Entering the film world

Motion pictures was a development of the late 1880s largely a result of the invention of a camera that could capture movement and a sprocket system that could move the film through the camera. In 1889, Thomas Edison's crew invented the Kinetoscope movie viewer and the Kinetograph movie camera was patented in 1893. People watching the Kinetoscope could see moving images of up to one minute in length.
In 1893, the world's first film studio was built on the ground's of Edison's laboratories in New Jersey, U.S., and the first motion picture was a recreation of a sneeze!
Most of the earliest moving images were non-fictional, unedited, crude documentary views of ordinary slices of life – street scenes, activities of police or firemen or shots of a passing train.
At the same time, in France, Louis and August Lumiere created a combination movie camera and movie projector called the Cinematographe (from which the word cinema was derived), which they demonstrated to the public in 1895. It allowed more than one person to watch films and the term cinema arose to describe theatres and the process. On December 28, 1895, in Paris, the Lumiere Brothers first projected a motion picture in the Salon Indien and charged money for it. The 20-minute programme of 10 short films, with 20 showings a day, included the famous first comedy of a gardener with a watering hose, workers leaving a factory and a sequence of a horse-drawn carriage galloping towards the camera.
From those simple scenes to today's revolutionary slick productions that can make actors interact with people who have passed away (Tom Hanks shaking hands with American President Kennedy in Forrest Gump) or recreate the amazing story of toys (animated movies like Toy Story, Antz) or cook up a perfect storm (the action/special effects genre like The Perfect Storm, Star Wars) in a studio are all doing one thing – entertaining. Only much more goes into moviemaking today with an army of people (in front of and behind the camera), billions of dollars (production and distribution) and cutting edge technology only being the tip of the iceberg in the mammoth task of making a film.
A large section in today's various push (print media like newspapers delivered at doorstep) and pull (telecast media like radio, television and the Internet that attract users) mediums are devoted to the entertainment industry. On the Internet there are thousands of sites providing detailed information on Hollywood.

www.imdb.com/
This Internet movie database is a popular and comprehensive film resource online. Recognised as the Internet's best movie resource, the site has picked up over 40 major awards that include Best Movie Site – Yahoo Internet Life 2000, Best movie site on the Web (1998 and 1999), Best Film Resource on the Web – PC Magazine (1998 and 1999), Best Film Category (judges and voters awards) for three years running at the Webby Awards.
Information on the site is listed in a clear format starting with What to watch – news releases, recommendations; Discuss and Rate – IMDB newsletters, daily and weekly columns, interviews; International Interests – films by country, by language, upcoming releases worldwide; Films and More – films by genre, films by year, films posters; Stars and Movie Makers – biographies, famous couples; Facts and Trivia – movie goofs, IMDB trivia and much more. There's also movies in production, theatrical release, video release, pay per view, premium cable and broadcast premier.
Besides having a U.S. and UK edition, this 10-year-old company has teamed up with Amazon.com to offer the best movie-related merchandise online. Recommendations include DVDs, soundtracks, books, photos, posters and other goodies. A must add to your 'favourites' list for quick, easy and accurate details on anything and everything on movies.

www.hollywood.com/
With such a URL, colourful look and quick download time, its popularity is obvious. Featuring a million pages of in-depth movie information, the site details reviews, showtime listings, entertainment news, extensive multimedia library and more. It topped the list of Most Popular Film Sites in the September 2000 issue of the Industry Standard Grok. Founded by Mitchell Rubenstein and Laurie S. Silvers, it has offices in Hollywood, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, China and Japan. One can access the Portuguese language site on www.br.Hollywood.com in Brazil, the Spanish language www.ar.Hollywood.com in Argentina and www.mx.Hollywood.com in Mexico.