Communication Technology Blog #1: Motion Pictures

The Communication technology that is most fascinating to me is motion pictures and how they have evolved through time. I have always been a huge movie buff and couldn’t imagine life without it. Watching a movie is an incredible way to step out of your everyday ordinary life and experience a journey while learning all sorts of new and exciting things. I think it really adds color to your life and the way you interact with others and the way you view the world. According to a class lecture and the textbook, “Communication Technology Update and Fundamentals,” Ch. 2 explains how in the 1890’s, William Disckson, the assistant to Thomas Edison, developed the kinetograph and the kinetoscope, a motion picture camera and coin fed viewing system. Edison later created the Vitascope which made it possible for larger audiences to see these images publicly and concurrently by the year 1894. The author states, “In France in that same year, Georges Méliès started the first motion picture theater. Short movies became part of public entertainment in a variety of American venues by 1900 (Campbell, 2002), and average weekly movie attendance reached 40 million people by 1922.” Theater attendance began to grow through 1930 until the Great Depression hit affecting this technology significantly. Attendance rose and fell in correlation with the wars but hit is peak from 1946 to 1949 with 90 million attendees weekly. From here, Television was introduced and attendance began plummeting again. It is incredible to see all the different ways technology has advanced and expanded overtime to enhance how we view these incredible films. While theater sales are not what they used to be, we have been introduced to technological advancements that allow for a different ways to experience films. Technology is such a crucial part of the world we live in and it is important to keep up with the constant changes and gain a better understanding of these fascinating communication technologies.