The Fascinating History of Film

Key Points:

• Films are made of thousands of frames that create motion.
• Thomas Edison created one of the first films, "Fried O Sneez."
• "The Great Train Robbery" was the first film to tell a story.
• "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" was the first full-length animated film.
• The transition from black and white to color in films amazed audiences.

Hello everyone. My name is Amanda, and today I want to talk about the history of films.

First, let's see how our movie is made. Films are made of thousands of frames. Each frame has a picture, which is a bit different from the one before. When the frames pass quickly before our eyes, the pictures appear to move. This is why they are often called motion pictures.

And then let's see some early films. Thomas Edison made a camera that could make movie images. He made a five-second film of his assistant sneezing. It is called "Fried O Sneez." It was one of the first films. You had to see it through a hole in a box. Only one person could see it at a time.

The Lumière brothers lived in France. They invented a camera with a projector. Now, a lot of people could see films. Together, they made a film called "The Arrival of a Train." It was one of the first films to have an audience. The train looked very real, and the audience was terrified.

"The Great Train Robbery" was the first film to tell a story. The director used a new technique. First, he shot the film, then he edited it in a studio. He cut up the film and put it together again to create an exciting story. We all know that early films didn't have any sound or dialogue. There was a piano player who provided music, and the audience had to read the dialogue or explanation of the story on the reading card before the films.

"The Jazz Singer" was the first film to have sound and dialogues. Early films were made in black and white. It was difficult and expensive to make color films. "The Wizard of Oz" was one of the first colored films, and it started in black and white and then changed to colors. Everyone was amazed when they saw it.

There are also some cartoons. Films like "Little Nemo in Slumberland." Little Nemo was a cartoon in a newspaper. The first animated cartoon, "Little Nemo in Slumberland," was made from a Little Nemo story. It had 4,000 frames or pictures, and each frame was drawn by him.

"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" was the first full-length animated film. It was made by Walt Disney.

Attention please! We are ready for our next class.

Then let's review it together first. In 1894, "Fried O Sneez" was made by Thomas Edison and was one of the first films. In 1895, "The Arrival of a Train" was made; it was the first film to have an audience.

In 1903, "The Great Train Robbery" was made; it was the first film to tell a story. In 1911, "Little Nemo in Slumberland" was the first animated cartoon, and "The Jazz Singer" was made in 1927. It was the first film that had sound and dialogues.

"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," made in 1937, was the first full-length animated film, and it was made by Walt Disney. "The Wizard of Oz" was made in 1939. It was the first film to have color.

Here are some new words:

• shoot a film
• subtitle
• frames
• image
• appear
• explanation
• mean
• audience
• edit
• studio
• technique

Thank you for listening.