Coursework One - Defining moments in cinema pre-1930s

Films pre-1930s can be roughly split into two categories, those from the Silent Era, and those after the development of sound with moving pictures.

Notable films from the silent era

Edison: The Kiss (1896)

This short clip is a scene recorded by Thomas Edison from a musical call The Widow Jones. It shows one of the first kisses recorded on film. This film, along with another recorded by Edison two years earlier of a woman dancing, were to spark the debate about censorship in motion pictures.
Source: Bacall. First Kiss in Cinematic History from Classic Movie Gab, 2010.

Continuity of scene

Come along, do! (1898)

This quaint film gives an idea of the continuation of a scene, because up until this point, scenes were static but a new sense of movement was introduced which would reflect a natural continuation of scene. We first see a couple outside, and then we see a new shot of the inside of the gallery. But instead of being two disparate shots, they link together in a continuation of the scene. This film was produced by R.W. Paul.
Source: Brooke, Michael. Come along, do! from BFI Screenonline, 2003-12.

The Sealed Room (1909) 

This entertaining, but rather brutal film, is an example of parallel editing, one of many techniques used in film production even today invented by D.W. Griffiths. The particular feature used here is specifically called cross-cutting. The movie shows a the scene of the jealous king sealing up his wife and lover from two angles, but edited in a continuous fashion whilst flipping from each viewpoint.

Source: Link, Trevor. The Sealed Room from Journed by Frame, 2011.

La Pêche aux Poissons Rouges (1895)

This is a French film, the translated title is 'Fishing for Goldfish'. Although this film is earlier than the previous three, it is important because it comes from the Lumiere brothers in France. They developed the Cinematographe after being influenced by the work of Edison and his team. The Lumiere brothers are considered the 'founding fathers of modern film' because they had developed a system that could be shown to more than one person via a large screen. So the brothers are thought to have created the first ever cinema.
Source: Dirks, Tim. The Lumiere Brothers and the Cinematographe from Filmsite.

Moving away from the silent era

Undoubtedly - and one which we can relate to in this day and age - the major turning point in film production was the invention of recording sound and film together, rather than the days of films being silent or accompanied by a live piano, orchestra and/or singer.

The Jazz Singer (1927)

This film features Al Johnson and uses the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system developed by made by Warner Brothers. This was a fundamental step in the history of film-making which brought new opportunities to producers. The Jazz Singer is thought to be the first feature film to use synchronised film and sound, but it is actually the second. A film made by John Barrymore called Don Juan (1926) used the same Vitaphone system, but never made any success. 
Source: Dirks, Tim. The Jazz Singer, Film Review from Filmsite.