Who Invented the First Motion Picture Camera?

SUMMARY

• Early Motion Capture Techniques: The development of motion picture technology began with techniques to capture and analyze movement, such as sequential photography and devices like the zoopraxiscope, which created the illusion of motion through rapidly displayed images.
• Advancements in Photography: Innovations in photographic technology allowed for capturing multiple frames of movement per second. Techniques such as chrono-photography and the use of continuous film rolls were crucial in documenting and studying dynamic actions.
• Evolution of Motion Picture Cameras: The introduction of motion picture cameras, like the kinetograph, marked a significant advancement. These cameras used sprocket systems and continuous film to record and playback sequences of images, paving the way for early film exhibitions.
• Public Film Viewing Innovations: The creation of projectors and viewing devices made motion pictures more accessible to the public. Devices like the Cinematographe enabled public screenings of films, leading to the growth of the film industry and the development of longer, more complex films.

Movies and television dominate our lives today, an accessible form of entertainment, documentary, and creative expression. But do you know who invented the first motion picture camera? Ever since the invention of photography in the early 20th century, makers began looking for ways to record movement onto film, which could be played back to an eager audience. From Eadweard Muybridge’s spinning zoopraxiscopes to Thomas Edison and William Dickson’s recording camera, we track the ingenious inventors who paved the way for today’s technology with some of the world’s first motion pictures.

World-renowned English-American photographer Eadweard Muybridge was one of the very first following the invention of photography to find a way of capturing sensations of movement through the practice of photography. He made a series of sequential photographs that documented people and animals with multiple cameras that could take snapshots in a fraction of a second, one after the other. One of his first series’ documented a racehorse caught mid-motion in 1878, and he later moved on to a series of more diverse subjects including athletes, ballet dancers, birds, big cats, and even camels.

From here, Muybridge went on to develop the zoopraxiscope, (similar to the zoetrope) a spinning disc device that allowed sequential photographs to be viewed in quick succession through a small slit, conveying the sensation of motion to a dazzled audience. His device was the first example of ‘frame animation’, which went on to become widely influential. Muybridge also developed the zoogyroscope in 1879, a sequential photo projector with which he could present his photos to captivated audiences during his many public lectures.

Etienne-Jules Marey

Concurrently with Muybridge, the French physiologist Etienne-Jules Marey documented animals in motion with his own self-designed camera that could snap 12 pictures every second and arrange these moments into a single image, allowing for the observation of the patterns of movement as they happen. He called his technique chrono-photography, which is still a term used today for producing similar images. We can compare Marey’s work with today’s time-lapse photography, which similarly ‘grabs’ and puts together actions into a quick-fire sequence.

American inventor Thomas Edison and his assistant William Dickson unveiled a new type of recording camera which they called a kinetograph in 1890, which is widely recognized as one of the world’s first motion picture cameras. Their ingenious design took a series of photographs of people and objects in motion, with the use of a long roll of celluloid photographic film which moved through the camera taking photographs using a sprocket system.

The fastest camera of its kind, it could take approximately 40 frames per second, on a reel of up to 15 meters long. They also designed a kinetoscope as a means of displaying the processed film, which ran the imagery through a lamp and a magnifying lens inside a wooden cabinet, where viewers could watch through a peephole. They unveiled their ideas to the wider public through a series of ‘Kinetograph Parlors’ in 1894.

Auguste and Louis Lumiere

In 1895, Auguste and Louis Lumiere designed an even more audience-accessible device which they called the Cinematographe, a multi-image projector that could display 16 frames a second. They made a series of films documenting simple activities including a baby eating and a group of workers leaving a factory, which amazed audiences who had never seen such events recorded in motion before.

Following in the footsteps of the Lumiere brothers, in the next few decades early filmmakers began to create longer and more sophisticated silent films until the late 1920s. At that point, movie-makers began to explore ways of incorporating elements of music and other sounds alongside their films. This transformed the art of film into a richer, more cinematic experience, setting the stage for the modern era of cinema.

Originally published: June 29, 2023. Last update: August 12, 2024 by Elizabeth Berry