{"id":1500822,"date":"2017-05-24T10:36:52","date_gmt":"2017-05-24T17:36:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/?p=1500822"},"modified":"2017-05-24T10:36:52","modified_gmt":"2017-05-24T17:36:52","slug":"film-firsts-throughout-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/film-firsts-throughout-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Film Firsts Throughout History"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There\u2019s no doubt about it, film making has come a long way. Within the past 50 years we have seen modern films splash our screens with an overlay of bright colours, we have immersed ourselves in impressive character dialogue and watched as special effects have made the unrealistic appear realistic in front of our very eyes. But how many of us honestly think about where it all began? When we watch our favorite films we don\u2019t really think of where it all came from, the growing process that have made our films seem more lifelike and more aesthetically pleasing than ever. In this blog post I will be listing the very firsts in film making that allow Hollywood blockbusters and indie films like those created by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vmpfilms.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">VM Productions<\/a> to bring us the stories, special effects and the cinematic magic most of us take for granted.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><strong>The first film ever recorded<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><em><strong>Roundhay Garden Scene<\/strong> ( 1888)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/knD2EhjGwWI\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center><em><strong>The Roundhay Garden<\/strong><\/em> scene is an incredible watch for film fans and history buffs being the oldest surviving film in existence. This historic film was shot in Yorkshire, England by Louis Le Prince on his own invention the \u00a0LPCC Type-16 ( a 16-lens camera) and featured Prince\u2019s in-laws Joseph and Sarah Whitley and friend Annie Hartley simply walking. Although only seconds long this recording was a breakthrough in cinematography and\u00a0Prince is often said to be the Grandfather of film.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Interesting facts:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Prince disappeared mysteriously two years after this film was made, his strange disappearance left many \u00a0questions unanswered just like to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vmpfilms.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">VM Production\u2019s<\/a> screenwriter <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dostoevsky-bts.com\/about_robert_hurley.html\" target=\"_blank\">Robert Hurley\u2019s disappearance.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>-Sarah Whitley died 10 days after filming the <em><strong>Roundhay Garden<\/strong><\/em> scene, making her the first person ever in a film to die.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><strong>First ever horror\u00a0film<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><em><strong>Le Manoir du Diable<\/strong> (1896)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3fAZdC8vCVg\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center><strong><em>Le Manoir du Diable\/The House of the Devil\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>was the first horror film to ever be made. Although it would fail to scare even a child today I can\u2019t help but wonder if this horror first gave the viewers of the 19th century nightmares. Directed by French film-maker\u00a0Georges M\u00e9li\u00e8s, this movie will be seen as a \u2018short film\u2019 to modern viewers but it was one of the longest films yet produced, running over 3 minutes long.The plot sees the demon Mephistopheles battle two cavaliers by conjuring up various supernatural figures. The film depicted many recognizable horror characters such as a vampire bat, ghosts, goblins and a skeleton.\u00a0M\u00e9li\u00e8s makes use of special effects with characters often disappearing and appearing in a cloud of smoke, quite impressive for a film made over a hundred years ago.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Interesting facts:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>-Despite my curiosity as to whether this did actually scare viewers, this wasn\u2019t this film\u2019s purpose. M\u00e9li\u00e8s created <em><strong>The House of the Devil<\/strong><\/em> to amuse rather than frighten, I imagine as modern horror-comedy films do today.<\/p>\n<p>-Many \u2018goofs\u2019 are present in this film. If you watch closely you can see the entire set shake as well as one of the ghosts accidentally walking into a wall.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><strong>The first use of special effects<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><em><i><strong>The Execution of Mary Stuart<\/strong> ( 1895)<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RpNQJV8KblQ\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center><em><strong>Execution of Mary Stuart<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0is a\u00a0short\u00a0film produced by Thomas Edison and directed by Alfred Clark\u00a0which depicts the\u00a0execution\u00a0of\u00a0Mary, Queen of Scots. Running just 18 seconds long this was the first film to use special effects as we see the Mary having her head chopped off with an axe followed by the executioner holding it up for the crowd to see. The head of Mary was replaced by a dummy but the audience, unfamiliar to the art of \u2018 camera tricks\u2019 were convinced the actress Robert Thomas had gave her own life for the re-enactment.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Interesting fact:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>-This was the first film to hire a trained actress to perform.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><strong>The first full length feature film<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><strong><em><i>The Story of the Kelly Gang<\/i><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0( 1906)<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7_MyUWnQ7Cw\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center>So far on this list we have had film firsts lasting no longer than 3 minutes. <em><strong>The Story of the Kelly Gang<\/strong> <\/em>was the first of it\u2019s kind running over an hour long. This Australian silent film, directed by Charles Tait traces the exploits of bushranger and outlaw Ned Kelly and his gang. Despite the film&#8217;s commercial success it was considered a lost film until the mid 1970\u2019s when part of the film was recovered, however a fair amount of footage is still considered missing.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Interesting facts:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>-Due to direct influence on crime after the films screening across the country <em><strong>The Story of the Kelly Gang<\/strong> <\/em>was banned in Benalla and Wangaratta- two towns with strong Kelly connections after a group of five children broke into a photographic studio to steal money and held up a group of children at gun point following inspiration from the movie.