EDWIN S. PORTER : THE WORLD FIRST NARRATIVE FILM INVENTOR

2. What Were Edward Stanton Porter Contributions To The Invention of Motion Pictures?

Edward S. Porter is considered the American early film pioneer. Porter began to produce trick and comedy films for Edison. That experience sparked his name in the industry as one of the most influential filmmaker in the United States.

His contribution to the film industry is the invention of the dissolve technique, gradual transitions from one image to another. The technique helps his audiences to follow complex outdoor movement.

Porter also  uses cross cutting technique to show simultaneous actions in different places. In the film titled The Great Train Robbery, the film move from a place to other place as there are the scene of robbery in the train and the robber were chased by the people by riding the horses.

Throughout his carrier with Edison’s company (1899-1909), Porter portrayed side lighting, close-ups, and changed shots within a scene technique in his movie called The Seven Ages (1905).  Porter had developed the modern concept of continuity editing, and is often credited with discovering that the basic unit of structure in film was the shot rather than the scene which is labeled by many as the basic unit on the stage.

The Great Train Robbery also considered as the first real narrative film.