List of cinematic firsts

This page lists chronologically the first achievements in cinema. The development of cinema is characterised by technological breakthroughs, from early experiments in the recording of day-to-day activity, experiments in colour, different formats and sound. From the 1970s, the development of computer-generated imagery has become integral to the way that films are produced.

In parallel with the developments in technology, its content and the way it reflects society and its concerns and the way society responds to it have changed too. The list attempts to address some of these events.

1867-68

 * Chronophotography is the first time that movement is captured in several frames of print.

1874

 * French astronomer P.J.C. Janssen came up with the idea for a "revolver photographic". This huge camera system used a Maltese cross-type mechanism, very similar to the system that would later be of great importance in the development of movie cameras. He successfully captured both transits of Venus, 1874 in Japan, that of 1882 at Oran in Algeria. The motion picture was known as Passage de Venus

1878

 * Using a fast-motion series of 24 cameras Eadweard Muybridge films a horse in motion, Sallie Gardner at a Gallop.

1880

 * Eadweard Muybridge projects the moving images of Sallie Gardner at a Gallop on a screen when he gave a presentation at the California School of Fine Arts, making this exhibit the earliest known motion picture exhibition.

1882

 * Étienne-Jules Marey develops the Chronophotographe, which can take 12 pictures per second.

1888

 * In Leeds, England Louis Le Prince films Roundhay Garden Scene, believed to be the first motion picture recorded.

1889 or 1890

 * Monkeyshines, by William Kennedy Dickson and William Heise. Believed to be the first film shot in the United States. An experimental film made to test the original cylinder Kinetograph format.

1891

 * Dickson Greeting aka Monkeyshines 2, by William Kennedy Dickson is the first public demonstration of motion pictures in the United States. The National Federation of Women’s Clubs are shown a 3 second clip of Dickson passing a hat in front of himself, and reaching for it with his other hand on May 20, 1891 at Edison's laboratory.

1892

 * On 28 October 1892 Charles-Émile Reynaud gave the first public performance of a moving picture show at the Musée Grévin in Paris, the Théâtre Optique. The show, billed as Pantomimes Lumineuses, included three cartoons, Pauvre Pierrot, Un bon bock, and Le Clown et ses chiens, each consisting of 500 to 600 individually painted images and lasting about 15 minutes. The film was the first to use perforations.

1893

 * Blacksmith Scene, by William Kennedy Dickson. The first Kinetoscope film shown in public exhibition on May 9, 1893 and is the earliest known example of actors performing a role in a film.
 * The world's first film production studio, the Black Maria, or the Kinetographic Theater, was completed on the grounds of Edison's laboratories at West Orange, New Jersey, for the purpose of making film strips for the Kinetoscope. Construction began in December 1892

1894

 * On April 14, 1894, a public Kinetoscope parlor was opened by the Holland Bros. in New York City at 1155 Broadway, on the corner of 27th Street—the first commercial motion picture house. The venue had ten machines, set up in parallel rows of five, each showing a different movie. For 25 cents a viewer could see all the films in either row; half a dollar gave access to the entire bill.
 * Dorlita in the Passion Dance Banned in New Jersey after use in peepshows. Russell Kick quotes the work Censorship as saying it "was probably the first [film] to be banned in the United States."
 * la Sortie des Usines, the first film to be made in France.
 * The Dickson Experimental Sound Film by William Kennedy Dickson. It is the first known film with live-recorded sound and appears to be the first motion picture made for the Kinetophone, the proto-sound-film system developed by Dickson and Thomas Edison.

1895

 * First hand-colored film, Annabelle Serpentine Dance by William Kennedy Dickson.
 * Charles Francis Jenkins displays the Phantascope, the first patented Film projector.
 * Incident at Clovelly Cottage by Robert W. Paul and Birt Acres is the first film to be made in the United Kingdom.
 * History of the Kinetograph, Kinetoscope, and Kinetophonograph by Antonia and William Kennedy Dickson, considered the first book of history on film, is published.

1896

 * The first building dedicated exclusively to showing motion pictures was the Vitascope Hall, established on Canal Street, New Orleans, Louisiana June 26 — it was converted from a vacant store.
 * Later that year on October 19, the Edisonia Hall opened in Buffalo, New York in the Ellicott Square Building. The Edisonia was the first known dedicated, purpose-built motion picture theater in the world.
 * Alice Guy-Blaché, the first female film director makes La Fée aux Choux (The Cabbage Fairy) acknowledged as the first narrative fiction film.
 * In The Kiss, May Irwin and John Rice re-enact the kiss from the New York stage hit The Widow Jones, the first film of a couple kissing.

