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A VERY SHORT HISTORY OF CINEMA

Published: 18 June 2020

Learn about the history and development of cinema, from the

Kinetoscope in 1891 to today’s 3D revival.

Cinematography is the illusion of movement by the recording and subsequent rapid

projection of many still photographic pictures on a screen. Originally a product of 19th-
century scientific endeavour, cinema has become a medium of mass entertainment and
communication, and today it is a multi-billion-pound industry.
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WHO INVENTED CINEMA?

Publicity image of Edison Kinetophone, c.1895

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Image source
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No one person invented cinema. However, in 1891 the Edison Company successfully
demonstrated a prototype of the Kinetoscope, which enabled one person at a time to view
moving pictures.

The first public Kinetoscope demonstration took place in 1893. By 1894 the Kinetoscope was
a commercial success, with public parlours established around the world.

The first to present projected moving pictures to a paying audience were the Lumière
brothers in December 1895 in Paris, France. They used a device of their own making, the
Cinématographe, which was a camera, a projector and a film printer all in one.

Detail of Kinetoscope, made by Thomas Edison in 1894 Lumière Cinématographe, c.1896

Science Museum Group Collection Science Museum Group Collection
More information More information

WHAT WERE EARLY FILMS LIKE?

At first, films were very short, sometimes only a few minutes or less. They were shown at
fairgrounds, music halls, or anywhere a screen could be set up and a room darkened.
Subjects included local scenes and activities, views of foreign lands, short comedies and
newsworthy events.

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The films were accompanied by lectures, music and a lot of audience participation. Although
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they did not have synchronised dialogue, they were not ‘silent’ as they are sometimes
described.

THE RISE OF THE FILM INDUSTRY

By 1914, several national film industries were established. At this time, Europe, Russia and
Scandinavia were the dominant industries; America was much less important. Films became
longer and storytelling, or narrative, became the dominant form.

As more people paid to see movies, the industry which grew around them was prepared to
invest more money in their production, distribution and exhibition, so large studios were
established and dedicated cinemas built. The First World War greatly affected the film
industry in Europe, and the American industry grew in relative importance.

The first 30 years of cinema were characterised by the growth and consolidation of an
industrial base, the establishment of the narrative form, and refinement of technology.

ADDING COLOUR
Colour was first added to black-and-white movies through hand colouring, tinting, toning
and stencilling.

By 1906, the principles of colour separation were used to produce so-called ‘natural colour’
moving images with the British Kinemacolor process, first presented to the public in 1909.

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Kinemacolor was primarily used for documentary (or ‘actuality’) films, such as the epic With
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Our King and Queen Through India (also known as The Delhi Durbar) of 1912, which ran for
over 2 hours in total.

The early Technicolor processes from 1915 onwards were cumbersome and expensive, and
colour was not used more widely until the introduction of its three‑colour process in 1932. It
was used for films such as Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz (both 1939) in
Hollywood and A Matter of Life and Death (1946) in the UK.

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Kinemacolor cine camera made by Moy and Bastie to Charles Urban’s

design, 1909
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ADDING SOUND

Vitaphone disc, 1930.

Science Museum Group Collection
Image source

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The first attempts to add synchronised sound to projected pictures used phonographic
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cylinders or discs.

The first feature-length movie incorporating synchronised dialogue, The Jazz Singer (USA,
1927), used the Warner Brothers’ Vitaphone system, which employed a separate record disc
with each reel of film for the sound.

This system proved unreliable and was soon replaced by an optical, variable density
soundtrack recorded photographically along the edge of the film, developed originally for
newsreels such as Movietone.

CINEMA’S GOLDEN AGE

By the early 1930s, nearly all feature-length movies were presented with synchronised sound
and, by the mid-1930s, some were in full colour too. The advent of sound secured the
dominant role of the American industry and gave rise to the so-called ‘Golden Age of
Hollywood’.

During the 1930s and 1940s, cinema was the principal form of popular entertainment, with
people often attending cinemas twice a week. Ornate ’super’ cinemas or ‘picture palaces’,
offering extra facilities such as cafés and ballrooms, came to towns and cities; many of
them could hold over 3,000 people in a single auditorium.

In Britain, the highest attendances occurred in 1946, with over 31 million visits to the cinema
each week.

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Cinema audience, 1932, James Jarché.

