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How It started with a $25,000 bet. In 1877, that was a lot of money. Edward
Muybridge, an Englishman tuned American, needed to settle a bet. The problem was that galloping hooves move too fast for the eye to see. Or, maybe, depending on your belief, just fast enough that you could see what you wanted to. Definitive proof was needed. To settle the bet once and for all--the argument had been raging for decades--Muybridge hired a photographer to set up 24 cameras along a race track to snap still pictures in a rapid sequence as a horse galloped by. When the pictures were developed, it was found that the horse did indeed have all four feet off the ground during brief moments, thus, settling the bet. But, during this process they found out something else--something that was to eventually make that $25,000 look like pocket change. When the pictures were viewed in rapid succession, an illusion of motion was created. A motion picture! Later, we would give impressive names to the two factors that created this illusion of motion--the illusion that lies at the base of both motion pictures and television.
Motion picture projectors present images much faster, at 24-frames per-second, with each of those frames flashed on the screen twice. This high speed makes the transition between images virtually invisible. So, as a result of a $25,000 bet, the foundation for
motion pictures and television was inadvertently established. But,
let's not get ahead of ourselves. Although the foundation may have been
laid, watching a series of drawings or still photos flip by is very
different than sitting back and watching a movie. To see how the process got started, we need to back up to 1822. In that year, Joseph Nicéphore Nicepce in France was first able to produce a crude photographic image. But, it was Lous Daguerre in 1839, who came up with a process that could actually be considered photography. His photos were referred to as daguerreotypes. (Note: If you invent something, you can name it after yourself and be famous throughout history!) But, there were obvious problems with this process--in addition to everyone having to learn how to spell daguerreotype. The only way to capture real-life images was to make metal plates light-sensitive by painting them with a liquid solution while you were in a darkroom, and then running out and exposing them one at a time in a camera, and then running back into the darkroom and developing them. Not a simple or fun process. A gentleman by the name of Hannibal Goodwin greatly simplified the process in 1889, when he developed a transparent, pliable film base called celluloid. The next step was to create long strips of film where a series of still pictures could be captured in rapid succession. Cameras and projectors were developed that could do this at a rate of 16 frames per-second. (The rate was later moved up to 18, and eventually to 24 per-second.) A few years later the concept was adopted by George Eastman of Eastman Kodak fame. He added some of his own innovations, and eventually standardized the film for cameras and projectors.
Once the principle of creating the illusion of motion from a series of still images was realized, a host of devices were invented to fascinate anyone who wanted to watch (for a price) "moving images." Unfortunately, all of these devices had the disadvantage of only allowing "an audience of one." Generally, a single peephole was provided behind which a series of drawings or photos were presented in rapid sequence. Thomas This, of course, turned out to be a major marketing miscalculation--just one of the many that would become a part of film, radio and TV history. (And we might include the world of computers if we remember the IBM executive in the early days of computers who said that a half a dozen computers would be all the world could ever use!) For a more complete outline of Edison's life and inventions, Meanwhile, around the world, scores of inventors had introduced their own "movie machines." In fact, so many motion picture devices appeared at about the same time that no one person can truly be credited with the invention. People in England, France, Germany, and the United States all came up with motion picture devices at about the same time. According to popular history, it was the Lumière
brothers in France who first did what Edison In 1895, they started producing a series of short films--as in really short--30 to 60 seconds. They started showing them in a Paris cafe, charging a one-franc admission. These films covered such blockbuster issues as a man falling off a horse and a child trying to catch a fish in a fishbowl. (It didn't take much to excite an audience in those days.) Meanwhile,
back in the United States, Edison eventually saw the light, and devised
his own projector--but, not until some other Americans forced his hand
by introducing their own projector, the vitascope. Edison then came up with the concept of a battery operated motion picture camera. Interestingly, he didn't seem to have much confidence in the long-range possibilities of either the camera or his kinetoscope. When he applied for patents, he didn't pay the extra $150 required to secure an international copyright. That little oversight would cost him millions in profits in the coming years. (On the other hand, they also said TV would be a passing fad!) After George Eastman bought
the rights to make celluloid (film), he standardized the film gage
(size) so that it could be readily used in different types of production
equipment. The film was 35mm wide and had sprocket holes on each side. Gear teeth fit into these holes, making it possible to pull the film through cameras and projectors at a steady rate. The images on the film were each 1X3/4-inch (2.5 x 2 cm) in size. Later, a sound track would be added on one side of the film next to the sprocket holes.
