Visual cultures 6 - The late 19th century.

The birth of cinema

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/edhtml/edmvhist1.html

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/edhtml/edmvhist.html

Whilst researching this topic you can instantly see that a lot of references will state and credit Thomas Edison for inventing the first motion picture camera in 1891, better known as the Kinetograph, Edison also invented the kinetoscope which is a peep hole motion picture viewer. 

The motion pictures grew in popularity fast and within the space of 10 years, single viewer Kinetoscopes were created. This meant that the target audience grew massively.

To the right i have inserted a picture of what a Kinetoscope looks like. 

Origins of motion picture 

The concept of moving images as entertainment despite what people may think was not a new matter when the late 19th century came around. Before the invention of the Kinetoscope, people would use magic lantern as a means of entertainment. The magic lanterns proved to be very popular.

The magic lantern would use glass slides with images which then would project onto a surface, a more primitive form of todays projectors. 

But this was not the only form of entertainment that was around before Thomas Edison invented the Kinetoscope. 

This is what a magic lantern looks like. 

Edison's first motion picture studio

Edison's first motion picture studio was entitled 'the black Maria'. This was a specially built motion picture production studio. It was entitled the black maria because of it having a striking resemblance to a police patrol wagon of that time. 

This studio had to be built in order to support the influx of new film subjects (new film subjects were vital to keep the public interested in the motion picture). 

The studios roof could be opened to allow sunlight in to illuminate the room. The building itself would move, it was mounted on a pivot this was so the studio could constantly be lit up by sunlight

The black maria (to the left)

The first motion picture recorded

The earliest recorded motion picture was entitled 'Fred Ott's sneeze' (Edison Kinetoscopic record of a sneeze, January 7th 1894).

The sneeze is from Fre ott who was an employee of Edison, it is said that fred sneezing commercially for the camera.