History of Motion Pictures 1900-1920

History Motion Pictures, historical development of the visual medium known as motion pictures, film, cinema, or the movies. History shows that even in the 1900-1920 movies were still considered a business, art form and as a means of delivering major filmmakers and their films, principal fiction and nonfiction genres, and film industries in the United States and throughout the world. Around 1901 Edwin s Porter who was a former projectionist and traveling exhibitor, took charge of motion-picture production at Edison’s company in 1901 and began making longer films that told a story. For example the movie called the Great train Robbery was made in 1903 and was one of the most notable films that was in cinema. Motion pictures were said to have lacked sound that matched the action. There were always pianos and organs in films and at times a narrator or live actors behind the screen. As feature-length films (four reels, with a running time of 40 to 50 minutes or more) became the norm in the 1910s, live orchestras began to play in larger theaters, frequently using music written specifically for the film. Until World War I (1914-1918) European filmmakers was said to have dominated the world film market. France was the main the leading film-producing country, as well as Italy, Denmark, and other countries also played a significant role. Companies in the U.S. was said to have taken over by using the same tactics of high-volume production and lower prices that the Europeans had. By the 1920s some three-quarters of films screened around the world came from the United States. In 1915 Griffith came out with The Birth of a Nation which got the audiences attention with its events and an art form for cultured spectators. He continued to make films like Intolerance in 1916, which were four stories about victims of prejudice. I beleive that movies from the past has had a big influence on todays movie industry.

Listed below are major movies that were created between 1900-1920

Why Mrs. Jones got a divorce (1900)
The Gordon sisters Boxing (1901)
What Happen on Twenty-third Street, New York City (1902)
The Great Train Robbery (1903)
San Francisco Earthquake, (1906)
His Duty (1909)
White Roses (1911)
The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912)
An Unseen Enemy (1903)
A Good Little Devil (1914
Mable at the Wheel (1914)
The Tramp, (1915)
A Fool There Was (1915)
The Pawnshop (1916)
The Rink (1916)
Easy street (1917)
Wild and Woolly (1917)
Shoulder Arms (1918)
Hearts of the world (1918)
Sunnyside (1919)
Daddy Long Legs (1919)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)
The Mark of Zorro (1920)
Way Down East (1920)
Pollyanna (1920)
Get Out and Get Under (1920)

History of Motion Pictures," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2007 Retrieved November 15, 2007, from http://encarata.msn.com/

Brief timeline of American Literature, Music, and Movies. (2007) Retrieved November 15, 2007, from http://www.wsu.edu/~campbells/amlit/190m.html