The Lumiere Brothers: Crash Course Film History #3

Summary

This script from Crash Course Film History debunks the myth that Thomas Edison and William Dickson were solely responsible for modern film technology. It highlights the significant contributions of the Lumière Brothers, who invented the cinématographe, an all-in-one camera, developer, and projector. The script narrates the first public screenings, the communal experience of movie-going, and the early days of film as 'actualités' or snapshots of everyday life. It also touches on the technological advancements and business aspects of the burgeoning film industry.

Takeaways

• 🎬 The script corrects the common misconception that Thomas Edison and his employee William Dickson were solely responsible for the development of modern film technology.
• 👥 It highlights the significant contributions of the Lumière Brothers, Auguste and Louis, who invented the cinématographe, an all-in-one motion picture device for capturing, developing, and projecting films.
• 📹 The Lumière Brothers improved upon Edison's kinetograph by creating a portable, lightweight camera that could also develop the film it shot, eliminating the need for a separate lab.
• 🌟 The script emphasizes the importance of the first public screenings of films by the Lumière Brothers on December 28, 1895, at the Grand Café in Paris, which marked a turning point in film history.
• 🏆 The Lumière Brothers were not only inventors but also savvy businessmen who secured international patents for their technology and capitalized on the potential of public film screenings.
• 📽 The script discusses the technical innovation of the Maltese Cross, or Geneva Drive, used in motion picture cameras and projectors, which is still in use today in a modified form.
• 🎞 The Lumière films, known as 'actualités,' were short, silent, black-and-white documentaries capturing everyday life, differing from Edison's focus on stage performances.
• 💡 The script suggests that the communal experience of watching films in a theater, with shared reactions and emotions, is a significant aspect of the movie-going culture.
• 📈 The financial success of the Lumière Brothers' first screenings is noted, showing the early potential of the film industry as a profitable venture.
• 🔄 The script mentions other inventors like Woodville Latham, who contributed to film technology with the Latham Loop, and Thomas Edison, who adapted and commercialized the Vitascope.
• 🌐 The potential of film as a medium for mass communication and its ability to bring the world closer together through shared visual experiences is highlighted.

Q & A

Who were the Lumière Brothers and what is their significance in film history?

The Lumière Brothers, Auguste and Louis, were French inventors who invented the cinématographe, an all-in-one motion picture device that could make, develop, and project films. They are significant because they revolutionized film technology and are often credited with the first successful public screening of films.

What was the kinetograph and the kinetoscope, and who developed them?

The kinetograph was a motion picture camera, and the kinetoscope was a single-viewer exhibition device used to watch films recorded by the kinetograph. These were developed by Thomas Edison and his employee, William Dickson.

How did the Lumière Brothers improve upon Edison's motion picture devices?

The Lumière Brothers improved upon Edison's devices by creating a lightweight, portable camera that could also develop the film it shot. They also designed it to be reconfigured into a projection machine, allowing for the developed film to be projected onto a wall or screen for audiences to view.

What was the Maltese Cross and how is it related to film technology?

The Maltese Cross, also known as the Geneva Drive, was a stop-and-go mechanism perfected by Oskar Messter for motion picture cameras. It was named after the medal and was first used in mechanical watches. This device is still used in most projectors today.

What was unique about the Lumière Brothers' approach to film screenings?

The Lumière Brothers held private screenings for distinguished guests before their public unveiling, creating hype and interest. They also focused on presenting a large number of films with superior image quality, which set them apart from others and contributed to the success of their public screenings.

What was the first film screened by the Lumière Brothers and how did it affect the audience?

The first film screened by the Lumière Brothers was 'The Train Arrives at La Ciotat Station.' It is said that the audience was so unfamiliar with the realistic projection that they ran screaming from the theater, fearing the train would come through the wall.

Why have some historians questioned the story of the audience running away from the Lumière Brothers' first film screening?

Historians have questioned this story because projection devices like the magic lantern had been used for centuries, and most of the audience would likely have been aware of kinetoscope films. It is more likely that the audience reacted with delight at the quality of the images rather than fear.

What were the characteristics of the films produced by the Lumière Brothers?

The Lumière Brothers' films were silent, black-and-white, and consisted of uninterrupted shots that lasted less than a minute. They focused on capturing everyday life, known as 'actualités,' rather than staged performances.

