910s

Pre-Hollywood/Pre-Classical Cinema

Terms for cinema from mid-1890s to mid 1910s before classical Hollywood took over

Two Eras of Early Cinema

• Early Cinema (1895-1906): Presentational style, based on theater/photo

  • Transitional (1907-mid1910s): Developed purely cinematic storytelling

Key Inventors/Pioneers by Country

• US: Edison

• France: Lumiere brothers

• Germany: Max Skladanowsky

• UK: William Friese-Greene

3 Tech Breakthroughs Enabling Cinema

1. Photo development fixes

2. Flexible celluloid film

3. Precision projector engineering

Lumiere Brothers (Auguste & Louis)

Who: French brothers who invented the Cinematographe

Key Event: Projected 10 short films to paying audience at the Grande Cafe in Paris (December 1895)

Legacy: Established early French cinema dominance

Cinematographe vs Kinetograph

• Cinematographe (Lumieres): Portable (16lbs), hand-cranked, served as camera, projector, and developer. Needed no electricity

• Kinetograph (Edison): Extremely heavy (hundreds of lbs), required electricity, and was non-portable

Max Skladonwsky

Claim to fame: German inventor who projected films to a paying audience in Berlin 2 months before the Lumieres famous Paris debut

Georges Melies

Background: Former magician/conjurer who founded Star Film Company (1896)

Role: Pioneer of fiction/narrative cinema: built a famous studio in Montreuil

Fate: Went bankrupt by 1913 due to heavy competition

Pathe Freres (Pathe Company)

Founded: 1896 by Charles Pathe

Impact: Became the largest French producer, outcasting Melies & Lumieres through aggressive global expansion and patent buying

Edison’s Motion Picture Team

• Thomas Edison: Oversaw the operations

• William Kennedy Laurie Dickson: The actual technician who developed the Kinetograph (camera) and Kinetoscope (peep-show viewer) between 1889-1893

Black Maria

What: The first motion picture studio, built by Edison’s team in West Orange, New Jersey.

Name Origin: Nicknamed because its dark, tar-papered appearance resembled a police van

Use: Stage performers (vaudeville acts, dances, boxers) traveled from NYC to shoot 15 to 60 second films

Kinetoscope Parlours

First location: Opened in New York City in April 1894

Format: Rented storefronts containing ~ 10 individual viewing machines

Business model: Designed for individual viewers paying to look through a peep-hole rather than mass projection

The vitascope

Origins: Designed by Thomas Armat and C. Francis Jenkins; Edison brought the patent rights

Purpose: allowed Edison to pivot from individual Kinetoscopes to mass screen projection

Debut: New York City in April 1896, featuring spliced film loops shown repeatedly

Watering the Gardener (L’ Arroseur arrose )

• Direction/Creator: The lumiere brothers (1895)

• Significance: One of the earliest comedic narrative films featured in early Lumiere promotional posters

Vitagraph Company of America

Founders: Founded in 1898 by former vaudevillians James Stuart Blackton and Albert Smith

Breakthrough: Short films on their NYC rooftop studio purporting to show events from the Spanish-American War

Impact: Began selling film catalogues to other exhibitors by 1900, becoming a top US studio

American Mutoscope and Biograph Company

Origin: Formed in 1895 to make flipcards for Mutoscope machines

Key Tech: W. K. L. Dickson joined and patented a higher-quality, low-flicker projector that rivaled Edison

R.W.Paul & British Early Cinema

Loophole: Edison failed to patent the Kinetoscope in Britian

Action: R.W. Paul legally copied the machine and set up parlours in London (1894)

First British Studio: Opened in Noth London (1899) by Paul and Brit Acres

Early Film Distribution Model

• Sales over rentals: Producers sold films directly to buyers instead of renting them

• Exhibition: traveling showmen or vaudeville houses hosted screenings: permanent movie theaters did not exist yet

