Category Archives: Early Cinema

Assignment #1 by Julio Chavez

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edison kinetscope

          The kinetograph was a device used to capture movement, invented by Thomas Edison. The project that followed this was named after the Greek terms “Kineto”(movement) and “Scopos”(to watch), the Kinetoscope. Before showing the world what the invention that do for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear”-Edison, he filed a caveat with the Patent office to protect his work. The kinetoscope’s purpose would be to reproduce captured movement of people and/or objects. Being presented to the public by 1893, a person would be able to drop a coin and be able to view a clip by turning a crank. Thomas Edison attempted to add sound to the Kinetoscope with the sound from the phonograph. The idea didn’t work because most of the time the sound wouldn’t be coordinated with the picture. Even if the idea of adding sound didn’t work Edison believed that people who used his invention would one day want to be able to view short clips in the comfort of their own home. He believed that his Kinetoscope would turn out like his phonograph and people will soon want to purchase one for their home. It worked out for a short short time but people wanted to see the pictures projected on a screen.

            Thomas Edison strongly believed people would prefer to have a Kinetoscope in their home but due to the competition from companies like American Mutoscope and Biograph, Edison’s vision was shattered. He invested a great amount of money on home purposed kinetoscopes no realizing people would prefer a projection on a screen. Edison then went to change his invention to a projecting kinetoscope. Kinetoscope parlors were then “out” and movie houses were made. With the patent wars, Edison made sure he was on top by suing anyone who would have a similar invention to his. One of his former assistants found a way to avoid a lawsuit by making completely different cameras that shot 70mm films instead of 35 mm films.

Assignment # 1 by Alex Fernandez

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Edison’s vision for the kinetoscope was for the device to become the primary source of moving image entertainment. He believed that people would take more interest in using the kinetoscope and dismissed the idea of creating a projector that would display the images so more people can view the them once. Because Edison believed so strongly in his invention, he mass produced them in hopes of meeting the high demand for his product. This was his biggest mistake and since the idea of projecting moving images had been created by other inventors and it had been generating a lot of buzz with the public. In an attempt to cut off their success and keep himself ahead of his competition he attempted to obtain the patents for their devices which would leave him in control of the industry and prevent them from making profits.

Because of the fact that Edison would make more profit from selling his kinetoscope, it makes sense that he held on to the idea of mass producing his product. He felt that it would be the best selling product at its time. It appears the concept of a projector would have been counter productive for his cause. He intended for his kinetoscope to be the main seller but over time, this proved to be a huge mistake. I believe when he realized he made a mistake, he tried to remain a leader of the industry by getting his hands on competition’s patents. He may have felt that was his only option in staying ahead in the industry, so I understand where his motivation came from. I feel that Edison did what he could in order to keep himself on top of the industry. Also I feel that he was greedy to some extent and seemed like he wanted to keep all advancements and profits to himself even if he was not responsible for creating the patents. I understand why he chose to believe in his kinetoscope, but it seems that he refused to accept that he missed his train on the projector idea, and because of this tried to catch up and cut off the other rivaling companies.