This page lists chronologically the first achievements in cinema. The development of cinema is characterised by technological breakthroughs, from early experiments in the recording of day-to-day activity, experiments in colour, different formats and sound. From the 1970s, the development of computer-generated imagery became integral to the way that films are produced.
In parallel with the developments in technology, its content and the way it reflects society and its concerns and the way society responds to it have changed too. The list attempts to address some of these events.
Peter Mark Roget's wrote the article Explanation of an optical deception in the appearance of the spokes of a wheel when seen through vertical apertures which described a stroboscopic illusion.
1832
Almost simultaneously, around December 1832, the Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau and the Austrian professor of practical geometry Simon Stampfer invented the Phenakistiscope, the first practical device to create a fluid illusion of motion. Plateau introduced the device in January 1833 in a scientific magazine.
1870s
1874
French astronomer P.J.C. Janssen came up with the idea for a "revolver to shoot the individual. This huge camera system used a Maltese cross-type mechanism, very similar to the system that would later be of great importance in the development of movie cameras. Janssen successfully captured two transits of Venus, the one of 1874 in Japan, and that of 1882 at Oran, in Algeria. Discs with test footage of a simulation from 1874 have been preserved and a modern animated version is sometimes regarded as the first movie.[1]
1878
Using a battery of 12 cameras Eadweard Muybridge records several series of The Horse in Motion, capturing successive phases of movements that allowed his patron Leland Stanford to study the positions of the legs of his race horses during different gaits. The technique would soon be dubbed chronophotography.
1880s
1880
During his lectures on locomotion, Eadweard Muybridge projected looping animations of The Horse in Motion with his Zoopraxiscope. The stroboscopic apparatus used glass discs on which silhouette versions of the photographs had been traced by an artist (with anamorphic corrections for the distortion caused by fast rotation).
1882
Étienne-Jules Marey developed the Chronophotographe, which could take 12 pictures per second from a single viewpoint.
Dickson Greeting, by William Kennedy Dickson was the first semi-public demonstration of cinematographic pictures in the United States. The National Federation of Women's Clubs were shown a 3 second clip of Dickson passing a hat in front of himself, and reaching for it with his other hand on May 20, 1891 at Edison's laboratory.
Blacksmith Scene, by William Kennedy Dickson. The first Kinetoscope film shown in public exhibition on May 9, 1893 and is the earliest known example of actors performing a role in a film.[4]
The world's first film production studio, the Black Maria, or the Kinetographic Theater, was completed on the grounds of Edison's laboratories at West Orange, New Jersey, for the purpose of making film strips for the Kinetoscope. Construction began in December 1892.[5]
1894
On April 14, 1894, a public Kinetoscope parlor was opened by the Holland Bros. in New York City at 1155 Broadway, on the corner of 27th Street—the first commercial motion picture house. The venue had ten machines, set up in parallel rows of five, each showing a different movie. For 25 cents a viewer could see all the films in either row; half a dollar gave access to the entire bill.[6]
The Dolorita Passion Dance was banned in New Jersey after its use in peepshows. Russell Kick quotes the work Censorship as saying it "was probably the first [film] to be banned in the United States."[7]
The first building dedicated exclusively to showing motion pictures was the Vitascope Hall, established on Canal Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, on June 26 — it was converted from a vacant store.[12]
Le Coucher de la Mariée, a French erotic short film considered to be one of the first erotic films made. The film was first screened in Paris in November 1896, within a year of the first public screening of a projected motion picture.[citation needed]
January 19, Variety publishes reviews of two films, An Exciting Honeymoon and The Life of a Cowboy by Edwin S. Porter. These are believed to be the first film reviews published.[24]
The Kinemacolor process is first shown to the public at Palace Theatre in London. This is the first time the public saw color films.[25]
Wilbur Wright und seine Flugmaschine was the first film shot from an aeroplane. The flight took place in April 1909. Wilbur Wright was training military personnel and took a newsreel cameraman on a flight in Rome to record this.[26]
Foolish Wives becomes the first film to cost $1 million to produce. The studio took advantage of its exorbitant price and advertised it as "The First Real Million Dollar Picture".[41]
The Viking is the first feature-length film in color with sound (music and sound effects only).[citation needed]
Steamboat Willie, the first cartoon with synchronized sound and the first cartoon to feature a fully post-produced soundtrack.
