Read the text about the history of cinema.

Our journey begins in the Far East.

Moving images have always been popular. In China, for example, there were ‘shadow plays’ 5.000 years ago. These used firelight to project images of puppets onto screens. So projection is a very old idea. But cinema only became possible when this old Asian idea met a new European one – photography.

The two came together in the middle of the 19th century. That’s when photos were first used in ‘magic lanterns’. Before that these early projectors had used glass slides. The pictures on these slides were painted by hand and very expensive. In comparison, photos were cheap and easy to produce.

So – by 1850 projection and photography had come together. But the result still wasn't ‘cinema’. How could it be when the pictures didn’t move? The solution to that problem came in several stages.

The first, in 1877, came via English inventor Eadweard Muybridge. He discovered a way to take photos very quickly, one after the other.

Eleven years later, an Ametican called George Eastman produced the first celluloid film on a roll.

By 1890, it was possible to take up to 40 photos per second. Next, in 1893, came another invention – Thomas Edison’s ‘Kinetoscope’.

33) AFTER CONDUCTING EXHAUSTING RESEARCH AND HEATED DEBATES, HOT ENGLISH HAS COME UP WITH A LIST OF THE TOP TELEVISION COMEDIES. EVERYONE WHO STEPPED INSIDE THE HOT ENGLISH HEADQUARTERS WAS SUBJECTED TO A RELENTLESS LIST OF QUESTIONS. LET’S SEE IF YOU AGREE WITH THE RESULTS.

The comedy that was on nearly everybody's list was Friends, the American sitcom which ran from 1994 to 2004. Every single one of the main characters has become famous as a result and Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox Arquette, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer will always be known as Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Chandler, Joey and Ross - six friends living in New York. The series was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman and was shown in over a hundred countries. The relationships between the friends - especially the romances of Ross and Rachel, and Monica and Chandler - kept viewers happy for 10 seasons. In fact, the final episode of the show was watched by an estimated audience of 51.1 million in the US alone.

The second comedy on our list was fiercely defended by the Brits. Only Fools and Horses ran over seven seasons between 1981 and 1991. The show follows the adventures of Derek "Del Boy” Trotter (David Jason) and his brother Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst).The London pair are constantly attempting to get rich, often by working on the wrong side of the law. It was voted Britain's Best Sitcom in a 2004 BBC poll, aid it speaks volumes that the show is still popular after twenty-five years.

The next comedy on our list was The Simpsons. Who could have guessed that an animated series about a dysfunctional cartoon family with yellow skin and blue hair would become so popular? A long time ago, we wouldn't have believed it either. But twenty seasons, nineteen years, 427 episodes and a $526-million movie later. The Simpsons is America's top TV show. Creator Matt Groening uses the show to poke fun at many aspects of US life. It also holds the Guinness World Record for “ Most Celebrities Featured in an Animation series". Famous cameo appearances include Ringo Starr, Meryl Streep, and Michael Jackson.

Another popular show to make our list is Will and Grace. This popular American sitcom ran for eight seasons from 1998 to 2006. During that time, it became well-known as the first network TV series to feature gay characters amongst the principal leads. Will and Grace features best friends Will Truman, a gay lawyer, and Grace Adler, a Jewish interior designer. However, the most popular characters are thought by many to be the rich, opinionated, alcoholic socialite Karen Walker and the gay, penniless actor Jack McFarland.

Whether British or American, gay or straight, old or modern, what these comedies share is their strong reliance on the strong bonds of family. This is both our blood families, and the families we make for ourselves - our friends.

referred to the ‘family’ of film stars who had contracts with the studio. (In those days actors only worked for one company.) During the ’30s and ’40s MGM’s family included The Marx Brothers, Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Spencer Tracy, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly.

It was an impressive list but only one of several. All the other ‘dream factories’ had stables of top box-office names, too. In fact, competition was an important part of Hollywood’s success. The reason was simple. Each studio wanted to make bigger, better films than its rivals. After 1948, though, movie tycoons like Louis B. Mayer began to face another kind of competition. And this time it wasn’t from inside the cinema industry – it was from outside.

Television

America's TV revolution began in the years following World War Two. At first Hollywood didn’t worry. After all – what was there to worry about? John Logie Baird’s invention only produced small, black and white pictures. It was a gimmick. It wouldn’t last. But as more and more people bought TV-sets, cinema queues began to get shorter. And not just 5% or 10% shorter. By the early ’5Os weekly audiences had been cut in half to 50 million. Clearly the movie industry had a serious problem on its hands.

Hollywood Fights Back

Studio bosses tried to solve the problem in several different ways. These included:

ð CINEMASCOPE – This technique made it possible to show films on a wider screen than ever before. Several action-packed CinemaScope films were made. The first, Biblical epic, was called “The Robe”.

ð 3D – To watch 3D or “three-dimensional” films, audiences had to wear special glasses. These gave images on the screen extra height, width and depth. The idea was used in several ’5Os horror films, but never really caught on.

ð CINERAMA – Three projectors were needed to show Cinerama films. Each one filled a third of a huge curved screen. Again the idea didn’t catch on – this time because it was too expensive.

ð SMELL-O-VISION – Another Hollywood scheme for winning back TV audiences was Smell-O-Vision. This was an electronic system which sent the smell of roses, gunsmoke, coffee, etc., (whatever was showing on the screen) over movie-goers during a film.

ð 70MM FILM – Before the ’5Os movie cameras and projectors used film which was 35mm wide. The arrival of 70mm film produced a much bigger, clearer image. 70mm is still used for some films today.

Basically, then the Hollywood studios competed with television by making movies bigger, better and more realistic. Some of their ideas succeeded, others failed. But what really saved the cinema industry wasn’t a technical development at all – it was another ’50s invention... teenagers.

Movies and youth culture discovered each other inthe mid-’50s with two key films – ‘Rebel Without A Cause’ (l955), starring James Dean, and ‘Rock Around The Clock’ (1956), starring early pop idol Bill Haley. For Hollywood it was a turning point. Before then, the average cinema-goer had been over 30. Suddenly, all that began to change. And it’s a change that’s continued ever since. Today 75% of all box-office tickets are sold to people between the ages of 15 and 25.

The Modern Movie Industry

These days cinema and television live side-by-side. The movie industry didn’t collapse

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