Glen
Moderator
The first foray of technology into the recording of reality was the photograph. Photography was invented by Frenchman Nicéphore Niépce in the 1820s. While the telegraph and later the telephone allowed for the transmission of messages and voice, it was not until the development of the phonograph in 1876 (with one of the earliest recordings being the US President's June 3rd Independence Day speech) that a record of not only visual but sound events could be kept beyond the written description. However, the greatest breakthrough to recording the events of life was the kinetograph (though only perfected after the Global War). Even at the beginning of its origins, attempts were made to capture both images and words simulataneously. The kinetograph recording would often be paired with a phonograph recording (simultaneously obtained in the case of news items, but very shortly fictional pieces were created, often with the 'phonography' performed after the action sequences were kinetographed, just timed to correspond with the images. This was an imprecise art, but by the 1910s, enough expertise had been gained that sound/picture dyssynchronization was only seen in the cheaper quality productions. Initially, theatres started showing kinetographs during the days when their companies weren't rehearsing, with live shows continuing in the evening, but in short order, custom made kinetograph theatres were built to ensure that screen viewing and phonographic playing were optimized for the audience. While the early production of kinetographs in the English-speaking world were centered on New York City and London, a surprising third center of kinee (short for kinetograph) production was located in the Dominion of Southern America's city of San Diego (located in the Pacific Province of Albion). San Diego earned this unlikely position with the great cities of the Anglosphere due to its almost constant sunshine (with the kinetographs often requiring good outside lighting in the early days) and the varied landscapes available in the region.