Earliest Film Experiments (1874-1894)
This is a list of some of the very earliest film experiments by Edison, le Prince, Muybridge, and others.
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- 22 titles
- DirectorP.J.C. JanssenEarly chronophotography of the 1874 Venus transit, captured by Jules Janssen in Japan using his "photographic revolver" for scientific research.The oldest film on IMDb.
- DirectorEadweard MuybridgeStarsGilbert DommSallie GardnerThe clip shows a jockey, Gilbert Domm, riding a horse, Sallie Gardner. The clip is not filmed; instead, it consists of 24 individual photographs shot in rapid succession, making a moving picture when using a zoopraxiscope.An experiment by Eadweard Muybridge using photographs to create the illusion of movement.
- DirectorEadweard MuybridgeIndividual photographs of the running of a buffalo shot in rapid succession.Another experiment by Muybridge, this time showing a buffalo galloping.
- DirectorLouis Aimé Augustin Le PrinceA frame sequence featuring a man walking around a corner.A frame sequence by Louis le Prince.
- DirectorLouis Aimé Augustin Le PrinceStarsAnnie HartleyAdolphe Le PrinceJoseph WhitleyIn the garden, a man asks his friends to do something silly for him to record on film.The world's first celluloid film, made by Le Prince in a garden.
- DirectorLouis Aimé Augustin Le PrinceA shot of people walking on The Leeds Bridge.Another short by Le Prince of the Leeds' Bridge.
- DirectorLouis Aimé Augustin Le PrinceStarAdolphe Le PrinceA very brief film of a man playing the accordion.Adolphe le Prince plays the accordion in this Le Prince short.
- DirectorÉtienne-Jules MareyShot of the flight of a fly.A experiment by french scientist Etienne-Jules Marey.
- DirectorsWilliam K.L. DicksonWilliam HeiseStarGiuseppe Sacco AlbaneseOne of W.K.L. Dickson's laboratory workers horses around for the camera.The first film in the USA, created by Thomas Alva Edison.
- DirectorsWilliam K.L. DicksonWilliam HeiseStarGiuseppe Sacco AlbaneseIn an experiment that follows up on the results of 'Monkeyshines, No. 1', an Edison company worker again moves around in front of the motion picture camera.The second Monkeyshines experiment with Edison's Kinetograph.
- DirectorsWilliam K.L. DicksonWilliam HeiseStarGiuseppe Sacco AlbaneseAn Edison company worker makes large gestures in front of a Kinetoscope to test the new camera system.The third Monkeyshines short, now lost to history.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonStarWilliam K.L. DicksonThe very first American film shown to public audiences and the press. It depicts William K.L. Dickson taking off his hat and greeting the audience.William Dickson greets the camera with a gesture of his hat.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonAn athlete swings Indian clubs.Early Edison experiment of an athlete swinging Indian clubs
- StarsWilliam K.L. DicksonWilliam HeiseTwo men shake hands for the Kinetograph.Early Edison short featuring two men shaking hands.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonStarsCharles KayserJohn OttThree men hammer on an anvil and pass a bottle of beer around.Early Edison short of blacksmiths.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonStarsFrancis E. ButlerAnnie OakleyAnnie Oakley, the 'Little Miss Sure Shot' of the 'Wild West' gives an exhibition of rifle shooting at glass balls and clay pigeons in a film from the Edison Catalog.Annie Oakley fires her gun a glass balls in this early Edison short.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonStarCarmencitaPerforming on what looks like a small wooden stage, wearing a dress with a hoop skirt and white high-heeled pumps, Carmencita does a dance with kicks and twirls, a smile always on her face.An early Edison short of a performed dance.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonStarWilliam K.L. DicksonThe earliest extant sound film, but the phonograph soundtrack has been lost. It depicts William K.L. Dickson standing in the background next to a huge sound pickup horn connected to a Thomas Edison phonograph recorder.First attempt to combine sound and film.
- DirectorWilliam K.L. DicksonStarFred OttA man (Thomas Edison's assistant) takes a pinch of snuff and sneezes. This is one of the earliest Thomas Edison films and was the first motion picture to be copyrighted in the United States.A popular Edison short of Fred Ott sneezing at the Kinetograph.
- DirectorsWilliam K.L. DicksonWilliam HeiseStarHenry Welton"A glove contest between trained cats. A very comical and amusing subject, and is sure to create a great laugh." (by Edison Films)A boxing match between two cats.
- DirectorsWilliam K.L. DicksonWilliam HeiseStarsJames J. CorbettPeter CourtneyJames J. Corbett and Peter Courtney meet in a boxing exhibition.An early boxing match short by Edison.
- DirectorÉtienne-Jules MareyA cat falls down and lands on its feet.Etienne-Jules Marey's film proves cats do indeed land on their feet.
