The Motion-Picture

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 72, 18 December 1928, Page 55 (Supplement)

The Motion-Picture

WORLD-WIDE DEVELOPMENT.

Evolution of The Silent Drama.

The motion-picture springs from roots that reach far into the past where they are lost in antiquity. It is impossible to attribute its discovery to any particular man or to call it an invention, for it is, as we have it at the present day, the result of a remarkable number of inventions, and is composed of and depended upon many facts and scientific principles. The idea can be traced in the oldfashioned Zoetrope, or Wheel of Life, which was a succession of pictures, each differing slightly in posture, which, when passed through a number of slits, gave the impression of movement. It has been said that a record which has been found on a Greek tablet leads one to suppose the existence of moving pictures before the year 100 B.C. The whole principle of screen animation, is based upon the fact, that if we look at anything the impression of the object is retained in the eye for one sixteenth of a second after the object has disappeared, so that the succession of pictures, slightly differing from the preceding one, presented to the eye at the rate of 16 per second has the resulting appearance of a continuous picture. These pictures are projected by an optical arrangement by means of which enlarged images of photographs on long strips of transparent celluloid are thrown upon the screen. One of the greatest factors in the history of motion picture and the one that made it possible to become the vast industry that it is to-day, was the invention of celluloid by Eastman, an American. Previously glass plates had to be used but the weight, bulk and fragility of glass made it a great hindrance. Au Englishman, Muybridge, resident in America, iu 1872 carried out an exhaustive series of experiments, but this work was done on a private basis, and not much information reached Europe. The little that did reach France aroused wide interest and curiosity. Meissonier, the great artist, was particularly attracted, and described Muybridge’s photographs of the different movements of men and animals as an aid to art. Muybridge was warmly greeted on his arrival at the Breach capital in the following year, and a private demonstration, whih was described as one of the leading events of the social season, was arranged. Alexander Dumas was among the spectators. Dr. Marcy, a Frenchman, obtained photos, of birds with the idea of studying the problem of flight, but his object was more in the advance of science than in a new kind of photography. Anchutz, a German, also worked at the problem of moving pictures. Later, Edison, with his kinetoscope, proved it possible to photograph or-g

dinary scenes and afterwards view them in natural motion, but it was a very long time before machines were anything approaching perfection. A number of films were shown privately, one exhibition taking place before the Prince of Wales, at Marlborough House, in November, 1895. The first practical and popular performance was given at the Empire Theatre, Leicester Square, London, in 1896. In a short time there were innumerable exhibitors. Some productions w’ere good, but the majority were not. A host of inventors, photographers, and mechanics applied their ingenuity to the new wonder with the result that within about only 30 years the industry has attained its present colossal proportions. The laurels for the development of cinematography in the past go to the French nation. Experiments were being carried out on a large and advanced scale in France, while the English were merely dabbling with the idea. The picture theatre too, had its birthplace there, and when the craze spread, theatres, with their brilliantly illuminated frontages and bright posters, sprang up everywhere until, to-day, there are some 50,000 cinema theatres, of which 20,000 are in America and 4,000 in the United Kingdom. America’s large hold upon the film market is due to three main causes. First, the fact that it is the home of the inventors, Mr. Eastman and Mr. Edison; second, the war which caused production to cease in Britain, France and Germany, gave opportunities to a warprosperous America. Third, the huge American protected market—protected both by tariffs and by the refusal of American uhibitors to show foreign films. Germany has been the slowest to take an interest in the industry. For some years she maintained an indifferent attitude, but is now making up for lost time, and is producing enough to satisfy half her own requirements as well to carry on a large export trade. Moving pictures have long since issued from the purely amusing stage. They are recognised as a public utility, valuable for their educational and commercial qualities. The cinema teaches without language, through the eye to the brain, foreigner and native understand alike. The success attained in the development of the screen has naturally stimulated efforts toward the achievement of wider successes, such as trick films, films that laugh, talk and sing, and also films in natural colours. There are very many branches of art in this vast industry. The public insists on perfect pictures and perfect projection, but there is no indication that the movement has yet gained the height of perfection. There are many channels open for still greater achievements.