In the period previous to the 1930's, the predominant form of filmmaking was
             that of the crank camera. This is not to say that motor-driven cameras were
             not possible. However, the motors to advance the film were so large that they
             were simply too cumbersome to be effective. Thus, it was the cameraman
             himself who would crank the film at a steady rate to expose the frames.
             When it came to showing the film, on the other hand, motor driven projectors
             were quite convenient, and by the 1920's a standard 24 frames per second
             was established for projecting films. Filming, however, remained
             unstandardized due to the inherent variation in recording speeds, since it
             depended directly on the cameraman. An experienced cameraman was
             capable of filming an entire film at approximately the same speed, yet often
             variations were made in the recording speed for dramatic effect. Decreasing
             the number of cranks, for example, exposed fewer frames and thus when
             projected at the standard 24 frames created the frenzied action that
             characterized much of the Vaudeville cinema. The French filmmaker Georges
             Melies was among the first to employ changing backdrops and costumes to
             tell his story. Up until that point many film were only a few minutes long taking
             place on a single set. Changing sets and costumes opened a vast range of
             new possibilities and spurred further growth in the fledgling industry. As the
             film industry expanded in America, filmmakers found and increasing need for
             to establish a single location at which they could build sets and film
             ...