Narrated history of the evolution of the motion picture, its tools, and important figures. Panning exterior shot of buildings at Marey Institute; Marey standing with an assistant with his camera directing horse and rider to its place; CU of chronophotographe invented by Marey; assistant turns crank to operate; CU of simultaneous photos on plate taken; demonstration of effects of increasing the shutter speed, CU of photos; CU of photos of bird in flight using same device.