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Hollywood 1895 - 1905 THE EARLY YEARS By 1850 projection and photography had come together but the result still wasn`t cinema. Before cinema could be born, one last invention was necessary - a quiet machine able to project high-quality pictures onto a large screen. The men who produced that machine were two French brothers called Louis and Auguste Lumiere. On 28 December 1895, they showed a selection of short films to a paying public. These films were soon produced all over the industrialized world, but the cinema was still a novelty. 1905 - 1915 THE RUN TO THE SUN Much of what we now take for granted in the cinema was still being discovered at this stage.
It is said that the first film to use a close-up caused commotion amongst audiences who had paid "to see the whole actor". In 1908 Thomas Edison, who had invented a lot of the technical processes used in the operation of cameras and projectors, set up a company with the aim of taking a percentage from anyone using a camera. The demand for films amongst the poor population was unlimited and the public was also becoming more observant and sophisticated. Longer films were being made (a trend imported from Europe) and they were being shown in better, purpose-built cinemas. The public was also beginning to recognize and appreciate good screen acting. 1915 - 1925 The cinema was looked on as inferior to the theatre, and film producers were able to hire actors for $5 a day.
But, as in the theatre, creating stars could attract an audience and soon after the stars were earning astronomical sums from their popularity. During the late 1920s, most of the Hollywood studios we still know were established: MGM; Paramount; Fox; Universal. These were companies that owned the means of production, the distribution companies and the cinemas the films were shown in. 1925 - 1935 YOU AIN`T HEARD NOTHING YET The big studios and their little competitors were all racing to expand into distribution and exhibition during the 1920s. Warner Brothers was one of the smaller studios but the novelty of sound was to be their breakthrough.The first words in the film were: "You ain`t heard nothing yet.
" Within three years, sound had taken over and helped save Hollywood from the effects of the Depression. 1935 - 1945 THE GOLDEN YEARS Despite a slight depression in the mid-30s, the cinema had established itself by the end of the decade as the most popular form of entertainment all over the world. Politics appeared in movies. 1945 - 1955 THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE WEST COAST EMPIRE As television spread, cinema audiences began to shrink drastically. The movies, in turn, tried to outdo television. 1955 - 1965 IRON CURTAIN; SHOWER CURTAIN By the mid-50s producers were desperate to find methods to attract people to the cinema.
A deeper note of violence and sexuality began to creep into the pictures. 1965 - 1975 MEDIUM COOL The creators of Hollywood`s golden age were in deep trouble at this stage and only the companies, which were flexible enough to move into television could survive. 1975 - 1985 CALL ME AGENT At first, cinema stars had exclusive contracts with a single studio. By the late 1940s, however, that had began to change. Large budgets with spectacular visuals seemed to be a recipe for success. 1985 - 1995 CINEMA IS DEAD; LONG LIVE THE CINEMA! Although much has improved in the cinema during the latest decade of its short history, the sense of crisis has still not gone away.
Audience numbers have risen again, in Britain and Germany by as much as 30 to 40 per cent. HOW HOLLYWOOD CAME TO BE Thomas Edison, who claimed money from anyone using a camera, made some independent companies moving from New Jersey to Hollywood. These companies wanted a place so remote that the lawyers and detectives in pursuit would have trouble to find them. In Hollywood, an area not even named on any map, they found an ideal climate for films. The terrain naturally presented valleys, mountains and deserts which were far more convincing than previous backdrops that had been painted on boards. Furthermore, in the mild and sunny climate, the cost of lightening and set constructions was cut drastically.
During these early years of the film industry, a number of companies had come west to continue production. Hollywood was born!
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