A Concise History of the Origins of Cinema (Revised Narration)

For the video narration, or as a way to support The Motion of Pictures Channel please consider purchasing the e-book that has been created to accompany this documentary.

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This documentary concisely covers the vastly complex history of the origins of Cinema. From the very first zoetropes and magic lanterns to the very first motion capture film cameras. Covering the key individuals involved in the creation of cinema, such as, Albertus Magnus, Eadweard Muybridge, Louis Le Prince and the Lumiere Brothers. Any film fan or anyone with an interest in the history of cinema will hopefully find this both interesting and enlightening.

It is the first documentary I have ever made. Any questions please ask.

Note: The narration was re-recorded as some people have commented that the audio in the original version was too quiet. In the new narration, I have also made an addition at 12:50, inserting a part about Louis Le Prince. Also at 18:05 I have made some minor amendments to the Georges Melies section.

[meltheflyingpotato]

had to watch this for my film class and was honestly impressed with how much information you packed in such a short amount of time. felt overwhelmed at first, but i really commend you for the work that you must have put into this!

[alexkrajci]

Film Is My Favorite American Art Form Of All Time.

[kaesebrot]

You forgot to mention the Sklanadowsky Brothers and their Bioscope, the very first cinema show with entrance fee, viewed by thousands of Berliners in November 1895, just before the Lumiéres.

[ellywafula]

This is just a beautiful piece. I am doing film studies and this is one of the best documentaries I have come across

[cjmacq-vgum]

some claim many of the "great" Renaissance painters used a camera obscura as a guide to paint their subjects; particularly portraits. this claim is strengthened when its observed that these subjects are represented as disproportionately left handed. thanks for this very thorough documentary.

[mithilpanse]

Thank You very much for the video, good effort to put together the history in a concise format!

[BIKASHKUMAR-ghcz]

Thank you very much for making video on the history of origin of the cinema.
I'm grateful to your whole team🥰

[drdigvijaysinh]

Nobody:
The narrator: one of the

Narration and content was superb though. Keep making more such videos.

[TheMotionofPictures]

Hi - I have mentioned Friese-Green in another doc I made - please see link I have just added to video description. The problem is there is so much to cover in the history of cinema. Maybe one day I will revisit this documentary and make a proper hour long version or even mini series if I ever get the chance.

[TheMotionofPictures]

Hi Paulo, some people who have asked in the past for the narration and who I have sent it to, haven't said thanks or even acknowledged I have sent it. So it has made me a little reluctant to send out. But I will send you the narration :) This will be the first time it will be translated into Portuguese! :D

[rwsgy]

The information presented here is fairly inaccessible. As names and dates make up a large portion of the information being conveyed here the lack of a transcript or text on screen to marry the spelling of these figures to the images made parsing and retaining the information really difficult for me. Auto generated closed captions are okay, but they do not get the spellings right on most of these things. Please post a transcript to make this more accessible to all users.

[TheMotionofPictures]

I will check this. Thanks for the comments. I do read them all and take note!

[gino]

This and a doc called Anarchy In The UK: The New Underground Cinema are my fav, heard that the director was on a yogurt and weed diet through it's making

[sadhuburlington]

 The evolution of motion picture is explained in half n hour ; simple & neat narration - Thank you :)

[undercurrentsmedia]

Thanks. I learnt a lot from your video

[htdmc]

Great video but a small correction though. Georges Méliès did his first Movies with Stories and effects in 1986 while Porter did it in 1903. It was maybe around the same time as A Trip to the Moon but it sounds like everything began around that time which is not quiet correct.

[timespace.productions]

I was under the impression Muybridge used 24 cameras in his experiment for Stanford...

[timespace.productions]

You've left out William Friese-Green who preceded & influenced W.L. Dickson on the Kinetograph...

[davidbryson]

This is a wonderful explanation of how cinema started and shows that you have a real love for the art form.

[TheMotionofPictures]

Its okay, happy for you to comment. The narration was re-recorded as some people have commented that the audio in the original was too quite and the pace and tone was a little difficult to follow. Hopefully this version improves on those issues!

In the new narration I have also made an addition at 12:50, inserting a part about Louis Le Prince - as I didn't include Le Prince in the original. Also at 18:05 I have made some minor amendments to the Georges Melies section.