How did the financial success of the Lumière Brothers' film screenings compare to Edison's kinetoscope?

The Lumière Brothers' first screening was financially successful, earning 35 francs at 1 franc per person. Within a month, they were making 7,000 francs per week. In contrast, Edison's kinetoscope, which only allowed for single viewers, did not have the same potential for large-scale public screenings and revenue.

What was the Latham Loop and how did it contribute to film projection?

The Latham Loop was a device patented by Woodville Latham that allowed for a different way to feed film into a projector. It used a pair of small, loose loops of film held in place with extra sprockets, which protected the film from damage due to vibrations and tension.

Why did the Lumière Brothers eventually leave the movie business?

The Lumière Brothers left the movie business in 1905 because they did not see a future for film. They believed that the short Vaudeville performances and actualités would only entertain audiences for a limited time.

Outlines

00:00

🎥 The Misconceptions of Thomas Edison's Role in Film Technology

This paragraph begins with a light-hearted introduction by the speaker, Craig, who challenges the common belief that Thomas Edison and his employee, William Dickson, were solely responsible for the development of modern film technology. While acknowledging their contributions, the paragraph emphasizes that many others played significant roles in the invention and advancement of early film technologies, such as the kinetograph and kinetoscope. The speaker humorously notes that, as usual, Edison received more credit than he deserved.

05:01

💡 The Rise of the Lumière Brothers and Their Innovations

Here, the speaker introduces Auguste and Louis Lumière, who were born in the 1860s in France and later revolutionized film technology. The Lumière Brothers took over their father’s struggling photographic plate factory, improved its operations, and eventually turned their attention to film. Inspired by Edison’s devices, they developed a more advanced motion picture device, the cinématographe, which combined camera, film development, and projection functions. The speaker describes the brothers’ clever use of stop-and-go mechanisms and their portable, hand-cranked camera that made film production and exhibition more efficient and accessible.

Keywords

💡Kinetograph

The kinetograph is an early motion picture camera developed by Thomas Edison and his employee William Dickson. It was one of the first commercially viable film technologies, which allowed the capturing of moving images on film. In the video, the kinetograph is presented as a key innovation in the development of cinema, although it had limitations, such as its bulky size and the fact that it could only be viewed through a single-user device, the kinetoscope.

💡Kinetoscope

The kinetoscope is a single-viewer exhibition device that allows individuals to watch kinetograph films. Developed by Edison and Dickson, it was a precursor to modern movie projectors. The video discusses how the kinetoscope's limitation of being viewable by only one person at a time led other inventors, like the Lumière Brothers, to create more advanced technology that could project films to larger audiences.

💡Lumière Brothers

Auguste and Louis Lumière were French inventors and pioneers in early cinema. They created the cinématographe, a lightweight, portable device that could record, develop, and project films. The video highlights their contribution to film history, particularly their role in making cinema a communal experience by projecting films to large audiences, a significant leap from the single-viewer kinetoscope.

💡Cinématographe

The cinématographe is the all-in-one motion picture device invented by the Lumière Brothers. It functioned as a camera, film developer, and projector, allowing films to be recorded, processed, and shown in one portable machine. The video contrasts it with Edison's kinetograph and kinetoscope, emphasizing its significance in making film screenings a public and shared experience.

💡Actualités

Actualités refers to the short, documentary-style films made by the Lumière Brothers, capturing everyday scenes and events. These silent, black-and-white films, typically less than a minute long, were among the first examples of non-fiction cinema. The video discusses how actualités differed from the more staged, performance-based films of Edison's studio, focusing instead on real-life moments like workers leaving a factory or a train arriving at a station.

💡Public Film Screenings

Public film screenings refer to the practice of showing films to large audiences, a concept popularized by the Lumière Brothers with their cinématographe. The video explains how these screenings created a communal viewing experience, where audiences could collectively enjoy and react to the films, marking a shift from the solitary experience of watching films on the kinetoscope.

💡Maltese Cross (Geneva Drive)

The Maltese Cross, also known as the Geneva Drive, is a stop-and-go mechanism used in motion picture projectors to advance film frames one at a time for exposure to light. Developed by German optician Oskar Messter, this mechanism is essential in modern projectors. The video mentions it as a significant technical innovation that contributed to the development of film projection technology.

