The inventor of lightbulbs is a main contributor of film?

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    Even though Thomas Edison is the creator of the lightbulb, he also dabbled with film! In 1878 he started to take photos and then put them in a slideshow to create an illusion of motion. He wasn't considered the first filmmaker but the first to see profit from it. Using his Kinetoscope, he was the first to deliberately stage actions for the camera. He built the first film production studio called Black Maria Studios that set down basic precepts of commercial Hollywood production distribution, exhibitions still practiced today, giving audiences spectacles, sex, and violence, while maintaining a dominant social order. His first real hit film was The Kiss (1896) which showcased the first cinematic kiss on screen to viewers. His other films Rats and Terrier, Rats and Terrier No. 2, Rats and Terrier No. 3, and Rats and Weasels were the first series of movies to come out.

    Edison knew what the audience wanted and how to give it to them. To showcase his films to the public and to profit from them, he created Nickelodeons. And no, it isn't the TV station that we all grew up on, but rather a viewing station that people would have to pay a nickel to watch a film. By 1907 almost 2 million viewers attended Nickelodeon daily and by 1908 more than 8,000 were in the US operation. This was a huge success, and it is still going on to this day.... well watching a movie isn't a nickel anymore but the idea of selling movies and films to the public with in-person screenings has not diminished.




























 

Comments

  1. SBartonArtFilmNovember 12, 2023 at 6:31 PM

    Oh for sure, Edison is HUGE to American film history, he created the first industry, first studio, first public viewing space, etc. and he was also the first to monopolize the industry in a greedy takeover of patents and technology! But you can't say he wasn't smart, and definitely deserves the honor you bestow on him as the most important early cinema pioneer. Really cool photo collage you have here as well, thanks for posting

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