Roundhay Garden Scene
| Roundhay Garden Scene | |
|---|---|
 Believed to be the world's earliest surviving motion-picture film | |
| Directed by | Louis Le Prince |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Louis Le Prince |
| Edited by | Louis Le Prince |
Release dates |
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Running time | 2.11 seconds |
| Country |
United Kingdom France |
Roundhay Garden Scene is an 1888 short silent film recorded by French inventor Louis Le Prince. It is believed to be the oldest surviving film in existence, as noted by the Guinness Book of Records.[1]
Overview
According to Le Prince's son, Adolphe, the film was made at Oakwood Grange, the home of Joseph and Sarah Whitley, in Roundhay, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, on October 14, 1888.[2]
It features Adolphe Le Prince,[3] Sarah Whitley (née Robinson, 1816 - 24 October 1888), Joseph Whitley (1817 - 11 January 1891) and Annie Hartley in the garden, walking around. Note that Sarah is walking backwards as she turns around, and that Joseph's coat tails are flying as he also is turning.[2] Joseph and Sarah Whitley were Adolph Le Prince's parents-in-law, being the parents of his wife, Elizabeth, and Annie Hartley is believed to be Annie Hartley, a friend of Le Prince and his wife. Sarah Whitley died ten days after the scene was taken.[4] She was the earliest born person ever to appear in a film; her husband Joseph was the second earliest born person and the earliest born male person. Sarah Whitley was also the first person who had appeared in a film to die.
Remastered footage
In 1930 the National Science Museum (NSM), London, produced photographic copies of surviving parts from the 1888 filmstrip. This sequence was recorded on an 1885 Eastman Kodak paper base photographic film through Le Prince's single-lens combi camera-projector. Le Prince's son, Adolphe, stated that the Roundhay Garden movie was shot at 12 frames/s (and a second movie, Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge, at 20 frames/s), however the later digital remastered version of Roundhay Garden produced by the National Media Museum, Bradford, which contains 52 frames, runs at 24.64 frames/s, a modern cinematographic frame rate, so it plays in only 2.11 seconds. The National Science Museum copy has 20 frames; at 12 frames/s, this produces a run time of 1.66 seconds.
References
- ↑ Guinness Book of Records, all editions.
- 1 2 Internet Movie Database Roundhay Garden Scene
- ↑ Adolphe Le Prince IMDb listing
- ↑ Monumental Inscriptions (II1) at St. John's Church, Roundhay, Leeds
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roundhay Garden Scene. |
- Roundhay Garden Scene at the Internet Movie Database
- Roundhay Garden Scene is available for free download at the Internet Archive
- Roundhay Garden Scene on YouTube
- Louis Le Prince Centre for Cinema, Photography and Television University of Leeds. (The University is near to the site of Le Prince's former workshop which was located at the junction of Woodhouse Lane and Blackman Lane).
- St John's of Roundhay. Details of memorial for Sarah (died October 24, 1888) and Joseph Whitley (died January 12, 1891) at Beechwood, Roundhay, Leeds. (map), Monumental Inscriptions (II1) at St. John's Church, Roundhay, Leeds