The Lumiere Legacy (Task 1 and 2)

                                                  LUMIERE BROTHERS

Who were the Lumiere brothers?

Lumière brothers, French inventors and pioneer manufacturers of photographic equipment who devised an early motion-picture camera and projector called the Cinématographe (“cinema” is derived from this name). Auguste Lumière and his brother Louis created the film La Sortie des ouvriers de l’usine Lumière (1895; “Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory”), which is considered the first motion picture.

When and where did they live?

The Lumière brothers were born in Besançon, France and moved to Lyon in 1870, where they both attended La Martiniere, the largest technical school in Lyon

What are the films about?

These factual shorts (or mini-documentaries), termed actualities, with the mundane quality of home movies, included the following:

1. La Sortie des Ouviers de L'Usine Lumière à Lyon (1895) (Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory)
2. La Voltige (1895) (Horse Trick Riders)
3. La Pêche aux Poissons Rouges (1895) (Fishing for Goldfish)
4. Le Débarquement du Congrès de Photographie à Lyon (1895) (The Disembarkment of the Congress of Photographers in Lyon)
5. Les Forgerons (1895) (Blacksmiths)
6. Le Jardinier (l'Arroseur Arrosé) (The Gardener or The Sprinkler Sprinkled) (1895)
7. Le Repas (de Bébé) (1895) (Baby's Meal)
8. Le Saut à la Couverture (1895) (Jumping onto the Blanket)
9. La Place des Cordeliers à Lyon (1895) (Cordeliers Square in Lyon)
10. La Mer (Baignade en Mer) (1895) (Bathing in the Sea)

The ten shorts included the famous first comedy (# 6) of a gardener with a watering hose (aka The Sprinkler Sprinkled, Waterer and Watered, or L'Arrouseur Arrose), the factory worker short (# 1, see above), a sequence (# 9) of a horse-drawn carriage approaching toward the camera, and a scene (# 7) of the feeding of a baby. The Lumieres also became known for their 50-second short Arrivee d'un train en gare a La Ciotat (1895) (Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat), which some sources reported was shocking to its first unsophisticated viewing audience. By 1898, the Lumiere's company had produced a short film catalogue with over 1,000 titles.

How long are they? Why?

All the 10 films ran on average 50 seconds long:

1. La Sortie des Ouviers de L'Usine Lumière à Lyon (1895) (Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory) (46 seconds)

2. La Voltige (1895) (Horse Trick Riders) (46 seconds)

3. La Pêche aux Poissons Rouges (1895) (Fishing for Goldfish) (42 seconds)

4. Le Débarquement du Congrès de Photographie à Lyon (1895) (The Disembarkment of the Congress of Photographers in Lyon) (48 seconds)

5. Les Forgerons (1895) (Blacksmiths) (49 seconds)

6. Le Jardinier (l'Arroseur Arrosé) (The Gardener or The Sprinkler Sprinkled) (1895) (49 seconds)

7. Le Repas (de Bébé) (1895) (Baby's Meal) (41 seconds)

8. Le Saut à la Couverture (1895) (Jumping onto the Blanket) (41 seconds)

9. La Place des Cordeliers à Lyon (1895) (Cordeliers Square in Lyon) (44 seconds)

10. La Mer (Baignade en Mer) (1895) (Bathing in the Sea) (38 seconds)

What can you say about the cinematography and other aspects of the films’language?

By early 1895, the brothers had invented their own device combining camera with printer and projector and called it the Cinématographe. Patenting it on February 13th 1895, the Cinématographe was much smaller than Edison’s Kinetograph, was lightweight (around five kilograms), and was hand cranked. The Lumières used a film speed of 16 frames per second, much slower compared with Edison’s 48 fps - this meant that less film was used an also the clatter and grinding associated with Edison’s device was reduced.