Roundhay Garden Scene
| Roundhay Garden Scene | |
|---|---|
The world's earliest surviving motion-picture film | |
| Directed by | Louis Le Prince |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Louis Le Prince |
| Edited by | Louis Le Prince |
Release date |
|
Running time | 2.11 seconds |
| Countries | United Kingdom France |
| Language | Silent film |
Roundhay Garden Scene is an 1888 short film directed by French inventor Louis Le Prince. It was recorded at 12 frames per second and runs for 2.11 seconds. It is the oldest surviving film in existence, noted by the Guinness Book of Records.[1]
Overview
According to Le Prince's son, Adolphe, it was filmed at Oakwood Grange, the home of Joseph and Sarah Whitley, in Roundhay, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, United Kingdom on October 14, 1888.[2]
It features Adolphe Le Prince,[3] Sarah Whitley, Joseph Whitley and Harriet 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] Sarah Whitley was Le Prince's mother-in-law being the mother of John Whitley and Le Prince's wife Elizabeth Whitley LePrince. Sarah Whitley died ten days after the scene was taken.
Remastered footage
In 1930 the National Science Museum (NSM), London, produced photographic copies of remaining 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 the 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, comprises 52 frames and is only 2.11 seconds long, as the film runs at 24.64 frames/s, the modern cinematographic frame-rate. The National Science Museum copy has 20 frames; at 12 frames/s, this would produce a run time of 1.66 seconds.
References
- ^ Guinness Book of Records, all editions.
- ^ a b Internet Movie Database Roundhay Garden Scene
- ^ Adolphe Le Prince IMDb listing
External links
Media related to Roundhay Garden Scene at Wikimedia Commons
- Roundhay Garden Scene at IMDb
- Roundhay Garden Scene is available for free viewing and 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).
- 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)