Research

The Moving Image Source Research Guide is a gateway to the best online resources related to film, television, and digital media.

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Precinema

  • Cinematography Collection in the National Media Museum  
    Still images of items from the collection of the UK's National Media Museum related to cinematography and film history. Includes separate galleries for pre-cinema, early cinema, cameras, projectors, posters, makeup, special effects, and the home filmmaking industry.
  • Eadweard Muybridge: Defining Modernities  
    This website, the result of a collaboration between Kingston University and Kingston Museum in the UK, aims to provide a definitive research resource on photographer Eadweard Muybridge. The website features information about all known physical collections of Muybridge's work housed in cultural organizations around the world; selected collections of rare books published by Muybridge during his lifetime; a portfolio; and a comparative timelines page.
  • Early Visual Media: A Pictorial Media Archeology  
    This excellent resource consists of many different online exhibitions concerned with all kinds of visual media, beginning with pre-cinematic visual technology and amusements, through early television. In addition to the text, each exhibit features many unique illustrations and photographs.
  • Edison Papers  
    View scanned images of Edison's original papers, including his personal notes, correspondence, and more. Includes information on the invention of the kinetoscope and other moving image technology, as well as Edison's business records. Search the archive by author, title, or folder.
  • Freeze Frame: Eadweard Muybridge's Photography of Motion  
    An online exhibit examining the work of film pioneer Eadweard Muybridge.
  • Kine Weekly Online Index @ The British Cinema History Research Project   Paid Subscription Required
    The Kine Weekly online index covers the period from 1955 through the end of the publication in 1971. Also contains some earlier materials. Password required.
  • Magic Lantern and Photochrome Bibliography  
    A list of publications on magic lanterns, photochromes, and early colorization techniques.
  • Magic Lanterns, Magic Mirrors: A Centennial Salute  
    A selection of early equipment, posters, and photographs documenting the advent and very early years of motion pictures.
  • Thomas Edison Information from the Library of Congress  
    Includes biographical information about Thomas Edison and historical information about his breakthroughs in moving image and sound recording technology. Users can also view Edison's films.
  • Who's Who of Victorian Cinema  
    Biographies of actors and directors, as well as rigorously researched articles about the technology, creation, and exhibition of early film. The sources page also functions as a comprehensive annotated bibliography of the topic. Created by Luke McKernan, a British film historian.