The Invention of Film to Hollywood

In 1895 in Paris, France, the Lumiere brothers have invented a movie-making device similar to the one Edison invented in America.  With it they began shooting short films of everyday people and events.  The following is "Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory", which is the brothers' first film.

 

Meanwhile, in America, Thomas Edison was also busy creating a machine that could also record and project pictures as moving images.  In fact, his invention was unveiled at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago.  At his home in West Orange, New Jersey, Edison created what has now been credited as America's first movie studio.  This studio is called the Black Maria and films including the following, "Fred Ott's Sneeze", were shot there.

With this new technology, just watching moving images was fascinating enough and no one really thought about how movies could be an art form until about 1896 when French filmmaker George Melies hit the scene.  Melies was already a stage performer and was interested in using film as a way to enhance his magic shows.  Using special effects, new editing techniques and hand-colored film Melies is often credited as being the first "cinemagician".  He is also one of the first filmmakers to use a narrative in film as the following film, "A Trip To The Moon", showcases.

With the introduction of narrative and the use of special effects in Melies' films, movies began to be seen as a new art form that would be here to stay.  By 1908 there were a handful of American motion picture companies.  In December of that year the companies joined together to create the Motion Picture Patents Company.  This was Edison's way of controlling the use of his machines in American film making, ensuring his profit.  By 1915 the MPPC dissolved due to these restraints, but smaller companies emerged which would become the primary producers of motion pictures.

One of the ways in which film makers were able to escape Edison's patent lawsuits was to move away from him; to California to be exact.  In the beautiful mountains of Southern California film makers found a landscape which provided impeccable filming conditions and the freedom to begin making their films.