A Moviola is a device that allows a film editor to view a film while editing. It was the first machine for motion picture editing when it was invented by Iwan Serrurier in 1924. The Moviola company is still in existence and is located in Hollywood where part of the facility is located on one of the original Moviola factory floors.
History
Iwan Serrurier's original 1917 concept for the Moviola was as a home movie projector to be sold to the general public. The name was derived from the name "Victrola" since Serrurier thought his invention would do for home movie viewing what the Victrola did for home music listening. However, since the machine cost $600 in 1920, very few sold. An editor at Douglas Fairbanks Studios suggested that Iwan should adapt the device for use by film editors. Serrurier did this and the Moviola as an editing device was born in 1924 with the first Moviola being sold to Douglas Fairbanks himself. Ninety-four years later, a framed copy of the original receipt still resides at Moviola, the company, in Hollywood. Many studios quickly adopted the Moviola including Universal Studios, Warner Brothers, Charles Chaplin Studios, Buster Keaton Productions, Mary Pickford, Mack Sennett, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The advent of sound, 65mm and 70mm film, and the need for portable editing equipment during World War II greatly expanded the market for Moviola's products. editing his first feature filmStage Fright on an upright Moviola, 1987. Iwan Serrurier's son, Mark Serrurier, took over his father's company in 1946. In 1966, Mark sold Moviola Co. to Magnasync Corporation of North Hollywood for $3 million. Combining the names, the new name was Magnasync/Moviola Corp. President L. S. Wayman instantly ordered a tripling of production, and the new owners realized their investment in less than two years. Wayman retired in 1981, and Moviola Co. was sold to J&R Film Co., Inc. in 1984.
Usage
The Moviola allowed editors to study individual shots in their cutting rooms, thus to determine more precisely where the best cut-point might be. The vertically oriented Moviolas were the standard for film editing in the United States until the 1970s, when horizontal flatbed editor systems became more common. Nevertheless, a few very high-profile filmmakers continue to prefer the Moviola. One such editor is Michael Kahn, who received an Academy Award nomination for Best Film Editing in 2005 for his work on Steven Spielberg's Munich, which he edited with a Moviola. Kahn eventually convinced Spielberg to use Avid for all his current film work, beginning with in 2011 and Lincoln in 2012.