In Old Arizona, the first major Western to use the new technology of sound and the first talkie to be filmed outdoors.[46]
The Air Circus becomes the first aviation oriented film with dialogue as well as the first film to depict the barnstormer era.[47][48]
1929
The First Academy Award ceremony takes place at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Los Angeles on May 1. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans wins the award for "Unique and Artistic Production" (denoting artistic strength) and Wings wins the award for "Outstanding Picture, Production" (denoting technical production quality). Both awards were eliminated and merged the next year into the single Best Picture category. Emil Jannings and Janet Gaynor won the awards for best actor and actress, which were awarded for work in a number of different films throughout the year. Acting categories were later narrowed to honor work on a single film.[49]
Sesto Continente, directed by Folco Quilici, was the first full-length, full-color underwater documentary.[64][65] The much more famous The Silent World, released in 1956, is frequently erroneously claimed as such.
Dragnet is the first theatrical film based on a television series.
Famous Film Festival is network television's first feature movie anthology television series.
1956
Forbidden Planet is the first science fiction film to depict humans traveling in a faster-than-light starship of their own creation, the first to be set entirely on another planet in interstellar space, far away from Earth, as well as the first film to use an entirely electronicmusical score, which was courtesy of Bebe and Louis Barron.[68][69]
The Wizard of Oz is the first feature-length film to be broadcast in its entirety on network television.
Psycho is the first film to show a flushing toilet.[71]
1961
NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, the first regularly scheduled feature movie anthology network television series to broadcast recently released feature films in color, debuts.
Magic Boy becomes the first anime film to be released in the United States on June 22, 1961.
1962
The Manchurian Candidate was the first Hollywood film to cast a black actor in a role not specifically written as black.[72]
Harlow : first feature film shot on video at the lower range of modern high definition. It used Electronovision, an American film production process based on the French 819 lines TV system, which could display 737 active lines on screen, so slightly above 720p (albeit as a B&W, interlaced, 4/3 format). Videotape was transferred to 35 mm film for distribution.
Fritz the Cat, the first animated feature to be given an X rating.
1973
First use of 2D computer animation in a significant entertainment feature film, Westworld. The point of view of Yul Brynner's gunslinger was achieved with raster graphics.[84][85]
1974
The Man with the Golden Gun becomes the first film to feature an "astro-spiral" jump, in which a car drives up a corkscrewed ramp and turns 360 degrees along its long axis. The stunt was performed with a AMC Hornet X hatchback by Loren "Bumps" Willert, and was done across a river near Bangkok, Thailand.[86]
1975
Jaws becomes the first film to gross more than $400 million at the box office.[87]
Looker is the first film to feature a CGI human character, Cindy. Also, first use of 3D shaded CGI.[91][92]
1982
For Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, ILM computer graphics division develops "Genesis Effect", the first use of fractal-generated landscape in a film.[93] Bill Reeves leads the Genesis Effect programming team, and creates a new graphics technique called Particle Systems.
1983
Rock & Rule is the first animated film to use computer graphics.[94]
The Last Starfighter uses CGI for all spaceship shots, replacing traditional models. First use of 'integrated CGI' where the effects are supposed to represent real world objects.[94]
At the Canada Pavilion in Expo 86, Vancouver, Canada the first showing of 3D Imax takes place (Transition).[83]
1987
Julia and Julia (Giulia e Giulia) : first feature film shot in analog HDTV with a resolution in the 1000+ lines range (japanese 1125 lines Hi-Vision system, with 1035 active lines). Transferred to 35 mm for distribution.
1988
Tin Toy by John Lasseter becomes the first computer-animated short film to win an Academy Award.[98]
1990s
1990
The Rescuers Down Under is both Walt Disney Animation Studios' first theatrical sequel and Hollywood's first feature film digitally colored and assembled entirely on computers, using the studio's proprietary "Computer Animation Production System" (CAPS).[citation needed]
1991
Beauty and the Beast is the first animated film to have an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.
Du fond du coeur is the first feature film to be shot on european 1250 lines (1152 active) HDTV format, at least partially, due to technical problems during shooting. Du fond du coeur (1994) was more successful in this regard, but, though finalized on 35 mm film, was intended as a TV series rather than for theatrical release.
Super Mario Bros. is the first film adaptation to be based on a video game.
