Series of Firsts: Edited scenes in cinema

When filming was first invented, it was a one-shot film. It looks like Robert W. Paul was the first to make a film with two scenes that have continuity: the female actor leaves one frame/one set to enter another. It was 1898, and the film is called "Come Along, Do!"

Then George William Smith probably invented the first edit within a scene. A shot of a peeping tom who is looking through a telescope cuts to what he's seeing: a woman's shoe and ankle. Very osé! it was 1900 and the film was ... "As Seen Through a Telescope"

In 1901, James Williamson featured a close up in The Big Swallow. However, there is no editing involved. The actor comes closer to the camera until it looks like he swallows it. Then comes a rather mysterious shot with seemingly the cameraman and his camera inside the actor! That's editing!

But the first practitioner of expressive editing was D.W. Griffith of ill memory - his Birth of The Nation is horribly racist. He popularized the close-up as a crucial dramatic and psychological tool, using shots of character's faces and important objects (like a wrench) in films such as The Lonedale Operator (1911). Later Buster Keaton also used editing extensively, developing many inventive techniques.

In just 10 years, cinema had found a language, and filmmakers kept on inventing to this day.