Behind the Scenes: A Young Person’s Guide to Film History, Volume 1

For everyone who loves the movies, "Behind the Scenes: A Young Person’s Guide to Film History, Vol. 1" reveals an exciting glimpse of early cinema and introduces readers to filmmakers, screen icons and their most memorable movies. 


Meet Charlie Chaplin as he transforms from a poor London lad into the Little Early filmmakers were a mix of hobbyists toying with new gadgets and scientists seeking to capture photographic motion. Eadweard Muybridge embodied both these drives. Called on by the Governor of California in 1887 to settle a bet, the young photographer’s images of a galloping horse helped pave the way for the motion picture industry. A few years later, the Lumière brothers succeeded in projecting scenes from real life. Their images of a train chugging across the screen shocked the first film audiences into diving for cover.  


By 1905 motion pictures had become a sensation. Nickelodeon theaters opened across the globe. A poor boy from London named Charlie Chaplin became the most recognizable silent star on the planet. The silent cinema brought the world together, crossing cultural lines to create a global village. But the Golden Age was short lived as it was shattered first by WWI and then the emergence of sound.


"Behind the Scenes, A Young Person's Guide to Film History, Vol. 1" brings the Golden Age to life. From Charlie Chaplin and Greta Garbo to less familiar names such as Oscar Micheaux, the first African American filmmaker, these stories demonstrate how historic characters achieved their dreams from humble beginnings. Vol. 1 covers the early era of filmmaking through the transition to sound in biographical sketches that introduces readers to great films and memorable stars. The theme of each story is how these characters achieved success through hard work, confidence, a little luck and complete belief in themselves.