💡Latham Loop

The Latham Loop is a film-feeding mechanism that uses small loops of film to prevent tearing and reduce tension in projectors. Patented by Woodville Latham, this invention was crucial for allowing the projection of longer films without damaging the filmstrip. The video describes how this technology was adopted by other inventors, including Thomas Edison, to improve the reliability of film projectors.

💡Mass Communication

Mass communication refers to the transmission of information to large audiences, a role that film began to fulfill as it grew in popularity. The video discusses how early films, like those of the Lumière Brothers, helped bring distant places and cultures closer to people, laying the groundwork for cinema as a powerful medium of mass communication.

💡Magic Lantern

The magic lantern is an early image projection device that used light and lenses to project pictures from glass plates onto walls. The video mentions this device to explain that the concept of projecting images was not new to audiences at the time of the Lumière Brothers. However, the innovation of moving pictures through film was a significant advancement from these earlier static projections.

Highlights

The common misconception that Thomas Edison and William Dickson were the sole pioneers of modern film technology is debunked.

Edison and Dickson developed the kinetograph and kinetoscope, but many others contributed to early film technology.

The Lumière Brothers from France invented a lightweight, all-in-one motion picture device that revolutionized film exhibition.

The Lumière device could be used for both filming and projecting, making it portable and versatile.

Auguste and Louis Lumière had extensive experience in business, engineering, and photography before their film innovation.

The stop-and-go mechanism used in sewing machines inspired the Lumière Brothers' camera design.

Oskar Messter's Maltese Cross design is still used in most projectors today.

The Lumière Brothers' cinématographe was compact, portable, and did not require an electric power source.

The cinématographe could develop and project film, eliminating the need for a separate lab and waiting for film processing.

The Lumière Brothers called their invention 'cinématographe,' meaning 'writing with movement.'

They secured international patents on their technology and saw potential in public film screenings.

The first public screening of films by the Lumière Brothers took place in Paris on December 28th, 1895.

The story of the audience screaming and running away from 'The Train Arrives at La Ciotat Station' is likely a myth.

Film has the power to create a communal experience, as seen in the collective movie-going experience.

The Lumière films, known as 'actualités,' were mini-documentaries focusing on everyday life.

The financial success of the Lumière Brothers' first screenings demonstrated the potential of the film industry.

Other inventors were inspired to create similar devices to the cinématographe, contributing to the evolution of cinema.

Thomas Edison's entry into theatrical projection with the Edison Vitascope marked a shift in his approach to film.

The development of the Latham Loop addressed the issue of film tearing inside projectors, improving film exhibition.

Despite initial skepticism, film evolved into a method of mass communication and a significant cultural phenomenon.

Films began to capture and share the world's diverse sights, bringing people closer together through shared experiences.

The episode concludes with a look forward to the next part of film history, focusing on storytelling through editing and special effects.

Transcripts

Hi. I'm the internet's Craig. This is Crash Course Film History.

Based on what you’ve probably heard, or read, or… what I told you last time, you’re

probably under the impression that the development of modern film technology is all

thanks to famous inventor Thomas Edison, and his less-than-famous employee, William Dickson.

You're wrong. I can't believe how wrong you are.

Together, these guys developed two of the

first commercially-viable film technologies: the kinetograph – basically a camera – and

the kinetoscope – a single-viewer exhibition device that you use to watch kinetograph films.

But guess what?

As was often the case with Edison, a lot of the credit that’s given to him also belongs to a great many other people.

...not me.

While Edison and Dickson were setting out to make moving pictures in New Jersey, lots

of other inventors were tinkering with film technology across the world.

In Lyon, France, a pair of brothers saw the kinetograph and kinetoscope – and said,

“We can do better than that!”

And they did.

Within two years, they invented a lightweight, all-in-one motion picture device that made

movies and exhibited them.

They figured out a way to use the camera mechanism to play back the developed roll of film, projecting

bright light through it to show images.

Films could be projected on an entire wall or screen, letting audiences of people experience films, together... It'll never work.

By sheer coincidence – or maybe fate – their surname means “light.”

Say hello to the Lumière Brothers and the first projected films.

[Intro Music Plays]

Auguste and Louis Lumière were born in the 1860s in eastern France.

In 1870, their father moved the family to Lyon and opened a small factory that made

photographic plates.

The family business, like all my businesses, teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, until the brothers took over.

They devised machines to help automate the plant, and invented a new and improved photo plate.

