By Jean-Claude Seguin Vergara
The platform The Origins of Cinema (1896–1906) is a virtual space created in 2015 by the Research Group on The Image in the Hispanic World (GRIMH). It aims to be participatory and altruistic by nature. Access to it is free, and the only financial support it accepts is by donation or membership fee. It refuses all commercial advertising. Its goal is to develop studies and knowledge concerning early film by offering curious researchers access to a database that combines multiple sources and studies in the field. Our epistemological criterion is that primary sources are always privileged, and directly accessible via hyperlinks. If there is no primary source, we direct readers to secondary sources that we have evaluated. Hypothetical speculations are not included if based on a single secondary source; rather, only if they can be cross-checked across converging data points.
The platform was constructed according to a rhizomatic design, one which would permit a fluid navigation across multiple hyperlinks across the site. This research space is open to all researchers who share in our goals and methodology; they need only ask. There are three types of ways to participate: (1) as a principal author of an article; (2) as a secondary contributor who gathers significant information to aid in deepening a given article; and (3) occasional contributors who are listed in the acknowledgments. The articles are provided in three languages (French, Spanish, and English).
The platform is structured into five fields: apparatuses, films, countries, people, and productions:
Apparatuses: each cinematographic apparatus and its variants is given an entry in the form of a data sheet that includes a variety of information (including reproduction, origin, patent, etc.). This entry is sometimes supplemented by a more detailed study, as in the case of the Lumière cinematograph.
Films: each identified film—including its press, catalog, poster—is features as an article with its content summarized and identifying information (production, cinematographer, date, location, etc.). This entry is sometimes supplemented by a more detailed study, as in the case of the serpentine dances.
Countries: each city has its own article, including tabs noting the years of the period (1896, 1897, 1898, etc.), with full citations for each and information regarding the period and type of event in each. If a given film screened can be identified with certainty, a link will direct the reader to the pertinent article.
People: Each person who participated, in one way or another, in the origins of cinema has an article regarding their genealogy (however fragmentary) and their biography, organized into three parts:
- Their origins, from birth to their participation in motion pictures
- Their involvement in film in the period 1896–1906
- What came after this involvement (dependent upon available sources)
Productions: Each motion-picture producer or vendor has an article describing:
- The history of their business or group
- Their motion-picture catalogs
- Their film productions in chronological order.
On the homepage, a “Studies” tab allows for direct access to complementary research.
From the beginning, the site took as its objective to create a reference space on the origins of cinema that would be accessible to all. Scientific knowledge in this domain should be accessible to all and offer an empirical base of study. Researchers should be able to produce work that depends upon rigorous analysis and reliable data—which The Origins of Cinema aims to offer.
