1895-1927
The first silent short films were created, by the Lumière Brothers in 1895. This then eventually developed into the production of full feature length films.
Here was the beginning of the development in cinematography, mise-en-scène, lighting, editing (continuity) and location shooting.
1920’s
The creation of a vertically integrated Hollywood film industry emerged. This consisted of two groups;
‘The Big Five’
Paramount
Warner Bros
MGM
Twentieth Century Fox
RKO
‘The Little Three’
Columbia
Universal
United Artists
1927
This was the year first feature film with a synchronised sound track was created. It was named The Jazz Singer (Alan Crosland, 1927).
1935
This was the year that the first feature length colour film was created. The film was able to be shown in colour due to the utilisation of the Technicolor ‘three-stip’ colour technique. This film was named Becky Sharp (Rouben Mamoulien, 1935).
1948
The year of the ‘paramount court case’. This prevented all studios from owning all phases of the films production, distribution and exhibition (vertical integration). This enabled the emergence of independent film production.
1950s
During this decade, television sales begin to sore. Due to the rising popularity, Hollywood studios tried to battle this by making cinemas more appealing. From this, came the emergence of widescreen and 3D cinema.
Late 1950s
The creation of lightweight, portable cameras suitable for hand-held use. This immediately impacted the rise in documentary filmmaking, and formed a new generation of filmmakers ‘The French New Way’.
1970s
Steadicam technology had been developed by Garrett Brown. The newly found technology introduced in 1975 meant filmmakers were now able to use stabilising devices to keep images steady with fluid movement.
1990 onwards
The widespread use of CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) which was now at a standard to be used in height-quality productions. This revolution was pioneered by Industrial Light And Magic (owned by George Lucas) in the 1970s. This lead to the movement from special to visual effects.
1995
The first fully CG (Computer Generated) feature length cartoon film, Toy Story (John Lasseter) produced by Pixar Studios
2000s
Technology such as mobile phones had become more available. This led to a rise in ‘citizen film-making’ which allowed anyone to make a film.
2007
The first legal steaming service Netflix was launched.
2010s
The first successful feature length films fully shot on an iPhone;
Tangerine (Sean Baker, 2015)
Unsane (Steven Soderberg, 2018)
2017
The first time streaming services overpass DVD sales by 23%. These services included;
Netflix
Sky
Amazon Prime
Apple TV
2018
The first Hollywood film shot fully on IMAX cameras was created. This was Avengers: Infinity War (Joe & Anthony, 2018).