1896

Auguste and Louis Lumière's Train Pulling Into a Station

Whether or not audiences actually ran screaming, the story exemplifies the astonishing impact of cinema's arrival.

Early 1900s

Local films for local people

The very early film industry has strong local connections, filling venues by offering footage from the neighbourhood.

1915

Birth of a Nation

With the film industry by now settled in Los Angeles, DW Griffith's breakthrough confirms the ascent of a film language requiring industrial production.

1925

Lucille LeSueur is renamed Joan Crawford by a fan-magazine competition

Keeping fans happy is crucial to the movie industry from the beginning – including giving them some power.

1930s-1960s

Hollywood's Golden Age

In its prime, the studio system was hugely efficient at concentrating power over cinematic output in executives' hands.

1969

Easy Rider

The decline of the studios allows more daring film-makers tobreak through but audience influence remains limited.

1982

Work begins on Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation

The home-video revolution allowed nearly anyone to control domestic viewing habits and create their own movies.

1999

Jar-Jargate

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace craps on the dreams of a generation – and, thanks to the internet, everyone knows about it.

2005

YouTube launches

User-generated films can be seen instantly by a global audience.

2008

Be Kind Rewind

It's a studio product, but Gondry's film introduces sweding and encourages it on YouTube.

2012

The Star Wars That I Used to Know

When a self-made viral video lambasting a star film-maker shows more wit than his last three movies combined, you know something's changed.