What's New:
Thomas Edison and Modern Entertainment

In 1910, when he was 63, Thomas Edison discussed the film industry his black-and-white, soundless, 46-fps movie camera had launched. Questions: Glen Ellyn Media. Answers: Thomas A. Edison. Concept: Wired Magazine.

Us: You invented the motion picture in the late 1880s. How will it affect entertainment?
Edison: It will revolutionize the stage. The world’s greatest musicians, singers, and actors can then be heard in the most insignificant hamlet at a nominal price, where they can now be heard only in the large cities and at prices which only the wealthy can afford.

Us: What other uses do you anticipate for this invention of yours?
Edison: In other fields the scope of the motion picture is equally great, in the educational field especially. Geography, history, literature, botany, surgery, and even chemistry can be taught much more entertainingly, authentically, and convincingly by its aid than is now possible with present methods. When we see an object that interests us we do not soon forget it; when we read it, however, our knowledge is very apt to be fleeting.

Us: Will the motion picture evolve, or will it remain as it is at the current time?
Edison: The future of the motion picture in the amusement line will be in the form of a combination between it and the phonograph… Stereoscopic photography will probably also be applied to motion pictures so that they will stand out in bold, sharp relief. Finally, color photography will be employed, presenting scenes in natural colors and tints. Thus the motion picture of the future will show apparently solid objects projected in natural colors and accompanied in natural reproduction by all the concomitant sounds.

 

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