Cinema is a relatively new dominant art form, being around 130 years old. It is ever-evolving and was a revolutionary way in which humans could express themselves. It is also a knowable concept, due to the fact that the entire history of cinema is mapped out and is within our great-grandparents’ lifetimes.
The history of cinema starts in the 1800s, when photography was first invented. This was a revolutionary moment in history, as now you were able to capture a moment of reality. This was done through the process of exposing a camera obscura containing photosensitive chemicals to light. However, early photography took hours and the subject was forced to sit still for a prolonged period. Subsequently, photography quickly developed and soon enough became a business. Afterwards, people began to ponder the idea of moving images, and soon realised that if many images were sequenced together in rapid succession, it created the illusion of movement. This led to the production of early films – which were reminiscent of flip books.
By 1895, technologies were competing to produce moving images, however, it was a mere novelty at this point. There was no infrastructure, film now existed but was solely a “seaside attraction”. Despite this, film soon caught the imagination of the population and was consistently developed and commercialised. Two key pioneers for the film industry were the Lumiere brothers, who developed iconic early films such as Employees Leaving the Lumiere Factory and The Arrival of a Train. These short experiments did not tell a story of any kind, but merely showed the audience of the late 19th Century what film was capable of.
At this point in time, theatre was cheap entertainment and music halls were common place. As these attractions fell out of favour, music halls were replaced by cinemas and soon enough – every town had a cinema. Because of this, the snowball effect began to take place and there was a sudden explosion in both cinemas and film production. Particularly in America, film was recognised as an incredible business model and many entrepreneurs jumped straight to it. Filmmaking was quickly transformed into a factory assembly line in which the studio completed every task. This was known as vertical integration and the money was gained from the public. The American film industry was constantly competing to be bigger, better and have more assets and this was done by spending the most amount of money. Every stereotypical trait that Hollywood is associated with (glamour, scale, money etc.) originated from this point.
Another key trailblazer in the world of filmmaking was George Melies, who invented both substitution splices and double-exposure: two key techniques in modern day cinema. Melies’ most iconic work was A Trip To The Moon (1902) which made great use of both techniques.
During 1900-1910, cinema went from being the “theatre of attractions” to narrative-driven. Films were no longer a series of stills – technology had greatly advanced and full stories were being told. 35mm film was used to shoot, process and produce films. Physical film was used for mainstream cinema up until about 15 years ago until digital filming was used. In order for the human eye to be fooled into perceiving a sequence of images as movement, 24 images must be displayed every second.
By 1920, film was the most popular art form in the Western world due to the fact that it was accessible to everyone. However, colour and sound were problems to be solved. The idea of painting sets was briefly considered, but was deemed far too impractical. Dubbing was also attempted to solve the sound problem, but this didn’t work. At this point, all films were shot in 4:3 aspect ratio (square), as widescreen wasn’t considered until much later.
Throughout the later 20th Century, cinema continuously developed and many problems were solved. The first film with synchronised sound was released in 1927 and two key actors who were famous before and after sound were the comedy duo Laurel & Hardy. Film was used for World War propaganda, as well as many other commercial items.
However, the invention of the television instantly established itself as the main opponent for the film industry. Initially, TVs were far too expensive for the average person, but by the 1950s most average families owned a television. Ticket sales began to decline as there was no reason to go the cinema anymore when you could watch the latest films from the comfort of your own home.
The film industry constantly attempted to overcome the TV problem by initially making cinema screens much wider than TV screens. Going to the cinema now became a prestigious event, rather than a day-to-day activity. New films were additionally not shown on television until many months down the line, this was done to increase cinematic demand. The film industry also briefly dabbled in 3D, but this wasn’t commercially viable.
By the 1970s, VCR was a new competitor for the film industry and video rental shops, such as Blockbuster, dominated the market. As each new obstacle arose, cinema threw money at the problem to counteract it. However, this ultimately failed and by the 1980s, almost every cinema in the UK closed down.
In present day society, the film industry faces many opponents such as TV channels, internet and streaming services.
Otis Morley’s A-Level Film Studies Blog 