1891 – Kinetograph designed and patented by T. A. Edison and W.K. Dickson
1893 – Kinetoscope designed by Dickson shown in public ( a box with a peephole to show
images after inserting a coin....didn´t have much success)
1895 – pictures projected to the audience for the first time in Paris with a Cinematograph
made by Lumiere brothers. First films showed one scene which took about a minute.
1898 – Robert Paul´s company used cut to longer the film.
1901 – developement of new techniques G.A. Smith invented the basic technique of breaking a
filmed scene down into a number of shots taken from different camera positions ( The
Little Doctors)
1902 – James Williamson developed the movement of action through series of shots taken in
various locations (Stop!, The Thief. )
1903 – chase films : characters pursude through more and more different scenes
1905 – Nickeldeon in Pittsburgh : the first cinema running fulltime (before, there was no special
place for presenting movies)
1908 – MPPC : a Motion Picture Patents Company established. ( intended to control the film
business, succeeded only for 2 years)
1908 – new company in France : Film d´Art with a programme using artistically recognized
writers, musicians and actors.
*D.W. Griffith : actor, playwright and director. He used and invented acting gesture,
moved his actors from space to space, developed the technique of crosscutting between
parallel actions.
1912 – Western shots in California develops : the use of reverse-angle shots and POV a
point of viev shot.
1909 – Mack Sennet intensified comedy effect by undercracking : speeding up the actions. Comediants created a more naturalistic character ( Max Linder, Charlie Chaplin)
1913 – feature films ( La Caduta di Troia). A basic feature of a wellmade play was a task for
the hero: to overcome the challenge and get the girl aswell.
1914 – new technical devices as flashback and tracking shot : moving the camera while
filming.
1919 – Hollywood becomes the major center of production. United Artists is a company made by prominent figures: Charlie Chaplin, Mary
Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D. W. Griffith
1920 – major am.