<P> In the 1900s, continuity of action across successive shots was achieved and the first close - up shot was introduced (that some claim D.W. Griffith invented). Most films of this period were what came to be called "chase films". The first feature length multi-reel film was a 1906 Australian production . The first successful permanent theatre showing only films was "The Nickelodeon" in Pittsburgh in 1905 . By 1910, actors began to receive screen credit for their roles and the way to the creation of film stars was opened . Regular newsreels were exhibited from 1910 and soon became a popular way for finding out the news . From about 1910, American films had the largest share of the market in Australia and in all European countries except France . </P> <P> New film techniques were introduced in this period including the use of artificial lighting, fire effects and low - key lighting (i.e. lighting in which most of the frame is dark) for enhanced atmosphere during sinister scenes . As films grew longer, specialist writers were employed to simplify more complex stories derived from novels or plays into a form that could be contained on one reel and be easier to be understood by the audience--an audience that was new to this form of storytelling . Genres began to be used as categories; the main division was into comedy and drama but these categories were further subdivided . During the First World War there was a complex transition for the film industry . The exhibition of films changed from short one - reel programs to feature films . Exhibition venues became larger and began charging higher prices . By 1914, continuity cinema was the established mode of commercial cinema . One of the advanced continuity techniques involved an accurate and smooth transition from one shot to another . </P> <P> D.W. Griffith had the highest standing among American directors in the industry, because of the dramatic excitement he conveyed to the audience through his films . The American film industry, or "Hollywood", as it was becoming known after its new geographical center in Hollywood, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, gained the position it has held, more or less, ever since: film factory for the world and exporting its product to most countries . By the 1920s, the United States reached what is still its era of greatest - ever output, producing an average of 800 feature films annually, or 82% of the global total (Eyman, 1997). During late 1927, Warner's released The Jazz Singer, with the first synchronized dialogue (and singing) in a feature film . By the end of 1929, Hollywood was almost all - talkie, with several competing sound systems (soon to be standardized). Sound saved the Hollywood studio system in the face of the Great Depression (Parkinson, 1995). </P> <P> The desire for wartime propaganda created a renaissance in the film industry in Britain, with realistic war dramas . The onset of American involvement in World War II also brought a proliferation of films as both patriotism and propaganda . The House Un-American Activities Committee investigated Hollywood in the early 1950s . During the immediate post-war years the cinematic industry was also threatened by television and the increasing popularity of the medium meant that some film theatres would bankrupt and close . The 1950s was a' Golden Age' for non-English world cinema . </P>

When did sound become a regular part of the motion picture viewing experience