Early Pioneers: The Lumiere Brothers

Who are The Lumiere Bros?

Louis  and Auguste Lumiere were pioneer contributors to the birth of film in 1895. The Lumiere bros were born in France but then moved in 1870 to Lyon. Both of them attended the largest technical school in Lyon La Martiniere. Their father, Claude-Antoine Lumiere (1840-1911), ran a photographic firm and both brothers worked for him: Louis as a physicist and Auguste as a Manager. It wasn’t until their father retired in 1892 that the brothers began to create moving pictures. The Lumiere Bros were not the only ones to claim the title of the first cinematographers. The first scientific chronophotography devices developed by Eadweard Muybridge, Etienne-Jules Marey and Ottomar Anschutz in the 1880 were able to produce moving photographs, as was Thomas Edison’s Kinetoscope premiered in 1891.

What are the Lumiere Bros famous for?

The lumiere bros are well known by a lot of people for inventing the Cinematograph. The Lumieres held their first private screening of projected motion pictures in 1895. Thier first public screening of films at which admission was held on 28th December 1895, at the salon indien du Grand Cafe which is in Paris. This history-making presentation featured a short film, including their first film, sortie des Usines Lumiere a Lyon (Workers leaving the Lumier Factory).

What is Cinematography?

A cinematograph is a film camera, which also is a film projector and developer and it was invented in the 1890’s.There are many arguments to find its real inventor. People say that the device was first invented as “Cinematographe” by French inventor Leon Bouly on 12^th February 1892. It is said, because theirs lack of money, Bouly was not able to pay the rent the following year, and the Lumiere bros engineers bought the license. Popular thought, however, Louis Lumiere was the first to convince the idea, and both Lumiere brothers shared the patent.

The Factors that affected the invention

The factors that effected the cinematograph camera was that it was very big and was very hard to carry around unlike the cameras today. The quality of the image wasn't that great either because it was only the start of the creation of fast moving image.

How this information has helped me

This information has helped me to understand The Lumiere bros and their followed on invention the cinematograph. The information that interests me the most is the first film ever made with the usage of Cinematography. I feel that it’s just unbelievable that the audience found that very short film amazing comparing to our technology today. Through my research I was able to earn about the Cinematograph and how you can create motion through this old camera. As the Lumiere Bros were inspired by the famous pioneer Eadweard Muybridge it makes me feel how the public in that time would have been feeling when these amazing inventions that have affected the world today.