Jurassic Park is the first film to use realistic computer-generated effects
1994
True Lies by James Cameron is the first film to cost $100 million.[102] Later, such budgets would become much more commonplace. As of January 2024, at least 500 films have been made with a budget of $100 million or more.[103]
Fantasia 2000 is the first animated feature-length film shown in IMAX.[112][113] The success of the release, as well as IMAX corporation's struggle with layoffs and closures, led to the creation of IMAX's DMR process, which up-converts conventional films to IMAX format.[114]
Our Lady of the Assassins was shot on progressive digital HDTV, though at a 30 fps framerate. Transferred to 35 mm for release.
The Matrix Revolutions is the first film to be released in IMAX on the same day as its conventional film release, after undergoing their proprietary DMR process.[119]
2004
Able Edwards, the first movie with all-CGI backgrounds and live actors.[120]
Olive is the first feature film shot entirely on a cellphone.[135]
2012
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the first wide-release film to be shot using a high frame rate. Cinematographer Andrew Lesnie shot the film using 48 frames per second, twice the usual 24 frames per second.[136] However, few cinemas were capable of showing the high frame rate version of the film - at most 1,000 screens out of the 39,056 showing it in the United States - and most showed it in the ordinary frame rate. The reason for this increased frame rate was to make the 3D easier to watch, as well as remove camera blur, and increase clarity.[137]
Nomadland by Chloé Zhao, the first Oscar Best Picture winning film to be released theatrically, direct-to-streaming and VOD at the same time.
2021
The Suicide Squad is the first non-Marvel Studios film ever released to be shot entirely with IMAX-certified digital cameras. Although Top Gun: Maverick and Dune had both accomplished the same feat and had finished filming earlier, The Suicide Squad was released first, on August 5, after the releases of the other two were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was shot with the Red Ranger Monstro 8K & Komodo 6K cameras. The film was also the first feature film to use the Red Komodo camera.[151]
The Tomorrow War is the first streaming original film to cost at least $200 million to produce. The film was originally set for theatrical release by Paramount Pictures, but the film's distribution rights were ultimately acquired by Amazon due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[152] Four months later, Red Notice was also released under similar circumstances and cost, on Netflix. As of early 2022, The Gray Man is set become the first streaming original to cost at least $200 million that was originally intended as a streaming original, and released in July 2022.[153]
^The machines were modified so that they did not operate by nickel slot. According to Hendricks (1966), in each row "attendants switched the instruments on and off for customers who had paid their twenty-five cents" (p. 13). For more on the Hollands, see Peter Morris, Embattled Shadows: A History of Canadian Cinema, 1895–1939 (Montreal and Kingston, Canada; London; and Buffalo, New York: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1978), pp. 6–7. Morris states that Edison wholesaled the Kinetoscope at $200 per machine; in fact, as described below, $250 seems to have been the most common figure at first.
^Varner, Paul (2009). The A to Z of Westerns in Cinema. Scarecrow Press. p. xvii. ISBN978-0810868885.
^Jones, Briana (2 March 2016). "These Are The Very First Movie Sequel, Remake, And Reboots Ever". all-that-is-interesting.com. Retrieved 13 November 2017. In 1904, director Siegmund Lubin released his own version of the film, under the very same name, and made it nearly identical to its predecessor.
^McKernan, Luke (2018). Charles Urban: Pioneering the Non-Fiction Film in Britain and America, 1897-1925. University of Exeter Press. ISBN978-0859892964.
^Wyatt, Justin; Vlesmas, Katherine (1999). "The Drama of Recoupment: On the Mass Media Negotiation of Titanic". In Kevin S. Sandler; Gaylyn Studlar (eds.). Titanic: Anatomy of a Blockbuster. pp. 29–45.
^Stephens, E. J.; Wanamaker, Marc (2010). Early Warner Bros. Studios. Arcadia Publishing. p. 25. ISBN978-0-738-58091-3.
^Pegoraro, Rob (June 29, 2008). "Incredibles, Inc; The story of how computer programmers transformed the art of movie animation". The Washington Post. p. W8.
^Mogel, Leonard (2004). This Business of Broadcasting: A Practical Guide to Jobs & Job Opportunities in the Broadcasting Industry. Billboard Books. p. 183. ISBN0823077306.