EOTO1 Reaction

EOTO2 Reaction

When we presented to one another about new technologies, one that really stood out for me was "The History of Motion Pictures." This segment truly taught me about how film has developed over time and across cultures. I had long thought of film as something that just was (part of my entertainment, part of my life), but this traced the way the film had gone from a simple scientific curiosity to a worldwide part of virtually everyone's life. The first slide, “History of Motion Pictures,” traces the origins of cinema. It begins with the zoetrope, a 19th-century device that created the illusion of motion through a series of sequential images, like Eadweard Muybridge’s iconic study of a horse in motion. This laid the groundwork for moving pictures. The slide also brings up Thomas Edison’s kinetograph, which filmed the first movies in history. From there, the presentation moves to the silent film era exemplified by black-and-white classics and the introduction of sound that revolutionized storytelling. Finally, it touches on the rise of color movies and big-budget blockbusters like Star Wars that transformed the medium into a massive, profit-making industry. The second slide, “Impact of Motion Pictures,” explores how films have influenced society. They convey messages and ideas through the medium of visual storytelling, as in their formation of the classic The Wizard of Oz.

They also influence the public’s perception of events, cultures, and people, with preceding societal norms often found in their frames. For their part, technological advancements have not left films behind, they appear at the forefront of various revolutionary communication technologies, platforms like Netflix making their content nearby and accessible anytime, anywhere. The third slide, “The History and Impact of CDs,” while not directly about motion pictures, connects to the broader evolution of media.

Developed by Sony and Philips, CDs made music and movies portable, holding 74 minutes of content and blurring the lines of radio efficiency. They were also part of the near total envelopment of popular entertainment in the computer, with all the not-so-implicit potential for the use and misuse of computers, as in the illegal sales of CDs. Together, these slides demonstrate the remarkable adaptability of motion pictures and related technologies, which have consistently left a profound impression on popular culture. This investigation of moving pictures pays heed to their still potent ability to charm, teach, and unify people across the eons.