By the time they started experimenting with film technology, the Lumière Brothers had

lots of experience in business, engineering, manufacturing, and photography.

They were intrigued by Edison’s motion picture devices, but quickly saw the flaws: the camera

was hard to move, and only one person could watch a film at a time.

So they went back to the basics, and made a better camera.

Remember the intermittent stop-and-go mechanism – how motion picture cameras need to stop

the film long enough to expose one frame to light, before moving the roll to the next frame?

Well, the Lumière Brothers developed a device around the stop-and-go mechanisms used in

sewing machines.

They weren’t the only ones tinkering with this engineering problem, though.

Inventors were working independently all over Europe and the United States, putting the

pieces together that will one day become cinema.

By 1897, the German optician-turned-film pioneer Oskar Messter perfected his

design for the stop-and-go mechanism, called the Maltese Cross – named after the medal

with the same shape.

It’s also called the Geneva Drive, because it was first invented in Geneva, Switzerland

for use in mechanical watches.

Messter’s device has really stood the test of time: we still use a version of it in most

projectors today.

But, back to the Lumières and their motion picture camera. Transition PUNCH!

Their whole contraption was a compact, portable box.

It was light enough for one person to carry.

The camera was operated by a hand crank, so it didn’t rely on an electric power source.

It used the same 35 millimeter film as Edison’s kinetograph, but it could also develop the

film that it shot – no more sending film off to a lab and waiting for the mail.

...I hate waiting for the mail.

But, that's not all, once the film had been developed, the Lumière device could

be reconfigured into a projection machine.

So many things in one. It's so... aw it's just good.

They could run the developed film back through the intermittent stop-and-go mechanism, and,

with a bright light source, the images would project onto a wall or a screen.

This device could do it all.

You could carry it with you out into the world, capture footage, develop the film, and then

project it, any time, anywhere, any way you wanted.

Don't do it vertical though... commentors hate that.

Compared to the kinetograph and kinetoscope, it was kind of like the technological leap

from an old school flip phone to a smartphone.

The Lumière Brothers wanted to call their invention the “cinématographe,” which means

“writing with movement.”

Like Edison, the Lumière Brothers were savvy businessmen, and secured international patents

on all their technology.

Doing Edison one better, they saw a lot of potential in having large, public film screenings.

Before the public unveiling of their cinématographe, they held a series of private parties where

they projected films for groups of distinguished guests, stoking interest and excitement.

And then in Paris, on December 28th, 1895, at the Salon Indien in the basement of the

Grand Café, Auguste and Louis Lumière screened a series of ten short films and changed the

world forever.

Now, I should mention that this wasn’t technically the first public screening of a motion picture.

That honor, as far as we know, goes to Woodville Latham, an American chemist and kinetoscope

owner, who projected a film of a boxing match in New York in May, 1895.

What set the Lumière Brothers apart was that they played up the intrigue of their device

and gained publicity, plus their superior image quality and the sheer number of films

they presented.

This is the movie business, after all, and hype almost always wins.

So the credit for first successful public screening typically goes to Auguste and Louis Lumière.

Sorry, Latham. Better luck next time. Maybe go back to chemistry.

Among the films the Lumière Brothers screened that night was “The Train Arrives at La Ciotat Station.”

In the film, a train – you guessed it – arrives at a station. Kinda spoiled it with the title.

In a single, uninterrupted shot, it comes toward the camera, stops, and the passengers disembark.

Legend has it that when the first audience saw this movie projected on the wall, it was

so unfamiliar and realistic that they ran screaming from the theater, fearing for their lives.

In recent years, historians have thrown cold water on this story for a couple reasons.

First, seeing images projected onto walls wouldn’t have been a new experience for

a lot of Parisians.

Some version of the magic lantern projection device had been used for education and entertainment

since the 17th century, employing a light source and a lens to project images or paintings

from glass plates up onto a wall.

Not to mention, most of the Lumière audience would probably have been aware of kinetoscope films.

So chances are no one actually thought a train was about to drive through the wall

and run them all down.

More likely, the audience might have shrieked in delight at the size and clarity of the

images projected, and at the sheer magic of seeing these pictures come to life.

Remember, film presents us with the illusion of reality.

And like any good magic trick or optical illusion, part of the thrill is knowing that what you’re

seeing isn’t real, but not being able to tell how the magician pulled it off.