Evolution of the Director Role

• Early Era: Non-hierarchical, collaborative labor split between technicians and theatrical stage directors

• Modern Concept: First true single direction responsible for all camera/narrative aspects emerged around 1903 at Biograph

Early Film Style (Pre-1907)

• Focus: Individual shots meant to preserve actual spatial layout rather than complex editing/time jumps

• Framing: Camera stayed far enough back to show the full human body plus space above and below

Tableau Shot/ Proscenium Arch Shot

• Style: Stationary camera showing full action without editing or moving light sources

• Perspective: Mimicked a front-row theater view, postcard, or stereographs

• Criticism: Pre-1907 film is often called more “theatrical” than true cinema

Early Cinema Timeline Split (1894-1907)

• 1894-1902/3: Primarily one-shot documentaries (“actualities”)

• 1903-1907: Shift toward multi-shot fiction films with causal, connected story editing

Cinema of Attractions vs Narrative Integration

• Concept: Coined by film scholar Tom Gunning

• Cinema of Attractions: Early films presented pure visual spectacle (like carnival bankers) over complex story structure

• Transitional Cinema: Later shifted to story-driven “narrative integration”

A train arriving at a station (1895)

• Creators: lumiere brothers.

• Length: ~ 50 seconds

  • Famous legend: apocryphal stories claim terrified viewers ducked under seats thinking the train was crashing through the screen

Workers leaving he Lumiere Factory (1895)

• Setup: Eye-level stationary shot of workers exiting factory doors

• appeal: audiences were mesmerized by incidental realism-moving leaves in background, light on water, simple everyday motion

The Great Train Robbery (1903)

• Director: Edwin S. Porter

  • Significance: A hallmark example of early multi-shot narrative film driving the shift toward story-driven cinema

Watering the Gardener Framing & Style

• Shot Style: Short with a stationary camera in standard tableau style

• Key Scene Off-Screen: When the boy run off-screen, the camera stays still, leaving the screen blank for 2 seconds instead of panning or cutting

• Significance: Demonstrates how early cinema prioritized spatial continuity over quick cuts or editing causality

Melies Special Effects Techniques

• Stop Action: Stopping the camera to let actors enter or exit, creating sudden magical appearances or disappearances

  • Superimposition/Multiple Exposure: Laying multiple shots on top of each other to duplicate images (e,g., Melies’ own head/body in The One-Man Band)

Melies Studio Design

• Structure: Designed like a traditional theater, equipped with trapdoors, scenery slots, and uprights

• Performing Space: Action was staged in a shallow area between painted backdrops and the front of the stage

Docufiction & Execution of Czolgosz

• Concept: Pre-1907 film blurred the line between real documentary and stage fiction

• Example: Execution of Czolgosz with Panorama of Auburn Prison (1901) mixed reel outdoor prison footage with staged reenactments using actors

Early Film Genres: Trains and Travelogues

• Train Genre: Stationary shots of incoming trains or traveling shots taken from cameras mounted on front/inside moving trains

• Travelogues: Motion version of postcards showing exotic/familiar locations

• Public Events: parades, world’s fairs, and funerals sold as individual shots that exhibitors could combine into longer shows

Early Film Genres: passion plays & mini-narratives

• Passion Plays: Recorded theatrical stage performances of the life of Christ, lasting over an hour when compiled

• Mini-Narratives: Humorous one-shot gag films like Elopement by Horseback (1891)

• Trick Film: Relied on stop action, super imposition, and reverse action for comedic effects

The big Swallow (1901)

• Filmmaker: James Williamson (Brighton School)

• Plot/Style: A passer-by gets closer to the camera until his open mouth fills the frame. Cuts to a photographer falling into a black void, then back to the passer-by walking munching

Multi-shot transition period (1902/3 - 1907)

• Shift: Multi-shot film became standard rather than single-shot units

• Editing Goal: Used editing to highlight key action moments and visual pleasure rather than strict storylines

Overlapping action

Definition: Showing the same action twice from different angles/perspectives across a cut to preserve spatial clarity and emphasized key moments

Examples:

• A Trip to the Moon (1902): Landing capsule hitting the moon in two consecutive shots.

