In the Begining...

Thomas Edison was made famous for inventing the lightbulb in 1879. He also invented the kinetoscope in 1888. The kinetoscope is documented as an early movie projector. It took a series of photographs and played them in series by cranking a handle. It was called animation. The idea was then modified by Lumiére brothers in France. They heard of Edison's kinetoscope. They wanted to buy the invention from him but Edison declined. They tried to build their own kinetoscope and succeeded. They called it the cinématographe. The first public screening was held in 1895. The cinématographe drew the attention of a Georges Méliés, a French magician. He saw huge potential in the cinématographe and further advanced motion picture. He designed sets and created illusions in films. His films were very popular until the First Wold War. When the soldiers came back no-one wanted to see animations about aliens and illusions but wanted to see real war films. There was a film made about it in 2007 called "Hugo".

 Kinetoscope, by Thomas Edison

Picture from www.britishmovieclassics.com