The story of the screaming audience in the Grand Café also reveals the power film has

to create a communal experience.

While the technical wizardry of their cinématographe was groundbreaking, the unique group psychology

of movie-going may have been the Lumières’ greatest contribution to film history.

When you’re in an audience watching a film, you’re having a specific, personal experience,

but you’re also part of a pop-up community.

... and sometimes that community has a has a bunch of kids who won't be quiet and you're trying to watch Batman vs. Superman!

Think back to the last hysterical comedy you

saw in a movie theater, and then tried to watch again by yourself at home.

It’s not the same, is it?

Film is this unique artistic medium that can take on different meanings depending when,

where, and with whom you’re watching it.

Now, the Lumière Brothers’ films all shared a few characteristics.

They were silent, black-and-white, and uninterrupted shots that lasted less than a minute – much

like the films out of Edison’s Black Maria.

But rather than capturing stage performers and skits, the Lumière films were mini-documentaries,

known as “actualités.”

They focused on slices of everyday life: two babies fighting over lunch, a group of workers

leaving a factory at the end of the day, and, of course, trains arriving at stations.

These films were financially successful right out of the gate.

The Lumière Brothers’ first screening brought in 35 francs, at 1 franc per person.

And within a month, they were making 7,000 francs per week.

that's... *counting* 7,000 people!

Meanwhile, other inventors were making cinématographe-like devices with cool names like the Bioskop

and the Theatrograph.

Some were directly inspired by the Lumière Brothers, while others were independent.

Thomas Edison saw the financial success the Lumière Brothers were having and wanted a

very big piece of that action – abandoning the kinetoscope to jump into theatrical projection.

Edison and other inventors also began experimenting with longer films. BORING!

But there was a big problem: these longer film strips kept tearing inside the projector.

Enter Woodville Latham.

Remember him?

The guy who really held the first public projection of a movie?

He held the patent for the Latham Loop, a different way to feed film into a projector,

which involved a pair of small, loose loops of film – one above and one below the projector’s

lens – held in place with extra sprockets.

This helped protect the film from vibrations and tension, which could lead to damage.

In 1895, another pair of early film pioneers, C. Francis Jenkins and Thomas Armat, used

the Latham Loop in a projector of their own design and called it the Vitascope.

Edison saw this device, bought it outright, and released it as the “Edison Vitascope,”

giving the original inventors almost no credit… ‘cause that’s how Thomas Edison rolled.

Throughout all this experimentation, most people thought of films as a fad that would

burn brightly for a few years, and then disappear – like arsenic as medicine, séances, or

Victorian “tear catchers.”

Even the Lumière Brothers got out of the movie business in 1905, because they didn’t

see a future for film. Good idea!

And it’s true, 50-second Vaudeville performances and actualités will only entertain audiences

for so long.

But film was growing into something bigger – a method of mass communication that was

starting to make itself indispensable.

As time went on, filmmakers would take cinématographes to far-flung places, capturing movies of the

Amazon Basin, the pyramids at Giza, and the ruins of Ancient Rome.

Suddenly, you could walk into a theater in Peoria, Illinois and see Sherpas climbing

the Himalayas. ... Without drugs!

In some ways, these kinds of films knit the world closer together, showing people sights

they’d never experience in real life.

You can even compare film history to the early days of YouTube.

Sure, we started with Jawed at the zoo, and cat videos, and kids on dental anesthesia.

But that was just scratching the surface of a medium that has let us create so many weird,

wonderful, and important things, and has changed the way we see ourselves and the world around us.

Today, we introduced you to the Lumière Brothers and their cinématographe, the all-in-one

camera, film developing lab, and projector.

We learned about the first big public film screenings, and how people were beginning

to have collective movie-going experiences, as well as very personal ones.

We discussed actualités, the snapshots of everyday life, and how some filmmakers were

beginning to push the envelope, exploring the world and making longer movies.

And next time, we’ll talk about the very first films to tell stories, using editing

and special effects to manipulate reality in exciting new ways.

Crash Course Film History is produced in association with PBS Digital Studios.

You can head over to their channel to check out a playlist of their latest amazing shows,

like PBS Infinite Series, The Art Assignment, and Brain Craft.

This episode of Crash Course was filmed in the Doctor Cheryl C. Kinney Crash Course Studio

with the help of these nice actualites and our amazing graphics team, is Thought Cafe.