• How They Do Things on the Bowery (1902): Customer thrown out of a restaurant shown from inside and outside.

• The Widow and the Only Man (1904): Repeating an action in a closer shot instead of using a modern match cut.

Directional Continuity in A Trip to the Moon

• Technique: The capsule’s return descent to Earth follows continuous downward movement across 4 shots (20 seconds)

• Transition: Uses dissolves between shots instead of direct cuts

Action-Driven Editing: Stop Thief! & Fire! (1901)

• Filmmaker: James Williamson

• Innovation: Used direct cuts to follow continuous character movements across shots (e.g., a crowd chasing a tramp)

• Rule: Camera remains in place until the last character exits the frame, showing how character movement motivated early editing

Early Chase Films

• Genre Rise: Popularized by editing techniques following movement across shots (e.g., Personal, 1904)

• Western Integration: Used heavily in the second half of The Great Train Robbery (1903), where posse pursues bandits

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Early “Match Cut” Experiments

• James Williamson (Fire!): Used an early match cut on movement between interior and exterior shots as a fireman rescues a victim through a window.

• G. A. Smith (The Sick Kitten, 1903): Cut from a long view of children feeding a kitten to an "imperfect" match cut closer view of the kitten licking the spoon.

• Porter (Life of an American Fireman, 1902): Contrastingly retained overlapping action, showing the same rescue twice (full interior then full exterior)

Interchangeable / Non-Specific Shots

• Famous Example: The Great Train Robbery featured a shot of outlaw leader Barnes shooting directly at the camera.

• Flexibility: Catalogues told exhibitors this shot could be placed at either the beginning OR the end of the film.

• Other Examples: Raid on a Coiner's Den (1904) opened with a close-up insert of three hands with a pistol, handcuffs, and a fist.

Early Close-Ups & Point-of-View Inserts

• Purpose: Primarily used for visual pleasure and novelty rather than narrative clarity.

• G. A. Smith Films: Used circular masks for point-of-view shots, like a telescope view in As Seen Through a Telescope (1900) or spectacles in Grandma's Reading Glasses (1900).

• Edison/Porter (The Gay Shoe Clerk, 1903): Used a close-up cut-in to show a clerk's perspective of a female customer's ankle, reflecting early cinema's spectacle-focused style.

Pre-1907 Narrative Context

• Audience Understanding: Early films lacked clear internal editing logic, so audiences relied on their existing knowledge of outside texts (comics, plays, songs) to follow stories.

• Key Influences: Filmmakers drew heavy inspiration from vaudeville, melodrama, pantomime, magic lantern shows, and political cartoons.

Magic Lanterns & Early Film Techniques

• What: Early slide projectors lit by kerosene lamps.

• Pans & Dissolves: Slow-moving slides created early "pans," while switching between dual slide holders created early "dissolves" and cuts (e.g., long shot to close-up).

• Influence: Travelogue lectures (e.g., Burton Holmes) established intercutting between train views and scenery.

Early Adaptations of Popular Culture

• Poems & Songs: Edison adapted Clement Clarke Moore's Night before Christmas (1905) and hit songs like "Everybody Works but Father".

• Comic Strips: Vitagraph produced the Happy Hooligan series based on a popular New York newspaper comic strip tramp character.

Synoptic Narratives & The Epic of Napoleon

• Format: "Synoptic" films presented only the highlights of famous stories, assuming the audience already knew the full plot.

• Example: Pathé's L'Épopée napoléonienne (1903–4) showed 15 disconnected historical scenes (e.g., coronation, burning of Moscow) with no causal story links between shots.