Science Museum Group Collection
Image source

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WHAT IS THE ASPECT RATIO?
Thomas Edison had used perforated 35mm film in the Kinetoscope, and in 1909 this was
adopted as the worldwide industry standard. The picture had a width-to-height relationship
—known as the aspect ratio—of 4:3 or 1.33:1. The first number refers to the width of the
screen, and the second to the height. So for example, for every 4 centimetres in width, there
will be 3 in height.

With the advent of optical sound, the aspect ratio was adjusted to 1.37:1. This is known as the
‘Academy ratio’, as it was officially approved by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences (the Oscars people) in 1932.

Although there were many experiments with other formats, there were no major changes in
screen ratios until the 1950s.

HOW DID CINEMA COMPETE WITH TELEVISION?

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Cinerama Inc.

The introduction of television in America prompted a number of technical experiments

designed to maintain public interest in cinema.

In 1952, the Cinerama process, using three projectors and a wide, deeply curved screen
together with multi-track surround sound, was premiered. It had a very large aspect ratio of
2.59:1, giving audiences a greater sense of immersion, and proved extremely popular.

However, Cinerama was technically complex and therefore expensive to produce and show.
Widescreen cinema was not widely adopted by the industry until the invention of
CinemaScope in 1953 and Todd‑AO in 1955. Both processes used single projectors in their
presentation.

The Sound of Music on the museum’s curved screen,

2019.
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CinemaScope ‘squeezed’ images on 35mm film; when projected, they were expanded laterally
by the projector lens to fit the screen. Todd-AO used film with a width of 70mm. By the end
of the 1950s, these innovations had effectively changed the shape of the cinema screen, with
aspect ratios of either 2.35:1 or 1.66:1 becoming standard. Stereo sound, which had been
experimented with in the 1940s, also became part of the new widescreen experience.

Specialist large-screen systems using 70mm film were also developed. The most successful of
these has been IMAX, which as of 2020 has over 1,500 screens around the world. For many
years IMAX cinemas have shown films specially made in its unique 2D or 3D formats but
more recently they have shown popular mainstream feature films which have been digitally
re-mastered in the IMAX format, often with additional scenes or 3D effects.

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Installation of IMAX screen at the museum, 1983.

Science Museum Group Collection

HOW HAVE CINEMA ATTENDANCE FIGURES CHANGED?

While cinemas had some success in fighting the competition of television, they never
regained the position and influence they held in the 1930s and 40s, and over the next 30
years audiences dwindled. By 1984 cinema attendances in Britain had declined to one million
a week.

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The Point multiplex cinema, Milton Keynes.

Image source

By the late 2000s, however, that number had trebled. The first British multiplex was built in
Milton Keynes in 1985, sparking a boom in out-of-town multiplex cinemas.

Today, most people see films on television, whether terrestrial, satellite or subscription video
on demand (SVOD) services. Streaming film content on computers, tablets and mobile
phones is becoming more common as it proves to be more convenient for modern audiences
and lifestyles.

Although America still appears to be the most influential film industry, the reality is more
complex. Many films are produced internationally—either made in various countries or
financed by multinational companies that have interests across a range of media.
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WHAT’S NEXT?
In the past 20 years, film production has been profoundly altered by the impact of rapidly
improving digital technology. Most mainstream productions are now shot on digital formats
with subsequent processes, such as editing and special effects, undertaken on computers.

Cinemas have invested in digital projection facilities capable of producing screen images that
rival the sharpness, detail and brightness of traditional film projection. Only a small number
of more specialist cinemas have retained film projection equipment.

In the past few years there has been a revival of interest in 3D features, sparked by the
availability of digital technology. Whether this will be more than a short-term phenomenon
(as previous attempts at 3D in the 1950s and 1980s had been) remains to be seen, though the
trend towards 3D production has seen greater investment and industry commitment than
before.

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FURTHER READING
Cinematography in the Science Museum Group collection
The Lumière Brothers: Pioneers of cinema and colour photography, National Science
and Media Museum blog
Cinerama in the UK: The history of 3-strip cinema in Pictureville Cinema, National
Science and Media Museum blog
BFI Filmography—a complete history of UK feature film
BFI National Archive
Imperial War Museums film archive

FILM LISTINGS

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PICTUREVILLE CINEMA ROBERT PAUL AND THE RACE TO
Pictureville is the home of cinema at the National INVENT CINEMA
Science and Media Museum, showing everything
Discover the story of Robert Paul, the forgotten
from blockbusters to indie gems. pioneer whose innovations earned him the title of
‘father of the British film industry’.

CINEMA TECHNOLOGY
Discover objects from our collection which
illuminate the technological development of
moving pictures.

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