1899

 * The first example of object manipulation and stop-motion animation was the short film by Albert E. Smith and J. Stuart Blackton called The Humpty Dumpty Circus.
 * King John is the first film adaptation of the work of William Shakespeare. The film features Herbert Beerbohm Tree in the title role and features the death scene from King John.

1901

 * Histoire d'un crime, directed by Ferdinand Zecca was the first film to use flashbacks to create a non-linear narrative.
 * The earliest known use of intertitles was in the British film Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost.

1902

 * Edward Raymond Turner's children and several other very short test films, the earliest known moving pictures photographed in color.
 * A Trip to the Moon is the first sci-fi movie.

1904

 * The Great Train Robbery, directed by Siegmund Lubin was the first film remake.

1906

 * Humorous Phases of Funny Faces directed by J. Stuart Blackton is the first 2D animated film.
 * The Story of the Kelly Gang by Charles Tait is the first feature film to be released.

1907

 * January 19, Variety publishes reviews of two films, An Exciting Honeymoon and The Life of a Cowboy by Edwin S. Porter. These are believed to be the first film reviews published.
 * L'Enfant prodigue is the first feature film produced in Europe.

1908

 * A Visit to the Seaside is the first film to use Kinemacolor.
 * The Assassination of the Duke of Guise is the first film to have a score specifically written for it, by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns.

1909

 * The first full length feature film produced in the United States was an adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables.

1910

 * The German film serial, Arsène Lupin contra Sherlock Holmes directed by Viggo Larsen was the first film crossover.
 * For the first time, the rights to adapt a novel are bought from a publisher, (Little, Brown & Company who published Helen Hunt Jackson's novel Ramona. The film is made by D.W. Griffith.
 * D.W. Griffith makes In Old California, the first film to be made in Hollywood.

1912

 * With Our King and Queen Through India, a documentary recording Indian celebrations around the coronation of George V, is the first feature film to be released in colour, using the Kinemacolour system.

1915

 * The Birth of a Nation, directed by D.W. Griffith was the first big budget Hollywood epic.

1916

 * The Fall of a Nation, directed by Thomas Dixon Jr. was the first film sequel.

1917

 * The first animated feature film was El Apóstol by Quirino Cristiani from Argentina.
 * The Gulf Between directed by Wray Physioc is the first feature film to use Technicolor.

1921

 * A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1921), directed by Emmett J. Flynn was the first film to feature time travel to the past.

1922

 * The first colour feature film made in Hollywood, The Toll of the Sea, starring Anna May Wong.
 * First feature film in 3D. The Power of Love by Nat Deverich, which premiered at the Ambassador Hotel Theater in Los Angeles on September 27.

1923

 * 16 mm film is introduced by Eastman Kodak in the United States.

1927

 * The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson is the first feature film with recorded dialogue, using the Vitaphone system. The Jazz Singer is also the first musical film.
 * Napoleon by Abel Gance is the first film to be filmed in the widescreen format.

1928

 * Lights of New York, directed by Bryan Foy is the first all talking feature film.
 * Wings, directed by William A. Wellman is the first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
 * The Viking is the first feature-length film in color with sound (music and sound effects only).

1929

 * The First Academy Award ceremony takes place at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Los Angeles on May 1. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans wins the award for "Unique and Artistic Production" (denoting artistic strength) and Wings wins the award for "Outstanding Picture, Production" (denoting technical production quality). Both awards were eliminated and merged the next year into the single Best Picture category. Emil Jannings and Janet Gaynor won the awards for best actor and actress, which were awarded for work in a number of different films throughout the year. Acting categories were later narrowed to honor work on a single film.
 * Blackmail, directed by Alfred Hitchcock was the first British sound film.

1930

 * Fiddlesticks, directed by Ub Iwerks was the first complete sound cartoon to be shot in two-strip Technicolor.
 * The Big Trail, directed by Raoul Walsh was the first film to use a swear word, given by John Wayne as Breck Coleman.

1931

 * Peludópolis, directed by Qirino Christiani is the first animated feature with sound.

1932

 * The first animated film to use the full, three-color Technicolor method was Flowers and Trees made by Disney Studios. The film was also the first to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
 * Love Me Tonight by Rouben Mamoulian is credited as the first film to use a zoom lens.
 * The Venice Film Festival runs from 6–21 August, the first film festival.
 * White Zombie by Victor Halperin was the first zombie film.

1933

 * The Crooked Circle was the first film to be broadcast on television, on March 10 in Los Angeles.

1935

 * Becky Sharp, starring Miriam Hopkins, was the first feature-length film in three-strip Technicolor.

1937

 * Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first full length cel animated feature film.

