From 'Camera Obsecura' to the modern cinema
By Amal Hewavissenti
The device of 'Camera Obsecura' registered a memorable landmark in
the gradual evolution of the camera and motion pictures. However, the
story of the development of films from the earliest 'cameras' and
dramatic devices is interesting. But where does this story begin?
As man's artistic intellect developed, he began to observe different
movements of his shadow - a trend which gave birth to the concept of
'shadow drama'. His imagination perceived that varied movements of his
own shadow could convey and illustrate distinctive concepts, ideas and
emotions in a particular imaginary scene.
The shadow drama was a form of art which created different figures,
movements and ideas by means of shadows cast on a wall or an improvised
screen. Thus shadow drama was a significant achievement in the art of
visual communication. The shadow drama which originated and developed as
a folk art in China became more popular in most Asian countries and
Arabian merchants took it to European countries. Professional artistes
in shadow drama in England, France and Belgium showed that this form of
art became immensely popular.
'Dark room'
Leonardo da Vinci, an eminent painter and a scientist created
sketches which featured a special device popularly called 'Camera
Obsecura' (a Latin word meaning 'the dark room'). In 'Camera Obsecura',
a beam of light and a shadow are made to enter a dark room through a
tiny hole and this process creates a shadowy image on the wall of the
'dark room'. A number of experts on this field carried out researches in
improving the quality of the images created inside Camera Obsecura (the
dark room).
Even though Leonardo da Vinci spelled out the value of this wonderful
invention, it attracted little attention at the time. However,
consequent on Davinci's revelation about the portable box-like dark
room, considerable research began to be conducted on the effective use
of Camera Obsecura. The simple theory of camera Obsecura was a small box
with an open side that was covered with a transparent cloth.
The box was sealed with black paper both inside and outside simply to
exclude every possibility of light entering the box. In this manner, the
beam of light would enter the box through the tiny hole on the side just
opposite the side covered with the transparent cloth and would fall on
the screen (the transparent cloth).
Camera Obsecura which was really a fundamental product for the modern
cinema camera, inevitably had the disadvantage of vagueness of images
produced on the screen. In whatever way, the researches carried out on
the Camera Obsecura provided the basic theories for the sophisticated
cameras subsequently manufactured.
A breakthrough
Giovanne Batista Dela Porta, an Italian scientist instigated an
important development in this camera by fixing a lens to the tiny hole
and thereby improving the quality of image made on the screen. For this
experiment, he used a replica of Da Vinci's camera "Jinhall". However,
the camera at this phase was widely used by painters, architects and
astronauts such as Johannesse Kepler who used it for astronomical
explorations.
The first proper camera which was roughly a wooden box with a lens on
the front was built by Joseph Niepce, a Frenchman somewhere in 1826. He
could produce a photograph by means of heliography. In 1830, another
Frenchman Louis Daguerre invented the world's first practical camera
where the image fell on a plate thickly coated with a chemical. In
sunlight, the light part of the picture became dark while the darker
areas were left lighter creating a form of negative picture. In 1888,
American George Eastman introduced the first Kodak Camera which used a
highly flexible roll - an incident which made photography an art. George
Eastman revolutionised the art and industry of photography because his
camera (Kodak) was a highly convenient tool and he introduced the film
strip. (The basis for modern cinema camera).
A massive step forward in the production of cinema camera was the
animation of stills. In his studio Black Maria, Thomas Alva Edison
carried out successful experiments to produce a camera to video a scene
by means of the film strip previously produced by George Eastman. Edison
was a renowned scientist who made multiple inventions and carried out
research regarding cinema.
The year 1887 marked a significant breakthrough in the history of
cinema camera. Through laborious experiments, Thomas Alwa Edison
succeeded in producing the motion camera and the projector which
presented a particular scene cinematically. The period between 1880-1925
produced silent films which were characterised by the absence of sounds
and dialogues. Edison introduced cinema as a powerful and popular medium
of entertainment for people. He trained cinema artists in Black Maria,
his studio and even embarked on a large scale business to sell cinema
projectors. Lumiere brothers (Augustus and Louis) who were top class
businessmen in France at the time had displayed a keen enthusiasm on
Edison's achievements in cinema and produced a few films by means of the
motion camera and the projector.
Lumiere brothers deserve the credit of expanding cinema throughout
the world and their films attracted massive public attention by dint of
the natural elements and scenes present in them.
George Mailiye and Edwin S. Porter flourished as the magicians in the
art of silent films at the outset of the twentieth century. George
Mailiye invented the cartoon film and his famous film "A trip to the
moon" was produced in 1902 by using the most sophisticated cinema
technology at that time. Both of them were trainee artists in Edison's
studio.
Later, D.W. Griffith a Frenchman, brought about important
transformations in the silent film. The salient feature of his films was
that he represented life in true colours by taking his camera outside
the studio and capturing real life situations. His film "Ramona and
Bethulia" shows that he had deeply experimented with the use of cinema
camera and techniques of editing. Modern films called a halt to the
silent films in 1930s and became the most widespread and popular medium
of entertainment throughout the world. No media has ever been successful
in eclipsing the popularity and the quality of cinema as a technological
entertainment media.
Those who created the shadow dramas and the camera Obsecura readily
deserve the credit of shaping cinema into what it is today.
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