<\/p>\n<p>-The budget of the film was estimated to be around $2,000 dollars\u00a0which would have been very expensive at the time.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><strong>First literary adaptation on film<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><em><strong>Cinderella<\/strong> ( 1899)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cPXCikaTd38\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center><br \/>\nAnother film on this list from George M\u00e9li\u00e8s, <em><strong>Cinderella<\/strong><\/em> is one of the first film adaptations ever to be made. Everybody is familiar with the story of Cinderella which was first published in 1634 and is still being adapted for films today. M\u00e9li\u00e8s took inspiration from an 1895 stage production of the story and also modelled the film&#8217;s visual style on the engravings of\u00a0Gustave Dor\u00e9, who had illustrated the story for an edition of Perrault&#8217;s fairy tales. M\u00e9li\u00e8s adaptation of <em>Cinderella<\/em> was his first major cinematic success and also his first film containing multiple scenes.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Interesting facts:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>-George M\u00e9li\u00e8s had a strong interest in stage magic and performed onstage as a magician. Perhaps explaining his talent for special effects within his films.<\/p>\n<p>-This film was the first\u00a0to utilize a dissolve transition between scenes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><strong>First film to contain sound and recorded dialogue<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><em><strong>The Jazz singer<\/strong> ( 1927)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/22NQuPrwbHA\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center><br \/>\nBy the 1920s film had already reached popularity, film studios such as Warner Bros\u00a0were established and were producing feature length films. The 1920\u2019s is often touched upon when delving into film history and is iconically know as the \u2018 silent era\u2019 due to the popularity of films which featured no sound. In 1927 \u00a0<em><strong>The Jazz Singer<\/strong><\/em>, influenced and abled us to enjoy films as we do today and is the first film to include sound, voices and a recorded music score.<em><strong> The Jazz Singer<\/strong> <\/em>was a musical film ( what better way to broadcast the use of sound) and depicts \u00a0a young man who defies the traditions of his devout Jewish family.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Interesting facts:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>-The first words recited are: \u201cWait a minute! Wait a minute! You ain\u2019t heard nothin\u2019 yet!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>-The Jazz Singer contains the use\u00a0of\u00a0\u2018blackface\u2019 ,although a \u00a0common practice at the time is now widely considered to be racist.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><strong>First use of natural colour<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><em><strong>A Visit to the Seaside\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>(1908)<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TPcHJA2ESAM\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center>As a child I vaguely remember seeing an old black and white\u00a0movie and coming to the conclusion that life itself was void of colour back then (a quick internet search tells me I wasn\u2019t the only one who thought this) but I obviously hadn\u2019t seen this film from 1908. <em><strong>A visit to the Seaside<\/strong> <\/em>directed by George Albert Smith was the first successful motion picture in natural colour. The effect was achieved using Kinemacolor which was invented by Smith himself which later went on to influence the creation of Technicolour. The film itself was 8 minutes long and featured people going about their daily activities at Brighton Seaside, UK.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Interesting fact:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>-Similar to director George M\u00e9li\u00e8s, George Smith was also a stage magic performer and was a hypnotist, psychic and magic lantern lecturer.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">*****<\/p>\n<p>Want to know more about the films we make? Sign up to learn more about our process, our projects, the upcoming premieres and grab our\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.shadesofday.com\/VMP\/method.htm\"> FREE e-book (click on the cover below)<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dostoevsky-bts.com\/landing.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1348223 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/booklet-268x300.jpg\" alt=\"booklet\" width=\"174\" height=\"194\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/booklet-268x300.jpg 268w, https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/booklet.jpg 278w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 174px) 100vw, 174px\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" size-full wp-image-401962 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/signupnow-ribbon-orange.png\" alt=\"signupnow-ribbon-orange\" width=\"224\" height=\"81\" \/><\/a>Follow us through our social media on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Dostoyevsky23\">Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dostoyevsky.bts?ref=aymt_homepage_panel\">Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/plus.google.com\/u\/0\/108557862121106676529\/posts\">Google+<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/vmpfilms\/\">Pinterest<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/vmproductions-us.tumblr.com\/\">Tumblr<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/vm_productions\/\">Instagram<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/user\/show\/1254413-dostoyevsky-bts\" target=\"_blank\">Goodreads<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">We hope to see you back here soon!-<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There\u2019s no doubt about it, film making has come a long way. Within the past 50 years we have seen modern films splash our screens with an overlay of bright colours, we have immersed ourselves in impressive character dialogue and watched as special effects have made the unrealistic appear realistic in front of our very [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":1500823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false},"categories":[61,1],"tags":[440,113,32,203,44,58,435,441,442,437,438,443,436,439,9],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500822"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1500822"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1502520,"href":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500822\/revisions\/1502520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1500823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1500822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1500822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dostoevsky-bts.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1500822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}