Eadweard Muybridge is often called the father of the motion picture because of his photographic studies of animal motion. He began his career as a landscape photographer, and always considered himself more an artist than a scientist, although he welcomed the studies that surrounded his later works. Animal locomotion first came to Muybridge's attention when he was asked to settle a bet as to whether a horses hooves all left the ground during full gallop. His set-up required multiple cameras placed in a long line each of which had a special shutter in front that was triggered electro-magnetically by the horse as it made contact with wires stretched across the track. It was the first successful photographic representation of sequences of movement. It took Muybridge six years to prove that it was true, and he became an instant international star. Knowledge of the horse at that time was at a premium because of its societal importance, much like the modern importance of automobiles.
Thomas Alva Edison, Inventor
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman who developed many devices which greatly influenced life in the 20th century. Dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park...
Film Sound History Timeline
Thomas Edison and the Kinetoscope. Years prior to Thomas Edison's work on moving pictures, people were making crude hand drawn motion pictures, much like how animated car...
