MAC 143 Study Guide - Eadweard Muybridge, Thomas Edison, Film Stock

• School: Miami University
• Department: Media and Culture
• Course: MAC 143
• Professor: All

Document Summary

Films began in the novelty stage when inventors began manipulating photographs to make them appear to be moving. Muybridge is known for his project trying to see if a racehorse lifts all four feet off the ground at full gallops. He later developed a method of projecting images on a wall for public viewing. Film continued to grow as it developed sound and could be projected onto large screens called vitascopes. The shift to the mass medium stage for movies occurred with the introduction of narrative films: movies that tell stories. In order to become a mass medium, the early silent films had to offer suspense like books did and be able to engage the audience"s imagination. The trust company pooled patents in an effort to control film"s major technology and in doing so it acquired most major film distributorships.