The History of Narrative Film

The history of narrative film is traced back to more than 100 years ago in the late 1800s. Simple basic filming devices were invented and were used during this period. Narrative films spread to all parts of the world within twenty years. The spread led to the development of complex technologies and the rise of a major industry. The industry became widely accepted as a form of entertainment. It attracted numerous artists, entrepreneurs, politicians, and scientists (Cook, 2004). However, the film industry has constantly been dependent on factors beyond its control. The dependency raises important questions, which include: What are the effects of technology on the filmmaking industry? How has industrialization affected the creation of narrative film?
According to Gunning (1991), the narrative of the film was the most important aspect of this art. Editing, composition, and lighting were all designed to assist the audience in understanding the story in the late 1910s. The characters in these stories were created through increased editing. In addition, performance and dialogue subtitles helped the audience in relating the images to the scenes. Editing was increased and the distance between the cameras and the actors decreased. The change contributed to the development of the star system due to recognition of actors and the emphasis on facial expressions. Editing was used to display the internal thoughts and emotions of a character, as well as to clearly show instances of psychological intensity.
The filmmaking industry experienced a rapid growth and expansion during the first thirty years of its operation. The then unfamiliar experience quickly spread across the globe, attracting an ever growing audience in all the places it was...

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...ing, composition, and lighting in the production of films.
Specialization and division of labor also impacted on the production, distribution, and exhibition of narrative films at the time. In addition, specialization and division of labor maximized profits in the filmmaking industry, leading to its stability. However, the distribution and exhibition sectors in the US hindered the process of changing the industry to multi-reel film producer. The reason is that most exhibition venues had a small seating capacity. In turn, limited seating capacity led to the exhibition of short films featuring a wide array of subjects to attract more audience and increase profits. Due to this, the impetus to shift the focus of the industry to the production of multi-reel films came from Europe. The reason is that the distribution of imported films was not subject to MPPC controls.