These were made using light-sensitive paper of the same width and length as the film itself, and developed as though a still photograph. Both the Edison Company and the Biograph Company submitted entire motion pictures as paper prints, and it is in this form that most of them survive.
These early films were produced using light-sensitive paper matching the dimensions of the film itself, then treated as if they were stationary images. The Edison Company and the Biograph Company submitted complete motion pictures in this format, and it's through this method that many have been preserved for posterity.