In this episode of Crash Course Film History, we talk about the development of the language of films by filmmakers like Edwin S. Porter and his films; Life of an American Fireman and The Great Train Robbery.

The film industry was set in motion in 1891 when Thomas Edison successfully demonstrated the Kinetoscope (Kinetoscope), a tool that allowed one person at a time to view moving pictures. A few years later in Paris, (Paris, 1895) the...

The film industry was set in motion in 1891 when Thomas Edison successfully demonstrated the Kinetoscope (Kinetoscope), a tool that allowed one person at a time to view moving pictures. A few years later in Paris, (Paris, 1895) the...

The film industry was set in motion in 1891 when Thomas Edison successfully demonstrated the Kinetoscope, a tool that allowed one person at a time to view moving pictures. A few years later in Paris, the Lumière brothers debuted “Workers...

Stories of werewolves have existed for thousands of years and continue to live on today. They're especially prominent in European literature and folklore, and often found in cultures where the wolf is the largest natural predator. Over...

Beginning April 13th, join Craig Benzine (the internet's WheezyWaiter) for 16 weeks of Film History right here on Crash Course. He'll look at the history of one of our most powerful mediums. Film has the ability to communicate with...

What are Gus Casely-Hayford's views of Africans in popular culture? How does "word", "symbol", and "song" work together and what makes them so powerful?<br/>
Africa, The Unknown History of Humankind, Part 5

Mr. Beat gives a brief history of the American Mafia, also known as La Cosa Nostra, or simply The Mob. One book used for the research of this video was Gotti's Rules, by George Anastasia.

This is the enlightening story of the evolution of Hebrew.

“All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortali
ty?”
So mused Mark Twain in the nineteenth century. One...

The Weird History of the Nazi Salute | Roman Salute, WW2, Italian Fascism, Hitler

In the 1960s, the story of a man and his talking horse captivated the globe. The show was Mister Ed, and it followed the hijinks of a talking horse named Mr. Ed and his keeper Wilbur Post. The show became an instant classic, and the...

Zombies have a distinct lineage— one that traces back to Equatorial and Central Africa. For three centuries, African people were enslaved and brought to the Caribbean Islands. There, a religion known as vodou developed, along with the...

We've spent a lot of time focusing on France and the U.S. as that's where a significant amount of both infrastructure and business models were initially set up for film. But there were other countries adding their own stories to the...

Russia went and had a revolution in 1917 and cinema was a big part of its aftermath. Even though film stock was hard to come by, we saw the first film school started, and the study of film became hugely important. Russian filmmakers...

Well, they're not really "magic." Maybe "illusion" is a better way to say it. As we begin this journey of the history of cinema, we need to understand how movies trick our brains into even understanding that a movie is a movie. In this...

It's Craig's last episode of Film and in it he's going to talk about weird stuff... and real stuff. Experimental and Documentary films could each take up their own Crash Course series. The different styles and intents of different...

The Editor is yet another unsung hero in the filmmaking process. For a century of film history, Editors have taken raw footage and worked to transform it into a cohesive whole. Basically making one thing from many. But, how do they do...

Join us as we dive into the enchanting history of mermaids, mythical sea creatures that have captured the human imagination for centuries. Mermaids, depicted as half-human, half-fish beings, appear in folklore across various cultures,...

The1890s marked the early days of film exhibition, when some of the first popular films of prize fights were shown in large auditoriums. This era laumched the beginning of the moviegoing experience, evolving from small, individual...

A brief history of how the microscope has transformed from simple magnifying glasses to the powerful instruments of today. Biology - Cells And DNA - Learning Points. The Romans produced the first magnifying glasses in the 1st century AD....

For years, hemp has had a lousy reputation. Often confused with its cousin, marijuana, it's in fact a different variety of cannabis, with the main difference being a considerably lower THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) level. Michael Lewis and...

It's time for the glitz and the glamour of big motion pictures that helped keep American spirits up during and after the Great Depression. Sound was a huge change to motion pictures, but there were still a few technological innovations...

Have you ever thought of how light has changed with us? This experimental animation by Stephen Ong for Make It Move explores that thought, illustrating how light went "from the burning embers of a camp fire, to the white glow of the...

The evolution of jeweled teeth, from ancient caves to modern- day rappers. ➡ Subscribehttp://bit.ly/NatGeoSubscribe' hereet='_blank' Explorerollow'>Subscribe ➡ Watch all clips of Explorer