During viewing, if the production was longer than what could fit on one reel, the projector had to be stopped and the audience given an intermission while one reel was taken down and another loaded. Later, two projectors would be used so that the film reels could be alternated between projectors, making an instant switchover possible. As we noted, the first film gauge (size) to be standardized was 35mm. Today, some 120 years later, this is still the standard film gage for motion picture work. (Later, the 16mm and 8mm film gauges would be added.) Once a basic film gauge was adopted, cameras and projectors could be manufactured without fear of major incompatibilities in the marketplace. At this point the foundation for motion pictures was in place.
Storage and Care of
Motion Picture Films.. Although Kodak manufactures all KODAK Motion Picture Camera Films to very high quality standards, you need to exercise a certain amount of care in the storage of unexposed, exposed unprocessed, and processed films. Deviations from the recommended storage conditions can initiate degradation and thus cause instability of the silver or dye image. Deviations also weaken the mechanical properties of the support, can delaminate the emulsion layers, deform, and distort the film from its intended use. The recommended storage requirements must be maintained if quality is to be retained. Raw Stock - Relative Humidity Storage Conditions
* Keep sealed (in original cans) until temperature is above
the dew point of outside air.
Damage from moisture condensation occurs when you remove the can from cold storage and do not allow sufficient warm-up time before you remove the seal. Processed Film Storage
 
SUMITH JAYANTHA DIAS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Send mail to sumith@hotmail.com with
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Some
people argued that a galloping horse had all four feet off of the ground
at the same time at some point; others said this would be impossible.
(No feet touching the ground; how could that be!?)
In
actual fact, there is nothing moving in motion pictures. It's all
an illusion based on these two phenomena. Note in the illustration
on the left that an illusion of motion is created, even when successive
pictures are presented at a relatively slow rate.
Edison,
of electric light bulb and phonograph fame, liked the fact that only one
person at a time could see the images. Edison's company had
devised the peephole
kinetoscope, and he was making a bit of money selling these
devices. Edison thought that if he came up with a system to show
motion pictures to a large audience, then everyone would be able to see
them at the same time and he wouldn't sell nearly as many kinetoscopes.
initially
didn't want to do--devise a projector that could show motion pictures on
a screen for an audience. They called their invention
cinematographe.
The
celluloid film was wound on reels, as shown on the right. Since
the reels only held about 12 minutes of film, they regularly had to be
changed during filming.
1903, created the first U.S. narrative film, The
Great Train Robbery. With
this film, a real story
line involving crosscutting between different narrative
sequences and different camera positions and distances, were all
introduced.
Using
a motion picture camera like the one on the left, Porter not only
introduced the western as a film genre (which subsequently
spawned a few thousand films of the same ilk), he also demonstrated that
suspense could be introduced into films by alternating shots of "the
bad guys" doing their illegal thing and "the good guys"
trying to bring them to justice. In this regard not much has changed in
the last century.
One
of the very first films produced in the United States, called The
Kiss, was based on a scene from the stage play, "The Widow
Jones." Groups tried to get the film banned because it
showed a man and a woman kissing--something that moralists of the
time thought was obscene.
Later,
kisses were deemed okay, as long as they didn't exceed a few, brief
seconds--after which they were seen as inappropriate and had to be
censored.
The
director apparently hoped that no one would notice, or at least not
complain too much. But after viewing "the mistake," it was
concluded that the "lost" footage wasn't really necessary, and
the jump in action actually speeded things along.
appeared as full-frame text on the screen after actors spoke their
lines. Later, the dialogue was superimposed over the picture, as shown
here.
