1st De-Focus in Film

Let Me Dream Again (1900) - George Albert Smith

The 1st de-focus in a film, used to transist from dream to reality: Let Me Dream Again by George Albert Smith features a man dreaming about an attractive young woman and then waking up next to his wife.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000313/

1st Movie Remake (and 1st Film by Georges Melies)

Card Party (1896) - Georges Melies

The 1st of 555 known films by Georges Melies, Card Party (aka Une partie de cartes aka Party of Cards) is a remake of Louis Lumiere’s Card Game. The Lumiere original can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VGSjgi9l4c

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000132/

1st Moving Shot

Panorama du Grand Canal vu d'un Bateau (1896) - Alexandre Promio

The 1st moving shot, created by a stationary camera on a gondola in Panorama du Grand Canal vu d'un Bateau, was filmed by Alexandre Promio for Louis Lumiere.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0430447/

1st Comedy Movie

The Sprinkler Sprinkled (1895) - Louis Lumiere

The 1st staged narrative and the 1st comedy, The Sprinkler Sprinkled (also known as L’Arroseur Arrosé and The Waterer Watered) was shot in Lyon in the spring of 1895.

The film portrays a simple practical joke in which a gardener is tormented by a boy who steps on the hose that the gardener is using to water his plants, cutting off the water flow. When the gardener tilts the nozzle up to inspect it, the boy releases the hose, causing the water to spray him. The gardener is stunned and his hat is knocked off, but he soon catches on. A chase ensues, both on and off-screen (the camera never moves from its original position) until the gardener catches the boy and administers a spanking. Louis Lumière used his own gardener, François Clerc, to portray the gardener.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000014/

1st Christmas Movie

Santa Claus (1898) - George Albert Smith

The 1st Christmas movie, and containing the 1st depiction of Santa Claus on film: Santa Clause by George Albert Smith is believed to also be cinema's earliest known example of parallel action. It is one of the most visually and conceptually sophisticated films made up to this point in history.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0242849/

A Christmas Carol - The 1st Film Version

Scrooge; or Marley's Ghost (1901) - Walter R. Booth

"Scrooge; or, Marley's Ghost" is the oldest known film adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1843 novel "A Christmas Carol". Only about half of the original film has survived. It was shown to King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra at Sandringham House in December 1901 in a Royal Command Performance.

Music performed by Billy Duncan for Change Before Going Productions.

CHANGE BEFORE GOING PRODUCTIONS:
http://www.cbgp.com
http://www.facebook.com/changebeforegoingproductions
http://www.twitter.com/cbgproductions
http://www.gplus.to/changebeforegoing

BILLY DUNCAN
Twitter - http://twitter.com/mrjonseagull
Google+ - http://www.gplus.to/billyduncan
Seagulls - http://www.facebook.com/seagullsatlanta
Ricer - http://www.facebook.com/riceratlanta
An Army of Tiny Purple Dinosaurs - http://www.facebook.com/aaotpd

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000370/

1st Projected Film

Exiting the Factory (1895) - Louis Lumiere

The 1st projected film, Workers Leaving The Lumière Factory in Lyon (also known as La Sortie des Usines Lumière à Lyon, Employees Leaving the Lumière Factory, and Exiting the Factory), was filmed by Louis Lumière using his Cinématographe, an all-in-one camera, which also serves as a film projector and developer. This film was shown in 1895 at the Grand Café on the Boulevard des Capucines in Paris, along with nine other short movies.

The film consists of a single scene in which workers leave the Lumiere factory. The workers are mostly female who exit the large building 25 rue St. Victor, Montplaisir on the outskirts of Lyon, France, as if they had just finished a day's work.

Three separate versions of this film exist. There are a number of differences between these, for example the clothing style changes demonstrating the different seasons in which they were filmed. They are often referred to as the "one horse," "two horses," and "no horse" versions, in reference to a horse-drawn carriage that appears in the first two versions (pulled by one horse in the original and two horses in the first remake).

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000010/

1st Hand-Tinted Movie

Annabelle Serpentine Dance (1895) - William K.L. Dickson

The 1st hand tinted movie, Annabelle Serpentine Dance, was filmed in Edison's Black Maria Studios. Annabelle Moore, a young dancer from Broadway, is dressed in white veils that appear to change colors as she dances.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154152/

Happy 150th Birthday, Georges Melies!

1st Film Edit

The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (1895) - Alfred Clark

The 1st edit within a film, and also used for the purpose of a stop-motion effect. The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots shows a blindfolded Mary being led to the execution block. The executioner raises his axe and an edit occurs during which the actress is replaced by a mannequin. The mannequin’s head is chopped off and the executioner holds it in the air as the film ends.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0132134/

1st Woman in a Movie

Carmencita (1894) - William K.L. Dickson

The 1st woman to appear in front of an Edison motion picture camera and possibly the 1st woman to appear in a motion picture within the United States. In the film, Carmencita is recorded going through a routine she had been performing at Koster & Bial's in New York since February 1890.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000001/

1st Commercially Exhibited Movie

Blacksmith Scene (1893) - William K.L. Dickson

The 1st commercially exhibited film and the 1st staged scene with actors performing a role, Blacksmith Scene is a Kinetoscope film first shown on May 9, 1893. It was filmed entirely within the Black Maria studio at West Orange, New Jersey, in the USA, which is widely referred to as "America's First Movie Studio".

The scene is all filmed from a stationary camera. On screen is a large anvil with a blacksmith behind it and one to either side (portrayed by Edison employees). The smith in the middle uses a heated metal rod he has removed from a fire and places it on the anvil. All three begin a rhythmic hammering. After several blows the metal rod is returned to the fire. One smith pulls out a bottle of beer, and they each take a drink. Following this drink they then resume their work.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000005/

1st Publicly Shown Movie

Dickson Greeting (1891) - William K. L. Dickson

Believed to be the 1st movie shown in public, Dickson Greeting was played for viewers at National Federation of Women’s Clubs. Directed and starring motion-picture pioneer William Dickson, it displays a 3 second clip of him passing a hat in front of himself, and reaching for it with his other hand. It was filmed on May 20, 1891 in the Photographic Building at Edison’s Black Maria studio, West Orange, New Jersey, in collaboration with Thomas Edison using his kinetograph.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0241373/

World’s 2nd Oldest Surviving Movie

Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge (1888) - Louis Aime Augustin Le Prince

The 2nd earliest celluloid film, which was shot by Louise Le Prince using the Le Prince single-lens camera made in 1888. He recorded traffic on Leeds Bridge from an upstairs window of No 19 Bridge End, then Hicks the Ironmongers, at these coordinates: 53°47′37.70″N 1°32′29.18″W.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343112/

World’s Oldest Surviving Movie

Roundhay Garden Scene (1888) - Louis Aime Augustin Le Prince

The earliest celluloid film was shot by Louise Le Prince using the Le Prince single-lens camera made in 1888. It was taken in the garden of the Whitley family house in Oakwood Grange Road, Roundhay, a suburb of Leeds, Yorkshire, Great Britain, possibly on October 14, 1888. It shows Adolphe Le Prince (Le Prince's son), Mrs. Sarah Whitley, (Le Prince's mother-in-law), Joseph Whitley and Miss Harriet Hartley. The 'actors' are shown walking around in circles, laughing to themselves and keeping within the area framed by the camera.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0392728/