How could we not talk in our production company about the Lumière brothers who created and screened the first cinematographic film in history? Here we leave you a summary of how they did it, the year it was released, and a bit of the history of both brothers.
“The Arrival of the Workers at the Lumière Factory” The 46 most important seconds in the history of cinema
The first cinematographic film lasted only 46 seconds, but they were the ones that have marked the history of cinema the most. This first film is called “The Arrival of the Workers at the Lumière Factory” in 1895 and gave rise to what we today know as the seventh art.
Both Auguste Marie and Louis Jean Lumière said that “cinema is an invention without a future”. But what they did not imagine was that the film showing the arrival of the workers at the Lumière photography factory in Lyon would achieve great success.
On March 22, 1895, the film The Arrival of the Workers was commercially screened at the French Society for the Promotion of National Industry.
Auguste Marie and Louis Jean Lumière
Auguste Marie and Louis Jean Lumière were born in Besançon in 1862 and 1864 respectively. It was their father who instilled in them a love for photography, so they grew up in Lyon, where they worked in their father's photography workshop. These brothers, self-taught scientists, learned to handle different photographic techniques.
In 1881, Louis developed a dry plate that he called “blue label”, and it began to be marketed with great success. They received numerous offers to sell their processes, but they refused. They had financial support from relatives and friends, and thus created a company with dozens of workers.
The Cinematograph of the Lumière Brothers
During a night when Louis couldn't sleep, he ended up discovering the solution to make the frame pass through the lens.
Then, on February 13, 1895, the brothers patented a device that was both a camera and a projector: The Cinematograph. Below we leave an explanatory video of how it works:
Although many credit the creation of the cinematograph to Louis, the younger of the brothers, for creating the crank capable of advancing the perforated film, Auguste also played an important role; he was the one who contacted Alfred Montelni, a scientist and optometrist. And Alfred took care of designing and creating the lights for the projector.
It was with the cinematograph that the Lumière brothers launched the first cinematographic film. This film merely showed the workers leaving the French factory where they worked. However, it opened the doors to subsequent major projects in cinema.
The first film in history: the era of cinema is born
After numerous presentations at scientific societies and universities, the Lumière brothers held a commercial screening of the films they had shot in Lyon. In them, everyday life in the city was shown. On December 28, 1895, in the indien du Grand Café, they presented the first cinematographic film to an audience of only 33 people. However, they watched in amazement as boats, workers, and trains moved across the screen.
The Lumière brothers never had confidence that their projects would achieve such success. For this reason, they preferred a small venue, in case the presentation failed, it would go unnoticed. They also did not do much advertising; the poster they quickly made was not significant.
According to George Méliès, who was one of the attendees at that first screening, he mentioned that at first there was a great skepticism in the atmosphere. But when the first moving images were projected, the attendees were stunned. He said they were “dumbfounded, astonished, and surprised beyond what can be expressed.”
After the screening, some of the attendees offered various amounts of money to the Lumière brothers to sell the device. But the brothers rejected their offers, as they wanted to exploit their invention while it generated interest among people.
In fact, as word spread about that marvelous presentation, on just the second day, the hall was packed with people. The newspapers were full of praise for that spectacle, and thus the Lumière brothers began to have unconditional viewers.
In total, the Lumière brothers screened over 1,400 films produced by them. Currently, 98% of the total is preserved, with only 18 missing.
The first documentary of cinema
The Arrival of the Workers could be considered the first documentary, as there was no acting, the scenes were natural. It had great success not only in France but also in Europe and North America. Thus, in just one year, the brothers created over 500 films.
Despite already having a large stock of films, in their early days, they always started each presentation with The Arrival of the Factory. According to their historians, since it was their first film, they paid homage to their company.
Interesting facts about the first film in cinema
It is said that the Lumière brothers filmed about 3 different versions of their first cinematographic film before they were satisfied. In the end, they chose that small take in which a crowd was seen opening and closing the door when leaving the factory.
Before the Lumières, there were Marey, Muybridge, Demeny, and Thomas Edison, all trying to achieve moving images. In fact, Edison invented the Kinetoscope 4 years earlier. But that invention was an individual project, while the cinematograph was designed for group screenings.
Being images projected onto a flat and larger surface, this film managed to create a collective experience. So these brothers understood the feeling of sharing a common emotion within a small room with a group of strangers.
Although the Lumière brothers were the pioneers in the film industry, it was George Méliès who exploited the cinematographic techniques of that time. The Lumière brothers eventually pursued other ventures and abandoned film production in 1905, leaving a long path to tread in the film industry.