The previously published articles on the most important films from 1888 to 1909 have been temporarily hidden in order to be fundamentally rewritten. They will be republished to the site one by one, as soon as I am happy with them. Afterwards, new articles dealing with films from 1910 onwards will appear.
Thank you for your interest and patience.
Genre: Documentary (unscripted)
Country: UK
Studio: –
Release: –
Runtime: 2 secondsDirector: Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince
Cast: Harriet Hartley, Adolphe Le Prince, Joseph Whitley, Sarah Whitley
This short fragment deserves mention in any self-respecting text on the history and art of cinema, if only by virtue of its historical significance. It is believed to be the oldest motion picture film recorded with a single-lens camera (as opposed to earlier setups using multiple cameras or multi-lens cameras). Recorded on coated paper film, its 20 frames originally recorded at 12 frames per second sum up to not even two seconds of footage. There is no camera movement, no editing, no plot. But this early experiment can be considered the first to cross the line from motion photography to cinematography.
It was recorded by French inventor and photographer Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince in Leeds, 1888, and stars a few of his relatives walking around in circles in their garden. Le Prince went missing before he had the chance to publicly present his achievement in the United States. Only quite recently has history been set straight, and Le Prince’s films now officially predate any of the early pictures by Thomas Alva Edison.
Slightly hampered by the fact that it is over almost as you start watching it, there is something quite eerie about observing these regular people from an era long since past unwittingly become part of cultural history. By 1891, 120 years ago at the time of this writing, three of the four people seen in the picture had died. A stark reminder of film’s power to tamper with time, and preserve moments for eternity.
Over a century of breathtaking and incredible technological advancement later, you are able to bring these people right into your own living room, to experience this historic time capsule wherever you are in the world, without even getting up from your chair.
This article has been revised on May 12, 2011.
