Film
What is a cinema film?
A flexible medium covered with a layer of photosensitive emulsion called "gelatine". It is the result of a long history of discoveries and experiments that began in the middle of the 19th century, almost half a century before it was used by Thomas A. Edison for his Kinetoscope, the forerunner of cinema.
I - The beginning of film: the "flame film" in cellulose nitrate
From "Guncotton" to celluloid
It was in 1846 that a Swiss researcher by the name of Christian Friederich Schönbein invented the cotton-based product that would then be used to make films: cellulose nitrate, called, no irony intended "guncotton"... because it's a powerful explosive! A viscous and colourless mix of nitric acid and cellulose fibres, it has the huge advantage of transforming into a transparent, hardwearing and flexible film when it dries, rolled out into a thin layer.
It was in 1846 that a Swiss researcher by the name of Christian Friederich Schönbein invented the cotton-based product that would then be used to make films: cellulose nitrate, called, no irony intended "guncotton"... because it's a powerful explosive! A viscous and colourless mix of nitric acid and cellulose fibres, it has the huge advantage of transforming into a transparent, hardwearing and flexible film when it dries, rolled out into a thin layer.
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Celluloid objects Collodion's range of use wasn't restricted to photography: from 1870 an advanced form of collodion, celluloid, experienced an incredible development in the industry with the Hyatt brothers using it to make a number of objects including toys, hairbrushes, teeth braces, records, cylinders for gramophones etc. |
Very quickly an American photographer, James A Cutting, used this new material as a medium for photographic emulsion. He thus invented a new high-performance photographic procedure that considerably reduced the exposure time: wet collodion.
And it was with this procedure that another American photographer, Eadweard Muybridge, took the first series of photos in the years 1870 that broke down movement (a horse galloping). He even invented a way of bringing his pictures to life: the Zoopraxiscope in 1879, a procedure that was the forerunner of cinema.
And it was with this procedure that another American photographer, Eadweard Muybridge, took the first series of photos in the years 1870 that broke down movement (a horse galloping). He even invented a way of bringing his pictures to life: the Zoopraxiscope in 1879, a procedure that was the forerunner of cinema.
 The attitudes of animals in motion, Eadweard Muybridge, 1878-1879
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The Kodak film
It was Georges Eastman, founder of the "Eastman Kodak Company", who was the first to use celluloid in an industrial way and thus invented the cinematic film. From 1884 he registered a number of patents and in 1889 offered the first system of rolled film: a viscous celluloid paste is spread onto very large plates of glass, it is then covered with a layer of photographic emulsion; then when it is dry the celluloid film is cut into long strips that are then wound around themselves for mobile Kodak cameras.
Cinematic film was born. It was the beginning of film's great adventure known as "flame" film because... made out of cellulose nitrate it is highly flammable....
It was Georges Eastman, founder of the "Eastman Kodak Company", who was the first to use celluloid in an industrial way and thus invented the cinematic film. From 1884 he registered a number of patents and in 1889 offered the first system of rolled film: a viscous celluloid paste is spread onto very large plates of glass, it is then covered with a layer of photographic emulsion; then when it is dry the celluloid film is cut into long strips that are then wound around themselves for mobile Kodak cameras.
Cinematic film was born. It was the beginning of film's great adventure known as "flame" film because... made out of cellulose nitrate it is highly flammable....
The first 35mm film with perforations
At the same time William L.Dickson, then engineer for the industrialist Thomas A. Edison, was asked to carry through a project involving a motor capable of producing moving images: the Kinetoscope.
 Edison Kinetoscope, 1893
To stabilise the feeding of the film and have more stationary images when projected, he invented the system of perforations on the sides of the film. He was also the one who defined the first standard format: the 35 mm, which still exists today. This format allowed a beautiful image to be produced while reducing production costs, a bigger film being more expensive. |
The development of the film industry
In the United States of America the Kodak Company, situated in the state of New York, quickly became the first major industry manufacturing negative and positive cinematic film.
A second major American company, the "Blair Camera Company" developed but it was bought by Kodak in 1900.
In the United States of America the Kodak Company, situated in the state of New York, quickly became the first major industry manufacturing negative and positive cinematic film.
A second major American company, the "Blair Camera Company" developed but it was bought by Kodak in 1900.
In Europe a subsidiary of the "Blair Camera Company" set up in England from 1893. It was there that the Auguste and Louis Lumière brothers got their supplies for the first filming trials they carried out with the Cinematograph. Then they created their own film factory in Lyon in collaboration with Victor Planchon who provided the celluloid film.
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The Lumière Brother's Cinematograph The Cinematograph projection system relied on a perforated film, which advanced image by image in front of a shutter. With each new image the shutter opened, the light went through the film and thus projected the image onto the screen. By the quick succession of these fixed images and the persistence of vision, the viewer has the impression that he is seeing a moving show projected onto the screen. |
II - The "Safety Film"
The first films in cellulose nitrate were very quickly discovered to be dangerous because they were highly flammable (hence their nickname of "flame film") and inventors looked for new media to make the films.
So from 1909 a film called "Safety" film (in cellulose diacetate) was invented. But the movie industry would be slow in using it because it was more expensive and films continued to be shot and viewed with the cellulose nitrate film up until 1955 in the USA and Europe and until 1960 in the USSR.
The safety film developed in non-professional formats and in formats intended for amateurs with the 28mm by Pathé and the 22mm of Edison's Home Kinetoscope in 1912 for example.
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The Pathéscope for schools To be able to conquer the market of public schools and religious institutions and to screen films there without the risk of fire, the French company Pathé Frères had the idea of developing the first safety films in cellulose diacetate. On this occasion it developed a smaller format: the 28mm (instead of 35mm) which allowed screenings to be done with a mobile projector! |
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Subsequently several types of safety film successively existed: the diacetate film was replaced by triacetate in 1957, then by polyester (oil-based plastic) in the 1980's. Today polyester film is used for all copies of movie films. |
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1913 - Italian
1909 - Italian
1946 - Irish
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