Emergence of Intertitles (Title Cards)

• Timeline: Appeared around 1903–1904.

• Function: Summarized the action of the upcoming shot.

• Early Example: Vitagraph's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1903).

• Significance: Shifted story coherence from external audience memory to internal text inside the film.

Front: Early Film Exhibition

• Initial Role: Cinema was treated as a scientific and educational novelty rather than popular commercial entertainment.

• Early Venues: World's fairs and scientific expositions (e.g., 1900 Universal Exposition in Paris).

• Dedicated Theaters: Dedicated film venues did not emerge until 1905 in the United States.

US vs. UK Early Film Audiences

• United States: Audiences were heterogeneous and spanned multiple classes. Venues ranged from 25-cent vaudeville houses and rented storefronts to $2 traveling shows.

• Britain & Europe: Audiences had a more homogeneous, working-class base because films were shown mainly at fairgrounds, music halls, and disused shops.

Early Exhibition Venues (Pre-1905)

• Vaudeville Houses: Catered to well-to-do audiences for ~25 cents.

• Traveling Showmen: Charged up to $2 in metropolitan areas, lecturing in local churches and opera houses.

• Popular/Cheaper Options: Tent shows at carnivals/fairs and rented storefronts (precursors to nickelodeons).

The Exhibitor’s Creative Control (Pre-1903/4)

• Role: Producers supplied single-shot film units, but exhibitors assembled the actual show.

• Customization: Exhibitors chose projection order, spliced short films together, and combined movies with lantern slides or live commentary.

• Eden Musée Example: In NYC, they curated a special Spanish-American War show by blending lantern slides with 20+ films from various studios

Stereopticons & Early Mixed Media

• Device: Combined a moving picture projector with a lantern slide projector.

• Function: Allowed exhibitors to make smooth, seamless transitions between film clips and stationary slides.

• Cecil Hepworth's Advice: Suggested interspersing slides with films to string pictures together into episodes connected by live commentary.

"Silent" Cinema Sound

• Myth: Silent cinema was never truly silent.

• Music: All vaudeville shows were accompanied by music ranging from a solo piano to a full live orchestra.

• Narration: Traveling exhibitors provided live lectures and narration over the projected films and slides.

Live Sound Effects & Voice Acting

• Sound Effects: Exhibitors manually added sounds like horses' hooves and revolver shots.

• Behind-the-Screen Dialogue: Actors stood behind the screen to deliver spoken dialogue in real-time.

• Interpretation: Narrators and spoken commentary could completely alter the intended meaning of a film.

Early Cinema's First Decade Overview

• Status: Established itself as an interesting novelty dependent on older media (vaudeville, stage).

• Limitations: Relied on outmoded, individually-driven production and borrowed venues.

• Transition: Shifted toward its own distinct formal conventions, industry structure, and permanent venues in the second decade.

Industrialization of Transitional Cinema (1907–1913)

• Business Model: Emulated modern industrial capitalist enterprises with a heavy division of labor.

• Separation: Production, distribution, and exhibition became distinct sectors.

• Standardization: High demand from permanent venues led to codified cinematic rules and standardized production.

Film Form & Length in the Transitional Era

• Standard Reel: Average films reached 1,000 feet (~15 minutes).

• Feature Films: Longer films (1 hour+) made their first appearance.

• Narrative Integration: Replaced reliance on outside knowledge with self-contained, internally coherent stories.

Star System & Social Respectability

• Star System: Borrowed from theater to build brand loyalty among mass audiences.

• Respectability: Studios adopted internal censorship schemes to satisfy civic/state pressure and attract mainstream, middle-class audiences.

Global Market Dominance Pre-WWI

• Top Exporters: France, Italy, and Denmark dominated global exports.

• French Lead: French films accounted for 60% to 70% of all film imports into the US and Europe.

• Pathé's Reach: Driven abroad by a small domestic market, Pathé dominated single-company international markets.