The concept of using cinematography for healthcare knowledge transfer posits that carefully crafted films, incorporating graphics, animations, and live-action video, are highly efficient for disseminating medical information quickly and clearly to both professionals and the public. This practice dates back to the late 19th century, with pioneers like French physiologist Étienne-Jules Marey, who studied human movement, and surgeon Eugène-Louis Doyen, who filmed surgeries but faced controversy due to unauthorized public showings, helping establish the distinction between "film for entertainment" and "film for medicine." Other early contributors included Polish cameraman Bolesław Matuszewski and Romanian neurologist Gheorghe Marinescu, who extensively documented neurological conditions for analysis and teaching, perfecting the application of filming techniques to clinical neurology. Belgian anatomist Arthur Van Gehuchten also built a significant collection of films for educational purposes, highlighting the early focus on documentation, study, and pedagogical applications.
By the early 20th century, medical cinematography began to be employed as "propaganda," aiming not just to inform but to control opinions and actions, dubbed "will-control through education." Thomas Edison produced the first public health education film in 1910 on tuberculosis prevention, though it faced criticism for melodramatic exaggerations. During World War I, the U.S. government and private agencies utilized films for anti-venereal disease campaigns among military personnel and civilians. This persuasive power of film became more refined in the 1930s; for example, films showing non-traumatic immunizations were used to dispel parental fears. Experts, such as those quoted in the British Medical Journal in 1935, advocated for leveraging film's emotional appeal over mere reason to "put across" ideas of preventive medicine to the public, recognizing it as a potent weapon for public health campaigns. This historical progression demonstrates how medical cinematography evolved from a documentation and study tool into a powerful, multifaceted medium for public education and behavior change, laying the foundation for its contemporary role in broad-scale knowledge dissemination.