1939

 * Raffles was the first film to show a television set.

1940

 * First African American to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress: Hattie McDaniel (Gone with the Wind, 1939).
 * Walt Disney's Fantasia is the first film with surround sound, using Disney's Fantasound system.

1943

 * First twins to win the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay: Julius and Philip Epstein, (Casablanca, 1942).

1946

 * The first Cannes Film Festival takes place from September 20 to October 5.

1947

 * First feature film in 3D and partly in color: Robinson Crusoe by Alexander Andreyevsky.

1948

 * First African-American man to receive an Academy Award: James Baskett (Honorary Academy Award for his portrayal of "Uncle Remus" in Song of the South, 1946) (See also: Sidney Poitier, 1964)
 * The first British Academy Film Awards ceremony takes place with The Best Years of Our Lives, winning the award for best film.

1951

 * Distant Drums is the first film to use the Wilhelm scream.

1953

 * The Robe is the first film to be released in CinemaScope.

1964

 * First movie with African-American interracial marriage: One Potato, Two Potato, actors Bernie Hamilton and Barbara Barrie, written by Orville H. Hampton, Raphael Hayes, directed by Larry Peerce
 * First African-American man to win the Academy Award for Best Actor: Sidney Poitier (Lilies of the Field, 1963) (See also: James Baskett, 1948)

1970

 * Tiger Child, the first film in the IMAX format is made. Directed by Donald Brittain and produced by Roman Kroitor and Kichi Ichikawa, it premiered at Expo '70 in Osaka, Japan at the Fuji Group Pavilion.

1971

 * The first permanent IMAX theatre, Cinesphere is built on the grounds of Ontario Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

1973

 * First use of 2D computer animation in a significant entertainment feature film, Westworld. The point of view of Yul Brynner's gunslinger was achieved with raster graphics.

1975

 * Jaws was the first summer blockbuster film.
 * Barry Lyndon was the first film with scenes shot entirely by natural candlelight.

1976

 * The Young Teacher is the first film to be commercially released on VHS.
 * Steadicam is used for the first time in a production: Hal Ashby's Bound for Glory, however John Schlesinger's Marathon Man, released the same year is the first to be commercially released.

1977

 * Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope pioneered visual effects, thanks to Industrial Light & Magic, which in turn led the studio to be founded. as well as making merchandising aspect central to profit-making.

1978

 * Superman: The Movie is the first film with a computer-generated title sequence.

1981

 * Looker by is the first film to feature a CGI human character, Cindy. Also, first use of 3D shaded CGI.

1982

 * For Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, ILM computer graphics division develops "Genesis Effect", the first use of fractal-generated landscape in a film. Bill Reeves leads the Genesis Effect programming team, and creates a new graphics technique called Particle Systems.

1983

 * Rock & Rule is the first animated film to use computer graphics.

1984

 * The Last Starfighter uses CGI for all spaceship shots, replacing traditional models. First use of 'integrated CGI' where the effects are supposed to represent real world objects.
 * The Sensorium is regarded the world's first 4D film.

1985

 * In Young Sherlock Holmes, Lucasfilm creates the first photorealistic CGI character, 'stained glass knight' with 10 seconds of screentime.

1986

 * At the Canada Pavilion in Expo 86, Vancouver, Canada the first showing of 3D Imax takes place.

1988

 * Tin Toy by John Lasseter becomes the first computer-animated short film to win an Academy Award.

1990

 * The Rescuers Down Under is both Disney's first theatrical sequel and the first 2D animated film to be animated significantly on computers.

1991

 * Beauty and the Beast is the first animated film to have an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.

1995

 * Toy Story by John Lasseter is the first feature film to be made entirely using CGI.
 * Casper, the first CGI lead character in feature-length film (preceded Toy Story by six months).

1998

 * Titanic by James Cameron becomes the first film to cost $200 million and to earn more than $1 billion worldwide.

2000

 * First digital cinema projection in Europe by Philippe Binant with DLP CINEMA technology for the release of Toy Story 2.
 * O Brother, Where Art Thou? by the Coen brothers is the first feature film to be entirely color corrected by digital means.

2001

 * Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is the first feature film to use motion capture to create characters.
 * Spirited Away was the first anime film to win an academy award (best animated feature).

2002

 * Russian Ark by Alexander Sokurov is the first feature film to be shot entirely in uncompressed high definition video. It is also the first feature film to consist of a single unedited take.

2004

 * Able Edwards, the first movie with all-CGI backgrounds and live actors.
 * The Polar Express by Robert Zemeckis, the first CGI movie that used motion capture for all actors.

2019

 * The Lion King by Jon Favreau, the first fully CGI "Live action" movie.