The Lumiere brothers, Auguste and Louis Lumiere, were French filmmakers born in the 19th century who are considered the first filmmakers in history. They invented the cinematograph, a device that could both film and project movies, and held the first public film screening in 1895 which is considered the birth of the commercial film industry. Their early films were mostly short documentary-style films showing everyday scenes and events. While not the only pioneers of early film technology, the Lumiere brothers are credited with being the first to demonstrate how motion pictures could be mass produced and distributed as a new form of popular entertainment.

1. The Lumiere Legacy Assignment Two: Part B
Task One:
1. Who were the Lumiere brothers?
The Lumière brothers, Auguste MarieLouis Nicolas and Louis Jean,were the firstfilmmakers in history.They
patented the cinematograph,which in contrastto Edison's "peepshow" kinetoscope allowed simultaneous
viewing by multipleparties. The Lumière brothers, Auguste and Louis,were sons of well known Lyons based
portraitpainter Antoine Lumière. They were both technically minded and excelled in sciencesubjects and
were sent to Technical School.
Antoine, noting the financial rewards of new photographic processes,abandoned his artand set up business
manufacturingand supplyingphotographic equipment. Joininghim in this venture was Louis who began
experimenting with the photographic equipment his father was manufacturing.
2. When and where did they live?
The Lumière brothers were born in Besancon, Franceand moved to Lyon in 1870,where both attended La
Martiniere,the largesttechnical school in Lyon.Their father, Claude-Antoine Lumière (1840–1911),ran a
photographic firmwhere both brothers worked for him: Louis as a physicistand Auguste as a manager. Louis
had made some improvements to the still-photograph process,themost notablebeing the dry-plate process,
which was a major step towards moving images.
3. Who ruled their country?
Laurent Fabius was born 20 August 1946;he is a French socialistpolitician who has been foreign minister of
Francesince16 May 2012. Previously heserved as Prime Minister of Francefrom 17 July 1984 to 20 March
1986.He was 37 years old when he was appointed and is,so far, the youngest Prime Minister of the fifth
republic.However Laurent Fabius was known as Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development
due to the actual PrimeMinster in officefrom 17th July 1984 to 20th march 1986 was François Mitterrand.
4. What was going on in the world around that time?
1985 and 1986 including the Westland crisis, which prompted the resignation of Michael
Heseltine (the then Defence Secretary) from the Cabinet. They also reveal discussions
around the financial arrangements for the UK nations and the deregulation of the
financial markets known as the ‘Big Bang’.
Also during that time the government tackled social issues such as football hooliganism.
They cover discussions on various ideas and strategies to influence behaviour at football
stadiums. As ever, also reveal the comments and replies made by then Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher. Her response to the defection of KGB officer Oleg Gordievsky, where

2. she provided comforting words of support, offers a different perspective of the Prime
Minister who was well-known for being the ‘Iron Lady’.
1985 As the spread of aids increases Governments round the world start screeningBlood donations for AIDS.
On the technology front the first.com is registered and the firstversion of Windows is released Ver. 1.0.
Terrorists continueto perform acts of terrorismincludingthehijack of TWA Flight847 and the Italian Cruise
Liner "AchilleLauro ". Famine in Ethiopia is shown more on TV News in July and Live Aid concerts around the
world raisemany millions to help the starvingin Africa and the pop industry in US joins together to sing"We
Are The World".
1986 Followinga number of trouble free years in Space Exploration the Space Shuttle Challenger explodes
shortly after takeoff watched by people liveon TV around the world. The Internet Mail Access Protocol defined
which opens the way for E-Mail and the same year the Human Genome Projectis launched to understand the
Human Makeup , this will open the way for great advances in the treatment of many illnesses.The worst ever
Nuclear Disaster occurs as theChernobyl Nuclear Power Station Explodes causingthe releaseof radioactive
material acrossmuch of Europe. In the UK (BSE), commonly known as mad cow diseaseis identified which
causes many deaths over the next few years and a major reform in farmingpractices.
5. What are the films about?
The Lumière brothers were born in Besancon, Franceand moved to Lyon in 1870,where both attended La
Martiniere,the largesttechnical school in Lyon.[4] Their father, Claude-Antoine Lumière (1840–1911),ran
a photographic firmwhere both brothers worked for him: Louis as a physicistand Auguste as a manager. Louis
had made some improvements to the still-photograph process,themost notablebeing the dry-plate process,
which was a major step towards moving images.
It was not until their father retired in 1892 that the brothers began to create moving pictures.They patented a
number of significantprocesses leadingup to their filmcamera,most notably filmperforations (originally
implemented by Emile Reynaud) as a means of advancingthe filmthrough the camera and projector.The
original cinematographer had been patented by Leon on 12 February 1892.The brothers patented their own
version on 13 February 1895. The firstfootage ever to be recorded usingitwas recorded on March 19, 1895.
This firstfilmshows workers leavingthe Lumière factory. However the history of the filmthat was made by
Lumière brothers was based on their lifeduringthe times in the 18th and 19th century. The filmwas based on
real lifestories and is to emotionally and intellectually behearttouching towards people and also a way of
understandingand putting things into perspectives for people in the future.
6. How long are they? Why?
Auguste and Louis Lumière are credited with the world’s firstpublic filmscreeningon December 28th 1895, The
showingof approximately ten shorts filmlastingtwenty minutes in total was held in the basement lounge of
the Grande cafe on the boulevard des capucines in Paris.Thefirstpublic demonstration of their device was
called the Cinematograph which effectively functioned as camera, projector and printer all in one. However
the Lumière brothers have been credited with over 1,425 different shortfilms and had even filmed aerial shots
years before the very firstaiplanewould take the skies.For example his filmThe “Arrival of a train atthe
station 1895”showed the train comingdiagonally across thescreen. a very unconventional method of framing.
Therefore the Lumière pioneered not justthe technical attributes of the camera but also its artisticattributes,
creatinga dialogueof realism.

3. 7. What can you say about the cinematography and otheraspects of the films language?
The Lumière Brothers were not the only ones to claimthe title of the firstcinematographers.The
scientific chronophotography devices developed by Eadweard Muybridge, Étienne-Jules Marey and Ottomar
Anschütz in the 1880s were ableto produce moving photographs,as was WilliamFriese-Greene's
'chronophotographic' system,demonstrated in 1890,and Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope(developed by W K-L
Dickson),premiered in 1891.Since 1892,the projected drawings of Émile Reynaud's Théâtre Optique were
attractingParis crowds to the Museé Grevin. Louis Le Princeand Claude Mechant had been shootingmoving
picturesequences on paper filmas soon as 1888,but had never performed a public demonstration.Polish
inventor, KazimierzPrószyński had builthis camera and projectingdevice,called Pleograph,in 1894.Max and
Emil Skladanowsky,inventors of the Bioscop,had offered projected moving images to a payingpublic one
month earlier (November 1, 1895,in Berlin).Nevertheless, filmhistoriansconsider the Grand Café screeningto
be the true birth of the cinema as a commercial medium, because the Skladanowsky brothers' screeningused
an extremely impractical dual systemmotion picture projector that was immediately supplanted by the
Lumière cinematographe.
Although the Lumière brothers were not the firstinventors to develop techniques to create motion pictures,
they are often credited as among the firstinventors of the technology for Cinema as a mass medium, and are
among the firstwho understood how to use it.